In the month of October, students and families can experience the haunted spots of Auburn through local ghost tours.
Every Friday and Saturday of October, John-Mark Poe and Brandon T. Stoker, the Alabama Spectral Investigators, lead Auburn residents on their tours.
According to their Facebook page, they have ghost tours each night the week leading up to Halloween, Oct. 26–31.
Poe said they have two different tour options: a 6 p.m. tour that lasts 1 hour and 30 minutes and an 8 p.m. tour that lasts 2 hours and 30 minutes.
“Each [tour] takes different routes,” Poe said.
The haunted places on campus are Biggin Hall, Hargis Hall, Samford Hall, Smith Hall, Draughon Library, the University Chapel, Haley Center and Jordan-Hare Stadium, he said.
Poe said he feels the scariest part on the tour is at Pine Hill Cemetery because of the atmosphere the cemetery creates.
“You are right there at the cemetery, looking in, and you never know what you might see,” Poe said.
COVID-19 has had little effect on the ghost tours, he said.
People on the tour are required to wear masks, and the two leaders of the tour try to separate the big groups to provide social distancing.
Poe said besides these small changes, the haunted tour remains very similar to the previous years.
“[We] started the walk eight years ago when a group of Auburn University theater students who knew us to be paranormal investigators asked Brandon if he knew of any tours of haunted spots in the area,” Poe said.
From that moment, Poe said he and Stoker decided they could give their own ghost tours of places in the area.
“[The theater students] enjoyed the tour and wanted us to continue it so they could bring friends,” Poe said. “We did and have continued since.”
Along with haunted tours of Auburn, Poe said he and Stoker investigate people’s homes for no charge.
“I think I’ve always been interested in the paranormal,” Poe said. “When I was young, the only people on TV that did anything ghost-related were the Warrens.”
Poe said he wrote to the Warrens, and they wrote back on how to do ghost investigations.
“This gave me the information needed to start investigating on my own, and I have been for the last 32 years,” he said.
Poe said he would like to thank everyone who comes out to the tours and those who have been on the tour over the years.
“It’s great fun for all, and it’s a bit of Auburn history with a good ghost story thrown in as well,” Poe said.
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Abby Winskowicz, sophomore in communication, is a lifestyle writer at The Auburn Plainsman.
