From 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 These stories will never go away or become outdated.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.
About the Author: Born and raised in Tennessee, Pat Fitzhugh developed an appreciation for Southern folklore and ghost stories at an early age. As a child, his favorite story was the legend of the so-called "Bell Witch," which he began researching seriously a few years later. Fitzhugh's extensive research of the mystery culminated in "The Bell Witch: The Full Account," a 406-page literary work that introduced many previously unpublished facts surrounding the case. Filled with historical footnotes and endnotes, Fitzhugh's well-documented analysis has become an essential tool for those seriously interested in researching the case. A revised edition was published in 2003, and a fully reworked version of the book is due out in 2010. In his spare time, Fitzhugh enjoys spending time with his family, playing guitar, going on roadtrips, photography, and fishing.