There is something about the South that is particularly conducive to ghosts, hauntings, and assorted weirdness. From the dank bayous of Louisiana to the misty mountains of Appalachia, there is hardly a city, town, or whistle-stop that cannot boast of some resident spirit or similar unexplained phenomena.
Dixie Spirits explores this uncanny aspect of the South in depth. A collection of authentic Southern "haint" tales and other accounts of the unexplained, the stories are set in the land below the Mason-Dixon Line--Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky (Transylvania), Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina (Old North State), South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Covering both the past and the present, these stories recount some of the most famous hauntings of all time as well as an assortment of anomalies that continue to defy speculation.
The sixty-two stories in Dixie Spirits are organized into sections by state. Although the tales are about the dead (and undead), they are as much about life and living as they are about death. Love's labor lost, the futility of war, crime and punishment--these are eternal themes that speak to us about the human condition, regardless of their supernatural setting. Moreover, these stories are based on factual, historical incidents involving real people and places.
This second, expanded edition includes ghost tours, haunted hotels, and other fun and mysterious travel spots.
Wonderful resource for haunted locations in the southOctober 30, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (10/08)
"Dixie Spirits: True Tales of the Strange and Supernatural in the South" is a collection of ghost stories from the American South. "What is it about the South that makes it so congenial to the supernatural? Is it those long, languid, moonlit nights, redolent with the scent of honeysuckle and magnolia, that mesmerize the senses? Is it Dixie's turbulent and tragic past that has roused so many restless spirits? Or is it something less tangible, less definable, that stirs the Southern soul and draws the darkness near?" (p.11)
Whatever the case may be, the South is filled with stories of haunting and ghostly activity and this book explores many of the well known, as well as some of the more obscure incidences. The book is divided up by state and focuses on 3-5 stories for each area. Included in this book are tales from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
I was particularly drawn to the group of stories from Louisiana as I had visited many "haunted" locations throughout the New Orleans and Baton Rouge area. I was pleased to see accounts from places that I had been, such as the Myrtles Plantation. It is always interesting to read about areas that you have experienced firsthand.
I found the tales to be very interesting and informative. Many of the stories in the book were of places that I had not heard of before but would love to visit if I had the chance. Particularly helpful is the address information of the featured locations as well as listings of some of the other haunted places located in each state. I also like that websites of some of the locations are provided as this allows the reader to get more information. The only thing that I wished was different about the book was that I would have liked to see some photos of the areas and there weren't any. However, if you go to some of the websites provided you are able to view them there.
"Dixie Spirits: True Tales of the Strange and Supernatural in the South" is a wonderful book for anyone interested in "haunted hotels and mansions, diabolical curses, mysterious monsters, and assorted fearsome phenomena" (from the back cover). It would make an excellent reference book for those interested in traveling to these areas.
The strangeness and detail of the stories draw the reader in and leave you wanting moreSeptember 25, 2008 Reviewed by Danelle Drake for Reader Views (9/08)
Like the "Crooked Road in Virginia" guides you through Virginia's Heritage Music Trail, "Dixie Spirits: The Tales of the Strange and Supernatural in the South (Second Edition)" guides you to mysterious haunted houses, hotels and other haunts throughout the south.
This entertaining guide leads you through state after state in the south with the most interesting and eerie ghost tales you have ever heard. Each tale gives you a detailed history of when and why the entity first appears, real life encounters as well as the physical location of today along with address, web address and general directions to the site.
My family has visited the Brown Mountain Lights here in North Carolina several times. Although I have read about their origin from other publications and have heard about them all my life, I have never learned as much detail as I did in reading "Dixie Spirits." We have also been to both the Pirate's House Inn and the Juliette Gordon Lowe birthplace in Savannah. Although we didn't see any "going ons" at either, our daughters mentioned that they felt eerie in the Lowe home. My husband and I thought this was a bid odd because we didn't mention the haunted part - we were there visiting the birthplace of the founder of Girl Scouts of America. Perhaps they felt someone there?
Additional locations you may want to visit and information on any Ghost Tours available are given at the conclusion of each state's stories. My family has been on several Ghost Tours, including Asheville Ghost Walk here at home, as well as Ghosts and Legends Tour of Savannah which are mentioned here and have learned interesting historical facts and had our skin crawling after each experience. A city, a building, a room that you see during the day can look extremely different on a cloudy evening when given details you absorb in a Ghost Tour.
While planning your trip to visit haunted locations in the south, "Dixie Spirits" can be your all encompassing guide. In closing, the Appendix will give you haunted sites to stay while on your journey. That is if you do not mind sleeping next to a ghost.
Of the thirty-four beautifully detailed accounts "Dixie Spirits" by Christopher K Coleman leads you through; each one is unique in both character and detail. The strangeness and detail of the stories draw the reader in and leave you wanting more - with the lights on and the door locked.
Not bad.January 2, 2004 0 out of 3 found this review helpful
Fairly informative, sometimes trite, account of ghostly happenings throughout the South. The writer's dialect seems to change from story to story, making the reader think that perhaps there is more than one author. Very light reading.
spookySeptember 1, 2003 0 out of 5 found this review helpful
this book was very informative and entertaining and sometimes when I read it at night I'll ammit it even scared me a little the fact that florida was left out could be bad for some people i donm't know about florida ghost so it kind of bothered me but the ghost west virginia which is not a dixie state was interesting mainly because some of my college friends where from the areas described and told me about the ghost
Boo, ya'll.August 5, 2003 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Dixie Spirits is a collection of ghost stories from the American south. Some of the stories in this book are hauntings that are very familiar to anyone who likes to read this type of books. The gray man, the Brown Mountain lights, and the Myrtles plantation are found within the pages of this book and just about any book about southern ghosts that one chooses to read. However, there are also some hauntings to be found in this book that I was not familiar with. For example the Sloss Furnaces, the Athens haunted pillar, and the Hornet ghost light. Also, the ghosts of some of the Lee homes in Virginia were completely new to me. I suppose that anyone writing a book of this sort would have to assume that his or her readers hadn't read about the Myrtles and would feel as if they had to include such a famous haunt. I guess that those of us who frequent these books will just have to learn to live with that fact.
The only other problems I found in this book were an over abundance of Indian legends and a last second rush of UFO stories. Coleman tries to explain his use of the UFO tales but I bought a ghost book, not a UFO book and had no real desire to find UFO stories haunting this book's pages. There are also numerous typos, which are somewhat irritating.
On the other hand, the writing style of the author is very pleasing and the stories in this book seem to just fly by. I assume that he has done a fair amount of research but there is no bibliography so I can't be sure. Overall, this is a well-written and interesting book. A little off target in places but still rather good and well worth the price. Read it on a cool October evening but don't get too lost in its pages or the mothman might get you.
