I love ghost stories so I jumped at the opportunity to read and review Haunted Plantations of the South. Unfortunately, while the author has obviously spent a large amount of time researching the plantations, their histories, and the ghosts, Richard Southhall's narrative is very dry, lacking any emotion or excitement. He has, in fact, managed to make these stories - pardon the pun - lifeless. While some of the tales were interesting in a historical sense, I soon found myself bored.

This book might be interesting for people interested in a brief history of southern plantations, but it just doesn't work as a collection of ghost stories.

I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

**ARC provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

This book combines two of my interests, history and the paranormal. Most of the hauntings are of Civil War soldiers, which is where a lot of the history comes into to play. Some of the original plantation owners either played a significant part during the Civil War era (held an office or signed the Declaration of Independence), or were married to women who were related to someone who did.

There was quite a bit of research conducted to make this book. The author even explains the different architectural styles and the difference between antebellum and postbellum plantations. He also has them categorized into seven different states; Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

I liked being informed of the plantations that were used in film and TV. In the back of the book, there are tons of references with websites for you to check out. Also, a few books were mentioned as well.

One thing that was missing: visual aids. If there had been pictures of the plantations, and especially the ghost pictures that were brought up in a few of the stories, it would have made the book better. But, it's still not a bad read. I enjoyed the folklore and learning a few new things about the Civil War.

Richard Southall has compiled a book about haunting's in plantations in America. He has done a very good work, listed the plantations in different states. So here we have haunted plantations from South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and so on. All very neatly put together, Every plantation is described; its history and its ghosts. Very academic and also a bit boring to read. It really feels like reading a thesis. Some histories were kind of interesting to read, especially the very tragic ones, women waiting for a soldier never to return to her and so on, but hell this is about ghosts and the book bored me because everything was so clinical and dispassionate.

Also I missed images in the book. I hope the finished book will have images of the plantations, even if they are burned down and in ruin. It would have been much more interesting to read if one had some images to go with the story.

2 stars

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

Well at least this book will be perfect for anyone out on a haunted plantation tour...

Note to self: Really need to continue with Supernatural after browsing Dean Winchester gifs..

Not as interesting as I thought it would be...