Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Savannah, Georgia, for the first time. Ten of us descended upon the charming southern city for my college roommate’s (go Orange!) bachelorette party — a wonderful occasion to celebrate in a picture-perfect city.

We had a lot of fun exploring all the city has to offer, from its riverfront to its downtown, and from its history to its cuisine. We also dipped into its haunted history with an evening visit to the well-known and apparently quite haunted Sorrel Weed House. Dubbed “the most haunted place in Savannah,” the home is also a historic property, and nonhaunted tours are available.

Had you asked me before my trip if I believed in ghosts, I don’t know what I would have answered, as I can’t say I gave the subject much thought. Yes, I believe there are souls trapped in purgatory, but had I seen one before? No. Had I sensed a ghost? No. Ask me now, and I’ll tell you I’ve seen one.

The list of casualties inside this house is long. I didn’t take any pictures that suddenly included a ghoulish figure, but we did see some examples of such from other visitors’ photos, and I might have captured an orb in one photo. I didn’t feel a ghost in the same room as me, but previous visitors have had physical reactions to spirits or felt a child ghost tickle their ankles. I did, however, look into the window of the basement we’d just departed as we were walking from one building to the next, and I saw a man in a long coat walking down the hallway away from us. I asked the tour guide if there was another tour there or an employee, and she said no tour was due through for another 45 minutes, and no one would be down there in a coat, given the 90-degree weather.

While most people don’t realize it, The Siege of Savannah was one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolutionary War, and a group of redcoats is believed to haunt Sorrel Weed House, situated on Madison Square, thought to be a mass grave for casualties of the battle. The most distinct element of the shadowy figure I saw in that basement was a calf-length, swaying coat.

I’ll let you decide for yourself if I actually saw a ghost, a trick of light or someone down in the basement for unknown purposes; but if you visit Savannah, partaking in its haunted history — whether at Sorrel Weed House or on another haunted tour — is a must.

— Kim Krol, editor in chief