Old ghosts in New South
I'm not sure it's politically OK to mention this, now that we've elected President Obama and we're officially in a post-racial age. But I saw more black people in a recent four-day, 1,600-mile road trip from Atlanta to the Mississippi Delta and back than I have in Pittsburgh in the past year.

Falcons lose Robinson after 'scary' collision, drop game at Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA - DeSean Jackson lay flat on the turf, motionless. A few yards away, Dunta Robinson was just as immobile.

Rich: The ghosts of Southerners' past
When our friendship was new and still most interesting, Poet sought to impress me. But when the new wore off, Poet cast me into the ring with his other friends who are familiar and comfortable so there is no longer a need to impress.

Shearer: 'Winter's Bone' takes its scary from the outskirts
I'm going to admit something here: I'm terrified of rural areas. Blame it on the fact that I was born and raised in Atlanta, spent my summers in New York and never found myself too far out of the city limits. Combine that with a steady diet of scary books and movies throughout my formative years, and you end up with some serious paranoia. The dark stretches of road that seem to go nowhere, eerie quiet, clean air and the too-good-to-be-true friendliness of the locals all make me nervous. I consider myself a Southerner, but watching "The Dukes of Hazzard" was about as close as I ever got to the real deal for the first 18 years of my life. Although I know stories like the ones in "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," "Deliverance" or "Wrong Turn" ar ...

Justice: Longing for the good ol' days of Halloween
I recently read that Halloween has become one of the most profitable holidays for retail businesses, with more than $5 billion spent annually on Halloween products. That same article stated Halloween is the second-biggest decorating holiday of the year, behind only Christmas.

Exploring haunted history
Don't get the ghost tours hosted in Athens and Watkinsville tonight confused with haunted houses or freak parades.

Rutten: There's a reason 'theocracy' is scary word
At the nation's Roman Catholic universities, controversy over the choice of commencement speakers has become almost as regular an annual ritual as graduation itself.

VanHoose: Scary reminder of the dangers of racing
NASCAR can never have a senior tour. As good as that idea sounds in theory, it just wouldn't work.