ATHENS – Looking for a spooky way to enjoy some local history this fall?
Search no further than the annual Athens Haunt Walk and Wagon Tours.
The events, popular across North Alabama, offer participants the chance to tour some of the more haunted areas of the city including the Athens downtown square, the Beaty Historical District, and the campus of Athens State University.
“The Athens Haunt Walk and Wagon Tours are unique because they are a first-hand exploration of many of the places featured in Alabama native Shane Black’s popular book, ‘The Spirits of Athens: Haunting Tales of an Alabama Town’,” said Nikki Ahlf Holladay, marketing and communications manager for the Athens-Limestone Chamber of Commerce. “An Athens Haunt Walk tour provides both a historical and supernatural context to a seemingly quiet small town. You aren’t just listening to a guide, but walking through the buildings and seeing the authentic 200-year-old artifacts for yourself.
“The Wagon Tour is also a unique option because it is more accessibility-friendly, but accommodations can be made for the walking tours as well. The tours appeal to both the ghost-lover and the history-lover because the stories and sightings are of many well-known figures and ancestors of Athens history among stunning antebellum architecture.”
According to Ahlf, the Haunt Walk used to sell out but COVID and other factors contributed to a drop in participants.
“The Athens Haunt Walk started nearly 20 years ago and used to sell out,” she said. “Shane Black was an original tour guide, so huge crowds were drawn in to hear the ghost stories he had collected in Athens.
“Each year grew more popular until around COVID, and then a lack of marketing and communication in the years following led to the dwindling of tour participants.”
In spite of the difficulties, there is still optimism about growing the Haunt Walk’s popularity once again.
“That is why we are so excited to bring it back this year in full swing,” she said.
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