Incredible-but-true tales from Tamaqua's past will come to life October 24 and 25 during the 9th Annual Ghostly Spirits of Tamaqua Tours.

The event, presented by the Tamaqua Historical Society, is a combination bus and walking tour that takes participants on a visit to the community's spookiest and most bizarre sites, including two cemeteries and specific buildings that played a role in unusual happenings.One aspect that makes the event unique, organizers say, is that all of the stories featured are true. Corroborating facts are presented including names, dates and other details.The final product, they say, is a tour that is not only hair-raising, but educational."It's definitely an eye opener," says Dale Freudenberger, society president. "It's a fascinating and exciting tour unlike any other offered in the region."The tour will feature such remarkable stories as how the bodies of alleged Molly Maguires were stored in Tamaqua and kept on ice on three separate occasions.The tour also will explore the mystery of William Heath, a Tamaqua man in the Seventh Cavalry who served with General George Armstrong Custer on the morning of the Battle of Little Bighorn. Despite being listed as killed in action, Heath survived and lived in Tamaqua for 15 years after the massacre.The tour will stop at the front of a few historic buildings, such as a mansion on West Broad Street where, in 2001, a psychic and supporting team of paranormal experts detected the floating spirit of a woman in white. The strange presence reportedly manifests itself as a woman who lived long ago, her spirit constantly moving and surrounded by a cold draft.One of the tour stops will be the front of the Tamaqua Elks Lodge, site of numerous unusual occurrences and a building singled out by several paranormal groups as a haunted location.The tours begin at 7 p.m. at the Tamaqua Public Library, South Railroad St., and last 2 1/2 hours.More information is available at (570) 668-1880.