Editor's note: This Halloween, digital video field producer Joe Floccari is exploring some of the haunted tales in the metro Atlanta area. These one-man stories are meant to give voice to alleged supernatural tales during this spooky season.
ROSWELL, Ga. -- It started with a picture taken by a guest attending the Roswell Ghost Tour.
The photo was taken outside the Public House in downtown Roswell. What you see in the photo looks like a woman hanging in the window, but the building is empty.
No police are called. Because nothing is there.
According to David Wood, owner of the Roswell Ghost Tour, a woman hung herself in the building back in 1864.
Wood calls himself a skeptic, and for most of his life did not believe in the paranormal or ghosts. He says working as the general manager of the Public House made him a believer.
"I heard the stories, but like most people I'm a skeptic and I'm like all these people [talking] about ghosts are nuts," he said. "Until I worked there."
Wood pointed to a ledge and said, "that's where I became a believer."
"I was upstairs there cleaning, moving a lot of dust around the room, I couldn't breathe, so I stepped into the fire escape basically to clear my throat," he said. "The next thing I know is the door slammed like you're mad at your significant other and it locked. There was nobody in the building."
Wood shared many experiences that changed him forever: doors closing and locking behind him, unexplainable sounds, and paper towel machines turning on by themselves and shooting out paper.
All of these things, Wood said, happened during the late-night hours, while alone in the building.
These experiences became a passion for Wood. He bought the Roswell Ghost Tour and has been researching the paranormal ever since leaving the Public House.
"I think there are things beyond what we know: whether it's aliens, whether it's ghosts, whether it's spirits," he said. "There's people trying to contact us."
Wood now leads tours through the historic district of Roswell. One of the highlights of the tour is a visit to Founders Cemetery, the burial site of the founder of Roswell, Roswell King. Wood said bodies are buried beneath modern streets and houses.
Grand Greek revival mansions and humble mill worker’s apartments are some of the haunted sites Wood features on the tour.
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