6 Spooky Haunts and Ghosts of The Grand Strand

By Tammie Hughes

We’re fascinated with restless souls, and that curiosity is prevalent in Lowcountry—where scary tales have been shared for hundreds of years. The top four cities for ghostly encounters in the South are New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston, and Georgetown.

New Orleans may be the spookiest of them all with their heritage of voodoo, vampire lore, and vast stories of malevolent spirits on the loose. A chilly second would have to be Savannah with its history of prior epidemics, fires, and burial grounds. Third, we have Charleston, established in 1670, with hauntings around war battlefields, slave trade, antebellum mansions and plantations, and seafarer tragedies. Fourth in our lineup is Georgetown (the third oldest city in SC) with ships lost at sea, maritime apparitions, and various wandering souls that spook locals and visitors alike.

While the notorious cities mentioned above garner loads of attention, just north of Georgetown, and all along the Grand Strand, there are numerous stories of tragedy-stricken souls, lost loves, lighthouse keepers, unsettled aimless spirits, the lady in white (Alice Flagg of the Hermitage), numerous pirates—like Drunken Jack (left behind by the famous Blackbeard himself), and the Gray Man of Murrells Inlet, who warns of approaching storms.

Hermitage

The tragic love story of Alice Flagg is well-known. She was from a wealthy family that forbade her from marrying her love, who was of less stature than the family desired. Her defiance was evidenced by the engagement ring she wore on a necklace (or ribbon, as some stories tell). Her brother, Allard (patriarch of the family after his father’s death), discovered the ring and ripped it from her neck, tossing it into a nearby creek. She became ill while attending Charleston boarding school and returned to her Hermitage home. It is said that her passing occurred only hours after the ring was lost. Lore has it that she can be seen wandering near the All Saints Churchyard, and regular hauntings are witnessed at The Hermitage in Murrells Inlet. There are competing stories that she may be buried at All Saints, The Hermitage, or Belin Memorial United Methodist Church (formerly Cedar Hill). Several historical records claim the All Saints Cemetery location is home to a commemorative marker only and may well be the location of a buried descendant by the same name. Witnesses describe her wearing a white gown that most believe to represent a wedding dress.

The Old Oak Plantation

The Oaks Plantation, now a part of Brookgreen Gardens, is the former home of Theodosia Burr Alston. She was the wife of SC governor Joseph Alston and the daughter of the third vice president, Aaron Burr. She moved to the South from New York with a difficult adjustment. The humidity, mosquitoes, plantation life, and the terrible loss of her only child to malaria at the tender age of ten left her with a broken heart. She boarded a schooner, the Patriot, heading to New York to visit her father. The ship was sadly lost at sea, and no passengers were ever found. Her spirit is often noticed around the docks where she stepped aboard the vessel and at the rice fields at the Old Oak Plantation.

Cleland House

One of the oldest houses in Georgetown, at the corner of Front and St. James, stands the Cleland house. Anne Withers, a resident at the home, was engaged to a local sea captain who gave her an ancient Egyptian bracelet with scarabs as a gift. Anne slipped the bracelet on her wrist just after cinching her wedding gown. As she began to descend the stairs, she screamed, lost her footing, and fell down the stairs. Her family noticed blood dripping from her wrist, just under the bracelet, and discovered the scarabs had tiny legs that had penetrated her skin. Scarabs are ancient Egyptian amulets that symbolize resurrection and are found in many tombs. Her fiancé later had the bracelet examined in London by a chemist who determined the tiny legs were constructed to inject poison after being warmed by skin contact. Presumably, this was to retaliate against tomb raiders in Egypt. Her ghostly presence is said to roam the gardens of Cleland House.

Murrells Inlet

The story of Drunken Jack dates back to the 18th century. The area has legend upon legend of pirates coming ashore to hide their treasures for safekeeping. The story describes Jack as being separated from his mates and accidentally left behind by none other than Blackbeard himself, and it seems the only provision he had was liquor. Years later, what were believed to be his skeletal remains were found still clutching a bottle of booze. Local lore says he can be spotted wandering Murrells Inlet in search of rum.

Pawley’s Island

The Gray Man of Pawley’s Island is the most popular and most appreciated lost soul of the Grand Strand. It is said that he drowned after becoming stuck in quicksand in the marshlands of Pawley’s while on horseback, traveling to meet his wife. Accounts detail him as a shadowy gray figure that appears along the local shoreline, and it’s a general consensus that his appearance is to warn of incoming severe weather conditions. Others say that a sighting is a good omen that the witness’s home will be spared from destruction.

Read a more detailed account of The Gray Man here: https://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com/article/myrtle-beachs-favorite-ghost-and-pirate-stories

The Brentwood

And now to my favorite topic… Food and Wine! The Brentwood Restaurant and Wine Bistro in Little River is the epitome of a haunted home. This 1910 Victorian family home, built by Clarence and Essie Bessent-McCorsley, became an inn after Clarence passed and Essie didn’t want to sell because she said she still felt him there. She rented rooms to travelers and fishermen and provided a warm breakfast the next day for an additional fee. During the early seventies, the home was relocated across the road. The home was briefly Grandma Mary’s, a home-cooking-style eatery, and then was closed for a while during the 1980s when brothers from Brentwood in Long Island, NY, purchased the home, had it restored, and ran the restaurant for more than a decade. In 2007, it was purchased again by French chef Eric Masson and his wife, Kim. The Massons operated the business for many years, and during that time, they enlisted several paranormal investigators. In 2022, they decided to sell the restaurant to focus on their travel company. In August of 2022, Johnson Lewis purchased the venue. On a recent call, he described a personal experience… “A wine glass came out of the rack and smashed to the floor,” Johnson shared. I laughed and commented that it sounded like the ghost was having a tantrum, LOL, and Johnson agreed. The general consensus is that the venue is home to the ghosts of Essie, Clarence, and at least one little boy, as well as other spirited souls. You may experience dark shadows, “solid-looking” people that are not there, faces in mirrors, orbs, falling wine glasses, getting locked in the bathroom, sounds, and eerie feelings, among other occurrences. Yes, people come for the amazing menu and fabulous wine, but the “Ghost Tour Dinners” have become a hot ticket. Book early if you want to visit in October!

https://thebrentwoodrestaurant.com/ghost-tours

I can’t wait to visit the establishment this winter. Stay tuned for my spotlight on The Brentwood and Chef Steve Brown, who also appeared on The Cooking Channel’s Chef Swap at The Beach.

I also found the episode below online during my research!

Travel Channel, A Haunting, Season 11, Episode 1 – Bottled Spirits
https://www.travelchannel.com/video/a-haunting-travel-channel/bottled-spirits

These are but a handful of the local ghostly stories prevalent in the area. Some other spooky spots are Barman Joe at The Bowery (birthplace of the country band Alabama), the disappearing ship of Murrells Inlet, Atalaya Castle at Huntington Beach Park, Prince George Winyah Church in Georgetown, the light keeper’s daughter at the Georgetown Lighthouse, the 1941 Strand Theater in Georgetown, Dr. Tucker at Litchfield Plantation, and The Pelican Inn in Pawleys.

These legendary tales (some fact, some folklore) have been shared for a century or more. Are these spirits caught between worlds, seeking justice and revenge, shackled by their pain or guilt, or simply a manifestation of our imaginations and coincidental chilling occurrences? Perhaps we will never know, but the lore lives on and frightens locals and visitors alike on a consistent basis.

Sources:
https://www.hotels.com/go/usa/creepy-places-myrtle-beach
https://www.westgateresorts.com/blog/10-haunted-places-myrtle-beach/
https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/life/article279287179.html
https://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com/article/myrtle-beachs-favorite-ghost-and-pirate-storieshttps://www.southernspiritguide.org/the-scarabs-sting-georgetown-south-carolina/
https://www.southernspiritguide.org/ghosts-of-georgetown-south-carolina/
https://www.themoonlitroad.com/haunted-pawleys-island-georgetown-south-carolina/
https://www.themoonlitroad.com/ghost-alice-flagg-pawleys-island-south-carolina/
https://wpde.com/news/local/legend-says-ghost-of-former-sc-first-lady-wanders-georgetown-county
https://thebrentwoodrestaurant.com/ghost-tours/
https://www.valeriearchual.com/2020/06/22/the-brentwood-restaurant-wine-bistro-little-river-south-carolina/
https://www.myhorrynews.com/opinion/the-ghostly-legend-of-alice-flagg-s-grave-has-a-fatal-flaw/article_471ff880-9a56-11ec-8996-bf895bc82b29.html