Southern Spirits: Music, Mysticism, and Elegance

The South has long been a region steeped in tradition, culture, and an undeniable sense of mystery. Nashville, New Orleans, and Savannah are three iconic cities that showcase the unique character of the South. Each city features its own haunting tales and spectral traditions. Together, they weave a story of music, mysticism, and elegance, a perfect blend of Southern charm and ghostly intrigue.

Let’s take a closer look at these Southern paranormal hotspots and the awesome spookiness they offer.

Nashville: Musical Echoes of the Past

The Ryman Auditorium, Nashville
The Ryman Auditorium – Copyright US Ghost Adventures

Nashville is a city of paradoxes. As a hub of creativity and performance yet a hotspot of creepiness and the paranormal, there is a ton of material for ghost hunters to delight in. It starts with the famed Ryman Auditorium, Nashville’s pride and joy. 

Ryman Auditorium

The Ryman Auditorium, built by Thomas Ryman and named after him following his death, first opened as the Union Gospel Tabernacle in 1892. 

The music venue, popular for concerts, has had several ghostly apparitions. From phantom applause when no concerts are being held to a strange old “Gray Man” seen sulking in the balconies. All kinds of strange activities take place here. 

But the most shocking and disturbing of all the legends associated with the Ryman Auditorium, and Nashville in general, is that of the Grand Ole Opry Curse. During the time in which the Grand Ole Opry’s home was the Ryman Auditorium, numerous singers and musicians associated with the broadcast show met strange, untimely deaths in a string of car accidents, plane crashes, a house fire, and other incidents. 

Some believe that Thomas Ryman cursed the building due to it being repurposed as an entertainment venue instead of a house of worship. The show eventually stopped broadcasting from there entirely. 

For a couple of decades, after the Grand Ole Opry stopped broadcasting from there, the auditorium was seldom used and fell into a state of disrepair, along with the neighborhood around it. And while it was later given a makeover, the ghosts who settled there during its abandoned days are still around.

Printer’s Alley

Skull’s Rainbow Room, Nashville, Tennessee
Skull’s Rainbow Room – Copyright US Ghost Adventures

Another haunted area in Nashville worth visiting is Printer’s Alley – especially Skull’s Rainbow Room. David “Skull” Schulman, an icon in Nashville and proprietor of the Rainbow Room bar, was murdered in cold blood by two young drifters in a robbery gone wrong. The Rainbow Room was closed and later reopened. People swear they have seen David and his beloved poodles in the bar. 

Union Station Hotel

Another haunted place in Nashville is the Union Station Hotel, which once served as a busy railroad station until it became defunct and deserted. It was later renovated and turned into a hotel, but there’s a ghost who constantly makes people’s hearts jump. 

As the story goes, a WWII-era bride accompanied her dashing husband, who was drafted to the army, to the Union Station to see him off as he set out to fight for the country. She hugged him and promised to await for him upon his return. At the conclusion of the war, she waited patiently for him every day until she heard the devastating news – he was killed on the battlefields of Europe. 

Upon hearing this, she threw herself from the platform into the trajectory of a speeding train. People swear that they have seen a lady throw herself on the train over and over again, only to see a soldier dressed in a WWII-era uniform appear shortly after. This happens again and again as if their souls are in a loop. 

It’s also believed that this bride took over room 711, where numerous hauntings have been reported. These include lights being turned on and off and hearing the sound of furniture being moved. Some have even seen a silhouette when looking in the mirror. 

I recommend taking a Nashville ghost tour if you want to immerse yourself in the beautiful yet haunting history of this amazing city.  

New Orleans

The LaLaurie Mansion, New Orleans
The LaLaurie Mansion – Copyright US Ghost Adventures

New Orleans is a city like no other, where life and death intermingle in its vibrant streets. This city has a rich history. From voodoo legends to haunted mansions, the city’s paranormal lore is as diverse as its cultural influences. 

LaLaurie Mansion

The LaLaurie Mansion is perhaps one of the most well-known haunted houses in New Orleans. This mansion is tied to horrific tales of brutal torture and pain. Madame Delphine LaLaurie was a respected woman; nobody knew of her horrendous treatment of her slaves or that she and her husband, a doctor, performed bizarre and outrageous medical experiments on them. 

Nowadays, the clanking of chains and the moans of the enslaved can still be heard from this mansion. However, strange things have been happening since a few decades after the time that the LaLauries fled to Paris, when the locals discovered what kind of people they truly were. For example, when the house served as a girls’ school, the girls reported being attacked by a mysterious woman, presenting actual bruises on their arms and faces. 

Pirate’s Alley

The St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans
The St. Louis Cathedral – Copyright US Ghost Adventures

If you’re brave enough, take a walk down Pirate’s Alley in New Orleans. It is near the majestic St. Louis Cathedral, one of the most mythical and mysterious places in the city. Many people have reported seeing a pirate walking down the alley at dawn, but just who was he? 

Some say he was the infamous Jean Lafitte, who negotiated his brother’s freedom from Andrew Jackson in exchange for his help with the general’s fight against the British. But did Lafitte really operate out of Pirate’s Alley? 

Others say it is actually the ghost of Reginald Hicks, who married his Creole lover in New Orleans in Pirate’s Alley. Due to the impending war, the marriage was hastily conducted by a German minister held in the Old Parish Prison (for reasons unknown), which had a gate leading to Pirate’s Alley. 

Hicks was killed in the war, and his ghost returns to Pirate’s Alley to seek out his beloved. 

Savannah

Savannah is known as the Hostess City of the South for its hospitality and friendliness. Among the friendly locals who will be there to welcome you are some ghostly beings who have called Savannah home for centuries. 

17Hundred90 Inn

The 17Hundred90 Inn, Savannah
The 17Hundred90 Inn – Copyright US Ghost Adventures

At the 17Hundred90 Inn, a phantom bride spooks those who are brave enough to stay in room 204. She threw herself from her window in sorrow when the sailor she fell in love with left her to return to his seafaring lifestyle. 

Room 204 remains possessed to this day. If you ask the staff at the hotel about it, they’ll tell you stories of numerous guests who booked the room only to leave in the middle of the night. They fled scared out of their wits and unable to sleep, seeking accommodation elsewhere. People report feeling an eerie, inexplicable presence in the room. Some say that they have even felt Anna’s ghost cuddle up in the bed next to them. 

The Marshall House

It’s not the only creepy inn in Savannah. The Marshall House has served as a hospital several times, including during yellow fever epidemics and the Civil War. It’s severely haunted, with doorknobs rattling and faucets turning on and off by themselves. 

Additionally, the ghosts of children lurk. From babies crying to the sounds of marbles being thrown to phantom toddlers running up and down the halls, the Marshall House has it all. However, if you hear children screaming in the hall or rolling marbles and walk out of your room to look, you’ll inexplicably find the hall entirely empty. Staff may even tell you that there are no children staying in the hotel at the moment. 

Gribble House

Another haunted house is the Gribble House, where the brutal 1909 Savannah Axe Murders took place. Three women were brutally killed by the estranged husband of one of the women. 
To explore Savannah’s haunted past, I recommend going on a Savannah ghost tour.

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