Jeff Pokorney thumbed through his set of keys to unlock the thick padlock keeping the doors to Spring Villa Mansion closed to the public.
The front of the house facing the street doesn't have electricity, but the dim streetlight from the back gives just enough light to see through the windows of the allegedly haunted house.
Pokorney is the caretaker of Spring Villa Mansion, located on the outskirts of Opelika, two miles past the "Road may be subject to sudden catastrophic sinkhole collapse" sign on County Road 148.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as being built in 1850, the house was owned by businessman Penn Yonge. Yonge's land surrounding the house was a cultural center in eastern Alabama with a horse track, a lake with a small island and glass-bottom boats.Today, the house has become the cultural center of a local legend.
The house is allegedly haunted by the ghost of Yonge, or by two small children who drowned in the lake in the early 1900s, depending on who is telling the story.
"The story behind it was that he was mean to his slaves, and one night one of his slaves was up in a cubbyhole in the staircase," Pokorney said. "I've heard different versions that he cut his head off or that he stabbed him to death."
The small cubbyhole is located in the middle of the spiral staircase above the 13 stair. According to legend, a deep red bloodstain from Yonge's murder comes back despite different layers of paint on the cracked step.
Pokorney admits he hasn't seen any stains in the 18 years he has been caretaker.
Growing up in Lee County, Faith Serafin, paranormal investigator and author, heard stories that were passed down through her family about the Spring Villa Mansion. This particular haunting was also one of her first serious paranormal investigations.
"There were always camper stories that were told there and the legend of Spring Villa," Serafin said. "Which is a legend, but we as a paranormal team were about to get out there and figure out some of what was legend and some of what was the truth."
Over the years, the story has changed, said Serafin. According to her research, the current tale of Yonge being murdered by a slave originated around the 1940s. Yonge's gravesite, one half-mile across the road from Spring Villa lists his death in 1879, 14 years after the end of the Civil War.
On the other side of the yellow sign there is a warning about catastrophic sinkholes. According to Pokorney, the Villa Bar is where "the beer is cold and stories are told."
Owner Billy Allen, 64, grew up near Spring Villa and remembers being told similar haunting stories throughout his childhood. Before the house was closed to the public, Allen's wife's side of the family would have family reunions and sleep at the house.
Every Labor Day for 15 years, the younger family members would stay up all night playing instruments and telling ghost stories. But the haunted part, Allen said, was always just for the kids.
Legend or not, Serafin claims paranormal activity was recorded during her investigation.
In a video of the investigation, the faint sound of a piano key is heard while Serafin is in the upstairs bedroom once occupied by Yonge and his wife. The house doesn't have any instruments in either the main building or the second portion of the house.
After recording the sound, Serafin was speaking with an administrator from Opelika Parks and Recreation about the area.
The administrator told her a story about a Boy Scout camp leader known as Magic Mike. He had gone back into the house to retrieve a few items left by a camper, but after several minutes he still hadn't come out.
Another camp leader went into the house to find Mike sitting on the floor, petrified. He claimed he saw a man sitting at a piano and actually playing it.
"He explained that he could actually hear the notes and see that it was there," Serafin said. "When he looked again it just dissipated, and it scared him so bad that he literally just froze."
Other tales include construction workers suddenly being overcome with nausea while standing on the 13th stair and fully charged batteries suddenly going dead or stop working.
One explanation Serafin gives is stored energy from Native Americans, the Yonge family and others is trapped in the plentiful quartz and limestone in the area. At certain times, it is released.
"That's one way we can interact with them," Serafin said. "It would be hard for me to say, yes, this is something supernatural because I can't honestly tell you, yes, I've seen a ghost. I've just had experiences that came into play."
Legends will continue to grow about the area as time progresses. Each person's own version of truth is shaped by their own experiences.
"I tell everybody the best piece of equipment you can have is your own sense," Serafin said. "It will never lead you astray."
The Plainsman will be investigating a different local haunted location every week in October. Read next week's edition to learn more about the alleged ghosts living near you.
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