Terrifying Alabama ghost story of a group of young boys who conspire to keep a horrible secret between them to their graves - and the creature of the lake who won't let that happen.  Written by Craig Dominey.

The Moonlit Road Podcast - Skull Lake: An Alabama Ghost Story (made with Spreaker)

Why do some people hear the eerie rattle of chains drifting from a St. Simons Island marsh at night?  Find out in this inspiring, African-American ghost story from the Georgia coast.  Written by Craig Dominey, told by Evelyn McCray.

The Moonlit Road Podcast - Ibo Landing: A Georgia Ghost Story (made with Spreaker)

Georgia folktale about a man who suspects that his beautiful new bride might be a witch - the Boo Hag!  Written by Veronica Byrd with Craig Dominey.

The Moonlit Road Podcast - The Boo Hag: A Georgia Folktale (made with Spreaker)

Ghost story of a Tennessee fiddle player has a bad run-in with some evil rattlesnakes.  Adapted from folklore by Craig Dominey.

The Moonlit Road Podcast - The Ghost of Fiddler's Rock: Tennessee (made with Spreaker)

African-American ghost story from Louisiana about a poor widow who wants to get on her with her life - if only her husband would stay dead!  Adapted by Craig Dominey and Veronica Byrd.

The Moonlit Road Podcast - I Don't Feel Dead Yet: Louisiana Ghosts (made with Spreaker)

Louisiana swamp folktale about a local fisherwoman whose unique way of fishing for crabs in the bayou gets her into trouble.  Written and told by Veronica Byrd and Bert Tanner.

The Moonlit Road Podcast - Mama Coon Coon: Louisiana Swamp Folktale (made with Spreaker)

Classic Southern spooky story from Mississippi about a traveling salesman who runs into some pretty strange cats warning about someone (or something) named "Jesse."  Adapted from folklore by Craig Dominey, told by LaDoris Davis.

The Moonlit Road Podcast - TMR POdcast #47: Wait 'Til Jesse Comes (made with Spreaker)

Mississippi creature story about a Depression-era farmhand who will take just about any job - including at a strange farm where his predecessors ended up dead!  Collected and Adapted by Craig Dominey, told by Jim McAmis.

The Moonlit Road Podcast - TMR Podcast: Episode #48 - Sop Doll (made with Spreaker)

Gruesome New Orleans ghost story about a sausage shop owner who has a unique way of getting rid of his wife.  Collected and Adapted by Craig Dominey, told by Kodac Harrison.

Transcript:

If there's one thing New Orleans is famous for besides jazz and gumbo, it's ghost stories. Why, it's almost a matter of public shame if you own an old building that doesn't have a ghost or two lurking about. And the more gruesome the tale, the better.

But this story is one of the most gruesome of them all. And the scary thing is - some folks say it actually happened.

Back in the 1800s, a young German couple opened a sausage factory in New Orleans. They were well respected for being hard workers and very pleasant sort of people. They'd greet everyone with a smile, and happily called out their regular customers' names as they walked through the door. On top of that, they made some of the most delicious pork sausage you ever put in your mouth.

But of course, like a lot of other marriages, there was darkness lurking behind the public smiles and affection. Behind closed doors, the husband was getting a bit tired of his wife. In his eyes, all their hard work had made her old and wrinkled before her time. It wasn't long before he found a young mistress and eventually fell in love with her.

And he knew he could never have a life with his new lover as long as his wife was around.



So one night after the shop closed, the man crept up behind his wife as she swept the floor, wrapped a cord around her neck, and strangled her. She was a strong woman, and put up quite a fight, but her husband was stronger. As he pulled the cord tighter and tighter around her throat, he could feel her body collapse until she finally fell dead onto the dirty floor. The husband gazed down at her body and smiled - at last, he thought, I'm free!

Now if you've ever been to New Orleans, you know it's awfully hard to conceal a murder down there. Because there's so little land space, all the houses are built right up against one another. So you become very aware of what your neighbors are up to.

But the sausage maker had a gruesome plan. With great effort, he lifted his wife's body off the floor - and stuck her headfirst into the sausage grinder!

As the days passed, the man reveled in his happy new life with his mistress. But he continued to keep their relationship a secret so he wouldn't raise any suspicion. Whenever customers walked into his shop and asked where his wife was, he'd say she was ill, or she was visiting relatives out of town. Nobody thought twice about it, and life went on as normal.

But shameful secrets have a way of creeping up on people eventually. And the longer the wife stayed missing, the more the neighbors began to whisper that something was wrong. The sausage maker's appearance had become unkempt and haggard, his eyes tired and bloodshot. What's more, the quality of his meats had deteriorated. Some customers had even bit into bits of hair and torn fabric in their breakfast sausage.

Late one evening, the sausage man was cleaning the front of the shop, trying desperately to think of a new excuse for his wife's prolonged absence. Suddenly, he heard a strange thumping noise coming from the back room. It sounded to him like somebody was grinding sausages. He ran into the back - and what he saw next froze him in his tracks.

Climbing out of the sausage vat was his dead wife. Her shop apron was covered in blood, and her head was horribly mutilated. She walked slowly toward her husband, arms outstretched, her agonizing moans filling the room. The sausage maker ran out into the street in a panic, screaming loudly. One by one, his neighbors rushed out of their homes and asked what was wrong. Gathering himself, he claimed to have had a bad dream, and thanked them for their concern.

Night after night, the hauntings continued, and the neighbors became more and more suspicious. Dark rumors spread that the man had murdered his wife - but where was her body? The answer came one day when a customer bit into a piece of a gold wedding ring in her sausage. She informed the police, who raided the sausage factory that evening.

As they busted into the back room, they found the sausage maker huddled in a corner, screaming uncontrollably like a maniac. He pointed a shaking finger at the sausage grinder and cried out that his wife was coming to get him. The police grabbed him and promptly locked him up in the nearest insane asylum.

But the asylum provided no safe haven for the sausage man. He screamed day and night that his wife's ghost had entered the room, and was coming to get him. He eventually had a complete mental breakdown, and committed suicide.

During the time the sausage maker was locked up, the factory was sold to another man, who claimed the ghost of the sausage maker's wife continued to haunt the building. Immediately after her husband's suicide, the hauntings stopped, and the ghost was never seen again.

Nowadays, you might find a longtime New Orleans resident whose ancestor was one of the unlucky ones who ate the tainted sausage that year. Needless to say, that's one of those deep, dark secrets that's probably best taken to the grave.

- THE END -

The Moonlit Road Podcast - TMR Podcast: Episode #49 - The Sausage Ghost (made with Spreaker)

The Moonlit Road Podcast - The Sausage Ghost: New Orleans Ghost Story (made with Spreaker)

Louisiana ghost story about the well documented hauntings at Myrtles Plantation.  Collected and adapted by Craig Dominey.  Told by Veronica Byrd.

Transcript:

When folks think about the American South, one image that always comes to mind is the old plantation house. Before the Civil War devastated the South, the plantation homes were about the closest thing America had to magical European palaces.

But what some folks don't know - or maybe don't care to think about - is that many of these plantations were built upon the backs of slaves. These slaves toiled under the whip of the white plantation owners, harvesting cotton and sugarcane for days, weeks and months on end. Some were literally worked to death, only to be replaced like an old shoe when the next boatload of captured slaves came into port.

So while the plantations may have been wealthy palaces to some, they were places of misery and death to others. So it should come as no surprise that many of the plantation homes remaining in the South are rumored to be haunted. This is the story of one of those houses:

Back in the 1800s, many plantations were located north of New Orleans along the banks of the Mississippi River. These plantations fueled the national economy with cotton and sugar cane, and their owners were some of the richest men in America.



Myrtles Plantation, located a few miles outside of St. Francisville, Louisiana, was one of these homes. It was a beautiful example of Old South Antebellum architecture. Upon arrival, a visitor would be greeted with the magical sight of Spanish moss swaying in the breeze, sweeping wide verandas with ornamental ironwork, and the sweet smells of pink-blossomed myrtle trees. Inside, one would find a lavishly decorated home in the Gothic style, with ornate plasterwork, European antiques, winding staircases and sparkling, crystal chandeliers.

But all this beauty hid a very sinister history - which many believe started with a slave girl named Chloe...

At that time, Myrtles Plantation was owned and operated by Judge Clark Woodruffe and his wife, Sara Matilda. The Woodruffes had two young daughters, with a third child on the way. The judge was well respected in the community as a man of integrity, and a staunch upholder of the law. But he also held a dirty secret - he was a compulsive womanizer.

Whenever he had the opportunity, the judge would sneak around and have relations with his female slaves. Chloe, a slave of mixed blood who served as governess to the Woodruffe children, eventually became the target of his advances. Chloe was disgusted with the thought of the judge having his way with her, but knew if she didn't follow through she would probably be sent back out to toil in the fields with the other slaves. Working in the "big house" was as close to freedom as a slave could expect at that time, so Chloe did what she had to do.

But after awhile, Chloe began to suspect that the judge was getting tired of her, and would soon be looking for a new lover. Terrified of being sent back to the fields, Chloe began eavesdropping on the family's conversations to find out if her fears were true. One day, the judge caught her and was so enraged that he grabbed her and sliced off one of her ears. From that day forward, Chloe wore a green turban around her head to hide her shameful wound.

With the judge now furious at her, Chloe knew she had to do something fast to prove her worth to the family - but what? Her opportunity came one day when she was directed to help set up a birthday party for the Woodruffes' eldest daughter. The judge was away, and his wife and daughters planned on celebrating the birthday by eating cake in the dining room.

Chloe came up with a plan. She crept outside and picked one of the oleander plants growing beside the house. She knew that the leaves of this plant contained a small amount of poison, which she secretly added to the birthday cake. She figured if she made the family sick, she could nurse them back to health and prove herself invaluable to the family. She cared for the children, and was careful to only add enough poison to make them slightly ill.

As the family ate the tainted birthday cake, Chloe soon found out she had made a terrible mistake. One by one, they dropped their utensils and began writhing and moaning in agony. Chloe helped them to their beds and tried desperately to save them, but it was too late. Soon the young girls, their mother and her unborn child were all dead.

As word spread throughout the plantation, the other slaves were terrified that the judge would take his anger at Chloe out on them. To save their own hides, they knew that they had to do something to prove their loyalty to their master. So one night, a lynch mob grabbed Chloe while she slept and hanged her from one of the oak trees. After she died, they cut her down, weighted her body with rocks and tossed her into the Mississippi River.

The judge promptly sealed off the dining room and never used it again. In later years, the plantation house was turned into a bed and breakfast, with many visitors attracted to its beauty and Old South charm. But visitors and future owners alike would soon discover that they were not alone in the house.

One day, one of the new owners of Myrtles Plantation snapped a photo of the front of the house. When the picture was developed, she could see a shadowy figure standing near the veranda; her head wrapped in what appeared to be a turban. At night, some of the guests reported hearing restless footsteps wandering the hallways of the house. Others said they were jolted from their sleep by a black woman in a green turban, who lifted up the mosquito netting around their beds, as if looking for someone.

Soon other strange incidents were reported in the house. Some guests claimed to have seen the images of small children in the hallway mirrors. Others heard their names called out from distant rooms, only to find they were alone in the house. And others spotted two playful little girls in white dresses playing in the hallways, peeking through the windows, bouncing on the beds - even swinging from the chandeliers!

Is the mysterious woman in the green turban the ghost of Chloe, searching for the judge who caused her such grief? Are the mysterious little girls the ghosts of the Woodruffe children, forever trapped in the home where they died? We'll leave that up to you to decide. Or, better yet - next time you're in Louisiana, spend a night in Myrtles Plantation near St. Francisville, and find out for yourself!

- THE END -

The Moonlit Road Podcast - The Slave Girl of Myrtles Plantation: Louisiana Ghost Story (made with Spreaker)

The Moonlit Road presents ghost stories, strange folktales, myths and legends from the American South, told by the region's best storytellers.

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