The Memphis Flyer folks love Halloween — and all things spooky. Our very own Toby Sells has even written a book — Haint Blues: Strange Tales from the American South — for which he used his sharp reporter’s skills to get to the heart of some of the South’s best paranormal stories. With just a mention of ghosts, our managing editor Abigail’s eyes light up. So when we discussed what we wanted to do for this issue, all sorts of ghoulish ideas flew. Did we want to recount regional ghost tales (of which there are many)? Could we schedule a ghost tour (several operate in the area)? Was there a haunted house nearby where we could spend a night (and have our timbers shivered)?
Although these conversations spanned over a few weeks before our favorite holiday, we weren’t quite able to get our butts in gear for a full-fledged ghost outing on the streets of Memphis or in a spooky B&B. The next best thing, of course, was a professionally guided hunt for ghosts in the famously haunted Earnestine & Hazel’s. Sadly I missed the excursion for a concert I’d already bought tickets to, but thankfully a few eager Flyer staffers were available for the experience. You can read all about it in this week’s cover story, “Ghost Fishing.”
While this week we relish in the ghastly fun, some not-so-fun horrors may be impending. Of course, I’m referring to the election as we count the days until the country’s new leader is revealed. Next week as results slowly pour in, our staff will be up past our bedtimes Tuesday night awaiting that answer. And as our regular readers well know, the Flyer always hits newsstands on Wednesday mornings. That will not be the case for the coming edition. Our printer has given us an extension on our deadline so that we can wait until the absolute last minute to call it. Whether that will be a clear winner or “too close to call,” we’re hanging on as long as they’ll let us before hitting “send” on the cover image and cover story. With a late ship, the papers will be printed later — which means our delivery will also be later. In this case, copies of the November 7th issue won’t make their way to newsstands until Thursday morning, November 7th. So heads up: If you don’t see us in your regular pick-up spot on Wednesday, please check back Thursday for a hard copy (the individual features will be published on our website as usual early Wednesday morning).
We’ll be on the edge of our seats with the rest of the nation (world?) next week, trying to keep the nail biting to a minimum as our fate unfolds. The ghosts of a previous term under Trump floating in the back of our minds are as haunting as anything we’ve seen — and those ghosts are very real. I urge you all to get out and cast your votes, so that this particular horror story might have a happier ending.
