Haunted Harbor: Charleston's Maritime Ghosts and the Unexplained

“Like ghosts, the waters that surround Charleston are dark and mysterious, and their stories have remained, until now, somewhat secret and unseen.” Celebrated tour guides and writers Geordie Buxton and Ed Macy invite you to voyage into the fathoms-deep waters of the Holy City with their new collection, Haunted Harbor.

This cache of macabre, eerie and never-before-told stories of the countless souls who linger in watery graves within Charleston’s historic harbor includes tales of strange occurrences at Castle Pinckney; of the reappearing face of a mysterious soldier at Fort Sumter; of the influence of real-life pirates on Sullivan’s Island resident Edgar Allen Poe; of the unexplained sounds of Seneca guns; and many more.

Determined to combat the usual vague, repetitive ghost stories and armed with a chilling repetoire of spectral lore, Buxton and Macy have researched unique and ghastly tales that contain “real historical bonds or tangible specificity.” Haunted Harbor drips with detailed stories of the pirates, military soldiers, prisoners and sailors who stalked the Charleston waterfront on ship and on foot hundreds of years ago—and who have refused to leave.