Haunted Nashville: Caitlin Palmer’s Guide to the Dark Side of Music City at WVC 2026
Nashville is called Music City. It's also, if you know where to look, one of the most haunted cities in the American South.
Between the Civil War dead, the cholera epidemics, the shadowy history of Printer's Alley, and a roster of legendary music icons whose spirits apparently never got the memo to move on, Nashville has ghost stories that are as rich and layered as its musical ones.
And while thousands of veterinary professionals descend on the Music City Center for WVC Nashville this August, Caitlin Palmer, America’s Favorite Veterinary Receptionist, TikTok creator, and certified lover of urban legends and things that go bump in the night, has been quietly building her haunted Nashville itinerary for months.
“I have been researching haunted Nashville since the moment I found out WVC was going there. My coworkers think I'm unwell. They're not entirely wrong. But I will be the most prepared person at that conference.”
Consider this your guide to doing WVC Nashville AND the haunted history tour. The conference ends at 5pm. The ghosts come out after dark. There is no conflict here.
First: Get Yourself Registered
Before we talk about the dead, let's make sure you're actually at the conference. WVC Nashville is August 15–18, 2026 at the Music City Center — 400+ hours of CE, 15+ hands-on labs, 300+ exhibitors, the CVMO leadership panel, the DVM + Cattle Producer Track, and a Tuesday night concert headlined by Blanco Brown, Uncle Kracker, and Gretchen Wilson.
Students register free. Everyone else registers at the standard rate. Hands-on labs are available as add-ons.
Register for WVC Nashville 2026 → viticusgroup.org/wvc-nashville
Get registered, lock in your hotel, and then we can talk about the things lurking in the walls of the Tennessee State Capitol.
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Nashville's Haunted History: The Short Version
Nashville was a Civil War city. It changed hands, held prisoners, and buried thousands of soldiers. Before the war, it survived multiple cholera epidemics that killed residents faster than the city could count them. Beneath the honky-tonks and rooftop bars, Nashville has centuries of history that left marks — and, allegedly, residents who never quite left.
“People hear 'Nashville' and they think Broadway and hot chicken. Which, yes, correct. But also: 200 years of war dead, cholera epidemics, bootleggers, and at least one architect who loved his building so much he's literally buried in the walls. This city has LAYERS.”
The Haunted Spots
The Ryman Auditorium: The Most Haunted Stage in Music City
The Ryman was built in 1892 as a gospel tabernacle by Captain Thomas Ryman, a riverboat captain who found religion and funded a church. After his death in 1904, the venue became a music hall, against everything Ryman had intended. According to decades of reports from staff and performers, he is still there and still not happy about it.
The shadow figure most often reported at the Ryman is believed to be Thomas Ryman himself, pacing the upper galleries. He allegedly caused a full disruption during a production of Carmen, the gypsy temptress storyline apparently pushed him over the edge. The mysterious Lady in Black, believed by many to be Patsy Cline, has been reported in the balcony. Echoes of Hank Williams Sr.'s voice have been heard from the stage during off hours.
“The Ryman after dark? The Lady in Black in the balcony? Hank Williams echoing from an empty stage? I am absolutely buying a ticket to whatever show is playing and I am absolutely looking up the entire time. I will not blink.”
The Ryman offers self-guided tours daily. Take the tour. Look up at the balcony.
Printer's Alley: Where Bootleggers and Ghosts Still Pour
Printer's Alley is one of the most historically layered blocks in downtown Nashville. By day in the 19th century, it was the center of Nashville's printing and publishing industry. By night, it was the city's "Men's Quarter", saloons, brothels, and entertainment of every variety.
During Prohibition, a man named Ice Johnson ran a thriving underground bar called the Southern Turf from one of the Alley's buildings. When authorities forced him to close in 1914, he died by suicide on the third floor. He has, by most accounts, never left.
In 1948, David "Skull" Schulman purchased the building and opened Skull's Rainbow Room — where Elvis, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash all performed. Skull was known for wearing bedazzled jackets and walking rhinestone-leashed poodles he'd dyed red. He reported that every night at closing time, Ice Johnson would move chairs and tables around the bar while he tried to lock up.
“I read about Skull and his dyed red poodles and the ghost of Ice Johnson moving chairs around at midnight and I audibly gasped in a Panera. A woman nearby asked if I was okay. I was not okay. I was thriving.”
Skull's Rainbow Room is still open. Walk through Printer's Alley after dark, have a drink at the bar, and pay attention to the corners.
The Tennessee State Capitol: The Architect in the Walls
The Tennessee State Capitol was designed by architect William Strickland. Strickland died before the Capitol was completed — and was buried, per his own wishes, within the building's walls. He is, according to decades of reports from Capitol staff, still there. Mysterious figures in the hallways at night. Unexplained sounds in empty rooms. The ghost of a man who loved his building so much he chose to be entombed inside it.
“An architect who loved his work so much he had himself buried inside the walls? And now he just... haunts the hallways forever? That is the most unhinged and also most romantic ghost story I have ever heard and I will be at that Capitol building with an EMF reader.”
The Capitol grounds are part of nearly every Nashville ghost tour and open for public visits during the day. Evening walking tours starting at the Alvin York Statue are consistently rated among the best ghost experiences in the city.
The Hermitage Hotel: Room 912
The Hermitage Hotel is Nashville's grande dame — an early 20th-century luxury property that has hosted Johnny Cash, JFK, and most of the city's notable visitors for over a century. Room 912 is the room. The sounds reported there — a crying baby in the dead of night, with no source — are attributed to a tragedy that allegedly occurred in the room decades ago. The hotel doesn't advertise this.
“Room 912 at the Hermitage Hotel. The unexplained crying baby sounds. The tragedy no one talks about. The hotel that absolutely does not put this on their website. I have so many questions and I will be sitting in that lobby asking all of them.”
You don't have to stay in Room 912. But the Oak Bar at the Hermitage is one of the most beautiful historic hotel bars in the South and absolutely worth a drink on a conference evening.
Nashville City Cemetery: The Oldest Continuously Operating
Nashville's oldest cemetery has been operating continuously since 1820. It holds thousands of graves from the cholera epidemics, the Civil War, and the city's earliest decades. Considered by paranormal investigators to be among the most active sites in the city. A short Uber from the Music City Center and worth an hour of quiet, unhurried wandering.
The Ghost Tours Worth Booking
Nashville Ghosts — "Nightmare Notes & Hauntings of Music City"
Nashville Ghosts runs tours nightly, rain or shine, year-round. Their signature walking tour covers the Ryman, Printer's Alley, and several downtown haunted sites. Rated 4.9 stars across thousands of reviews. Book at nashvilleghosts.com.
AmeriGhost Tours — Haunted Downtown Walking Tour
AmeriGhost Tours has handled groups as large as 50 people with consistently strong reviews. The ideal pick if you're organizing a conference group outing for colleagues who want something different from the standard bar crawl.
“Convincing eight veterinary professionals to do a ghost tour instead of happy hour is my personal mission at every conference. I have a 100% success rate. Nobody has ever regretted it.”
Nashville Murder & True Crime Ghost Walking Tour
Adults-only. Covers Printer's Alley, the Tennessee State Capitol, and Skull's Rainbow Room with a focus on murder, mystery, and unsolved cases alongside the ghost stories. Available through Viator. Afternoon or evening time slots.
Nashville Ghost Hunt — Paranormal Investigation
Nashville Ghost Hunt takes small groups inside the city's most actively reported haunted sites with real EMF readers and paranormal investigation equipment. Multiple reviewers report capturing unexplained phenomena on camera.
“I did a paranormal investigation tour last year at a different city and my EMF reader went off three times in the same hallway. Three times. Was it a ghost or was it bad wiring? I choose to believe it was a ghost and nothing you say will change that.”
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How to Do Both: WVC and the Haunted Tour
WVC Nashville ends at 5pm most days. Nashville's ghost tours run in the evenings. This is not a conflict. This is a schedule.
• Saturday evening after the Nash Bash Block Party: Printer's Alley walk — Skull's Rainbow Room for a drink, self-guided after-dark exploration
• Sunday evening after the CVMO panel: Nashville Ghosts walking tour from the Tennessee State Capitol
• Monday after hands-on labs, before the Tails & Tunes Concert: AmeriGhost Tours haunted downtown walk
• Extended stay days: Nashville City Cemetery morning visit, Hermitage Hotel Oak Bar evening, Ryman self-guided tour with the balcony check
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Register for WVC Nashville — Then Come Find the Ghosts
The conference is the anchor. Everything else — the ghost tours, the haunted bars, the cemetery walks, whatever Caitlin finds on the third floor of the Southern Turf — is the reason you stay a little longer and go a little deeper into a city that has more history than most people realize.
WVC Nashville is August 15–18, 2026. Music City Center. Nashville, Tennessee. Students register free. All you need is your school ID at badge pickup.
Register for WVC Nashville 2026 → viticusgroup.org/wvc-nashville
“I will be at WVC Nashville for the CE, the exhibit hall, the concert, and the ghost tour. Probably in that order. Definitely not in that order. Come find me in Printer's Alley.”
Vet Candy is a proud media partner of WVC Nashville 2026. We'll be there, covering the sessions, the concerts, and yes, at least one ghost tour.
For more from Vet Candy — NAVLE Warriors, Rising Stars, free RACE-approved CE, and everything built for the next generation of veterinary professionals — visit myvetcandy.com.