The city of Asheville is home to many haunted and historic attractions according to bloggers of Asheville Terrors.
Kaylee Michua, an A-B Tech student studying psychology said she took a ghost tour in Asheville recently and was particularly amused by the Grove Park Inn.
“Apparently it is haunted by a ghost called ‘the pink lady’. I was kind of shocked hearing that because I went there all the time during Christmas even when I was a child, and I’ve never heard this story before,” Michua said.
According to Michua, the pink lady was supposedly a young woman staying at the Grove Park Inn who fell to her death from the 5th-floor balcony in the 1920s.
“They said she has been known to move things around and wake up guests in the middle of the night,” Michua said.
Michua said she enjoyed the ambiance of the Grove Park Inn overall, but also experienced an eerie feeling just by being outside of the building.
“I don’t really know what it was because I’ve always enjoyed the place, but now that I know it might be haunted, I guess I felt different about it, but in a kind of light-hearted way,” Michua said.
Another place that Michua said stuck out to her was the Jackson Building in downtown Asheville.
“About a hundred years ago, there was a man that jumped from the very top of the building, and he supposedly haunts the top floor now,” Michua said.
There is a bullseye marking on the ground in front of the Jackson Building which is believed to be the spot where the man landed according to Michua.
“I don’t know if I actually believe the story, but I don’t know why else it would be there. It’s just cool to hear stories like that and then actually be able to see the places,” Michua said.
According to Michua, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial was another haunted location the ghost tour stopped by.
David Rayburn, historic interpreter for the Thomas Wolfe Memorial said there are old rumors of visitors commenting on the eeriness of the house, and even claim to see a ghost of a man and woman in the dining room. Some even say their faces can be seen from outside of the windows.
“People say they can hear the faint sound of a typewriter when they come to tour the house and think it is the ghost of Thomas Wolfe, which would make sense,” Rayburn said.
Rayburn said Thomas Wolfe was an author and the youngest of eight children. The memorial that stands in downtown Asheville today was his childhood home where he spent lots of his time reading and writing.
“He was only thirty-seven years old when he passed away from tubercular meningitis,” Rayburn said.
Visitors claim Wolfe’s ghost still haunts the Thomas Wolfe Memorial to this day, according to Rayburn.
“Even if that were true and this place really is haunted, it’s not anything evil at least,” Rayburn said.
Nevaeh Rice, a 19-year-old Asheville resident said she visited the Biltmore Estate in October last year and loved the ghostly atmosphere.
“I heard the place might be haunted before I went, which was one of the reasons I went because I really enjoy spooky things, especially during Halloween time,” Rice said.
The library is supposedly the most haunted room in the house, and there can be whispers heard throughout the house according to Rice.
“I never actually heard or saw anything, but the vibe was kind of weird, not in a bad way, I actually liked it,” Rice said.
Rice said although she didn’t see or hear anything alarming, she was specifically intrigued by the swimming pool in the basement.
“I remember the pool so vividly because it was the only part of the house that actually creeped me out. The pool is on the bottom floor and it is completely empty. It was actually a lot smaller than I thought it would be too, but it gave me a really strange, kind of creepy vibe when I was down there even though it wasn’t supposed to be haunted,” Rice said.
