Ghostly Cries From DixieFrom the dark swamps of Louisiana to the misty hills and hollows of Appalachia, the American South is enshrouded by a mystical element that rouses the senses and kindles the imagination. This mystical element has for years inspired tales of ghosts haunting old houses, creatures roaming through dense forests, and headless apparitions waving lanterns in the darkness. In this chilling collection of ghostly and unusual tales from the land of cypress swamps and moonshine stills, author Pat Fitzhugh meticulously recounts Dixie's most terrifying legends and the haunted history behind them. From an abandoned TB hospital in Kentucky where former patients roam the halls, to a New Orleans mansion where mutilated servants roam the courtyard, your spine will tingle. From a Louisiana Voodoo queen who casted spells, to a fiendish entity who tormented an early Tennessee family, Dixie's most notorious characters will leave you spellbound. From a preacher who cursed a rural Georgia town into oblivion, to a West Virginia woman whose testimony from the grave helped convict her killer, you will meet Dixie's most interesting people. From the Devil's reputed playground in North Carolina, to a phantom light on a lonely Texas road, you will visit Dixie's weirdest locations. From a West Virginia prison where more than 80 men died, to the location of a fiery steamboat explosion in Arkansas, you will experience Dixie's most horrific tragedies. These stories will never go away or become outdated. They, along with the landscape of our region, are permanently etched into our human experience. Through personal interviews, travels, and research, Pat Fitzhugh artfully serves up a collectible book of mystery, awe, and spiritual refreshment. Come on a terrifying journey down the road less traveled, where ghosts, haints, and spirits stand watch over the cypress-filled swamps, old houses, and forgotten graveyards of Dixie. |
Contents
Preface | iv |
Waverly Hills TB Sanatorium | 15 |
The Brown Mountain | 23 |
The Bragg Ghost Light | 83 |
The Waving Girl | 94 |
The Greenbrier Ghost | 104 |
Moundsville Prison | 113 |
Woodlawn Plantation | 120 |
The Gray | 129 |
Sloss | 137 |
The LaLaurie Mansion | 143 |
The Haunted Lighthouse at St Augustine | 152 |
| 168 | |
Common terms and phrases
allegedly Andrew apparition appear became bedroom began Bell home Bell's Betsy Brown Mountain Lights Cedarhurst Cemetery curse death Despite Devil's Tramping Ground died disaster door early Edward Shue Elba Island encounter entity floor Florence Martus footsteps Ghost Light ghostly activity girl glow gravestone Gray Greenbrier hallway heard Heaster hurricane inside the circle investigators Jacksonboro John Bell Jowers Kate LaLaurie Mansion lantern legend lighthouse lightkeeper lightkeeper's lived located Lorenzo Dow Lucy Bell Madame Delphine Madame LaLaurie Marie Laveau Marie's McRaven House Memphis miles morning Moundsville murdered mysterious nearby never night Nolichucky Nolichucky River occasion Orleans Orpheum paranormal passengers patients phenomena pirate reported residents residual haunting River Sally seen servants Sites slaves Sloss Furnace soldiers sounds South Carolina standing Sultana Tennessee thicket town track Tuberculosis Vicksburg visitors Voodoo queen walked Waverly Hills West Virginia witness woman Woodlawn's woods young Zona Zona's