Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey: Commemorative Edition

One of the best-known and widely shared books about the South, Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey has haunted the imaginations of generations of delighted young readers since it was first published in 1969. Written by nationally acclaimed folklorists Kathryn Tucker Windham and Margaret Gillis Figh, the book recounts Alabamas thirteen most ghoulish and eerie ghost legends. Curated with loving expertise, these thirteen tales showcase both Windham and Fighs masterful selection of stories and their artful and suspenseful writing style. In crafting stories treasured by children and adults alike, the authors tell much more than ghost tales. Embedded in each is a wealth of fact and folklore about Alabama history and the old South. I dont care whether you believe in ghosts, Windham was fond of saying. The good ghost stories do not require that you believe in ghosts. Millions of readers cherish memories of being chilled as teachers and parents read them unforgettable stories like The Unquiet Ghost at Gaineswood, about the ghost of Evelyn Carter, who fills this Demopolis antebellum mansion with midnight musical lamentations because her body wasnt returned to her native Virginia, and The Phantom Steamboat of the Tombigbee, about the wreck of the steamboat Eliza Battle, which caught fire on the way to Mobile and sank one February night in 1858. People who live along the river say the flaming steamboat wreck still rises on cold nights, its cotton cargo blazing across the waves while its terrified survivors cry for help from the icy water. The titles Jeffrey refers to a friendly ghost who resides in the Windham home and who served as Windhams unofficial collaborator in this work and the subsequent books in this popular series, all of which are now available in high-quality reproductions of their spooky originals.