Have You Seen the Tuscaloosa, Alabama’s Drish House ‘Ghost Light’?

Cue up Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, its October. In the magic of the fall holiday season, I like to call October spooky month. You can fill the month with scary movies, fall treats, celebrate Halloween, and enjoy spooky adventures.

Let me be upfront; I’m the scary type. Bottom line, I’m not too fond of scary movies. I still have nightmares over the film Cujo. I am not the person you take to the haunted houses, either. I scream from start to finish. BUT, I love haunted places that have a spooky history.

Alabama has many spooky spots, even right here in West Alabama. Visit Tuscaloosa lets us know that the “Tuscaloosa’s Drish House on 17th street is considered one of the most haunted locations in the state of Alabama.” I visited the Drish House back in February for our event Bama Bourbon and Beyond. It is a beautiful spot with great southern charm. But, I never knew it was haunted.

I found out that the Drish House has a long history that has exchanged many owners over the years, dating back to 1884. “By 2015, news broke that the Drish House was coming back to life. By 2016, the new owner had restored the estate and opened it up to the public as a historical and cultural place of interest,” The Link reported.

Now on to the part that makes the Drish House a spooky Alabama spot. I was talking to some Alabamians at a local diner, and they quickly told me that “you can see the ‘ghost light’ in the tower windows of the Drish House.” Wait … what? You know I have had the mission to see that ‘ghost light.’

Here is the backstory on the ‘Ghost light’ from Visit Tuscaloosa, “Rumors say Dr. Drish loved gambling and drinking, which contributed to his death in 1867 after falling from atop a stairwell. His wife, Sarah McKinney, became obsessed with her husband’s funeral, so much so that it became an extravagant event. She supposedly kept candles from the funeral hoping to eventually use them during her own. Her family searched for these candles following her death in 1884 but were able to find anything of the like. This is said to have angered Sarah so much that she has come back to haunt the house, even allegedly causing a fire in the third-story tower by lighting the candles.”

Such a fascinating haunted past. If you have seen the ‘ghost light’ please send me a message on Instagram @MaryKRadio.  I need to know all the details, even though I’m the scary type.

(Source) For more from Visit Tuscaloosa, click here. For more from The Lineup, click here.

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