BUXTON – Black-hooded spirits next week will conjure up the real-life, historical stories of figures buried long ago in Buxton.

As Halloween approaches, the free, haunted tour of South Buxton Cemetery on Saturday, Oct. 27, is named “Spirit Walk.” It begins at 4 p.m. Tory Hill, the intersection of routes 202 and 112 in Buxton.

Three tours of the cemetery are scheduled. Those attending should gather on the lawn at Tory Hill Church at 3:30 p.m. to register. Malcolm Washburn, Jenny Anderson and Jan Hill will serve as tour guides.

The Buxton-Hollis Historical Society and the South Buxton Cemetery Association co-sponsor the event.

Hill, president of the historical society, said live spirits dressed in black-hooded capes would deliver presentations at gravesites of noted Buxton and Hollis residents, including famed children’s author Kate Douglas Wiggin.

Five-minute presentations at tombstones will feature humor and interesting facts.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Hill said.

Hill said Al Fratoni of Buxton would play the spirit of John Brewster Jr., an early resident of Tory Hill; Katie Fratoni takes the role of the spirit of Rebecca Usher of Hollis, a nurse during the Civil War; Brent Hill of Buxton, Cyrus Woodman, who was born in Buxton in 1814; Nancy Kneeland of Buxton, spirit of Mabel Carll, born in 1884; Kathe Kendrick of Hollis, spirit of Victorian funeral practices; Buxton Selectman Chairwoman Dianne Senechal, spirit of the tomb; Buxton Registrar of Voters Joan Weeman, spirit of Sara Elden, who was mother of lost children; and Carla Turner, the spirit of Wiggin, who lived in Hollis.

Turner, who owns the house that once belonged to Wiggin, will speak as Wiggin and relate a “couple of ghost stories about the house.”

Buxton Town Clerk John Myers, who is secretary of the cemetery association, said he’d be “the spirit of the hearse house.”

The 132-year old cemetery building costing $100 was constructed to house a glass hearse bought for $400. The cemetery association bought it in July 1880, and it came outfitted with runners, apparently for winter sledding. Hill said a hearse was sold for $200 in 1885 with no further mention of one in old cemetery records.

The cemetery dates to 1761, but many early graves were marked by only fieldstones and no records of the earliest burials exist today, according to the cemetery’s website.

Spirits for the tours next week will convene at the Brewster Mansion at 3:55 p.m. before proceeding to the cemetery.

The live spirits might even have company, as Turner said that “some people have had odd experiences at the cemetery.”

Hill said a paranormal group reported a few years ago that it discovered activity in the graveyard. One rumor bandied about has it that one tombstone was a hiding place for bootleg booze during Prohibition times.

Following the tours, a reception hosted by Richard and Beverly Atkinson in the barn at their 1805 Brewster mansion will include cider, cookies and seasonal music.

In a prelude for the haunted cemetery tours, Spooky Story Night is set for 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20, at the White Church, 15 Salmon Falls Road, Buxton. Admission for story night is $10; $7, seniors and students.