Readers of this book will venture deep into the dark and mysterious side of the American South and discover the heart-palpitating, eyewitness accounts of ghosts, poltergeists, and voices from beyond the grave which still linger. Included are the horrifying stories that have left their blood-stained imprints on North Carolina’s history, as well as modern, never-before-told hauntings from prominent individuals, businesses, and other locations.

Being the son of two horror television hosts, James M. Parker has combined his academic and professional experience in psychology and history with his morbid fascinations to bring about this collection of true ghost encounters. He lives in Johnston County, North Carolina.

James M. Parker
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 190
Bibliographic Info: 60 photos, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9477-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5210-8
Imprint: Exposit

Introduction 1
About the Research 5
Live in Fear 7
for
Class Is in Session: Asheville, Buncombe County 11
Witch of the Woods: Creston, Ashe County 21
Dear Lydia: Jamestown, Guilford County 33
The Last Call: Smithfield, Johnston County 44
The Howell Theatre: Smithfield, Johnston County 52
Revival 1869: Clayton, Johnston County 58
The Show Must Go On: Benson, Johnston County 69
The Silenced Boy: Clayton, Johnston County 79
The Poltergeists at Riverside: Smithfield, Johnston County 83
The ­­Blood-Stained Basement: Benson, Johnston County 88
The Secret Beneath the Bridge: Mill Creek, Johnston County 93
The Creaking of the Gallows: Hannah’s Creek Swamp, Johnston County 99
The Unseen Bystanders: Bentonville, Johnston County 103
I Live in a Haunted House: Benson, Johnston County 109
Dorothea Dix Mental Hospital: Raleigh, Wake County 121
Fort Macon: Carteret County 131
The Cotton Exchange: Wilmington, New Hanover County 139
Dead Men Tell No Tales: Wilmington, New Hanover County 153
Index 181

• “These stories have the making for great terror films.”—Sara Karloff, daughter of horror icon Boris Karloff

• “James Parker is a skilled storyteller who creates intriguing narratives enhanced by atmospheric trappings, especially well suited to the ghost story genre. In addition, he brings a historian’s gift for research that gives his stories a verisimilitude which makes them even more hauntingly believable—and unsettling.”—Robert Pohle, official biographer to Sir Christopher Lee.