Fatal history: The dead rise and speak Thursday and Friday at Old Alabama Town

If Old Alabama Town was a TV show, this Thursday and Friday it would be a PG-13 one called "The Talking Dead."

"It's just going to be a great time," said Ella Martin, special events coordinator for Landmarks Foundation of Montgomery, which oversees the area.

Folks who lived and died in these restored 19th- and early 20th-century buildings in downtown Montgomery are coming back to give a glimpse into their demise for the Haunting at Old Alabama Town.

Martin said while the area is normally cheery in daylight, Old Alabama Town has a whole different vibe as the sun sets.

"It's pretty creepy, without anything even up," Martin said. "The trees and the shadows on the old buildings."

After a long hiatus, the tour was resurrected last year, and this time around includes a new structure. Tour guests will go through a pole barn where a woman appears with a snake. Guests will be led to an old log cabin by which she buried her children.

"The snakes covered them up," Martin said. "We have the tombstones coming up back there."

The tours are roughly 30 minutes, and aren't for the faint of heart. They're led nightly at 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8, and 8:30 p.m. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Guests should arrive 15 minutes before their assigned time slot.

The tour begins at Lucas Tavern, 310 N. Hull St., where guests will be greeted by the ghost of Eliza Lucas. From there, the tour will go through several buildings in Old Alabama Town's Living Block.

Among the stops is the Yancey dogtrot home, where Southern secession leader William Lowndes Yancey lived and died. There's also the Carriage House, where Stephen A. Douglas stayed with the Seibels when Douglas was running for president. There's a school girl who died of yellow fever, who is said to come back at night to finish school. Some of the more chilling tales are from Dr. Duncan's office. While trying to save lives, the doctor often had to amputate limbs. There were no antibiotics.

Martin said they're also expanding the story of a teenage horse rider from the Martin-Barnes House who was accidentally impaled on a fence.

"There's two horseman this year," Martin said — the father and the son who disobeyed his dad to go riding in the dark before supper.

The tour's tales are based on stories from the late Montgomery historian Mary Ann Neely.

For this year's tours, they've partnered with Alabama State University students for makeup and acting assistance.

Refreshments and food trucks from WhoHungry? (Thursday) and Funky Forte (Friday) are available before and after the tour.

Tickets are $25, and are available online at https://landmarksfoundation.networkforgood.com/events/47854-the-haunting-of-old-alabama-town. Admission includes one drink ticket.

Get a tour time slot now, because some of them have already sold out. They're trying to limit the number of people that guides lead from building to building at a time.

Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at sheupel@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: The dead rise and speak Thursday and Friday at Old Alabama Town