Randy Russell – författare

Witches who fly down chimneys. A chair that won’t release its occupant until a drop of blood stains the floor. A mountain that grew—and continues to grow—from the grave of a woman who was larger than life. The ghost of a woman who jumps on the bumpers of cars driving past the graveyard where she is buried. An apple tree that growls at people who pick its fruit. A woman who rose from her grave each night to get food for a baby born to her after she was buried. A peach tree that grows on the head of a deer. These and other legends and ghost stories handed down for generations are contained in this collection of 25 tales from East Tennessee.For several years, folklorists Randy Russell and Janet Barnett have taught a course about Southern folklore at the North Carolina Center for Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Russell is also the author of several mysteries, including Edgar Award nominee Hot Wire.They live in Asheville, North Carolina.

Award-winning "ghostlorist" Randy Russell admits to being flummoxed by cats. Some cats will give you whisker kisses or sit with you when you're sick. Others will invite you to rub them, then take a swipe at you, claws out. Some might do any of the above, depending on which way the wind is blowing. Visits from departed pets are easily the most common ghost experiences. And cats refuse to be left out of most anything. Ghost Cats of the South reveals that felines' beloved complexity continues well beyond the grave. In this haunting and entertaining volume, readers will meet the following: A cat smelling of chicken soup that saves a pair of street musicians in Kentucky; a face-hungry Mississippi cat that inhabits the seats of a vintage 1956 Chevy Bel Air; a porcelain cat that inspires girls at a North Carolina summer camp to reveal cherished secrets; a South Carolina feline that becomes part of a batch of moonshine; a piano-playing cat that fulfills the Thanksgiving wish of a Georgia grocery-store magnate; a soot-covered Louisiana cat whose fiery mission is to enforce a no-smoking ban; a Virginia cat that must get its owner his glasses before his coffin is sealed. Good ghost cats, bad ghost cats, ghost cats in their many manifestations and moods—you'll meet them all in these twenty-two stories that the cats dragged in.Randy Russell is the Edgar-nominated author of several books and collections of short stories, and co-authored, with his wife Janet Barnett, two volumes of southern Appalachian folklore and the highly popular Ghost Dogs of the South. Russell presents ghost-lore programs to groups large and small across the South. He and his wife live outside Asheville, North Carolina.