I met a wonderful woman this morning. I met with Ms. Jacquelyn Procter Gray. She is the proprietor of the Huntsville Ghost Walk in Huntsville, Alabama. She is the keeper of North Alabama’s best ghost stories and a brilliant historian and writer. She’s written several books for History Press including Wicked North Alabama and has also written a wonderful collection of ghost stories for Author House called When Spirits Walk. This is my go to book for North Alabama hauntings and has been my field guide for ghost hunting locally, so it was an honor to meet her and have her tell me her stories and her inspirations. What I love most about her book, When Spirit Walk is the attention she pays to historical detail. Every chapter is a little history lesson that gives you a portrait of times gone by. At times, the stories can be creepy and chilling , but they are always fascinating. I have always found Alabama history to be completely bland, but in Ms. Gray’s capable hands history becomes an adventure and a journey.
My favorite Chapters in the book are The Haunted Train Depot, which takes you back to the Civil War and tells the story of the fall of Huntsville to the Federal Army. Wrapped in bloody detail and with a lovely picture of a ghost staring down from a second story window, this chapter is sure to pique the interest of any lover of ghost stories. I also love her chapter on the Dallas Mill, which I have discussed here on several occasions. Her retelling of this story is wonderful and worth the read. In short, if you are looking for a book on regional ghost stories and are interested in Southern history Ms. Jacquelyn Gray’s book is a fabulous read worth the time. And if you are living here in the South and interested in ghost stories, if her ghost tours have any of the detail she gave me this morning, you are in for a real treat!
You can learn more at
http://www.huntsvilleghostwalk.com/.
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