Piedmont Phantoms

North Carolina's Haunted Hundred Piedmont

Daniel W. Barefoot’s colleagues in the North Carolina General Assembly call him their “resident historian.” Now, he’s their resident folklorist, too. North Carolina’s Haunted Hundred, Barefoot’s three-volume series, is a sampler of the diverse supernatural history of the Tar Heel State. One story is drawn from each of the state’s hundred counties. You’ll find tales of ghosts, witches, demons, spook lights, unidentified flying objects, unexplained phenomena, and more. Many of the stories have never before been widely circulated in print. Piedmont Phantoms offers 40 tales from the state’s populous midsection. “Capitol Haunts,” the Wake County story, tells of strange doings at the State Capitol—an unoccupied elevator moving from floor to floor, an unseen hand touching a security guard, the sounds of books falling off shelves and barrels rolling down stairs. “Ghostly Legacy of the Swamp Fox,” the Robeson County story, introduces the spirits of the traitor who betrayed Revolutionary War general Francis Marion and the Highland Scot girl who made him do it. “The Hunter at the Zoo,” the Randolph County story, describes the ghost of the Confederate recruiter who once hunted human prey at what is now North Carolina Zoological Park.

Dan Barefoot was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on March 18, 1951. He is a 1973 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law. Barefoot is the author of four travel guides—Touring the Backroads of North Carolina’s Upper Coast, Touring the Backroads of North Carolina’s Lower Coast, Touring South Carolina’s Revolutionary War Sites, and Touring North Carolina’s Revolutionary War Sites—as well as a biography of esteemed confederate general Robert Hoke and a trilogy of ghost stories representing all of North Carolina’s one hundred counties. Barefoot’s most recent books are Haunted Halls of Ivy: Ghosts of Southern Colleges and Universities, Let Us Die Like Brave Men, Hark the Sound of Tar Heel Voices, and Spirits of ’76. From 1998 until 2002, Barefoot served three terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives, representing the 44th district. He has also served on numerous boards and is active in his church and community. Barefoot currently serves as the city attorney for Lincolnton, North Carolina. He is a frequent speaker to cultural, civic, and church groups throughout the Southeast.