It's no secret if you ask any of my friends or people who haven't even known me long that I'm a little eccentric. But that's OK, I embrace it most days. And I really gave it a big old hug the day I finally went on my first NeighborsGhosts tour with neighborsgo.com columnist Chris Coats last week in downtown Plano.

A few hot spots (or shall I say cold spots) that struck me was the Plano Masonic Lodge #768 and The Carpenter House -- a lovely Queen Anne style home centuries old. In the lodge, I instantly became verklempt. My chest tightened and I didn't feel very welcome all of a sudden even though our guide, Kevin Main, junior warden, was such a pleasing host. But I found out later on the tour that I wasn't the only lady who felt weirdness there...

Now the Carpenter House had a real charm that was unmistakable. Also unmistakable is the imprint of it's history. The walls seem to come alive. You know, not in a bad way...just kind of creepy. This is where I confess that before the co-proprietor Stan Black would mention oddities of the place, I would feel things three steps ahead before he spoke.

I don't know, maybe I can add medium to my resume. 

Anywho, take a moment and enjoy the tour in the photoplay I created below. You might be surprised by what you see. Just click the image and don't turn off the lights. 

Ladies and ghouls, we present The Helpless Housewife and friends (aka the neighborsgo players) and their chilling experience of learning the "Thriller" dance. Does this count as "paranormal activity"?

In Garland an old ghost story also exists. Our new neighborsgo contributor Caitlin S. Stanford gave us a little bit of history about one of Garland's most chilling tales.

The Dallas Morning News has investigated the tale before in this 2006 story. 

It was an evening of thrills and chills as NeighborsGhosts kicked off its metro-wide ghostbusting tour in McKinney. Teaming up with historic Chestnut Square’s “Legends of McKinney Ghost Walk” a lucky 13 readers and their guest were given a behind the scenes tour of the haunt spots of McKinney.

“Learning the history of McKinney is something that we’ve been wanting to do for the past 4 and a half years since we moved here,” Barbara Sierkowski said. “The tour was a great way to do it.”

Yes, we're neighborsgo editors in Halloween costumes.

Yes, this is a mosaic of all our photos. (A bigger image is below; individual shots are at right).

Yes, we'd like you to post photos of your scary costumes and decorations on neighborsgo.com so that we can publish them in print.(Use "Halloween" somewhere in your caption, please.)

Any questions or comments?

No that's NOT how Chris Coats, neighborsgo community columnist, normally dresses. As far as we know, anyway.

She was spotted in costume last week in McKinney, where she will host the first of our "neighborsGhosts" tours of North Texas haunts. Additional tours tentatively are planned for Richardson, Plano, Garland and Allen in months to come, with more possible in other areas as well.

Chris also will write about the tours in special "neighborsGhosts" columns that will appear in print sections of neighborsgo and on this blog.

Drop her an e-mail at ctcoats@aol.com if you’re interested in having your home or building added to an upcoming tour. Or contact me at mmacesich@neighborsgo.com. Or just post a comment here!

And keep checking back for updates!

"Who doesn’t love a creepy old ghost story?" asks Chris Coats, neighborsgo community columnist.

Chris will host and write about a series of tours starting next weekend in McKinney, the continuing in Richardson, Plano, Garland and Allen and other areas of the metroplex in months to come.

Drop her an e-mail at ctcoats@aol.com if you’re interested in having your home or building added to an upcoming tour. Or contact me at mmacesich@neighborsgo.com. Or just post a comment here!

And keep checking back here for updates!

This movie, out in limited release, is haunting several theaters in the area for sure - Cinemark Legacy in Plano, the AMC Mesquite 30 and the AMC NorthPark 15.

Matt Mungle's review at 'neighborsgo to the movies' blog says: 

"'Paranormal Activity' is one of those movies that are being driven by internet hype. ... The buzz says it’s the scariest movie of all time. ... You can believe the hype!"

For Mungle's full review, go here: http://tinyurl.com/yg9t4vm.

For Mungle's review of the purely fictional "Zombieland", go here: http://tinyurl.com/ylz6ux4.

Here's an excerpt from a story posted last April by neighborsgo contributor Carmen Koger of Flower Mound to get us started ... 

"We’ve all seen ghosts in the movies, read about them in books or heard the scary stories on a weekend slumber party.  Maybe you even took a turn on the Ouija board one night and communicated with one of them personally. Whatever your beliefs on this subject I hope you enjoy this true story of a paranormal encounter that I witnessed.  I became a believer in one day.