College of Charleston History Professor Scott Poole is the guest editor for the year-end double issue of Charleston City Paper, which is now available. Poole selected a theme of alternate endings, described as “sort of a sci-fi take on how Charleston would’ve been transformed had things in history happened differently.”
Courtesy Charleston City Paper
[Related: Find a copy of City Paper.]
Poole says, “I’m a historian, but I’m also a historian who wrote a book about monsters and loves science fiction. So we made things weird. What I’m most excited about is the ideas that the City Paper staff itself have come up with… it’s really fun to work with such creative and funny people willing to go strange new places.”
[Related: Read about the time Poole went in search of the Lizard Man.]
Poole not only determined the theme for the issue, but he also selected the content and cover art.
“Scott Poole is our go-to guy for weird stuff,” says Stephanie Barna, editor of the Charleston City Paper. “He’s been an interesting source for a variety of stories, from state sovereignty laws to sasquatch to humanity’s need for never ending end-of-the-world stories. The issue is fun, silly, and even a bit profound.”
[Related: Read more about Poole’s obsession with monsters.]
In the issue, Poole looks at “what if” questions, like what if Joe Riley had never been elected mayor, or what if preservationists hadn’t saved Charleston’s history.
Scott Poole holds a Ph.D. in American history from University of Mississippi. His sixth book is entitled Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting. The book analyzes American horror narratives in folk belief, religion, and popular culture from the colonial era to the present. His research interests include American folk and pop culture, South Carolina African American history, and the Piedmont Blues.
Poole can be reached at poolews@cofc.edu.
For more information about the issue, contact Stephanie Barna at editor@charlestoncitypaper.com.
