With Halloween on the horizon, October brings to mind ghost stories, preferably told on a cool night sitting around a campfire in the deep, dark woods. Ghosts have long been associated with Halloween, which has its origins in a pagan holiday honoring the dead and evolved into the Christian observances of the vigil of All Hallow’s Eve, Oct. 31, All Hallow’s or All Saints Day, Nov. 1 and All Soul’s Day, Nov. 2., which also honor the departed.
Tales of ghosts and of haunted places hold a continuing fascination for many readers and for scholars interested in folklore and paranormal phenomena. DiverseBooks offer several interesting titles on the subject, including three on haunted locales in the South by Alan Brown, a folklorist based in Alabama, all published by the University of Mississippi Press.
In Haunted Places of the American South, Brown gathers tales about apparitions associated with homes, prisons, cemeteries, inns and other sites. Many of the stories have never been published before. Brown is professor of English at the University of West Alabama.
Brown wrote another book, Stories from the Haunted South, following up on leads from readers of his earlier book. He details the personal stories behind the ghost tales and gives directions to 53 sites across the Deep South.
Shadows and Cypress: Southern Ghost Stories, also written by Brown, taps into all the cultures that intermingled in the South, Native American, African-American, Scotts Irish, French and others to compile ghost stories from across the region. The haunted locales are as varied as the people — from the swamps of the bayou to the hills and hollows of Appalachia.
Brown is also the author of Literary Levees of New Orleans, Dim Roads and Dark Nights, and The Face in the Window and Other Alabama Ghostlore.
