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What comes to mind when you think of North Carolina history? Is it Sir Walter Raleigh, Guilford Courthouse and the Wright Brothers? Or do you think of sea monsters, drunken geese, hitchhiking alligators and a boy with "America" spelled out in his eyes? Throughout its 350-year past, North Carolina has been the site of a vast number of famous historical events. But the history of the Tar Heel State doesn't stop there. Just beyond what's well-known, written about and taught lies a second history, a Tar Heel treasure trove of fascinating characters and extraordinary events that have for decades gone untold or been forgotten. Until now. In this enthralling new book, Roger Kammerer and Tom Painter have compiled a collection of stories on North Carolina history sure to befuddle, baffle and bemuse even lifelong residents. Who knew that a man in Currituck County once traded his wife and two children for a fishing net? Or that the town of Rich Square once counted among its residents a 1,000-pound man? Or that a world champion fiddler from Asheville once fiddled at the White House for the president and King George VI? Or, better yet, that oysters with false teeth were once hauled up from the waters off Morehead City? Forgotten Tales of North Carolina is an incomparable collection of outrageous historic stories that will delight Tar Heels across the state, newcomers and natives alike.

Master storyteller Sherman Carmichael ventures into the Tar Heel State to deliver strange and mysterious tales along the coast. Read about shipwrecks such as that of the SS Liberator, which still sits at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Diamond Shoals, and legendary storms like the 1911 Water Spouts, which were described as tornadoes spinning wildly atop the ocean. Find out why the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is said to be haunted by a large black cat. Learn about the origins of Boo Hag, a fiendish creature that sucks the life out of her victims as they sleep at night--a tale that originates from the rich Gullah culture of the Carolinas. Join Carmichael as he contemplates these stories and more from the mysterious side of North Carolina's beloved coastal counties.

The history of the Tar Heel State is filled with mysterious and creepy tales. Legends say that several places in North Carolina have been visited by the devil, from the Devil's Tramping Ground near Siler City to the footprint he left in the Devil's Rock in Warren County. Learn why the Banshee of the Tar River first appeared and why her bloodcurdling screams continue to be heard. The Catsburg Ghost Train still appears on moonless nights. Sightings of Normie, the monster of Lake Norman, have been reported since the lake was created in the early 1960s. Join master storyteller Sherman Carmichael as he explores the lore of North Carolina's Piedmont.