Do you hear some otherworldly banjo music coming from the pines? Don’t worry, we’ve brought on author Erica Waters to guide us through her new book, the ghosts of her childhood, and murder ballads. Also humidity? Just ghosts.

Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, familial death, racism, social/financial inequity, generational trauma, murder, violence against women, implied cannibalism, and death by hanging.

List of murder ballads:

- Young Hunting by Sheila Kay Adams

- Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight

- Maneater by Blue Eyed Blondes

- Oh the Wind and Rain by Jerry Garcia

Housekeeping

- Recommendation: This week, Julia recommends Teenage Bounty Hunters on Netflix. Check out our previous book recommendations, guests’ books, and more at spiritspodcast.com/books

- EXOLORE: Subscribe now to the newest member of the Multitude family, EXOLORE! Every other week, astrophysicist/folklorist Moiya McTier explores fictional worlds by building them with a panel of expert guests, interviewing professional worldbuilders, or reviewing the merits of worlds that have already been built.

Guest

Erica Waters grew up in the pine woods of rural Florida, though she now resides in Nashville, Tennessee. She has a Master’s degree in English and works as a university writing tutor. When she’s not writing books, you can find her hanging out with her two dogs, Nutmeg and Luna, and forgetting to practice her banjo. Ghost Wood Song is her debut novel. Her second book, The River Has Teeth, will be published in 2021.

Sponsors

- BetterHelp is a secure online counseling service. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/spirits

- Dipsea is an audio app full of short, sexy stories and wellness sessions that are designed to turn you on and help you get in touch with yourself. Start your 30 day free trial by going to dipseastories.com/spirits

- Blaseball is fantasy baseball, with an emphasis on fantasy. Start playing at blaseball.com.

Find Us Online

If you like Spirits, help us grow by spreading the word! Follow us @SpiritsPodcast on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads. You can support us on Patreon (http://patreon.com/spiritspodcast) to unlock bonus Your Urban Legends episodes, director’s commentaries, custom recipe cards, and so much more. We also have lists of our book recommendations and previous guests’ books at http://spiritspodcast.com/books.

Transcripts are available at http://spiritspodcast.com/episodes. To buy merch, hear us on other podcasts, contact us, find our mailing address, or download our press kit, head on over to http://spiritspodcast.com.

About Us

Spirits was created by Julia Schifini, Amanda McLoughlin and Eric Schneider. We are founding members of Multitude, an independent podcast collective and production studio. Our music is "Danger Storm" by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.