More Southern spooky events to get you in the mood

Crescent Hotel Ghost Tours, Eureka Springs

Mobile, Alabama: Boo at Bellingrath, a day of Halloween fun in the Gardens, will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28. In addition to numerous treat stations throughout the Gardens, there will be musical entertainment on Live Oak Plaza with the Stereo Dogs, Magic Shows and Magic Balloons with Dr. Gee and Spooky Storytime in the Gazebo Garden with the friends from the Mobile Public Library. Tickets are limited and must be purchased in advance. To order, visit bellingrath.org.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas: America’s Most Haunted Hotel, the Crescent Hotel, built in 1886 and perched on a hilltop overlooking the town offers ghost tours which starts at the top floor of the building and works its way down to the basement, where you’ll find the morgue of the notorious Dr. Baker from the building’s years as a cancer hospital. Tours are scheduled nightly in October from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and until 11 p.m. on Oct. 31. Buy tickets at www.AmericasMostHauntedHotel.com.

Basin Spirit Tours at Basin Park Hotel in the heart of downtown are given at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday with an additional 6 p.m. tour on Fridays and Saturdays throughout October. This guided ghost hunt starts on the roof of the eight-story hotel and proceeds in stages to an underground cave. It ends with a chilling ghost story told by candlelight, plus a sample of spirits of a different kind for those 21 years of age and older. For more information, visit www.SpiritsOfTheBasin.com.

Other Eureka Springs tours include Voices of the Silent City from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 19, 20, 21, 27 and 28 and the Haunted Eureka tours every night of October.

For more information on things to do and places to stay, visit www.EurekaSprings.org.

Montgomery, Alabama: October Museum Make & Take: Day of the Dead Masks from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday in the Hands-On Gallery of the Museum of Alabama. Learn about the Hispanic holiday Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, and make your own mask to take home.

New Orleans, Louisiana: Historic Arnaud’s Restaurant, in partnership with The Murder Mystery Co., presents a mystery dinner experience where guests will help solve the perfect crime at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, October 26, at the restaurant at 813 Bienville St. in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Attendees will enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, followed by a four-course menu of Arnaud’s signature cuisine, all while working together to solve the perfect crime. The dinner menu will feature chilled lobster, duck consommé, filet mignon and a dark chocolate mousse cake. The menu will be complemented with two specialty cocktails, including the Miss Scarlet, a bourbon based concoction, and Professor Plum, featuring gin – both a nod to Clue, the classic detective game. Tickets are $125 per person (inclusive of tax and gratuity). Reservations are required and available by calling Arnaud’s at (504) 523-5433. Limited seating is available. For more information, visit www.arnaudsrestaurant.com.

Lafayette, Louisiana: The city’s parks and recreation department will host a Fall Fun Fest from 6-8 p.m. Friday, October 27, at the Girard Park Pavilion at 500 Girard Park Drive. The event is open to all children 12 and under and their parents and will include ghoulish games, freaky fun, costume parade, hay rides and frightening food. For more Information: (337) 291-8370 and (337) 291-8875.

Halloween Tapas & Tasting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, at Charley G’s in Lafayette. The dinner includes three-course tapas paired with three wines for $45 per person, all inclusive.

Vermilionville's Em LaMieux helps you get ready for All Saints' Day or La Toussaint, Nov. 1. All Saints' Day is a Catholic tradition of the Acadian people where they place wax flowers on the graves of loved ones to honor their memory. LaMieux will host Wax Demonstrations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays in October at the historic Lafayette village.  

Brasstown, North Carolina: Folk School Fall Festival will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 7-8 at the John C. Campbell Folk School. Festivalgoers will meander along tree-lined paths, greeting over 250 local and regional artisans displaying their work for sale. Shoppers will enjoy a wide selection of craft items including wood, fiber, jewelry, basketry, glass, clay, photography, metal, book arts, painting, garden art, and more! 

Haunted Deep South is written by travel writer Cheré Coen, author of Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana by The History Press. She writes the Viola Valentine paranormal mystery series under the pen name of Cherie Claire.

Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana, booksignings this month

            Ghost stories abound in the Cajun and Creole city of Lafayette, Louisiana. The Hub City boasts a multitude of spirits and specters, from those lost in Civil War skirmishes and fever outbreaks to those souls that simply can’t say goodbye. Today, they wander the halls of bed-and-breakfasts and restaurants and linger along back roads and cemeteries. Pirates are rumored to guard buried treasure, and ancient French legends hide in the swamps, bayous and woods. 

            I visited Lafayette’s haunted sites and traveled the countryside in search of ghostly legends found only in South Louisiana and published "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana," with The History Press.

            Just in time for Halloween I will be signing copies of “Haunted Lafayette” at the following:

Oct. 17, 2015: I will sign “Haunted Lafayette” as well as “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History” from 10 a.m. to noon at 1921 Jackson Street: A Coffee House in Alexandria, Louisiana.

Oct. 31, 2015: I will sign “Haunted Lafayette” and her other books — “Exploring Cajun Country,” “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History” and “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets” — from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, at Barnes & Noble Lafayette.

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.