Since I recently posted a review of a book about spirit photography, I thought I'd follow up with some links to some famous ghost stories.John Norris Brown has an excellent post about the Bell Witch on his blog. The Bell Witch is a Tennessee legend that I've heard from many sources. Even Andrew Jackson was apparently visited by this apparition, which sometimes seems to have engaged in poltergeist-like activity.
Betsy Bell, the Bell Witch
Storytellers, you might want to read Brown's account of a possible ghost in Jonesborough, site of the annual National Storytelling Festival. His blog includes many other ghostly stories from Tennessee.
Deborah Wilson recently wrote a post about famous ghost photos on YouTube. (Many of the photos in the video are included in the book I reviewed yesterday.) Her comments are well worth reading.
Blackbeard the Pirate had a bloody career that ended near Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. Ocracoke is my favorite vacation place and I heard this story while we were there some years ago. Does his headless body still roam the island and the seas around it? The debate still rages; I liked this article, and this one, especially the last sentence.
One last entry to this list: the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe allegedly haunts the Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia. He is also supposed to haunt places in Baltimore--here's a spirit that gets around!
Do you have any favorite ghost stories from your neck of the woods that you'd like to share?
You and I are trodding the same path so closely on this topic, it isn't even funny! I have a book about the Bell Witch called "An American Haunting," (really liked it - well told), and I wrote the score for a chamber theatre piece last year about the life of Edgar Allan Poe, and I got to spend some time with a few notable Poe scholars. I've been to Poe's house (and museum) in NYC many times, Philly a few times, and I'm visiting Richmond next month!
ReplyDeleteWhew. That was a mouthful. You get me excited about this stuff, GS!
I don't have any ghost stories but that was some really interesting information.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...Mr. Skinnyhead? :)
ReplyDelete