Pretend we're driving down a lonely road on a dark and stormy night. And let me tell you a story."See that old house over there? People say that it's haunted by the ghost of a murdered woman. I know somebody who lived next door to it, and she swore that every night at midnight, she could hear a woman crying, very softly, in that house."Get a chill?Just about everyone loves a ghost story, whether it's a tall tale told around the campfire or a chilling account of the supernatural that has us looking over our shoulders and scurrying to turn on the lights.The key to a good story? An element of truth. Throw in the phrases, "This is true," or "It happened to me," and you've got yourself a real thriller.Local storytellers have a wealth of tales to pick from because it seems you can't walk a block in some of Pensacola's historical areas without stumbling over a haint or two. With Halloween just around the corner, it's the perfect time to acquaint yourself with some of the legends and ghost stories that abound in our area.The Pensacola Historical Society has been collecting local ghost stories for years and presents a number of them in its annual Haunted House Walking and Trolley Tours, which start tonight and continue Oct. 28-29.Visitors can walk or ride to various places of ghostly interest, as costumed guides share chilling tales of Pensacola's past and present.Wesley Odom knows those tales well, although it was his interest in his hometown's historical events, and not the supernatural, that got the 39-year-old Pensacola native involved with the Pensacola Historical Society."I've been associated with the board of directors for about three years now, but I started off as a volunteer back in 1997 or so," he said.Odom's work with the group has included stints as a guide on the annual Haunted House Walking Tour."I've always been fascinated by Pensacola's history, and I can tell a good ghost story, so getting involved with the tour seemed natural," he said.
View: Full Article | Source: Pensacola News Journal
