PREMIERING ON YOUTUBE MONDAY, DECEMBER 22 @ 3 PM CT

Get ready to shiver with fear… Alabama Public Television’s brand new YouTube series is here! Jeffrey’s Southern Ghosts premieres on APT’s YouTube channel Monday, Dec. 22 at 3:00 p.m.

For more than fifty years, people have fallen in love with the delightfully chilling ghost stories of Alabama writer and storyteller Kathryn Tucker Windham, and we’re pleased to bring these literary treasures to life in a new way.

“I’m delighted that APT recognizes the importance of bringing these ghost stories to a new audience,” says Windham’s daughter, Dilcy Windham Hilley. “The stories are an important part of our Southern folklore, preserving tales that have been passed down through generations. The history woven into these eerie stories is well-researched and adds a factual groundwork to each one. I expect my mother would be wholly delighted by APT’s approach to her ghost tales.”

The first episode, coming to YouTube on Dec. 22, adapts “The Phantom Steamboat of the Tombigbee,” exploring the final resting place of the ghost ship Eliza Battle, located near the small town of Pennington, Alabama. This narrative intertwines the classic ghost story with elements of investigation and historical insight, while fully embracing the spooky atmosphere. Through a combination of brand new interviews, archival footage featuring Kathryn Tucker Windham, and a dramatic reading of the ghost story itself, we embark on a journey through time, place and folklore.

Kathryn Tucker Windham

WHO IS THE LEGENDARY KATHRYN TUCKER WINDHAM?

Known as “Alabama’s favorite storyteller,” Selma native Kathryn Tucker Windham traveled throughout the South collecting folk tales, local legends, and ghost stories—sharing these tales, as well as her wisdom, in print and on the radio. Beginning with her 1969 book, 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey, her spooky tales have frightened and fascinated generations of Alabamians.

HERE IS WHAT’S IN STORE, DEAR VIEWER.

Like ghost stories shared around a campfire, our guiding principle is to honor Kathryn Tucker Windham by preserving the timeless tradition of storytelling.

Each episode will blend Windham’s narratives with interjections and commentary from historians about the time and place of each tale. While the focus will be on the stories themselves and the history surrounding them, Mrs. Windham will be a recurring presence in every episode, serving as a unifying element for the series. We will treat her as a semi-legendary figure—a collector who traveled the land gathering its stories. Her recordings will have an ethereal quality, suggesting she comes from an older, more mysterious world reminiscent of the gothic Old South genre, filled with legends and crumbling ruins.

HOW DO I WATCH JEFFREY’S SOUTHERN GHOSTS?

The first episode of Jeffrey’s Southern Ghosts will premiere on Alabama Public Television’s YouTube channel. Subscribe and click the bell to be notified when we upload our next video. The show will begin broadcasting on APT starting in 2026. Stay tuned!