Post by JoannaL on Aug 13, 2020 20:53:39 GMT -5
America's Top 10 Ghost Tours
Where there’s history, there are ghosts, and haunted tours all over the United States offer thrills and chills as well as unique insights into the distinctive history of the destination and the individuals who lived there. Of course, it goes without saying some of these tours are better than others and following are what some ghost “experts” claim to be the Top 10:
1. NOLA Ghost Riders (New Orleans). This is the only nighttime cemetery tour in the city, but it also offers ghost tours of the French Quarter and daytime walking tours of the cemetery. And for those more interested in scandal than ghosts, there’s the Brothel & Bordello Tour that concentrates on some of the juicier New Orleans tales.
2. Boroughs of the Dead (New York City). The locally owned and operated tour takes visitors on walking excursions through various neighborhoods, e.g., Manhattan, Queens and Roosevelt island, uncovering some of the Big Apple’s strangest and darkest secrets. One of the Manhattan tours passes The Dakota Apartments (pictured above), where, it is said, many dead residents, including John Lennon, still stalk the old building so spooky it was chosen as the film location of the 1968 horror film, Rosemary’s Baby.
3. Nightly Spirits (Washington, D.C.). This tour, which begins at The Occidental Bar & Grill, is known for its pub crawls through U.S. cities and one of the best is in the nation’s capital, where participants – with drinks in hand – are led through some of the most historic and haunted locations.
4. Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours (San Antonio). The city began as a Spanish settlement in 1691 and with more than 300 years of history, it has acquired an appreciable number of ghosts. Tour guides take visitors inside the Menger Hotel (touted as the most haunted hotel in Texas), one of the first hospitals, San Fernando Cathedral and the old Bexar County Jail.
5. Ghosts & Gravestones Tour (St. Augustine, Florida). St. Augustine is even older than San Antonio and has the distinction of being America’s oldest city. Costumed ghost hosts regale participants with all sorts of eerie tales – delightful and dreadful – from the comfort of the ghost trolley. One of the most haunted locations on the tour is Flagler College (above), the former Ponce de Leon Hotel.
6. Spooked in Seattle (Seattle). This tour is in partnership with Advanced Ghost Hunters of Seattle-Tacoma (AGHOST) and participants hear ghostly tales from the perspective of “genuine” ghost hunters.
7. Ghost Tours of Harpers Ferry (Harpers Ferry, West Virginia). This tour is based on A Ghost Tour of Harpers Ferry, a 1977 book by Shirley Dougherty. The 1½-hour tour doesn’t engage in theatrics and is appropriate for some children.
8. Bar Harbor Ghost Tours (Bar Harbor, Maine). A tour guide carrying a blue lantern gives an overview of New England’s paranormal history from the perspective of an American Indian. The tour offers exclusive nighttime access to the 1932 Criterion Theatre on Cottage Street.
9. Chattanooga Ghost Tours (Chattanooga, Tennessee). This tour claims to be the first in the world to offer participants “ultimate ghost hunts” utilizing the latest ghost-hunting gadget: the Xcam. This piece of “equipment,” used on the TV show Ghost Adventures, allegedly picks up images of paranormal entities. Tours take place nightly and there is also an adults-only ghost hunt in the local cemetery, using other ghost-hunting gadgetry.
10. French Quarter Phantoms (New Orleans). These tours of the French Quarter (above) aren’t scripted and the guides are professional storytellers. In addition to the ghost tour, there are also crime and vampire tours.
Sources: USA Today, 10 Best; "The Dakota Apartments: Where the Dead Walk"; "The Phantom Ladies of Flagler College"; and "Nightly Spirits Ghost Tour of DC's Haunted Bars."
