Southern Storytellers Cast a Halloween Spell Over the Web

Posted on October 13, 1999

A shocking murder, a ravenous hill monster, an evil witch lurking in the dark depths of a Tennessee cave - all are creepy stories waiting to be heard on The Moonlit Road, a website featuring audio storytelling from some of the South's best storytellers. New tales will be told throughout the Halloween season.

"People enjoy our stories year-round," says Producer Craig Dominey, "but Halloween is our busiest time of year. Like many people, I have vivid memories of shutting off the lights and listening to someone tell a really spooky ghost story. By visiting our site, people will experience again what was once called the 'theater of the imagination.'"

Each month, The Moonlit Road features ghost stories and other strange folktales from the Southern oral tradition. The site is also used as a learning tool in schools around the world, teaching students about Southern culture and history. Dominey created The Moonlit Road in part to counter-balance the negative Southern image portrayed in films and television shows.

"Hollywood's vision of the South is typically not the South I grew up in," says Dominey. "The South is a melting pot of many different cultures, and storytelling is a window into those cultures. People can visit The Moonlit Road just to hear a creepy story, but they can also dig further and learn more about the cultures that gave birth to these stories."

Since its debut in October 1997, The Moonlit Road has received international acclaim from USA Today, Turner Network Television (TNT), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), The Christian Science-Monitor, Yahoo! and numerous other media outlets. Moonlit Road audio stories are regularly featured on public radio stations across the country. Craig Dominey, 32, works in the Atlanta film and television industry as a freelance writer/producer. He plans on developing television and radio versions of The Moonlit Road in the near future.