Historic Haunts of Savannah

by Michael Harris

As one of America’s most haunted cities, Savannah, Georgia, has a long list of stories of the supernatural, such as the story of the first two people hanged in colonial Savannah for the murder of their abusive master. Or James Stark, a tempestuous planter, and Dr. Philip Minis, who settled their dispute with a duel and still hang around the old building at Moon River Brewing Co. Or the terrifying “boy-giant,” Rene Rhondolia, who preys on young girls and animals. Join authors Michael Harris and Linda Sickler as they navigate the chilling world of those who refuse to leave their Savannah homes.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Paranormal

145 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 17, 2014

About the author

There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Savannah is full of incredible history and interesting ghost stories, but the writing in this book was just subpar.

[Logan Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Savannah and it’s history, had to squeeze this one in!

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but I can see how it may be a little polarizing depending on reader's tastes.

This is as much a book about Savannah history as it is a book about ghost stories. I'm from Savannah and I've been to pretty much all of the places mentioned, but some of the stories were still new to me. Rather than focus on the hauntings themselves, you get a brief mention of the haunting and then you learn the story behind the ghosts. While I do usually prefer the spooky ghost tales, in this case I was just as interested in the backstory and the actual history behind the sightings. Some of that could be because I'm from the area, as I don't know if it would come across nearly as interesting to those unfamiliar with the places and people being discussed.

Overall, if you're looking for accounts of ghost sightings, this may not be the book for you. If you are looking for creepy real life stories behind some supposed hauntings, that's what you get here.

[DeAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Savannah is one of those places I haven't yet visited, but definitely wanted to - so I was excited to pick this title up. I did enjoy the way the authors imagined how the stories leading to the ghost stories went and that they got versions of the legends from people in Savannah - but felt there may have been a little too much fiction. The researching of different aspects of each story and examining how possible it was that they transpired the way the stories are told was really interesting. I also really liked the talk about how life was at the time each of these stories happened, but because so much of it was this examination of history - there was very little description of what people are actually experiencing in these locations, which is something I always appreciate. Since there was so little about that it felt more like an examination of history rather than ghost stories - that being said it was still a pretty quick read and I did enjoy it.

[April Helms · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's interesting to contrast this with Haunted Savannah by Byrd. While Byrd concentrates more on the ghosts and those who have encountered them, this one explores the histories behind the hauntings, and offers more in the way of historic fact. It weighs the veracity of the various legends surrounding the stories of Savannah's many ghosts. Really enjoyed this one. Again, wish I would have read this before my trip, but ah well. I hope to go back, and I'm bound and determined to go on a ghost tour or three.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been working through this Haunted America series on Kindle Unlimited, and this one was good. I like the short stories and history lessons you get about each place. I think this one was a little over 100 pages, so it was a fast read. Savannah is one of my favorite cities, and I love reading anything about it. I have a huge list of places to visit, and every time I read one of these Haunted America books, I add more places. I love the paranormal aspect, but the historical happenings are so interesting to me.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that it tries to find the actual sourced information behind the stories. The woo-ey ghost content is about 5% of the book and mostly history which is about perfect for me. The book doesn't flow well but can't tell if it is just trying to stretch the material too much or if they don't get enough pages to do the stories justice. If you like history, you'll like this no matter your feelings on ghosts.

[Suzanne Pixley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Documenting the real story behind Savannah's ghosts

If you've ever taken a "ghost tour" of any city you visit, you always wonder if the tour guide is actually telling you the real story behind the supposed ghosts. This book gives you some of the documented background behind the early Savannah residents often involved in these tours. Whether the noises and light images are real or not, this book is great at capturing the real story.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently traveled to Savannah and took a ghost tour. While I didn't see any ghosts, I loved the stories the tour guide told. So I started researching a few of the stories and landed on this book, which talked about most of the stories the tour guide told, but expanded on them as well. Very interesting read!

[Douglas Reedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book.

I believe the authors did quite well in attaining the information for this book. It's not like other haunted places books, it gives you more of a "feel that you are there" type book. Not a scary but interesting read.

[Lisa Lantrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good. I learned a lot about Savannah history. I was hoping for something a little more creepy. This was more history than ghost stories. Still, I enjoyed it. It's also a beautifully designed book.

[Debi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit disappointing. Nothing exceptional or that I didn't already know from the internet. Hoped to find something different to explore on my coming vacation to Savannah. A hidden jewel but it's not in this book. The stories aren't even scary. Not what I hoped for.

[Savannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really interested in learning more about my namesake, and this book gave me a lot of insight on the haunted city. I'd say that if you're interested in anything to do with hauntings or Savannah, GA, you should check it out.

[Courtney Gores · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this, I bought it while visiting Savannah and wanted to learn more about the haunted history. The choppy writing just wasn’t doing it for me. I appreciate the authors approach to exploring myth vs facts and making a logical conclusion. But it felt like a lot of repetition.

[Marisa Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

[Tracey Kunkel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ghost stories

Savannah ghost stories. Interesting stories, but disjointed writing. The stories are all over the place, from fact to fiction and back again.

[Alexa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not like the layout

I normally enjoy all of the haunted america books, but this one seemed to have a different layout than the others.

[cathy williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

The back and forth in the book was not satisfying. I would recommend this book to someone interested in the haunted aspect of Savannah.

[Jillian M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is just random stories centered around Savannah history with ghosts mentioned here or there. That would be ok too if the storytelling was good, but it wasn’t.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

First few were fascinating and the remaining weren’t so interesting to me.

[Jim Swike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting ghost stories, I plan to visit Savannah soon, so extra interesting. Maybe take a ghost tour. Enjoy!

[Diana Brewster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very well written book containing several tales of Savannah Hauntings. On this book alone I feel I can recommend the haunted America series to people interested in hauntings but not looking for poorly written books, or books written by crack pots. I wish I read this right away after buying it in Savannah because although I did visit two of the haunting spots from the book I would have gone into colonial cemetery when I had the chance to and I would have visited the Sorrel-Weed House.

[E. L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book a lot of history.