The dispatches stay inside the county line. The line is where things stop. But the things that stop there came from somewhere, and this is where we go looking.
Everything below is real history, sourced, with the legends marked as legends. Each page ends by pointing you back to the dispatch it sits closest to, because that’s the point of the trip.
The genre
- What Is Southern Gothic? The definition, eight tropes, and a dispatch for each.
- Southern Gothic vs. Traditional Gothic. The castle became the plantation house. What else changed.
- 7 Books for Fans of Lowcountry Gothic. Where to read next.
- Top 10 Southern Gothic Authors. The canon, Faulkner to today.
The writers
- Edgar Allan Poe on Sullivan’s Island. A year at Fort Moultrie, and what it put in the stories.
- Flannery O’Connor’s Andalusia. The farm where the grotesque was written, and how to visit it.
- Grady Hendrix’s Charleston Trilogy. The vampire in the Old Village and the puppet in the attic.
- Carson Faust and If the Dead Belong Here. Native Southern Gothic from the Edisto, by one of its own.
Beaufort and the Sea Islands
- The Great Sea Islands Hurricane of 1893. Two thousand dead, Clara Barton, and the Blue Lady.
- Dr. Buzzard and the Root Doctors of Beaufort. The conjure man, the sheriff who became one, and the courtroom between them.
- 5 Lowcountry Ruins You Can Visit. Chapel of Ease, Stoney-Baynard, Old Sheldon, and the two in our county.
Under Lake Marion
- The Lost Gold of Eutaw Springs. The last battle in the Carolinas, the legend, and the springs that are at the bottom of the lake.
- The Sunken Town of Ferguson. A lumber town with gas lights, drowned whole, and the Dorchester County forest its owner spared.
Charleston, from the epicenter out
- Why Charleston Is the Most Haunted City in America, and Where It Comes From.
- Charleston Ghost Tours: How the Business Started and What It Leaves Out.
- Haunted Places Near Charleston You Can Reach in a Day.
- South Carolina Ghost Stories, County by County.
Then come home
The county’s own history is at The County, the record is at A Short History of the County, and the stories are on the dispatches page. If you’ve never read one, start with Almost Here.