Metro Atlanta thrill-seekers looking for a good scare have plenty from which to choose. Why wait until Halloween? The area has more than its share of haunted habitats.
According to atlanta.about.com, there are at least 10 haunted places in metro Atlanta to visit for some spine-tingling chills. But there is one hitch. Some of these places are not open to the public and security guards patrol the area, so go at your own risk.
Oakland Cemetery is said to be haunted by spirits of Civil War soldiers buried there. Supposedly, the “tomb of the unknown” is where most hauntings are seen. Devil’s Turnaround Cemetery is particularly interesting. Allegedly, some of the spirits in the oddly shaped graveyard become violent when approached with crosses or Bibles. The tombstones in the heavily wooded area supposedly date back to the Civil War era.
Some say several rooms of the Antebellum Plantation at Stone Mountain Park are haunted, as well as the cemetery there at the end of Main Street. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield is also reported to be haunted by Confederate soldiers killed there.
The Fox Theatre, long an Atlanta landmark, may have some ghosts lurking about, including the face of a Confederate soldier. The Masquerade, a dance club being sold to developers, has a long and eerie history. Some say a vampire lives there. The club is a former mill where numerous tragic accidents and deaths occurred. Over the years the building has been plagued by calamities.
Although Six Flags Over Georgia has its annual Fright Night celebrations every Halloween, there have also been other paranormal sightings at the amusement park that are not manmade. Some say the gas station at the park’s entrance is haunted by a young girl, and the Crystal Pistol Music Hall is haunted by a performer who was killed in a car accident before he had the chance to take the stage.
A woman named Annie Barnett Bean who died in childbirth in the house reportedly haunts Anthony’s Restaurant, in Buckhead. The Holliday-Dorsey-Fife Museum, in downtown Fayetteville, supposedly has a resident ghost, as well as ties to Doc Holliday and Margaret Mitchell.
Tucked away behind a Dunwoody office park, the Georgia Retardation Center (Brook Run) has become a local attraction for ghost hunters. Highlights of the former hospital include sightings of a boy on the third floor.
Then there’s always The Green Manor Restaurant in Union City.
According to the restaurant’s website, a young woman named Florence Westbrook was a live-in nanny at the home, then occupied by the Carmichael family, around 1910. One afternoon in 1914 while the plantation workers were in the fields after the harvest, Florence was bringing them lemonade and water. Her dress caught fire but tragically, rather than throwing the water to douse the flames on herself, she threw the water in one direction and ran in another. She collapsed and died on the front lawn, but sightings of Florence are still reported to this day.
Many spectral sightings originate from the Civil War.
According to theshadowlands.net, at the Allatoona Battlefield in Acworth there have been gunshots, voices, orbs of light and a ghost train witnessed. Others have reported spotting more Confederate soldiers, smelling gunpowder and feeling the temperature drop ten degrees in an old train bed. Reenactors have experienced fog and shadows, and felt cold spots at the Andersonville Prison at Camp Sumter in Andersonville.
At the Chickamauga Battlefield, some have seen a mysterious fog rolling in upon the battlefield. But that fog is confined to the park itself, and nowhere else. There are tales of “Green Eyes,” a Confederate soldier killed by his Yankee brother, whose eyes can still be seen at night on Snodgrass Hill. Some have seen the apparition of a soldier walking down the road, who will stare down those passing by until he is out of sight. Then there is the story of the bride-to-be who still walks the battlefield in her wedding gown during September and October, visiting the grave of her betrothed, who was killed during the war.
Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta is the final resting place for 3,000 to 4,500 Confederate soldiers who died during Sherman’s invasion. In one section of the cemetery some have reported hearing a disembodied voice giving the “Roll Call of the Dead,” somberly calling out the names of the dead soldiers.
But Georgia has plenty of other ghostly places besides graveyards.
According to the website, years ago at the Hi Fi-Buys Amphitheatre in Atlanta a rock singer was killed on stage by a gunshot from the stadium. His spirit still walks through the seating area, and some have said they can feel his hand on their neck.
There’s a bridge on Metropolitan Avenue by University Avenue in Atlanta where observers have reported seeing a young lady in a white dress standing, looking for a ride home. When someone stops and picks her up to give her a ride, she gets out of the car, thanks the driver – then vanishes into thin air. The girl is supposedly the ghost of a young victim killed in a car accident 10 years ago under the bridge on Metropolitan Avenue, formerly known as Stewart Avenue.
The halls of higher learning are not spared, either.
The Dobbs Theatre at Young Harris College supposedly has the resident ghost of a former janitor named Jesse, who loved the theatre. At the same school, the auditorium of the Clegg Fine Arts Building has the ghost of Charlie Clegg, president of the college during the 1960’s. Even the professors acknowledge his presence by saying “Goodnight, Charlie” when leaving the building for the evening. Also, one of the dormitories on campus supposedly still has the resident ghost of a student who hung himself there.
At Reinhardt College in Waleska, some have seen the ghost of a little girl who was killed in a fire many years ago, wandering the halls of Cobb Hall. At Gordy Hall, some have spotted the spirit of Capt. A.M. Reinhardt, the school’s co-founder. And at Paul Jones Hall, some have seen the ghost of a janitor who hung himself in the dormitory’s attic.
There are many more haunted sites in Georgia, but space is getting short. Happy hunting to those brave souls looking for a glimpse of a real “live” ghost.
