In her article " Pretty & Practical: The History of 'Haint Blue' Porch Ceilings," Taryn Williford advises that powder blue on the porch is a beautiful color choice for aesthetic as well as superstitious reasons, and reminds us that blue porches are popular up-and-down the east coast. Over the years, a rich history has been played out within the walls of the beautiful Nomadic Berkeley Castle. Gate to Savannah's haunted Bonaventure Cemetery. Fine art photograph by Keith Dotson. Buy a print here.

Still today in the low country of South Carolina, historic homes often feature a special hue of blue paint on the ceilings of their big, covered porches, or window shutters, sills, and doors. There are various explanations for this tradition, but one of the most common is that haint blue represents water to confuse haints, which according to legend, can't cross over water. (1)(2)(3)

Photographs of some of the haunted places I have visited in the south

Southern legends of haints, ghosts, witches, booger men, boohags, and boodaddies Origination of haint beliefs If you didn't use blue paint on your porch and windows to keep the haints away and now find yourself troubled by the bothersome spirits, how can you get rid of them? According to lore, these are some tried-and-true methods for distracting or getting rid of haints:

One such witnessed event was that of poltergeist activity in the 1970s. A group conducted a séance in one the castle’s prison cells and a priest was later called to exorcise whatever had been awoken following some terrifying repercussions. The priory housing Anglo-Catholic nuns and the nearby Old Rectory have reputations for being haunted. Spine chilling screams and the sounds of monks singing is often heard in the night. To the best of my knowledge this is all true. Tears run down my face as i tell this today some 50 years later. There’s also the charging horseman who has been seen upon his galloping horse in Shaw Green Lane and the Burgage; and the Headless Horseman who, according to local legend, was a royal dispatch rider who was beheaded after interrogation of the Roundheads of Prestbury. Denver-based motivational speaker Jonathan McMillan sent a great story fondly remembering his grandfather — a second-generation freed slave from a small town in Kansas.According to Horrible Histories author Terry Deary, Stratford-Upon-Avon is home to the most haunted building in England, the Fallstaff. The haunted building which now houses the Tudor World Museum, has a very spooky history and the Most Haunted television team experienced spine chills when visiting.