|  | Massacre Island | |  | | Massacre Island | | Twelve-year-old Nicolas de La Salle and his family sailed to La Louisiane (French Louisiana) with Governor Iberville to start a French settlement on the Gulf coast. Nicolas's father was with the explorer, Robert Cavelier de La Salle, when he reached ... | | | $17.95 | |  |
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| | | Cookbooks | Home » » » Ghost Dogs of the South | | | | | | | Description: | | This vivid, bewitching volume of "true" Southern ghost tales reveals not only dogs' enduring devotion to their folk, but the deep attachment of Southerners to these legends. Russell and Barnett both folklorists have culled 20 homespun canine poltergeist narratives, prefacing the volume with a personal anecdote of their Great Dane, Desdemona, whose devotion to the authors knew no earthly bounds and inspired this compilation. Spanning the years between the American Revolutionary War and the present, these stories of ghost dogs and dog ghosts (e.g., humans who manifest as dogs) often recount benign hauntings. Mike, an Airedale, still patrols a Harlan County, Ky., coal mine, alerting miners to potential accidents. The ghosts of a sea captain and his dog ride the waves of the Gulf of Mexico near Mobile Bay, warning sailors of hurricanes. A Boxer ghost named Preston who saved the life of a trick-or-treater from a speeding automobile in the 1950s still roams his old neighborhood every Halloween. A mutt named Moses refuses to be separated in the afterlife from his beloved master, a fallen soldier of the Civil War. Alternately eerie, funny, tragic and sentimental, these tales are told in clear, declamatory prose befitting their origin in the oral tradition. An informative foreword by Genelle Moraine, a University of Georgia comparative folklore professor emerita, clarifies aspects of Southern culture, while a delightful selection of vintage photographs from the authors' personal collection of people and their canine companions accompanies the text. These tales will undoubtedly delight dog lovers and will not fail to charm even the most dour skeptics of supernatural phenomena. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Randy Russell | | Paperback:
| 287 pages | | Publisher:
| John F. Blair Publisher | | Publication Date:
| 2003-07 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0895872889 | | Package Length:
| 7.4 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.3 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.8 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.45 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 8 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
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 Great book for both dog lovers and those who love a good ghost story!!Oct 24, 2009
I picked this book up in a local book shop and could not put it down! I got goosebumps after reading each story...but not the creepy kind. This is a heartwarming book especially for animal lovers. It goes to show that the power of our pets is something that goes beyond death. I would highly recommend this well-written and beautiful book.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 ETHEREAL POOCHESAug 19, 2009
"Ghost Dogs of the South" by Randy Russell and Janet Barnet is a fair collection of ghost stories relating to both human and dogs alike. It is also a collection of folklore that encompasses not only fairytales, but lycanthropy and "shape shifters" as well.
Despite the title of the book, I can speak from firsthand experience; "phantom dogs are not necessarily a unique phenomena of the Deep South". The Southwest has its own ghostly canines as well. Perhaps the best stories in this book (at least for tickling my imagination), was..."Jameson's Bell," and "The Missing Tree."
However, I applaud the authors for actually developing these tales, and addressing this very unusual subject matter. In addition, to this accumulation of ghosties stories the book is filled with magnificent old photographs of dogs and their once great masters. These ghostly images alone, will haunt you long after you put down the book.
I would recommend this book for anyone who loves dogs, and enjoys reading about the paranormal. A light, yet truly enjoyable read.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Holy Howling Hounds!Jul 21, 2008
If you love dogs, and good, rousing ghost stories, then you need to read this book. I read it in two nights, it was very hard to put the book down. These are not all tales of the "dawn of the dog-dead" variety; there are stories of dogs' loyalties to their former guardians; tales about canines who continue to protect their humans from the "other side"; and also tales that I am sure we have all heard in one form or other: the black dogs that haunt and harass. The best part of this book is the rich southern flavor, and being able to identify the cultural cross-overs in these stories. I highly recommend it as a good solid read, and food for thought about our relationships with our canine companions!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Dogs Are Constant Companions Even After Death.Oct 31, 2005
Using Southern folklore, which is passed down verbally by predominately mountain people, these twenty stores are about the shadow side of man's 'best friend.' They come in all shapes, sizes, colors and temperaments. One story has humans coming back in the shape of dogs -- large black dogs).
In 'Devil Dog' from Rich Mountain in North Carolina, it is reminiscent of the movie 'Cold Mountain,' this story takes place after the Civil War. The Yankee soldiers descend on the Confederate war widows and abuse them and their female offspring. The girl telling this story relates how she, her mother and some other women took guns to the spot where these rough-and-ready Yankees were sleeping and shot each in the head. After that, tall black ferocious dogs were seen in those woods, and one (the Devil Dog) is waiting for the grown-up girl to die.
In Tobes Creek at Turkey Knob Gap in the Smoky Mountains, a beagle named Hamblen was a most unusual dog who had a lazy master. However, Enzor discovered some bones in the caves of Tennessee and whittled a coffin to place them in, so as to let the spirits of those who had been drown rest in peace. His dog went with him to the caves and saved him from being drown. He continued to look after the old geezer.
In Knoxville, Linda was almost hit by her father as he was driving home from work and she was out in the street on her bicycle. She had a hard knock on her head and lay in a coma. Afterwards, she suffered from severe headaches, and always a tiny dog, only ten inches high with big, upright ears that looked like butterfly wings, would appear to make her feel better. It seems that at the time of the accident, some friends of a neighbor has such a dog called Papillon which had run out to save her and the car killed him.
In Nashville, out in the Belmont Hillsboro area, there lived a crazy beekeeper who owned a guard dog, Preston. He would supervise the children's trick-or-treating every Halloween. One year he died from cancer at the vet's the day before Halloween, but the woman's granddaughter had not been told. When she and her friends arrived at the house, Preston as usual accompanied them on their adventure and ran out in front of a car to save a younger child; then, his body vanished. He was already a ghost.
Ray Ross, Jr. in Tiptonville, Tennessee, had a boxer who loved to go fishing with him. At night they could catch the biggest catfish. General George jumped into a whirlpool one night and became a mermaid's ghost dog.
In the South, pets are a part of the family and treated like children. Others of these stories contain dogs from Kentucky, Georgia, and South Carolina. The writers enjoy researching these mountain stories and have written THE GRANNY CURSE AND OTHER GHOSTS AND LEGENDS OF EAST TENNESSEE and MOUNTAIN GHOST STORIES AND CURIOUS TALES OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. They live in Asheville, and the back flap photo shows them out in their yard with leashes on their invisible friends. It reminds me of tha dandified dog walker in MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL in Savannah, Georgia.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Heartwarming and originalJun 14, 2005
Ghost Dogs of the South is full of tales that come straight from the south of the United States. With tales such as trick or treating and a ghost dog saving you ("Trick or Treat") and a tale about magical dog teeth ("The Silver Locket"), you will find every kind of dog, person, and tale to fit a perfect collection of stories. Randy Russell and Janet Barnett have out done themselves with finding these tales of southern folklore. With 20 stories of amazing encounters to downright spooky stuff, Ghost Dogs of the South can leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
Although not perfect, this book comes very close. Twenty stories from all over the south, from Texas to Georgia, it makes up for the few mistakes made. Some mistakes include nothing about the authors and a confusing forward. But other than that, this collection is very highly recommended for reading.
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