I love the South. It’s filled with Palmetto trees, wild magnolias, stately
old rice plantations, and lots of ghost stories.
I heard my first one at summer camp when I was nine years old. The
counselors told us one hair-raising tale after another, trying to scare us
silly. Instead, I hung on every word, begging for more. I was hooked.
I’ve lived in many places, but have spent most of my life in the
Carolinas. Storytelling is a favorite pastime around here, especially in the
Low Country, and I still love to hear a good yard about things that go bump
in the night with no rational explanation. I’ve spent years listening to and
compiling some great tales, and I even learned a few new ones when I was
working on Lighthouses of the Carolinas, my first book.
Love, greed, murder, and mayhem are the things great stories are made of,
and plenty of these elements can be found in the stories collected here. some
of the tales are grounded in library research of old newspaper clippings; the
rest are retold as they were recited to me. Some are well known, with many
adaptations, and some have seldom, if ever, been heard. I have been told
several of these narratives by locals, ranging from young to old, matrons to
fishermen. I’ve included some of my favorites, and the only change I have
made is to adapt some of the language and dialogue to be more contemporary.
As to whether they’re true or not is an individual decision. I choose not
to explore logical or rational justifications, but to savor the tales as they
were meant to be. I hope you will also enjoy them.
And, if at night after you’re tucked into bed, reading by the light of
your night-table lamp, you hear something in the attic, a not-so-faint
creaking or rustling sound, it’s probably just the wind sneaking in through a
gap around the window, or the effects of an old house settling.
Or is it? Maybe it’s the Ghost in the Attic, seeking revenge for his
wife’s betrayal. Or, maybe it’s the spirit of the keeper’s wife who was
brutally Murdered at Cape Romain by her husband. Maybe she’s come looking for
him...Or maybe it’s a young woman, also known as the Lady in Blue, who is
said to appear on particularly dark and stormy nights, warning others to go
back, go back... It could also be the man who was Buried Alive calling to
you, trying to get you to open his coffin...
