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Ghosts of the North Carolina Piedmont
The North Carolina Piedmont can be a very spooky place. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, many people in this region have experienced things that simply cannot be explained. This collection of local lore includes classic ghost stories that have been passed down for generations, as well as personal experiences of the author, her family, friends and even strangers. Join local author Frances Casstevens as she recounts one spine-tingling tale after another.
- GenresNonfiction
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 28, 2021
I didn’t care for the first story on the “boogers.” I don’t care for that word especially in relation to ghosts and wish they’d just be called ghosts.
I liked the information on the war in the Deserter story. There were a lot of men on both sides who deserted. Volunteer enlistment couldn’t replace those lost and so a draft was enacted. Some young men resented the draft and others opposed war altogether. Throughout the Piedmont and mountain counties, men hid in unusual places to avoid the draft or being returned to their units. Some hid in hay in the barns or in the attics of log cabins. A few dug caves in hills or in the side of creeks. Some worker on their farms until soldiers came and then hid in the woods.
There was one story in which she wrote that people said a man was cruel to his slaves. “Glen may have had to maintain discipline among the slaves, and there were many methods to accomplish this.” That made it sound like the slaves deserved the treatment and he was justified in punishing them.
I did like the story involving the Battle of Kings Mountain with the Patriots and Loyalists. It was fate that the woman visited her brother early and saw an ad for an orchard for sale in the mountains. The seller actually answered when he usually doesn’t, and when they bought it this group of reenactors called the Overmountain Men came through acting out the battle. The man took an interest and visited the battle site with the gravesite of a general. It turned out that his ancestor was a part of the Overmountain Men and may have shot and killed that general.
The story of old Vestal’s Mill had some funny lines. “Mr. Williams gave up. Although he was a good attorney and could present an argument in court we’ll enough to gain the release of a suspected murderer, he had no such luck with his children. Logic did not faze them. They persisted in their pleas, wore down his last defense and usually got their way.”
They saw an old bearded man and the oldest child said it had horns. “Mary did not care to verify her brother’s statement. She got her second wind and headed up the hill. Joe and Lafayette followed, but this was one race in which their sister led all the way.”
It’s cool that many Celtic descendants, such as the Scots and Irish, have psychic powers, ESP, or second sight.
One story mentioned a woman whose grandpa died and his widow kept hearing the pet name he’d called her. She couldn’t sleep for hearing the voice. Finally one night she said “Paul, if you got something to say to me, say it and get done with it, so that I can get some sleep.” He didn’t bother her any more after that.
The same woman had been sick and feverish as a kid and 3 people came to her and the man told the little girl not touch her because she was sick.
I really like the story of the vanishing hitchhiker in High Point that I’ve heard before. Though the author said there are different versions of this story in different states so I don’t know if I’m thinking of a different state or if I’ve heard this one. I love it though. A man sees a girl on the side of the ride who asks for a ride, only to have him arrive at her house to find her vanished. When he asks at the house her parents inform him she’s been dead for years. I like that the mom thanked him for bringing her home because her daughter is still trying to get home every year on the anniversary of her death.
It was funny that she said about the strange creatures called “hootenannie” that why it’s called that is “unknown because that word is commonly used to describe some sort of unplanned musical event.”
In 2004 people thought an animal had escaped from the zoo but officials denied having a cat on the loose. Sightings were made of big cat-like animals and zoo officials were called out again.
The story of the train wreck on Bostian Bridge was one I just read in a ghost book. I like that the wreck plays out every night on the anniversary.
I love the story of the Brown Mountain Lights so I was so glad they were included. Especially that the Cherokee had a battle at that area and thought it was the ghosts of maidens looking for their lost men.
Someone said in a newspaper article that any town with cobblestone streets is bound to have ghosts and that Jamestown is no exception.
I also read the story of the governor’s mansion in Raleigh being haunted in another book. It’s cool it’s open for tours.
And the story of the little red man at Old Salem.
It’s so cool that pioneers came south from the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road and crossed the Shallow Ford. Evidence of the migration can still be seen in Huntsville.
It was so incredibly cool that the author as a kid went to a fair and a woman asked if she wanted her fortune read. She took her hand and read the lines in her palm. She told her she would marry a man with dark hair and have 6 kids—and she did!
It was so interesting that there was a fortunetelling activity where on a rainy day when the sun was shining, you go outside and back up 3 steps and then turn around and pick up a rock, and underneath it would be a hair the color of your true love’s. She did it and sure enough, there was a hair under the rock and it was black and her husband’s hair is black.
Another custom had a girl placing a glass of water on a bible and turned her back, looking at it through a mirror and seeing what image from her future would be revealed.
At weddings it was a custom to give the bridesmaids a piece of cake, and they’d put it under their pillow that night and they would dream of their future husband.
The end had things like bad luck spilling the salt shaker and walking under a ladder. It felt like a departure from the rest of the book and felt like a completely different book about superstitions and bad luck. I did like the little customs and personal stories.
I liked the information on the war in the Deserter story. There were a lot of men on both sides who deserted. Volunteer enlistment couldn’t replace those lost and so a draft was enacted. Some young men resented the draft and others opposed war altogether. Throughout the Piedmont and mountain counties, men hid in unusual places to avoid the draft or being returned to their units. Some hid in hay in the barns or in the attics of log cabins. A few dug caves in hills or in the side of creeks. Some worker on their farms until soldiers came and then hid in the woods.
There was one story in which she wrote that people said a man was cruel to his slaves. “Glen may have had to maintain discipline among the slaves, and there were many methods to accomplish this.” That made it sound like the slaves deserved the treatment and he was justified in punishing them.
I did like the story involving the Battle of Kings Mountain with the Patriots and Loyalists. It was fate that the woman visited her brother early and saw an ad for an orchard for sale in the mountains. The seller actually answered when he usually doesn’t, and when they bought it this group of reenactors called the Overmountain Men came through acting out the battle. The man took an interest and visited the battle site with the gravesite of a general. It turned out that his ancestor was a part of the Overmountain Men and may have shot and killed that general.
The story of old Vestal’s Mill had some funny lines. “Mr. Williams gave up. Although he was a good attorney and could present an argument in court we’ll enough to gain the release of a suspected murderer, he had no such luck with his children. Logic did not faze them. They persisted in their pleas, wore down his last defense and usually got their way.”
They saw an old bearded man and the oldest child said it had horns. “Mary did not care to verify her brother’s statement. She got her second wind and headed up the hill. Joe and Lafayette followed, but this was one race in which their sister led all the way.”
It’s cool that many Celtic descendants, such as the Scots and Irish, have psychic powers, ESP, or second sight.
One story mentioned a woman whose grandpa died and his widow kept hearing the pet name he’d called her. She couldn’t sleep for hearing the voice. Finally one night she said “Paul, if you got something to say to me, say it and get done with it, so that I can get some sleep.” He didn’t bother her any more after that.
The same woman had been sick and feverish as a kid and 3 people came to her and the man told the little girl not touch her because she was sick.
I really like the story of the vanishing hitchhiker in High Point that I’ve heard before. Though the author said there are different versions of this story in different states so I don’t know if I’m thinking of a different state or if I’ve heard this one. I love it though. A man sees a girl on the side of the ride who asks for a ride, only to have him arrive at her house to find her vanished. When he asks at the house her parents inform him she’s been dead for years. I like that the mom thanked him for bringing her home because her daughter is still trying to get home every year on the anniversary of her death.
It was funny that she said about the strange creatures called “hootenannie” that why it’s called that is “unknown because that word is commonly used to describe some sort of unplanned musical event.”
In 2004 people thought an animal had escaped from the zoo but officials denied having a cat on the loose. Sightings were made of big cat-like animals and zoo officials were called out again.
The story of the train wreck on Bostian Bridge was one I just read in a ghost book. I like that the wreck plays out every night on the anniversary.
I love the story of the Brown Mountain Lights so I was so glad they were included. Especially that the Cherokee had a battle at that area and thought it was the ghosts of maidens looking for their lost men.
Someone said in a newspaper article that any town with cobblestone streets is bound to have ghosts and that Jamestown is no exception.
I also read the story of the governor’s mansion in Raleigh being haunted in another book. It’s cool it’s open for tours.
And the story of the little red man at Old Salem.
It’s so cool that pioneers came south from the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road and crossed the Shallow Ford. Evidence of the migration can still be seen in Huntsville.
It was so incredibly cool that the author as a kid went to a fair and a woman asked if she wanted her fortune read. She took her hand and read the lines in her palm. She told her she would marry a man with dark hair and have 6 kids—and she did!
It was so interesting that there was a fortunetelling activity where on a rainy day when the sun was shining, you go outside and back up 3 steps and then turn around and pick up a rock, and underneath it would be a hair the color of your true love’s. She did it and sure enough, there was a hair under the rock and it was black and her husband’s hair is black.
Another custom had a girl placing a glass of water on a bible and turned her back, looking at it through a mirror and seeing what image from her future would be revealed.
At weddings it was a custom to give the bridesmaids a piece of cake, and they’d put it under their pillow that night and they would dream of their future husband.
The end had things like bad luck spilling the salt shaker and walking under a ladder. It felt like a departure from the rest of the book and felt like a completely different book about superstitions and bad luck. I did like the little customs and personal stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2015
I have nothing against vanity press or self-published books, but this is going a bit far. When your sources are sharing your last name because you are citing your daughter's SCHOOL PAPER, then you're pushing the limits of credulity. I made it through the first several entries in this short volume before giving up because the author's credibility is just so suspect. Her focus in the Piedmont was surrounding her small community, with little regard for actual, you know, "research" or "events." Don't even bother.
September 21, 2023
Please, please choose anything else as your piedmont ghost tales source! This is very short and shallow and I still skimmed and skipped quite a lot. The majority of this book is surrounding the author's family and their history in Yadkin Valley, not the Piedmont. I wouldn't even consider these experiences with supernatural as some entries are just "this lady -my distant cousin- heard a noise, never investigated, the end".
I learned much more interesting stories, lore and debunking explanations through listening to Arcane Carolinas Podcast and attending an hour ghost tour done by the Kernersville Museum.
In one story, the author chose to use language that made it seem like slaves DESERVED punishments. Also, the writing is not great, detailing non-important facts while skimming the lore/spooky stuff. Annnnd, the author is promoting her daughter's paintings and mostly using her family/neighbors as references, not great writing or credibility. She should have just wrote a family holiday letter.
I learned much more interesting stories, lore and debunking explanations through listening to Arcane Carolinas Podcast and attending an hour ghost tour done by the Kernersville Museum.
In one story, the author chose to use language that made it seem like slaves DESERVED punishments. Also, the writing is not great, detailing non-important facts while skimming the lore/spooky stuff. Annnnd, the author is promoting her daughter's paintings and mostly using her family/neighbors as references, not great writing or credibility. She should have just wrote a family holiday letter.
December 26, 2025
well written, but i wish she talked more about other places in the piedmont. this was mostly centered around yadkinville
April 28, 2015
Casstevens is definitely a historian, not a ghost story writer. None of these stories come across as particularly spooky, but they are interesting and give a feel for the Piedmont area. Also I have a friend I'm now going to ask, "Are you from THAT family??"
February 14, 2025
Jamestown bridge mention!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews