Twists & Turns: Halloween Creepiness Across Mississippi

If you've followed my column over the years, you might know that I try to throw in something weird around October's most notable 'holiday'. If you are too old for Trick or Treating, or you have backed away from October 31 for other reasons, you might still be interested in some strange lore.

This year, I want to take you on a tour of some pretty unusual places around our great state that you may or may not want to visit.

We'll start in Yazoo City at the Glenwood Cemetery that has a sign saying 'No one allowed in Cemetery from dark 'til dawn'. I think they should add the word 'Living' to this. Why? Well, if you go to the middle of the cemetery's Historic Section you will find a large headstone that has an arrow indicating where the Witches Grave is located.

The story goes that about 150 years ago a woman who lived by the Mississippi river was said to lure men off their boats into her grasp where she tortured and presumably killed them. The Sheriff of Adams County finally chased her into the swamp where she became caught in quicksand. As she was being pulled under to her death, she swore that she would come back and burn Natchez to the ground.

The rest of the story is that in 1904, only about 25 years later, a devastating fire raged through Natchez destroying almost 300 homes and businesses. As to the businesses, if you don't have any being there, then you need to stay out of it.

The second stop on our tour will be just north in Vicksburg, at the McRaven House about 10 miles from Port Gibson. It is considered one of the most haunted places in the state of Mississippi. Why? Well, this house, which you can tour, is reported to have all kinds of supernatural happenings from flickering lights to ghostly figures.

If you take the evening tour, you'll hear many eerie stories that will surely tingle your spine. It's a lovely two-story Southern home that looks perfectly normal from the outside, but when you go inside, things change. You can get all kinds of strange feelings. Literally 'feelings' from unseen hands.

If you want to venture up to Columbus, you can visit the Friendship Cemetery at 1400 4th Street. It was opened in 1849. The name may sound welcoming but beware. It is said that many of the Civil War dead roam the grounds at night. There is also a statue of an angel weeping over the dead. Now, it doesn't cry real tears of anything like that, but if you touch it people report that it feels like real skin.

Let's travel down just south of Meridian where we will find Stuckey's Bridge across the Chunky River. The original structure was put up in 1847, but it was rebuilt in 1904. The decades have taken their toll, and it has now been closed to traffic.

However, you can walk to the riverbank. The story goes that a man named Stuckey (who was also a member of the infamous Dalton outlaw gang), opened an inn near the bridge. Unfortunately, his evil activities began to include killing his guests and burying their bodies along the riverbank. When he had killed about 20 people he was caught, tried, found guilty and hung from the new bridge. It is said that he still walks around the area at night.

If you haven't had enough chills, the last stop is Gautier, Ms. on the Gulf Coast where a large family with 5 children were murdered and buried in the Franklin Cemetery, also known as the Garden of Hope. This is actually a pretty cemetery on Chamberlain Road if you see it during the day.

But it is said that at night the children and the father wander the grounds and can be occasionally seen as eerie wisps of fog floating past.

There are said to be a lot of places in our state where you can experience strange happenings and the few I've mentioned here should keep you busy for Halloween 2026. But whether they are real or just urban myths and legends it can still make for a fun road trip. Take snacks to keep your strength up and keep it creepy!