Introductions

Greetings, readers!

This is our first post in a new blog dedicated to analyzing hauntings and urban legends in Arkansas. First, a bit about us: our names are Matt and Victoria, and we are students at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. We are participating in what is known as an "Odyssey Project." The Odyssey Program is a unique opportunity offered at Hendrix that allows students to design their own project for credit, which brings us to "A Haunting in Arkansas."

For our Odyssey Project, we intend to seek out and visit allegedly-haunted locations and other sites central to urban legends in Arkansas. Our goal is not to prove or disprove the paranormal, but rather to explore its importance in local culture and history.  The Natural State has a rich tradition of hauntings and folklore. The Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs bills itself "America's Most Haunted Hotel." Tales of monsters in the White River and Fouke, Arkansas have captivated people for decades. In recent years, ghost stories and urban legends have become popular in the media. Television shows centered around the paranormal are on the rise; famous examples include, SyFy’s Ghost Hunters, Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures, and Discovery’s A Haunting series. Dramas, like CW’s Supernatural, also have large followings.  Clearly, tales of the paranormal have become ingrained in the popular culture, and Arkansas has not been left out of this trend. While Arkansas often seems to be overlooked in national media, the Natural State has been featured in several of these programs. Ghost Hunters has visited both Eureka Springs and Little Rock (most recently in June 2013 at Little Rock’s Cornish House). The Winchester brothers from Supernatural also made an appearance in Little Rock.

Popular culture has brought many paranormal stories and urban legends into the limelight. We would like to personally visit as many locations within Arkansas as possible between now and the end of April.We are interested in exploring the cultural and historical significance of the places we visit. Perhaps through firsthand experiences, we can learn more about Arkansas and its people. This brings us back to this blog. We will use Blogger to record our visits, post pictures, and offer our analyses of the locations and stories we come across. In other words, the "A Haunting in Arkansas" blog will serve as our public e-journal where our thoughts can be recorded and people can follow our journeys. 

Follow up posts will list some of the places we intend to visit, our travel logs, and analysis. Stay tuned!