These are the ONLY Charleston night time walking tours conducted by
fellow authors and tour guides Mark R. Jones & Rebel Sinclair -
The Wicked Walk & Haunted Charleston. BLACK CAT is the only
Charleston-based tour company led by professionals who seek to share a true
understanding of the living and the dead, the saints and the sinners, the
sacred and the profane. Simply put, Black Cat Tours is designed for the
discriminating Charleston visitor - offering a different view of the Holy City -
the other side. Mark and Rebel are affiliated with Joshua P. Warren and
L.E.M.U.R., one of the world's foremost paranormal research teams.
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WHY ARE WE CALLED BLACK CAT TOURS?
- In the 1640s Charles I of England owned a black cat whom he fiercely
loved. In late 1648 the cat fell ill and died. Charles I was heard to
proclaim, “Alas my luck is gone.” The next day, he was arrested and
charged with high treason. Ultimately he was beheaded.
His son, Charles II, is the namesake of Charleston, SC.
- When the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, they brought with them a
devout faith in the Bible and a deep suspicion of anything deemed of the
devil. They viewed the black cat as evil - a companion, or a familiar to
witches. Anyone caught with a black cat would be severely punished or
even killed. The early settlers of Charles Town were hard-drinking Scot-
Irish and English merchants, the complete antithesis of Pilgrims. In fact,
they looked upon the New England Puritans with suspicion and disdain.
- Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at Ft. Moultrie on Sullivan's Island in 1827-
28. His story 'The Gold Bug' is set on Sullivan's Island. Other Poe stories
which use Charleston as a setting include "The Oblong Box" and the lyrical
poem "Annabell Lee". Of course, one of the most famous Poe stories is titled
"The Black Cat."
- And finally, in the low country Gullah culture, Black Cats are considered
'plat-eyes' - spirits that manifest into the shape of a feline only at night,
and are usually found near graveyards and cemeteries ... close to home.
- But of course, the REAL reason is ... Mark & Rebel have a black cat at
home named Edgar Allan Poe.
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Rebel Sinclair is a novelist and paranormal investigator
who does more than just tell "ghost stories". Rebel is a
master storyteller who seeks to illuminate the truth
about spirits - the how & why they interact with the
physical world.
Mark R. Jones is a crime writer and the author of four
books about the dark side of Charleston's scandalous
past, serial killers, wayward ministers and other true
crime. As a minister's son, Mark is proud to be the
expert of Charleston debauchery and sin.
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