The North Carolina coastline is a tourist destination, a paradise for locals and visitors alike--during the day. Its proximity to the Graveyard of the Atlantic gives it other, darker associations after nightfall. When the sun goes down and shadows appear, it becomes the haunted coast. Then, the quaint towns and islands that hours earlier played host to happy inhabitants are peopled by long dead pirates, specters, poltergeists, and some things that defy description. The ghost of a blind mother searches for her lost son, her wooden staff tap.tap.taping through the night. Five hoof prints give silent testimony to a cocky rider's race to hell.

Author Thomas Smith walks though places best not explored alone.