Mt. Sterling – The Ghost Walk

It’s a dark and cold October night in Mt. Sterling as the flash of cell phone cameras follow the green dot of a laser pointer along a downtown sidewalk.

Those of us snapping photos want to catch a glimpse of the mononymous “Chester,” a six-foot-tall, 110-pound apparition (aka a ghost) who has reportedly been spotted running from the location of a house on West High Street. The man with the laser pointer is Ron Coffey, an established paranormal researcher who tells us that the house sits on the spot where Chester lived many generations ago before he was killed after visiting a brothel.

Those who have seen Chester’s ghostly sprint say it always ends at the corner of West High and N. Sycamore streets – the same general location where Chester took his last earthly steps.

But who killed Chester, and why?

There’s still time to find out on the annual Mt. Sterling Ghost Walk, which will hold its final two tours of the year the next two Saturdays, including Oct. 31 — Halloween night!

‘One of the most haunted small towns in America’

Walkers on the tour begin the hour-and-fifteen-minute-long experience in the park at the corner of Main and Maysville streets where Coffey gives a short introduction to Mt. Sterling’s history and the paranormal. His knowledge seems to resonate with the walkers, each of whom listens carefully about this place some call “one of the most haunted small towns in America.”

Coffey cues everyone in on what he says are four types of hauntings: intelligent (by spirits who have not yet “crossed over”), residual (similar to an image or video on a loop); poltergeist (remember the 1982 movie?), and the fourth type — crisis hauntings. Crisis hauntings are believed to occur at or around the time that someone dies, Coffey said, making them one type of haunting that he said he hopes isn’t experienced on his tour.

The ghost walk

The walk itself begins on West Main Street where Coffey shares the story of Judge Richard Reid, a brilliant jurist who supposedly haunts the building where he died in 1884 after a humiliating incident involving a local attorney. Judge Reid is said to still haunt the building, calling out on occasion in defense of his honor.

Walkers then move up Broadway, toward the Montgomery County Courthouse and past the site of an 1800s firehouse where sounds of long-deceased residents are sometimes heard. The prayer garden of a circa 1878 church is another stop, as is the site of a 1962 triple murder on Bank Street where at least one ghostly victim is said to make an appearance now and again.

Courthouses, Coffey says, are among the most haunted places on record, as are libraries. But what about cemeteries? Well, yeah, those might be a bit haunted, too, including at least one historic cemetery in Mt. Sterling.

That brings us to the White Lady, a ghostly white figure that Coffey said has been seen on occasion at Mt. Sterling’s Machpelah Cemetery (Machpelah is, coincidentally, the same cemetery where the grave of Judge Richard Reid lies). The apparition of the White Lady is usually seen during times of local tragedy, with specific dates and incidents shared by Coffey on his tour.

There are other stories, too: the curse of Anne Mitchell; a long-dead minister who won’t leave his post at a former Methodist church; the “Headless Searcher”; a local take on the old vanishing hitchhiker tale, and more.

Fact and fiction?

Are the stories true? They are to those who claim to have seen the apparitions, or experienced other paranormal activity in town. Coffey encourages folks on his tour to take photographs and search for clues in the photos themselves. I plan to look more closely in the days ahead at the photos I snapped along the tour.

If you have questions about what you have seen or heard along the tour, Coffey is the person to ask. He and his wife Lori have spent years researching and writing about the paranormal and related fields. The Syfy Channel, Travel Channel, and other media have featured the couple in past programming.

Curious?

The Mt. Sterling Ghost Walk is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. on Oct. 24 and Oct. 31 at the corner of Main and Maysville streets in Mt. Sterling. Cost of the tour is $10; children age 12 and under can take the tour for free. No reservations are required.

Note: Be sure to check the Mt. Sterling Ghost Walk Facebook page for scheduling updates. For additional information, call or text 859-404-6184.