The question was simple. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

The answer was evasive. “I believe in ghost stories.”

Harriet Outlaw smiled as she quipped the answer to the question. However, those who attended Female Factor at The Studio on Wednesday probably left saying “Yes, she does.”

Outlaw, author of “Haunted Baldwin County, Alabama,” was the program guest at Female Factor and she was there to talk about ghosts and such. She has uncovered many stories of the supernatural events and colorful characters of Baldwin County. And, she is as passionate about ghost stories as she has been about everything else in her life from teaching to parenting.

“I grew up in a town much like Troy,” she said. “A town with front porches where people gathered to talk and to share stories. It was wonderful sitting on the porch, watching fireflies and listening to stories.”

Many of the stories that Outlaw heard as a child were family stories and, being in the South, ghost stories were told as “true stories.”

“I grew up with ghost stories – stories that could not be explained,” Outlaw said. “As a child, I was afraid of many things. I was scared we were going to be bombed by the Russians. I was afraid of the bear behind my bed. I was afraid of clowns and dogs but never ghosts.”
So, when a ghost came to live in the house with Outlaw and her family, she was rather comfortable with the uninvited guest and rather enjoyed the ghostly company.

Having a ghost in the house placed Outlaw in a situation similar to that of Alabama’s premier storyteller Kathryn Tucker Windham who had a ghost living in her house.

Windham encouraged Outlaw to write her stories and share them with others. As she began to collect stories, Outlaw was amazed at the number of people that have ghost stories to tell.

“Just about everywhere I go, someone will have a ghost story to share,” she said. “You can’t prove the existence of ghosts. You can believe they are there but you can’t prove it. I don’t go out trying the capture ghosts. I just tell their stories.”

Outlaw shared several ghost stories with the ladies at Female Factor and the ghosts in her stories were all women.

“Women are more emotional,” she said. “Emotions – intense feeling – connect people. And stories connect people.  Stories are personal. Stories told in the oral tradition give listeners the opportunity to internalize the story and what incredible relationships are formed between the characters in the story and the listener.”

Outlaw encouraged the ladies at Female Factor to tell their stories and always be on the lookout for ghosts because you never know when one is waiting to find a place to “reside.”

Outlaw’s book of ghost stories, “Haunted Baldwin County, Alabama” is available on Amazon.com and at bookstores.