"Haunted History: Atlanta and North Georgia," Schiffer Books
BY STACEY HUDSON
"Haunted History: Atlanta and North Georgia"
by Corinna Underwood
ambiguousmedia.net
Schiffer Books
AUGUSTA, GA. - Some Augustans may laugh at the idea of a haunted house, and yet withdraw their hands from a certain pillar downtown. After all, nearly half of Americans say they believe in ghosts, or that the dead can return in certain places and situations.
That means that the state of Georgia is rife with infestations of ghostly specters, spirits and lost male souls (female souls would stop and ask directions, ha ha?. Okay, moving on?).
Corinna Underwood, who writes a regular columns for Art Bell?s monthly paranormal-themed magazine ?After Dark,? just finished a book about hauntings that plague the living in the Peach State: ?Haunted History: Atlanta and North Georgia.?
She hails from England, she spent time in Georgia as a student and always vowed she would return. When she did, her natural curiosity about the subject of the mystical world drew her to many of the sites around the state.
?I began hearing stories from different people when I moved to Atlanta and have always wanted to write a book about the paranormal,? Underwood said. ?I have visited most of the sites in the book although unfortunately I have not experienced anything supernatural, though I consider myself to be a healthy skeptic I found that the people I interviewed had experiences that had profoundly affected their lives.?
The sites she focused on are located in North Georgia, which leaves out Augusta. About the closest to our area that she comes is Watkinsville or Covington, both more than an hour away. But there are plenty of interesting encounters at places familiar to locals, like the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, to hold curious interest.
?I think my favorite has to be the Eagle Tavern at Watkinsville. I had never heard a story quite like that before,? she said. The old public house and hostel is run by the Oconee County government and tourism authority, and the staff has videotaped a rocking chair and a weaving loom both moving without assistance. The building is said to be haunted by a number of specters, including a woman in a pink ball gown, a very tall black man in a blue shirt, a traveler about 20-years-old and, perhaps, a malevolent non-human spirit.
The book also details hauntings at the Gaither Plantation in Covington, Kennesaw House in Marietta, the Village Inn at Stone Mountain and more. These stories do not disturb Underwood, who can describe her own spiritual encounters in detail: ?I used to live in a house in England that often had a very strange and unnerving atmosphere. Something in there frequently unnerved my young son. One night some friends and I were having dinner when we heard a loud crash from upstairs. We all ran up, concerned that my son had fallen from his crib. Thankfully he was sleeping soundly. We checked all the windows but found nothing that could have caused the noise, until we returned to the landing. On the middle of the floor was the handle from bathroom door which was two feet away. The handle appeared to have been literally torn from the wood; there were splinters on the screws. Needless to say we were all very shaken. The house itself was less that 100 years old so really didn?t have much history and I was unable to find out little about the previous owners. Though I believe the land it is built on is riddled with coal mines.?
But it?s a fun read, particularly when the places are familiar and readers can place the actions. But each site really required its own photography, and much of it is left out of the book. Some stock photography is scattered throughout to add visual interest to stories that would go otherwise unillustrated.
She?s currently working on a collection of stories about haunts in Taos and New Mexico. But, since the book on Georgia was released, a number of people have approached Underwood with stories of other hauntings that she did not include. So she may write another book on Atlanta and North Georgia in 2009. She?s taking submissions at her website. Visit ambiguousmedia.net.
http://metrospirit.com/index.php?cat=19 ... 4080924444
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