Learn tales of 'Haunted Lafayette' Thursday at Vermilionville

            It’s that time of year, when the sun’s descent toward the horizon produces shadows long and sinewy. And if you follow the old Celtic calendar, and the origins of Halloween, the veil between living and dead grows thin.

            Or maybe we just need an excuse to be scared.
            I’ll be telling ghost stories from my book Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Vermilionville for the presentation “Ghosts Along the Bayou.” And if that’s not enticing enough, Donner-Peltier Distillery of Thibodaux will be handing out samples — to adults — of their Rougarou rum. Come out and hear about Lafayette’s haunted spots.
                         Looking for some more haunted suggestions to keep you up at night?

             Sarah Bartlett travels the world for ghost tales, vampire myths, UFO sightings, sacred spots and more in National Geographic’s “Guide to the World’s Supernatural Places.” There’s well-known sites such as Machu Picchu, Stonehenge and Area 51 but lesser-known odd places to pique your interest, such as the astronomical Ocmulgee in Macon, Georgia, the more than 30 labyrinths of Zayatsky Island or the Manchester, Vermont, church where a dead woman’s organs were burned in the hopes of releasing her husband’s current ill wife from a vampire’s grip. Naturally, the Deep South is well represented. Spotlighting 250 sites, the book offers a great trip around the world for lovers of the mysterious and the unexplained.
            Grab your EMF readers and go. Travel writer Kathleen Walls, a native of New Orleans, takes readers on a Southern road trip with “Hosts With Ghosts: Haunted Historic Hotels in the Southeast.” In addition to well-researched ghost tales at numerous inns and hotels of the Southeast, Walls offers a travel guide to the areas mentioned, plus a handy resource list. It’s the perfect addition to a southeastern road trip ghost tour.

Cheré Coen is an award-winning travel writer specializing in the Deep South. She is the author of "Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History," "Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana" and "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana" and co-author of "Magic's in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets." She also writes Louisiana romances under Cherie Claire, including "A Cajun Dream" and "The Letter." Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.