A night of spooky stories, screams and a nice October breeze.
On Tuesday night, Oct. 10, Johnson City’s Public Library hosted a free ghost tour. The tour consisted of original stories, narratives and town folklore. The tour began at 6 p.m. and lasted until around 7:30 p.m.
Attendees walked throughout downtown Johnson City to five different locations. The Philosopher’s House, the Library, Main Street Pizza, the entrance to Founders Park and the Wallace Theatre. The tour ended with a visit to the cemetery as well.
One of the attendees, Mallory Gaines, who loves hearing stories of paranormal activity said,” This tour was very fun and insightful. It put me in the mood for the Halloween season, and I am on high alert now when it comes to trains.”
Joe Spiker, the storyteller at The Philosopher’s House, told a story of a ghost train that comes through the town of Jonesborough. He went on to warn the audience about the dangers of riding alone at night, especially when hearing the whistles of a train and the whimpers of a dog.
The stories varied from headless girls falling in love with the popular boy from school, ghost trains and dogs and hotel fires. The audience loved the stories with loud laughter, gasps and a few screams.
This ghost tour is the first annual tour hosted by the Johnson City Public Library. While they admitted they were still figuring out the kinks, the tour was wonderful and brought in a lot of the public. The library plans on hosting tours again for more spooky seasons to come. As for the rest of this spooky season, the Johnson City Public Library will be hosting its second annual Trick-Tour-Treat on Tuesday, Oct. 31 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
