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Archive for June 20th, 2007

The first part of my quest to find something new to photograph has begun. I’ve begun my journey by looking into ghost stories. Why ghost stories you ask? Well, they seem to have a habit of involving eclectic and stately old manors with a checkered past, or some lonely and isolated locale where a young lover pines away in front of a window looking out into the majestic sea waiting for a suitor to come home, or a bed and breakfast which was the site of some sinister quarrel or money, women or both. And since North Carolina and South Carolina have eclectic stately manors, lighthouses and many bed and breakfast inns, I figured my chances were pretty good of coming across something unique and interesting to visit.

The first stop on my journey was to investigate the book, “Ghosts from the Coast”. It has stories from the Carolinas involving the things I was looking for. The only thing missing from this narrative is the voice of Robert Stack to guide you through the events and to give you that final warning at the end about the light you see in the window.

In actually two of the stories in the book have been worked into stories for Unsolved Mysteries; one involving the Gray Man who gives warnings before hurricanes and the ghost that inhabits a seafood restaurant.

But the point of interest isn’t the ghost stories but the places where they take place. First off, the stories are hardly bone chilling, keep you awake at night wondering what that sound was kind of tales. They are simple narratives about the events which have taken place. There isn’t a dramatic build up with the final tension filled warning at the end. It’s more like what you would hear of a tour through a museum. However, with a little flair and some theatrics you could easily spin some yarns around the campfire for a younger crowd.

The first part of the book is quite interesting, both from a ghost story perspective and from historical perspective. However, by the middle of the book it starts to lose a little steam and some of the stories are little more than historical background pieces. You get some stories regarding hurricane Hugo, a young boy with a less than favorable father, and the discovery of the Hunley submarine. They’re interesting from a historical sense, but they don’t quite blend in with the Ghost Story theme.

As a book on ghost stories it’s not worth the price of admission. You won’t be mesmerized by the tales of outer worldly experiences. As an interesting way of looking at the history of the Carolinas, it gains more merit. It does have some interesting stories which you can further research. For many of the stories you do get an address for the “haunting” so you can visit on your own and dig deeper to see what other mysteries abound in the area. I’m sure the Internet has plenty of information to provide for each of these places.

If you want ghost stories, this probably won’t satisfy, but it you want an interesting way of reading about the history of the Carolinas, you might be entertained. I do have to say, it does make me want to go visit Blackbeard’s stomping grounds…

Click on the link to find Ghosts from the Coast.