<P> Luther Heggs ( Don Knotts ) is a typesetter at the Rachel Courier Express ( the local newspaper in Rachel , Kansas ) , but he aspires to be a reporter . One night , observing what he believes to be a murder outside of an old , supposedly haunted house known as the Simmons Mansion , Heggs rushes to the police station with his scoop . Unfortunately , as he relates the details of his story to the Chief of Police , the murder `` victim '' walks into the room , a local drunk who had merely been knocked unconscious by his irate wife , who had brought him in to be jailed . The next morning , Heggs walks downstairs to the dining room at the Natalie Miller boarding house and overhears Ollie Weaver ( Skip Homeier ) , a full - time reporter at the newspaper , mocking Luther 's mistakes of the night before . Ollie is also dating Heggs ' eventual love interest , Alma Parker ( Joan Staley ) . According to local lore , the Simmons Mansion was a `` murder house '' 20 years earlier , when Mr. Simmons murdered his wife ( with some unknown sharp instrument that was never located -- ultimately revealed to be a pair of gardener 's pruning shears ) , and then jumped to his death from the organ loft . Legend has it that the ghost of Mr. Simmons can still occasionally be heard playing the organ at midnight . </P>
<P> Luther Heggs ( Don Knotts ) is a typesetter at the Rachel Courier Express ( the local newspaper in Rachel , Kansas ) , but he aspires to be a reporter . One night , observing what he believes to be a murder outside of an old , supposedly haunted house known as the Simmons Mansion , Heggs rushes to the police station with his scoop . Unfortunately , as he relates the details of his story to the Chief of Police , the murder `` victim '' walks into the room , a local drunk who had merely been knocked unconscious by his irate wife , who had brought him in to be jailed . The next morning , Heggs walks downstairs to the dining room at the Natalie Miller boarding house and overhears Ollie Weaver ( Skip Homeier ) , a full - time reporter at the newspaper , mocking Luther 's mistakes of the night before . Ollie is also dating Heggs ' eventual love interest , Alma Parker ( Joan Staley ) . According to local lore , the Simmons Mansion was a `` murder house '' 20 years earlier , when Mr. Simmons murdered his wife ( with some unknown sharp instrument that was never located -- ultimately revealed to be a pair of gardener 's pruning shears ) , and then jumped to his death from the organ loft . Legend has it that the ghost of Mr. Simmons can still occasionally be heard playing the organ at midnight . </P>
who played alma in the ghost and mr chicken
who played alma in the ghost and mr chicken
Joan Staley
Joan Staley