Kentucky Ghosts

Cries of a Dead Man

Cries of a Dead Man People around here used to tell old scary tales until bedtime. Wasn't anything else to do back in early times here in southern Adair County except sit around the stove or fireplace after supper and talk. People told stories about Indians, about the Civil War, about the old people in the family and community who were already dead, about witches, and about signs of death in the family. Most of all, though, they liked stories about ghosts. People called them "hant tales" back then. These hant tales were filled with the different ways that ghosts made themselves known to people here in the world of the living. Dead children often visited their parents. Other dead family members sometimes came back to help their living relatives in one way or another. These spirits of the dead were often nothing more than ghostly lights or chilling breezes. At other times the spirits of the dead came back as headless beings. They would just stand in the middle of the road to await the coming of a wagon filled with young people on their way to a party. Many times, even the horses were scared of these road ghosts. Some stories tell about headless spirits who lived in graveyards. Seems as if they just waited 4 for a horse and rider to come by so they could hop on the back of the horse and wrap their boney arms around the rider's waist. Oh, I've heard them tell that story so many times. But let me tell you a hant tale about the groans of a dying man who burned to death in an awful fire. This story scared the dickens out of me every time I heard my Grandmother tell it. The setting for the story was back years ago. It was so long ago, in fact, that people then didn't even have coal oil for their lamps. They had to use candles to have light around the house. You couldn't see a thing without candles and not a whole lot with them! The candles made giant shadows on the walls. It was easy to imagine that ghosts and other scary things were in the room with you. Even the wealthy families lived like this. This one rich family in Adair County built a big fancy house with huge hanging crystal lamps that sparkled in the candlelight. They wanted all these fine things so they could have lots of parties and dances. One night this family was having a big dance—a ball, they called it. And all the well-to-do people were there from miles around. Well, along about 10 o'clock that night they were all dancing and 5 having a good time. Suddenly, a man burst through the front door. He yelled in a loud voice, "Have you all heard about that murder that took place just across the state line over in Tennessee?" Everybody stopped dancing the minute they heard him. One of the men called out to the fellow, "We've not heard anything. Tennessee is forty miles from here. How do you think we would have heard? What happened, anyway? Who was killed?" The fellow, somewhat calmed down by then, said, "Well, there was a pretty, young girl murdered down there. The man who killed her got away, and they can't find him. They know who he was, but they can't locate him anywhere. The killer's hiding out somewhere, and the law officers think that he's in Kentucky, maybe even up here in Adair County at this very moment." One of the ladies screamed out, "My God, no telling where he is! He might be right here in this very house ready to kill one of us!" After awhile, everyone settled down a bit. Some of the dancers got to joking about the whole matter. But it wasn't long until things began to get out of hand. The fellows began teasing the young women by asking what they would do if the killer showed up and asked one of them to dance. Finally, one of the fellows challenged the young 6 women by saying, "The bravest girl here will take a candle and go upstairs and look under the bed to see if the killer is hiding there." The women were upset at the very thought. None of...