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Press and Praise for
Ghosts of the Southern Tennessee Valley
Articles that appear in their entirety are reprinted with
permission.
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A review in the Capital City Free Press
(Montgomery, AL)
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From the Chattanooga Times Free Press, July 16, 2006
Supernatural Sightings
Jan Galletta, Staff Writer
A tiny girl dies in a tragic accident and, 135 years later, her fresh tears are said to stain her marble mausoleum still.
Despite his 1884 death and the later theft of his head by grave robbers, an infamous Tennessee outlaw remains the much feared subject of periodic sightings by some who speculate he won't rest until her recovers his reputed lost gold.
As recently as 18 months ago, hunters in the dense woods around a secluded Sale Creek cemetery claimed to see, hear and smell a ghoulish creature that locals say has terrified passersby for a century and a half.
Such chilling lore comprises a new collection of 30 ghost stories, compiled by Georgiana C. Kotarski of Dunlap, Tenn.
The author, director of Chattanooga State Technical Community College's Sequatchie Valley campus, exhaustively researched spooky legends from the Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia and North Alabama areas. Noting in her introduction that variations on a single yarn often exist, she included different versions of tales, where they occurred.
On one story-gathering excursion, she herself had what may have been a paranormal encounter, she writes.
Chattanooga is the setting for several stories, such as an account of a friendly phantom who supposedly haunts an East Ridge home and exerts his presence by such acts as typing "Boo." Other homespun narratives concern Annalisa, who died at the Read House and allegedly materializes when guests check into room No. 311, and little Margie, the tyke who reportedly was the mischievous spirit-in-residence at the former Ruby Tuesday restaurant.
The author recounts a number of anecdotes from people who said they'd been frightened by a green-eyed specter at Chickamauga Battlefield. She details several popularly-held notions that the eerie apparition on the former killing field derives from a fallen Civil War Soldier, a Cherokee hunter or a grieving tiger, among other explanations.
The tales range from an ancestral Alabama mansion where repairmen die at regular intervals to a Georgia residence that's allegedly the site of frequent curious shenanigans by occupants the homeowners deny ever having seen.
The author chronicles the supernatural fare with vivid descriptions and abundant quotes, while her scholarly tone and long list of references lend credence to the scary legends. But whether the disembodied voices, otherworldly hitchhikers and vengeful spirits are fact or fantasy, they wield plenty of cower-power thanks to her eloquent prose.
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From the "Hixson Community News" section, July 5, 2006, the Chattanooga Times Free Press
What People are Reading: Ghosts of the Southern Tennessee Valley
Charlene Denton
The Tennessee Valley is an area steeped in history, from Civil War clashes to being the site of the first Coca-Cola bottler, but there is another side to this region's past. One that occasionally frightens with dark, creepy overtones.
In Ghosts of the Southern Tennessee Valley, Georgiana Kotarski has collected the well-known and some not-so-well known stories of hauntings that local readers grew up with. Everybody has heard the story about Green Eyes prowling the Chickamauga Battlefield, but how many readers know that the recently-vacated Target building at Northgate was haunted?
Kotarski digs deep for as much factual information as possible about the hauntings, so it makes an interesting read. Just don't read it alone in the dark. You never know where a Tennessee ghost might pop up.
Georgiana Kotarski will sign copies of her latest book at Waldenbooks Northgate on Saturday, July 29, from 1-3 p.m.
Charlene Denton
The Tennessee Valley is an area steeped in history, from Civil War clashes to being the site of the first Coca-Cola bottler, but there is another side to this region's past. One that occasionally frightens with dark, creepy overtones.
In Ghosts of the Southern Tennessee Valley, Georgiana Kotarski has collected the well-known and some not-so-well known stories of hauntings that local readers grew up with. Everybody has heard the story about Green Eyes prowling the Chickamauga Battlefield, but how many readers know that the recently-vacated Target building at Northgate was haunted?
Kotarski digs deep for as much factual information as possible about the hauntings, so it makes an interesting read. Just don't read it alone in the dark. You never know where a Tennessee ghost might pop up.
Georgiana Kotarski will sign copies of her latest book at Waldenbooks Northgate on Saturday, July 29, from 1-3 p.m.
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From the "Hixson Community News" section, July 26, 2006,Chattanooga Times Free Press
Haints in Hixson :
Author Georgiana Kotarski conjures up a collection of chilling tales in
'Ghosts of the Southern Tennessee Valley'
Cari Gervin, Community News Writer
Georgiana Kotarski is not sure if she believes in ghosts.
After writing "Ghosts of the Southern Tennessee Valley," she has started doubting her doubts.
Her new collection of ghost stories in Chattanooga and the surrounding area, including Northern Georgia and Alabama, evolved from an article she wrote in 1989 for Chattanooga Life & Leisure.
She said people were more interested in that article then anything else she has written.
As a part-time writer and full-time administrator at Chattanooga State Technical Community College, it took Mrs. Kotarski two years to compile all the stories in her book, released earlier this year by John F. Blair Publishers.
Not all the stories are about areas that one might traditionally think of as haunted. Sure, there are many Civil War soldiers, restlessly seeking peace, but there are also tales of a haunted ranch house in East Ridge, a haunted library in Cleveland, and even the old Target near Northgate Mall.
Mrs. Kotarski said she gathered most of her stories via word of mouth. Then she spent lots of time in the library (helped by her husband Dan) trying to find a murder, battle or tragic death that could have prompted a haunting.
She said she wanted to have enough information to make a guess as to why a ghost might be in that spot. Each story has a list of references and citations that back up the information contained within it.
Still, the heart of the ghost tales is the spellbinding storytelling within. Mrs. Kotarski said she was never really hunting for ghosts, she was hunting for stories.
She said she found so many, she hopes to soon start work on a companion volume.
"I like local history," Mrs. Kotarski said. "The right research can actually help confirm the ghost. It backs up what people have told you, and it's kind of scary."
All of the spooky incidents she's heard about, half of which, she said, were told by people who swore they never believed in ghosts until they saw one, have made Mrs. Kotarski more than a little bit willing to concede that there may be things in this world that are beyond rational comprehension.
While she said she's never seen a ghost, she thinks that her own old farmhouse-home of the original Hixson family who founded the community-may be haunted. Two ghosts, a white cat and a farmer have been seen several times by a few different people, including her husband.
Whether or not one believes in ghosts, the tales in the book are downright creepy, perfect for a night around the campfire out in the middle of nowhere where you can hear animals crackling the branches behind you in the dark.
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