Ghosts roam the tracks in Norcross.
They take the form of Effie Nash, who checked into the Brunswick Inn in the early 1900s and couldn't remember checking out. Or T.B. Ray, a 22-year-old who was shot and dropped like a bag of bones on his parents' front porch. Or Ray's buddy Hollis Rochester, a young athlete whose scandalous death was made to look like a train accident.
These spine-tingling tales of Norcross' past -- along with other stories of unsolved murders, bank robberies and main street shootings -- come to life in the fall Norcross Ghost Tour, which begins Friday and runs through Halloween.
Unlike haunted houses -- with their light, sound and costume effects -- the lantern-lit walking tour blends storytelling and ghost-hunting to garner goose bumps, event producer Kim Brame said.
"We are trying to appeal to Halloween revelers that are looking for more than a haunted house with a guy with ketchup and a chain saw chasing after them," Brame said.
Unlike last year, in which stories emerged from throughout Georgia, this year's tour focuses exclusively on Norcross and features 10 spooky stops along the half-mile route in the downtown district, she said.
One of those stops is the infamous train tracks next to Thrasher Park, where in the early 1900s scores of locals lost their lives. Some were by accident, others as a ruse for covering criminals' tracks, said local historian Sally Toole, author of "Remembering Norcross: Nuggets of Nostalgia."
"If you were a shopkeeper and you found someone stealing from you, you might handle the situation on your own," Toole said. "There was a lot of vigilante justice in those days."
During the tour, five storytellers, most of whom are clad in costumes representing people of the era, will spin yarns based on yearlong research with historians such as Toole and Norcross people in their 80s and 90s, Brame said.
"It took people in the town quietly stepping out on the front porches and saying, ‘You want a ghost story. I have one,' " she said.
Also new this year, organizers have invited four authors who write about paranormal activities. One of them is Dianna Avena of Roswell, who has made an appearance on the Syfy network's "Ghost Hunters."
And during the tour, Norcross ghost hunter Will Aymerich will share his investigations into paranormal activities at locations throughout the city.
The 38-year-old Aymerich, who has been a ghost hunter since he was 19, said Norcross is rich with paranormal activities, from the shadow people who lurk at the Iron Horse Tavern to the electronic voice phenomenons at the Norcross Cultural Arts and Community Center.
"Norcross was a resort town after the Civil War, and many spirits stayed because they liked the place," he said. "But these spirits are polite. I'm not saying everything we've experienced is like Casper the Friendly Ghost, but we haven't experienced anything malicious."
Carol Jones of Snellville, along with fellow members of the Red Hat Society, went on Norcross' summer ghost tour Sept. 11. She has been on similar tours in Lawrenceville, Stone Mountain and Athens, but she found Norcross' version to be superior.
"This one was different in that it gave you a history … more than just telling you stories or legends," she said.
Toole, the author, said the mix of history with the paranormal should make for some frightful fun. "It's become a very popular ghost tour," she said. "It's almost taken on an afterlife of its own."
If you go
What: Norcross Ghost Tour
When: 8 p.m. today through Oct. 31
Where: Begins at 45 S. Peachtree St., Norcross
Cost: $12 for adults; $8 for children 7-14
More info: www.norcrossghost.com; www.sallytoole.com
8:30 p.m.
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