Spooky South: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Othe...

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.

From the Back Cover

Pull up a chair and gather round the campfire and get ready for thirty creepy tales of ghostly hauntings, eerie happenings, and other strange occurrences from times past. Set in small, southern towns, hard to reach islands, and sparsely populated backwoods, the stories in this entertaining and compelling collection will have you looking over your shoulder again and again.Southern folklore traditions are kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser, and in artist Paul Hoffman's evocative illustrations. You'll meet ghosts and witches, hear things that go bump in the night, and feel an icy wind on the back of your neck on a warm summer evening. Whether read around the campfire on a dark and stormy night or from the backseat of the family van on the way to grandma's, this is a collection to treasure.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From Chapter 10The Woman in BlackSavannah, GeorgiaSuddenly the rat sprang forward and ran straight towards us. Teddy and I jumped back in terror but the woman in black did not move. For several terrible seconds, we watched that white rat coming closer, closer. Then the woman picked up her black silk skirts and ran to meet it. The white rat sprang up into her arms and then sank right through her chest. I caught a glimpse of her face through the veil. It was all sunken-in like the face of a corpse. She laughed, a horrible high pitched sound. Then the earth seemed to open below her feet and she sank down and down.Teddy let out a shriek that was almost as terrible as the ghoul-woman's cry. He dropped his stick and started runnin' as if he'd never suffered from rheumatism a day in his life. I was right on his heels. We never stopped runnin' til we got home.After that, we always took the long way to my aunt's house and made sure we left before dark.

About the Author

Author S.E. Schlosser has been telling stories since she was a child, when games of "let's pretend" quickly built themselves into full-length stories. A graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature and Rutgers University, she also created and maintains the Web site AmericanFolklore.net, where she shares a wealth of stories from all 50 states, some dating back to the origins of America.Artist Paul Hoffman trained in painting and printmaking, with his first extensive illustration work on assignment in Egypt, drawing ancient wall reliefs for the University of Chicago. His work graces books of many genres--children's titles, textbooks, short story collections, natural history volumes, and numerous cookbooks. For the Globe Pequot Spooky series, he employed a scratchboard technique and an active imagination.

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