Hoodoo, haints and horror are coming to the North Shelby Library on Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

Alan Brown, professor at the University of West Alabama and member of the Alabama Humanities Foundation speakers bureau, will present the program about Alabama’s historically haunted places.

Alabama’s reputation as a repository of haunted places was firmly established in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s through the work of Kathryn Tucker Windham of Selma.

Brown’s presentation will not only update the stories featured in her books; it will also show that houses are not the only haunted sites in the state.

The places featured in &uot;Hoodoo, Haints and Horror&uot; include cemeteries, bed and breakfasts, highways, college campuses, schools, bridges, libraries, factories and government buildings throughout the state.

Many of the stories such as the haunting of radio station WZPQ in Jasper and Lucas Tavern in Montgomery are not well known outside their communities.

Brown’s lecture hopes to illustrate that Alabama’s rich tradition of oral ghost narratives encompasses more than spooky stories. These tales are an invaluable record of Alabama’s history and folk heritage.

Brown is a professor of English and director of the Writing Center at UWA. He earned his doctorate in English from Illinois State University.

Despite his rigorous academic schedule, he has devoted a great deal of time and energy to the public sector.

He has directed summer teaching seminars funded by the AHF on the history and literature of racism; the gothic writing of Carson McCullers, Flannery O’Connor and Eudora Welty; and most recently, Alabama folklore.

He also developed an exhibition on African-American folklore titled &uot;Ruby Pickens Tartt: An Alabama Original.&uot;

His publications include &uot;The Face in the Window and Other Alabama Ghostlore (1996) and Shadows and Cypress: Southern Ghost Stories (2000).&uot;

For information about this program, call Darryl Heritage at 439-5540