A Halloween tale from Avoyelles’ past

By Randy Dequir

With Halloween upon us, we're taking a little break from election coverage to share an actual ghost story that appeared in a Marksville newspaper more than 140 years ago.

The following account originally appeared in the Marksville (La.) Bulletin during the 1880s. The strange and chilling story of a Choupique man who reportedly predicted his own death was so unusual that it traveled far beyond Avoyelles Parish.

In 1882, the story was picked up and reprinted in a newspaper all the way in Toronto, Canada, where we recently obtained a copy of the original account.

Now, more than 140 years later, we thought the Halloween season would be the perfect time to bring this long-forgotten tale back to life and share a piece of Avoyelles Parish history with our readers.

We'll leave it up to you to decide whether it was an eerie coincidence, a premonition or simply one of those old Louisiana ghost stories that still sends a chill down your spine.