North Carolina

Nestled in the heart of North Carolina's share of the Smoky Mountains, Asheville is one of the South's most haunted cities.

The picturesque landscape of this charming mountain destination belies what is in truth a violent, ghoulish past. Asheville has seen its share of horror, ranging from the suicide of the city's financial manager during the throws of the Depression, to hosting a tuberculosis sanitarium, to a night of murderous rampage in 1902. With wit and style, authors Ken Traylor and Delas House use their years of experience as the owners and lead guides for the 'Haunted Ghost Tour of Asheville"" to steer readers on a journey through the city's eeriest sites, from Riverside Cemetery to the Battery Park Hotel. Drawing on an unmatched repertoire of spectral lore, Traylor and House present a variety of ghastly accounts that are both thrilling and chilling. Traylor's personal experience as a guide and interpreter of local ghostlore adds a unique twist to this collection of macabre stories. Through years of research, he has amassed an intriguing collection of the area's haunted tales, and with Asheville Ghosts and Legends he seeks to share the gruesome details of Asheville's wicked past.

Beyond the beaten path of local landmarks, residents and tourists can find curious secrets, lost mysteries and fascinating legends.

The famed Hope Diamond once found itself, and its mysterious curse, buried in an Asheville girl's sandbox. Elvis once handed a cherished guitar to a local man at an Asheville concert, and he held on to it for forty years. At a flea market, an Asheville attorney paid a few bucks for an old tintype likely of Billy the Kid, and it may be worth millions. Native author Marla Hardee Milling recounts odd, but true, stories hiding behind Asheville's picturesque beauty.

Rising from the banks of the Cape Fear River like a spectral stage, Wilmington, North Carolina, remains one of America's most haunted cities. Its beautiful homes and tidal waterways belie a history of violence.

Wilmington is a true theatre of horror, the cast of which includes runaway slaves, children lost at sea, murderous lovers and fallen women of the night who linger in Paradise Alley. Wilmington's ghosts make the Cape Fear region worthy of its name. Author John Hirchak calls upon years of experience as the owner and guide of the ""Ghost Walk of Old Wilmington"" to lead his readers on a journey down back alleys and docksides, stopping at various points along the way to listen to the lingering whispers of generations long dead. A wonderful mix of humor and horror, Ghosts of Old Wilmington will delight any reader with an interest in Wilmington's unsavory past.

When the sun slips behind the trees, the spirits who linger in the mountains and valleys of North Carolina's Highlands and Cashiers whisper their stories.

Located in the Appalachian Mountains, within the Nantahala National Forest, the Highlands and Cashiers are townships rich in natural beauty and folklore. In this carefully cultivated collection, there are tales of lost loves, deals gone bad, and ghosts who walk the night. Is that a whisper winding through the hemlocks, or is it just the wind?