Halloween ghosts

 

They say that if you walk late at night, up Hog Alley, a short, steep street in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., you might see a tall black man, dressed like a gentleman from the 1800s, pacing up and down. If you get close enough, he slowly lifts his head to show piercing blue eyes. But when he lifts his head a little farther, you see blood dripping from a scar that goes from ear to ear. . . .

Agghhhhhhh!

This story continues in The Washington Post under the headline, "An eerie twist on 'living history.' "

The "eerie twist" came from my visit to the O' Be Joyfull ghost tour in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

The Harpers Ferry Ghost Tour

Rick Garland, the guide of the ghost tour in the historic area of Harpers Ferry related stories about the ghosts of people who actually died in the area, many during the Civil War era. Some Confederate soldiers, some abolitionists, some young boys sent to help the soldiers.

They say that if you walk late at night, up Hog Alley, a short, steep street in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., you might see a tall black man, dressed like a gentleman from the 1800s, pacing up and down. If you get close enough, he slowly lifts his head to show piercing blue eyes. But when he lifts his head a little farther, you see blood dripping from a scar that goes from ear to ear. . . .

Agghhhhhhh!

This story continues in The Washington Post under the headline, "An eerie twist on 'living history.' "

The "eerie twist" came from my visit to the O' Be Joyfull ghost tour in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

The Harpers Ferry Ghost Tour

Rick Garland, the guide of the ghost tour in the historic area of Harpers Ferry related stories about the ghosts of people who actually died in the area, many during the Civil War era. Some Confederate soldiers, some abolitionists, some young boys sent to help the soldiers.

I took the tour on my own, staying at the Harpers Ferry hostel, lodgings I wrote about in an earlier post, keeping the weekend mighty inexpensive and very social, both during the tour and in the evening. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

Photo: Ellen Perlman. 1. Stairs connecting the main drag of Harpers Ferry with some haunted dwellings near the railroad tracks. 

A version of this story first ran October 11, 2011. The Haunted House in that story has since closed.