Stories from the Haunted South

by Alan Brown

When Alan Brown published his well-received Haunted Places in the American South , a kind of seance swirled around him. Locals who knew ghost stories began haunting him with ghoulish reports from houses, schools, libraries, sanitariums, inns, battlefields, train depots, radio stations, and bridges. Following these leads, he uncovered even more ghost-ridden southern locales. In Kentucky's White Hall, the ghost of Cassius Clay's first wife Mary Jane roams the upstairs in a black dress, and the night air smells of candle wax, perfume, and bourbon. The spirit of a boy who died in a tragic accident half a century before plagues Mississippi's Cahill Mansion. Written in the vein of its successful predecessor, Stories from the Haunted South contains fifty-three accounts from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Balancing the history with the legends of each supernatural locale, Brown focuses on personal stories of ghostly encounters. From folk archives across the South, Brown also includes nearly forgotten legends, such as the Headless Horseman of Hobkirk. With directions to each place, Stories from the Haunted South will be an important addition to the ghostlore of Dixie. Alan Brown is a professor of English at the University of West Alabama. His books include Haunted Places in the American South and Shadows and Southern Ghost Stories (both from University Press of Mississippi).

Genres: Ghosts, Ghost Stories

307 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 2004

Reviews

[Dennis Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a good balance between the history of a site and the history of the haunt itself. Often the authors of this type of book get carried away with history and forget the haunt or operate in reverse and give the reader no idea why the place might be haunted. Brown however gets it just about right and seems to provide all of the relevant details.

Overall this is a good book and while it will not scare the reader it will provide a lot of useful information.