If you believe in ghosts, there’s nothing I can do to make you not believe in ghosts.
If you don’t believe in ghosts, there’s nothing I can do to make you believe in ghosts.
This is how we like to introduce The Huntsville Ghost Walk because while not everyone believes in ghosts, spooks, specters, etc., most everyone loves to hear a good ghost story. It might even be said that people feel most alive when we are scared.
Not all of the stories on the multiple ghost walk tours are scary, but they are historically accurate and we pride ourselves on being both entertaining and informative.
With that in mind, here are 5 frightfully fun figurations you may hear on a Huntsville Ghost Walk:
1. Phantom Soldiers of the Creek Indian War
In 1813, future President Andrew Jackson marched a contingent of men from Nashville to South Alabama to fight the Creek Indians after the Fort Mims Massacre. The small army made camp in Huntsville after an arduous 32-mile march. At that site, their nervous energy for the coming battles can still be felt more than 200 years later.
2. The Fraternity House for Ghosts
In this historic home, four separate entities from different time periods are said to reside in this house where they interact with each other as contemporaries, and occasionally with the Ghost Walk audience.
3. The Secrets of the Bibb Family
Brothers William and Thomas Bibb were the first two governors of Alabama, and their family history is rife with ghostly tales including the Huntsville urban legend about Mary Bibb’s mausoleum and her “forever” rocking chair.
4. Murder Most Foul in Downtown
No one is saying that Downtown Huntsville has been a harbinger of death in its 200-year existence, but the area has seen its fair share of murders, and some of those spirits have yet to leave.
5. The Tales of Those Who Came Before
After more than 1,000 tours over the years, Ghost Walk guides have witnessed and been told of audience experiences that range from fun to frightful to horrifying and these tales have become a staple of the Ghost Walk experience.
The Huntsville Ghost Walk is currently running 3 walks and a trolly on Friday and 2 rounds of walks and one trolly on Saturday. Don’t miss it.
Wil Elrick hails from Guntersville, Alabama where at an early age he developed a love for both trivia and history. He has spent the last 20 odd years, fine tuning the art of communication while working in law enforcement, writing, television media, historical research, and public speaking. He lives in North Alabama with his two boys, and a neurotic German Shepherd Dog. He one day hopes that Bigfoot is proven real. Wil’s new book Alabama Scoundrels is available from History Press.
