The Ross County Historical Society will host “Haunted Histories” on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Ross County Heritage Center, 45 W. 5th St. in Chillicothe. The evening program combines ghost stories, hands-on history and seasonal activities inside the museum, and the society describes the event as family-friendly for visitors spending a fall Saturday night downtown.
The centerpiece presentations are ghost stories and Victorian parlor tales, including Appalachian ghost stories and tales from across Southern Ohio told in a Victorian parlor setting. The format draws on a time when families gathered in parlors to share stories after dark, and it places the Southern Ohio tales in that older tradition of spoken storytelling rather than in a modern stage show.
Visitors can also take part in an interactive recreation of a 19th-century seance inside an 1800s log house. Participants will try to debunk the techniques used in Victorian spiritualism, using deduction to work out how the effects in the seance were produced. The activity turns the seance into a puzzle, inviting guests to look closely for explanations instead of simply watching a performance.
Both the seance and the ghost story presentations will have three showings during the evening, giving attendees more than one chance to catch each program between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. Also on view will be a curated display of oddities and unusual items drawn from the historical society’s permanent collection, offering a look at pieces that stand out even among the museum’s regular holdings.
Two Appalachian folk artists will demonstrate and sell traditional crafts during the event, including corn husk doll making and pine needle basket weaving. Their work adds a living craft tradition to an evening otherwise focused on stories and objects from the past, and visitors can watch the techniques up close and purchase the finished pieces directly from the makers.
Admission to Haunted Histories includes full museum tours, Halloween-themed crafts, fortune-telling games and complimentary refreshments, in addition to the scheduled presentations. Attendees are asked to arrive by 6:45 p.m., ahead of the 7:00 p.m. start, and costumes are welcome for those who want to dress for the occasion while touring the Heritage Center and taking part in the activities.
For the Ross County Historical Society, the evening uses the Heritage Center itself as part of the experience, pairing its museum exhibits and its 1800s log house with stories rooted in Appalachia and Southern Ohio. Residents who go on Saturday will find history presented through tales, objects and craftwork in one visit, in a program built to be explored at their own pace across the two hours.