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 Benson, 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