One great way to celebrate the upcoming spooky season is with a ghost tour. Fortunately, you don’t have to head to one of America’s most haunted cities, like Gettysburg or Salem, to get a dose of paranormal activity this autumn. Instead, you might be surprised to find that a haunted place is much closer than you think.
Companies like US Ghost Adventures lead tours of haunted locations all across the United States. From Savannah to San Antonio, you’ll find walking tours dedicated to ghost stories near you—and perhaps even a glimpse of a ghost on this spooky journey!
If you’re not familiar with your local ghost city or ghost tours more generally, you might be unsure of what you should anticipate from your reservation. This ghost tour guide will show you just what to expect when you head out on a haunted tour.
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Historical Insights
No matter where you are, you’ll find that the best ghost tours are those that are rooted in local history. Of course, any location can be a haunted site—after all, people die across the nation every day, as they have for centuries. But ghost stories become all the more powerful when backed by historical evidence. For instance, if you’re visiting a haunted hotel, you’ll want to know the stories behind the ghosts you could encounter.
First- and Second-Hand Accounts
Visiting a real-life haunted house night after night, it’s no surprise that a professional tour guide will have their own anecdotes of the ghostly spirits they’ve encountered. Some may incorporate their personal accounts into the tour itself, while others may be willing to share after finishing their formal route, telling these stories at the end of the tour. But, of course, you won’t just hear from the tour guide, either. A haunted yet historical tour might be rooted in a place’s past, but it’s almost always taking form through contemporary locals and their experiences. Those true ghost stories your guide shares may very well be the source of standard Sunday night discussions in town, too.
Some Skepticism
While private tours will depend on your companions, you won’t control others who might join in on group tours. Often, skeptics—those who deny the existence of the paranormal—will accompany believers on a ghost tour or haunted pub crawl, taking it to be just another activity. Some may even take the tour for the sheer fact that they want to debunk it. You should be prepared to face skeptics on your tour, but who knows—they may very well be in for a surprise when their cynicism is challenged!
A Great Time
No matter what kind of ghost tour you choose or what city it is you’re touring, one fact remains certain: you’ll have a good time on your tour as you listen to ghost stories and learn about the haunted place at hand. At the very least, you’ll move through your walking ghost tour and learn some local history or legends. At best, you might have a ghostly encounter of your very own.
Scientists might not have irrefutable evidence of the paranormal (yet), but even acclaimed researchers have supported the supernatural to some degree. Chances are, far more than the reported ranks of experts have some level of belief, too—after all, even scientists can believe in religious figures without proof. However, many feel that others will question their professional integrity should they publically share their belief in the unexplained.
With or without scientific evidence, though, you’ll find that a ghost tour is just the thing you need to start a spooky season with a haunting. From Nashville to Los Angeles, there are haunted tours across the country—and certainly one in a city near you.
