He hadn’t been sleeping long when a thumping noise awoke him. It sounded like an animal was climbing up the side of the cabin. He heard a scratch, scratch, scratching noise, like the claws of a cat. And then a voice rang out: “Tailypo, Tailypo; all I want’s my Tailypo.”
-TAILYPO
Here we have a collection of unnerving tales of events that happened–and still do happen–in the collective back yard of the Deep South states.
Accompanied by evocative illustrations, these compelling retellings of 30 popular folktales feature supernatural occurrences and ghosts of all sorts, from fiddling ghosts to the story of the Jack o’Lantern.
Whether read around the fire on a dark and stormy night or in the backseat of the family van on the way to Grandma’s, each expertly told tale is guaranteed to make readers look at the South–and over their shoulders–again and again.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part One: Ghost Stories
Chapter 1. Wait Until Emmet Comes – Kanawha County, West Virginia
Chapter 2. The Cut-Off – Red River Landing, Louisiana
Chapter 3. I’m Coming Down – Camden, South Carolinea
Chapter 4. The Army of the Dead – Charleston, South Carolina
Chapter 5. The Death Watch – Raleigh County, West Virginia
Chapter 6. Hold Him, Tabb – Hampton, Virginia
Chapter 7. The Headless Haunt – Madison, North Carolina
Chapter 8. Jakie and the Ghost – Greenville, Mississippi
Chapter 9. The Log Cabin – Montgomery County, Arkansas
Chapter 10. The Woman in Black – Savannah, Georgia
Chapter 11. Seeing Ghosts – Sea Island, Georgia
Chapter 12. Chattanooga’s Ghost – New Orleans, Louisiana
Chapter 13. Fiddler’s Dram – Dukedom, Tennessee
Chapter 14. Uncle Henry and the Dog Ghost – Somewhere Down South
Chapter 15. The Headless Specter – Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina
Part Two: The Powers of Darkness
Chapter 16. The Wampus Cat – Knoxville, Tennessee
Chapter 17. The Devil’s Marriage – Guilford County, North Carolina
Chapter 18. The Witch Woman and the Spinning Wheel – New Orleans, Louisiana
Chapter 19. Jack-O’-Lantern – Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama
Chapter 20. Plat-Eye – Harrison County, Mississippi
Chapter 21. The Witch Bridle – Albright, West Virginia
Chapter 22. Tailypo – Montgomery County, Tennessee
Chapter 23. The Devil’s Mansion – New Orleans, Louisiana
Chapter 24. The Red Rag Under the Churn – The Kentucky Mountains
Chapter 25. Chicky-licky-chow-chow-chow – Maryville, Tennessee
Chapter 26. A Fish Story – Farmville, Virginia
Chapter 27. Christmas Gift – Palatka, Florida
Chapter 28. Wiley and the Hairy Man – Tombigbee Region, Alabama
Chapter 29. West Hell – Jacksonville, Floriday
Chapter 30. Old Hickory and the Bell Witch – Adams, Tennessee
