Joby C Castine

Manes in the Mill Joby C Castine

As dawn broke on February 19 1865, W. B. Smith Whaley stared at the surreal scene unfolding before him. From the roof of the Lower Street Mill, he could see the city of Columbia, South Carolina smoldering in ruin, gory evidence of 'the glory of the coming of the Lord." The train depot was in ashes, boxcars overturned and train rails twisted into Sherman bow ties by the invading Union forces. Immediately before him he saw "the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps' occupied by over ten thousand Federal troops awaiting orders to "loose the fateful lightening of the Lord's terrible swift sword" on the Lower Street Mill into which Whaley had barricaded all the residents of the mill village for protection. Whaley, a mechanical engineer and entrepreneur, faced the crisis of his life. How could he save the Mill and his employees from destruction? In this fictional history, Joby Castine has woven a story of intrigue, conspiracy, greed and murder set against the background of the harshness of the end of the Civil War resulting in present day supernatural ramifications. Were there sprites in the spinning room? Was there wailing in the weave room? Are there still ghosts in the Mill? If so, who are they and what do they want?