In the Spirit

Spooky season travel haunts

It’s that time of year when the shadows grow long and the veil between living and dead stretches thin. Here in the deep South, we don’t scare easily — we have roaches that fly! — and no matter how close those who have passed move into our sphere in autumn, the weather’s finally bearable so what do we care about a few apparitions.

Okay, so maybe a few can be disarming. But if love the ghouls and ghost stories, here are a few southern destinations to get your scare on while enjoying the balmy weather and autumnal foliage. 

Mountain Spirits

It’s always fun to slip 250 feet underground to enjoy the majestic Ruby Falls on Lookout Mountain, but this month the attraction offers lantern tours where guides relate ghost stories. Other haunts in “Nooga” include the former train depot now known as the Chattanooga Choo Choo and the Hunter Museum of American Art, which may house five on the “Other Side.” If you dare, stay in haunted Room 311 at the 151-year-old Read House hotel, where in 1927 Annalisa Netherly was nearly beheaded in the bathtub after her husband allegedly caught her with another man. Visitors have reported being touched in the room (not by the living) and witnessing unexplained noises and shadow figures. 

Go Bowling 

Horror filmmaker John Carpenter didn’t shoot “Halloween” or “Christine” in his home town of Bowling Green, but he formed ideas for his films from the southwestern Kentucky town. Visitors can join the “Reel Sites, Real Scary Driving Tour” and view 17 spots that gave Carpenter inspiration, including the log cabin where Carpenter lived as a boy on the Western Kentucky University campus. While you’re in Bowling Green, stop by the “scream park” Skeleton’s Lair, where actor Tyler Mane, who played Michael Myers in “Halloween,” visits Oct. 21-22.

Historic Haints

The old Virginia town of Abingdon dates to the American Revolution with its quaint historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. Naturally, there are numerous haunted sites in town, including the courthouse, a home once used as a Civil War hospital and the identical double-winged Greenway-Trigg house built by architects who married sisters who couldn’t stand each other. One of the most often reported ghosts in Abingdon is Union soldier James Wyatt’s steed, known as the “ghost horse of Abingdon.” Yes, a haunted horse! Stay at the 1832 Martha Washington Inn & Spa and enjoy a meal at the 1779 Tavern, where a “professional woman” is known to still frequent. On a recent visit we were told not to call the apparition a “tart” or she’d mess with us. 

Close to Home

English-born William Loyd was thought to have worked both sides during the Civil War in Louisiana and was hanged in front of his circa-1820 plantation near Cheneyville. Today, Loyd Hall Plantation claims several ghosts who refuse to check out, including Loyd, who some say favors the front porch. Or maybe it’s the Union soldier killed on the property who walks the bed and breakfast’s guest rooms, or the jilted relative Inez Loyd, who jumped to her death from the third-story attic. 

Bluffing Angels

The Natchez City Cemetery puts on a show every November that’s so popular it sells out quickly. If tickets are still available for “Angels on the Bluff,” snatch them up and enjoy costumed reenactors portraying Natchez personalities buried within the cemetery. This ancient and oversized cemetery along the Mississippi River is lighted with luminaries to enhance the experience. For more information and tickets, visit TheNatchexCemetery.com. 

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