Customer Reviews

Charleston Ghosts

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Written and first published almost forty years ago, Charleston Ghosts was the product of the late Martin's fervid interest in her hometown's history, particularly the tales of local hauntings and the circumstances that caused the unearthly unrest as recounted over and again by other native Charlestonians. These stories, tales of spurned love (a wealthy society girl rejects love for money and pays the consquences) and rejection (a house servant risks her heart and loses) are as colorful as the city itself.

Pick up a copy of Charleston Ghosts if you are unable to visit the city yet have an interest in Southern history and "otherworldly" things. Martin's retellings of the city's more known legends are fascinating to read, from the frightening "Gray Man" of St. Philip's Episcopal Cemetery to the "Whistling Doctor" who can still be heard--a century after his death!

If you do happen to be in town, take a walking tour and get the book. You just may meet a major character in one of Martin's tales.

There is a great deal about the history and folklore of Charleston and the low country in this book. If you are after folklore this is your book. On the other hand if it is ghost stories you crave you might want to pass. Many of the stories start out with several pages relating to the history of the haunting and finish with only a paragraph about the ghost itself. For example the story often ends with a sentence like, "The young girl's spirit still roams......".

The writing style is very good and Mrs. Martin's love for Charleston is very evident. I realize that the style of writing these type of books has changed a great deal since this book came out so I won't be too hard on it. The idea of presenting a ghost story as fact and interviewing those who claim to have seen the ghost wasn't in style in 1963. Still I bought this book expecting much more ghost and a lot less folklore and history. If you are really into ghosts there are much better books out there dealing with Charleston.

There aren't too many cities in the US with as many ghosts as Charleston, SC--except for maybe New Orleans or Savannah. In Charleston Ghosts, Margaret Rhett Martin provides us with a look at 18 different ghosts known to haunt Charleston and the low country. The spirit world is alive and well in Charleston, and there are ghosts of many happy and unhappy people who lived and died in the area. Some of these are more well-known than others.

Perhaps the most famous is Revolutionary War patriot, Isaac Hayne. Most people think that Mel Gibson's character in the movie, The Patriot, is based on the life of Francis (Swamp Fox) Marion. It was actually a compilation of Marion and Isaac Hayne. After Hayne was hanged by the British, he began to make regular appearances in Charleston. His voice and his footsteps could be heard for 100 years outside of Peronneau House. While some people may have doubted his appearance as a ghost, the outrage over his death certainly stirred his countrymen to a stronger resistance and eventually, independence. So in a sense, he definitely came back to haunt the British.

The most infamous spirit belongs to Lavinia Fisher. Fisher and her husband operated a boarding house outside Charleston called Six Mile House. When a solo boarder showed up at their door, the pair would murder them while they slept, and then confiscate all their belongings. When they were finally caught, Lavinia went to the gallows in her wedding gown. Her ghost has been seen in a number of locations, including the Old Jailhouse.

While short and light, Charleston Ghosts is not exactly a scholarly read. I also noticed many discrepancies between the book and the many Charleston Ghost Tours that are prevalent in the Holy City. Still, it's a fun book to pick-up and read before wandering the streets of Charleston.

This is an interesting book about the ghosts of historic old Charleston and is a good read.

...but you'll want to!

I was in the fifth or sixth grade and living in Summerville, South Carolina when one of my teachers read to my class "The Wayfarer at Six-Mile House." I loved it. My family returned to Virginia a year or two later, and for the first Christmas after we left, some of our former Summerville neighbors sent us a copy of Charleston Ghosts. I now consider it my own little treasure.

Some of the stories are more memorable than others, but I think the book does a beautiful job of capturing the mystique that surrounds Charleston and the Lowcountry. The fact that, as the author says, the places in the stories are, or were, REAL places just made the stories all the more captivating to me. On a recent trip to Charleston and Hilton Head, I actually tracked down the entrances (both places are closed to the public) to Medway, which I believe is now for sale, and Brick House on Edisto Island, only the ruins of which still stand.

I highly recommend Charleston Ghosts!

I first read this book as a child and when my paperback copy was destroyed I purchased a new hard cover copy. I still pick this book up on occasion for a wonderful trip back in time and into a touch of the spirit world.