Southern ways to get down and spooky: A list of creepy happenings this month in the Deep South

Looking for some chilling events this October? The South is filled with lots of ways to get your spook on. Here are a few:

Eureka Springs, Arkansas: Voices from the Silent City Cemetery Tour will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 19-21 and Oct. 27-28 at the Eureka Spring Municipal Cemetery. Meet some of Eureka's colorful "passed" residents that helped shape the quirky little town.

Then on Oct. 28, it’s the Eureka Springs Zombie Crawl, where a creeping parade procession of funeral hearses, doomsday vehicles, Halloween floats, and post-mortem street performers will lead the hungry horde of the undead down historic Spring Street.  

South Louisiana: Houmas House Plantation and Gardens will offer haunted tours at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. nightly through the month of October. Hear about the sightings and interactions guests and staff have had with the ghosts of the historic house. Tour guides will also explain the culture and customs of the Antebellum and Victorian eras while pointing out the original artwork and antiques throughout the mansion. And after touring the mansion, guests are allowed to roam the 38 acres of gardens along lighted pathways. Check out the video here.

Banning Mills, Georgia: This historic attraction 45 minutes west of Atlanta will offer Spooks for Screams, an adrenaline-filled experience with a zip line tour that reaches speeds up to 60 mph. Banning Mills is home to the world’s longest continuous eco-canopy zip line.   

Shreveport, Louisiana: The city’s Artspace presents “Get Your Glitter On!” from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Oct. 13, a fundraiser hosted by the Shreveport Regional Arts Council with Halloween magic created by award-winning filmmaker, artist and author William Joyce. There’s the InGraved Exhibition and Best in Show Awards at 6 p.m., followed the “First & Only 2017 Glitter Zombie Apocalyse Ball” at 7 p.m. and the Scare-e-okie at 8:30 p.m. Admission is $10 and “only the undead don’t come in costume.” InGraved exhibit consists of visual, literary and performance work by more than 50 Northwest Louisiana artists’ who toured the 100-year-old Forest Park Cemetery with historian John Andrew Prime. The exhibit runs through Nov. 4. For ticket, click here.

New Orleans: The Historic New Orleans Collection will resurrect the special Halloween-themed tour of its Louisiana History Galleries for one week only, Oct. 24–31. “Danse Macabre: The Nightmare of History” will be available at 11 a.m. Tuesday–Sunday inside THNOC’s flagship building at 533 Royal St. in the French Quarter of New Orleans. In medieval allegory, “la danse macabre,” or the dance of death, is a ritualized march to the grave—a sober reminder of life’s finality cloaked in wicked mirth. In a similar spirit, THNOC’s “Danse Macabre: The Nightmare of History,” will lead visitors through darker aspects of New Orleans lore. Admission is $5 or free for THNOC members. Please note: this is not a walking tour of New Orleans or the French Quarter, and the tours are not intended for children under the age of 13. Please note THNOC is traditionally closed on Mondays, and tours will not be available on Monday, Oct 30.

Also in the Crescent City: haunted tours, voodoo shops, Boo at the Zoo, Krewe of Boo, street parties and the Voodoo Music and Arts Experience will be happening this month.  View all the activities here.

  

Blue Ridge, Georgia: Fright Nights at the Kiwanis Fairgrounds, where lurks a suspicious and malign history that is difficult to explain, will be Oct 19-21 and Oct. 26-28 at 124 Jones St. Organizers claim Old Man Jones owned most of this section of Blue Ridge in the late 1800s and suffered more personal tragedy than many realized. In keeping with the fashion of the day, these "happenings" were not public knowledge and were never published in local papers. Not appropriate for ages under 13, along with those who have heart conditions, high blood pressure, pregnant, etc.

Want more? Check back for updates.

Haunted Deep South is written by travel writer Cheré Coen, author of Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana by The History Press.

Cave Spring, Georgia, full of legends, ghosts

There’s something spooky about caves. Could be the darkness, the relentless dampness or the threat of spiders and bats. Regardless of logic or explanations, ghost stories abound.

Take Cave Spring, Georgia, which dates back to European settlement in the 1820s and before that, the Creek and Cherokee people who were attracted to its delicious waters (you can literally drink from its source and many people bring jugs to carry it home). 

The historic town 16 miles south of Rome encompasses about 1,200 residents — plus a few who don’t show up on census records. The cave for which the town is named is reported to be haunted. In fact, several structures around the cave and its spring-fed Cedar Creek and neighboring park have full-time occupants as well.

On the day we visited Spring Cave, nothing appeared out of the ordinary but I caught a moving blue orb on the far side of the cave. I tried to remain as still as possible and shoot at the same spot and, at one time, set my camera to a fast shutter speed to capture numerous images in seconds. The blue spot constantly moved. At one point, it disappeared, then reappeared and floated about once more. In the first picture below, a friend saw a face. I saw it too. Do you?

Apparition? Could it have been someone behind me moving and causing a reflection to also move? I even tried to shoot repeatedly when no one was near. But still, you be the judge.

Other haunted spots in Cave Spring, Georgia, include:

The Georgia School for the Deaf, begun in 1846 and still active today, was once used as an infirmary during the Civil War. 

The Cave Spring General Store, where a Native American woman is believed to be buried. Legend has it that a chief named Big Rattling Gourd bit off his wife’s nose because she was unfaithful.

Naturally, in a town with this many legends, there are ghost tours in October. Click here for more information.

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.

A spirited spirit in Mt. Airy, North Carolina

     Many people I’ve met in my ghost travels are afraid of cemeteries, worried that spirits haunt the hallowed ground at night. I always thought that if a spirit remained on this plane, the last place they would hang around is a cemetery. So many nicer places to visit.

     Take Old North State Winery in Mount Airy, North Carolina, for instance. Someone haunts the winery building, and if you ask me it makes perfect sense. I definitely would haunt a winery, wouldn’t you?

     The building was constructed in 1885 by Thomas Franklin Prather as a general store. The legend remains that Prather and another general store owner in the quaint North Carolina town were at odds. During this time the town’s granite quarry was in high gear so dynamite was in abundance. On a night in 1926, someone set off dynamite in front of Prather’s store and blew off the façade.

     In 1969, when Belk purchased the building to renovate into a department store, human remains were found inside a wall. An arm to be exact.

     Old North State Winery took over in 2002, serving up wines created on-site mostly from grapes in the Yadkin Valley. The store is an arm — pun intended — of Fish Hippie apparel and accessories.

     Is it the one-armed person who walks through the winery at night, opening and closing doors and throwing wine glasses around? No one knows but many have heard the footsteps and seen odd things happening. Our server mentioned the lamps hanging from the ceiling as moving on their own at odd times. Just then, the lamp above our heads starting shaking from side to side. You can see the video here. Is it air moving through the building or something else? For one thing, none of the other lighting fixtures moved. You be the judge.

     While you’re visiting Old North State Winery, be sure and sample Restless Soul, a blend of malbec, tannat and cabernet sauvignon that’s an homage to the spirit haunting the building.

     Mount Airy, by the way, is the hometown of Andy Griffith, who used his growing up years as basis for his long-running television show. You can learn more about Griffith and the show at a museum in his honor or by enjoying a Squad Car Tours in 1960s police cars.
     There’s also the Historic Mount Airy Ghost Tours departing from the Museum of Regional History on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings June through October.

Cheré Dastugue Coen is the author of several Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire along with “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.