Dixie Spirits: True Tales of the Strange and Supernatural in the South (Paperback)

by Christopher Kiernan Coleman (Author) "IN APRIL 1865 YANKEE CAVALRY were making their way from Tuscaloosa to Columbus, Alabama, when they paid a visit to the little town of Carrolton..." (more)
Key Phrases: boxwood garden, ordnance works, voodoo queen, New Orleans, Point Pleasant, Brown Mountain (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
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, Old North State (North Carolina), 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 times as well as an assortment of anomalies that continue to defy speculation. The 62 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 and dying. 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.

About the Author
CHRISTOPHER K. COLEMAN is a publishing consultant, freelance editor, and writer. Author of Strange Tales of a Dark and Bloody Ground, he lives in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Cumberland House Publishing (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581822936
• ISBN-13: 978-1581822939
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,048,534 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Boo, ya'll., August 5, 2003

By	Dennis Phillips "The Book Friar" (Bulls Gap, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful resource for haunted locations in the south, October 29, 2008

By	RebeccasReads.com (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Dixie Spirits: True Tales of the Strange and Supernatural in the South (Second Edition) (Paperback)

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.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great fun, November 7, 2002

By	Kimberley Wilson (VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Dixie Spirits is a very good collection of well known and not so well known regional ghost stories. Christopher Coleman is a talented writer who tells the tales with a fresh new spin. I particularly appreciated the sympathetic treatment of African Americans and Indians in his version of the classic ghost stories. The best thing about these "true tales" is that you can visit every single place in the book. My only complaint is the way the book abruptly ends. There should have been an author's note or an index.