Spooky South Tales Of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, And Other Local Lore

by Schlosser, S. E.; Hoffman, Paul G.

• ISBN13: 9780762730636
• ISBN10: 0762730633
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-05-01
• Publisher: Globe Pequot

Summary

Southern folklore traditions are kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser, and in artist Paul Hoffman's evocative illustrations. You'll meet ghosts and witches, hear things that go bump in the night, and feel an icy wind on the back of your neck on a warm summer evening.

Author Biography

Author S.E. Schlosser has been telling stories since she was a child, when games of "let's pretend" quickly built themselves into full-length stories. A graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature and Rutgers University, she also created and maintains the Web site AmericanFolklore.net, where she shares a wealth of stories from all 50 states, some dating back to the origins of America.

Artist Paul Hoffman trained in painting and printmaking, with his first extensive illustration work on assignment in Egypt, drawing ancient wall reliefs for the University of Chicago. His work graces books of many genres--children's titles, textbooks, short story collections, natural history volumes, and numerous cookbooks. For the Globe Pequot Spooky series, he employed a scratchboard technique and an active imagination.

Table of Contents

Ghost Stories
Wait Until Emmet Comes: Kanawha County, West Virginia	p. 2
The Cut-Off: Red River Landing, Louisiana	p. 6
I'm Coming Down: Camden, South Carolina	p. 10
The Army of the Dead: Charleston, South Carolina	p. 15
The Death Watch: Raleigh County, West Virginia	p. 20
Hold Him, Tabb: Hampton, Virginia	p. 27
The Headless Haunt: Madison, North Carolina	p. 32
Jakie and the Ghost: Greenville, Mississippi	p. 39
The Log Cabin: Montgomery County, Arkansas	p. 46
The Woman in Black: Savannah, Georgia	p. 51
Seeing Ghosts: Sea Island, Georgia	p. 56
Chattanooga's Ghost: New Orleans, Louisiana	p. 61
Fiddler's Dram: Dukedom, Tennessee	p. 67
Uncle Henry and the Dog Ghost: Somewhere Down South	p. 77
The Headless Specter: Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina	p. 83
The Powers of Darkness
The Wampus Cat: Knoxville, Tennessee	p. 92
The Devil's Marriage: Guilford County, North Carolina	p. 99
The Witch Woman and the Spinning Wheel: New Orleans, Louisiana	p. 108
Jack-o'-Lantern: Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama	p. 113
Plat-Eye: Harrison County, Mississippi	p. 118
The Witch Bridle: Albright, West Virginia	p. 123
Tailypo: Montgomery County, Tennessee	p. 131
The Devil's Mansion: New Orleans, Louisiana	p. 136
The Red Rag under the Churn: The Kentucky Mountains	p. 144
Chicky-licky-chow-chow-chow: Maryville, Tennessee	p. 150
A Fish Story: Farmville, Virginia	p. 160
Christmas Gift: Palatka, Florida	p. 166
Wiley and the Hairy Man: Tombigbee Region, Alabama	p. 171
West Hell: Jacksonville, Florida	p. 182
Old Hickory and the Bell Witch: Adams, Tennessee	p. 186
Resources	p. 195
About the Author	p. 198
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

From Chapter 10
The Woman in Black
Savannah, Georgia

Suddenly the rat sprang forward and ran straight towards us. Teddy and I jumped back in terror but the woman in black did not move. For several terrible seconds, we watched that white rat coming closer, closer. Then the woman picked up her black silk skirts and ran to meet it. The white rat sprang up into her arms and then sank right through her chest. I caught a glimpse of her face through the veil. It was all sunken-in like the face of a corpse. She laughed, a horrible high pitched sound. Then the earth seemed to open below her feet and she sank down and down.

Teddy let out a shriek that was almost as terrible as the ghoul-woman's cry. He dropped his stick and started runnin' as if he'd never suffered from rheumatism a day in his life. I was right on his heels. We never stopped runnin' til we got home.

After that, we always took the long way to my aunt's house and made sure we left before dark.

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Excerpted from Spooky South: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore by S. E. Schlosser
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.