May 06, 2026

186 Dead Children’s Playground

1 hour 20 minutes

Is the Dead Children’s Playground in Huntsville, Alabama haunted?

Episode Summary

This week on Ghostly, we’re heading deep into northern Alabama to the oldest and largest cemetery in the state, Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, and the small, unassuming playground tucked against its limestone bluff that locals call The Dead Children’s Playground. Pat walks us through the cemetery’s history, from John Hunt’s 1804 cabin to the autumn of 1918 when the Spanish flu carried away hundreds of Madison County’s children. Rebecca brings the swings that move on their own at midnight, the little boy in suspenders nobody else could see, the spectral carriage of Governor Thomas Bibb, the rocking chair ghost of Mary Chambers Bibb, and the silent Lady in White who drifts between the 1800s headstones.

This episode was inspired by our most recent Book Club pick — The Dead Children’s Playground by James Kaine, the first book in his American Horrors series.

Featured Book — The Dead Children’s Playground by James Kaine

A #1 bestseller in U.S. Horror on Amazon. BookLife by Publishers Weekly called it a story that “will chill readers to the bone.” Kaine based the entire novel on the actual legend at Maple Hill — and after this episode, you’ll never look at that playground the same way again.

The story centers on two sisters: Kylie (9, a cancer survivor with a quiet bravery) and Kayla (19, an angry older sister who lost herself in years of her family’s fight to keep Kylie alive). When the family relocates to Huntsville for a fresh start, something old and sinister begins to stir near the playground at the edge of Maple Hill Cemetery.

Grab your copy on Amazon »

In This Episode

Pat’s History Notes

The founding of Huntsville — John Hunt’s 1804 spring, LeRoy Pope’s failed attempt to name the town “Twickenham,” and the 1822 purchase of two acres that became Maple Hill

The first burial: infant Mary Frances Atwood in 1820

A who’s-who of Maple Hill: 5 Alabama governors, 5 U.S. senators, 10 members of Congress, Albert Russel Erskine of Studebaker Motors, suffragist Priscilla Holmes Drake, and baseball’s Don Mincher

187 unknown Confederate soldiers buried in the northern section — most killed by disease in training camps, not battle

Autumn 1918: the Spanish flu in Huntsville, the Birmingham News reports of a “desperate situation,” and the rows of small headstones with lambs carved on top

The rise of the Dead Children’s Playground next to the lower section of the cemetery

A short, careful primer on the difference between Hoodoo (a folk magic practice rooted in the African American South) and Vodou/Voodoo (a religion born in West Africa and shaped by Haiti)

Rebecca’s Paranormal Evidence

The Self-Swinging Swings — decades of reports of swings moving in rhythmic sync on windless nights, plus three first-person comments from visitors (2020, 2020, and 2023) sourced from Alabama Haunted Houses

The Boy in Suspenders — a haunting YouTube comment from @thomasplouffe1363 on FOX54 News Huntsville’s video, describing a child playmate his mother insisted was never there

Governor Thomas Bibb’s Moonlight Carriage Ride — a spectral carriage and white horses returning to a grave that should never have been moved

Mary Chambers Bibb — The Rocking Chair Ghost — buried in her wedding dress, sitting up in her rocker, and answering knocks at her crypt

The Lady in White — the silent figure drifting through the 1800s section of Maple Hill

Music Credits

Music for this episode was performed by Michael Rivers

“Pat Facts” and “Ghost Story” themes by Mondo

“Time for a Debate” theme by Gail Gallagher — gailgallaghermusic.com

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Show Notes & Sources

Maple Hill Cemetery — History & Overview

Maple Hill Cemetery — Wikipedia

Maple Hill Cemetery Is An Alabama Treasure — Hville Blast

9 Historic Graves in Maple Hill — The Bama Buzz

Maple Hill Cemetery Historical Marker — HMDB

A Virtual Tour of Historic Maple Hill Cemetery — Huntsville History Tours

Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll Brings Huntsville History to Life — City of Huntsville

LeRoy Pope — Encyclopedia of Alabama

Dead Children’s Playground — Legend & Hauntings

Dead Children’s Playground — Atlas Obscura

Dead Children’s Playground — Alabama Haunted Houses

Maple Hill Cemetery and the Dead Children’s Playground — US Ghost Adventures

Dead Children’s Playground: Fact & Fiction — Rocket City Now (FOX54)

Most Haunted: Maple Hill Cemetery — Our Valley Events / We Are Huntsville

At Play in the Field of the Dead — Southern Spirit Guide

The Moonlight Ride at Maple Hill — We Are Huntsville

Haunted Huntsville — The Dead Children’s Playground — FOX54 / Rocket City Now

The Startling Story of the Mary Chambers Bibb Mausoleum — Hville Blast

The Dead Children’s Playground — Book by James Kaine

Grab your copy on Amazon (Ghostly affiliate link)

Hoodoo & Voodoo — History & Origins

Hoodoo (Spirituality) — Wikipedia

Louisiana Voodoo — Wikipedia

Voodoo vs. Hoodoo: What’s the Difference? — ULC

A History of Louisiana Voodoo — Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo

The True History and Faith Behind Voodoo — New Orleans French Quarter

What Is Hoodoo? — Louisiana Voodoo

New Orleans Witchcraft: The Legacy of Hoodoo and Voodoo — Strange & Twisted

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#GhostlyPodcast #HauntedAlabama #MapleHillCemetery #DeadChildrensPlayground #Huntsville #ParanormalPodcast #GhostStories #SouthernGothic #HauntedHistory #JamesKaine #AmericanHorrors #BookClub #1918FluPandemic #ThomasBibb #SpiritsOfAlabama #TrueHauntings #SkepticVsBeliever

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