SpoooOOOOooooky: The Concrete Ghost Walk

Mrs. Thompson on her husband's namesake bridge

While camping at Rasar State Park, spent a quirky evening on the Concrete Ghost Walk. Now in its 13th year (oooOOOoooohhhh, spoooOOOOoooky), the event happens every Saturday evening in October, and highlights spooky tales from former residents of the small town. Wait, did I say former? Many people think they're still here.

We met in the adorable Concrete Theatre, a sweet, 130-seat movie theatre that was founded in 1923. Valerie Stafford, President of the local Chamber of Commerce, co-owner of the Concrete Theater, and FEARLESS GHOST GUIDE welcomed us to the evening, showing us some old photos and getting us into the spooky mood by telling us stories of unexplained events in and around the town.

Then it was time to head out for our walk. Our group was so large -- sold out! -- that we divided into two for our nighttime wandering. We met our first "former" resident at the Concrete Heritage Museum -- a little girl who drowned. While there we also learned about the founding of the museum, and where their artifacts came from.

Then we walked down to the Thompson Bridge -- a fantastic setting, with the beautiful old bridge, the old-time streetlights, the rustling of dried leaves in the wind … and Mrs. Henry Thompson, who refuses to leave or accept the fact that her husband is gone. That's her in the main image at the top of this post.

Our charming, hapless bank robber. Whoo-wee!

In other locations we met a hapless bank robber who now does little pranks on the employees of the bank, a little girl afraid of her mama's anger who lives in the town hotel, a former barber who won't leave because his son's spirit is trapped there too, a disgraced judge, and an immigrant from Italy whose husband murdered her in front of her children.

Finally, we regrouped and went to the Concrete Community Center for more tales in a brothel. I guess that's why they don't let kids under 16 join the walk!

It's nice to see a town celebrating its past and having a good time doing it.

The Concrete Ghost Walk takes place every October; tickets are required in advance and it's clearly very popular!

Learn more about the Concrete Ghost Walk on the Concrete Theatre site.