Terrance Zepke

Ghosts of Savannah is a chatty and informative guide to some of the city’s haunted buildings. Often called the most haunted city in America, Savannah has a lot to offer in the way of architecture, art, ambiance, food, and history. And ghosts. Even a ghost cat.

Zepke describes the various ghosts that are said to haunt houses, hotels, museums and other buildings, most of which are in the historic district. She also provides practical details about the sites that are open to the public, which show more makes Ghosts of Savannah a good supplemental travel guide for anyone visiting Savannah that wants to know more about its haunted places. show less

I understand that when I pick up a book called “Ghost of Somewhere-or-other” I shouldn’t expect high quality literature. Even so, I found ‘Ghosts of Savannah’ a disappointment.

Usually such books fall into one of three categories depending on the author’s point of view: the folklorist, the parapsychologist or the journalist. The folklorist is interested in the stories people tell and doesn’t try too hard to convince the reader that the events really happened. The show more parapsychologist believes in spirits and doesn’t feel the need to convince the reader of what, to them, is obvious. The journalist, though, approaches the subject with a semblance of journalistic integrity and presents the ‘facts’ of the story thereby letting the reader make up his or her own mind as to whether there really is paranormal activity.

In Ghosts of Savannah, Terrance Zepke offers a fourth approach, that of a travel writer. She neither cares whether or not ghosts exist nor worries overly much about journalistic integrity. Her goal in the process is to get you to Savannah to see the Mercer House or the 17Hundred90 Inn or the Shrimp Factory or whatever other historic attraction. She tells us a little of the history of the building that may or may not be true (In one case she reports that one resident was “appointed to the House of Representatives by President Andrew Jackson”, a constitutional impossibility.) Then she throws in a few paragraph describing encounters that were reported by guests or employees, often removing the “reported by” reference leaving us with “the specter in a war uniform has been seen on many occasions”. Finally, she wraps up with information targeted directly at potential visitors including sidebars on local festivals and an entire chapter on visitor information.

Ms. Zepke does deserve some credit because, ultimately, she succeeded in what she set out to do. She did interest me in the idea of visiting Savannah and seeing some of the places she wrote about.

*Quotations are cited from an advanced reading copy and may not be the same as appears in the final published edition. The review copy of this book was obtained from the publisher via the LibraryThing Early Reader Program. show less

Since I bought this book at the Historical Center in New Bern, I think I was expecting more North Carolina ghosts and legends. In fact, a good number of the stories from this book seem to take place in and around Georgetown, SC.

Not to say that there isn't some valuable storytelling here. Zepke opens with the Ship of Fire, which is directly connected to New Bern, then goes into Danny Bradshaw's experiences on the USS North Carolina in Wilmington. There were some stories I had not heard, which show more was nice. Also, I like how she gives exact locations for some of the stories with possible sightings for anyone interested in potentially seeing the Shoo-Fly ghost train or others.

Surprised the Maco Light didn't make the list, but the inclusion of the Pactolus Light (a new one on me) made up for it.

Definitely a few of these stories that make me want to research them more in-depth. show less

Zepke has compiled an entertaining guidebook to more than twenty haunted sites in Savannah. Each short chapter begins with a conjectured conversation or vignette set in the time of the original haunting. Then the historical facts are presented, along with information on contemporary events, tours, and driving or walking directions.

This would be a terrific book to tuck into a backpack or tote bag (just a little bit too big for most pockets) while doing a walking tour of the historic areas of show more Savannah. I've visited Savannah several times, and this book makes me want to go again and look for the slightly eerie side.

I received this book as part of the LT Early Review program. show less