The season for haunted happenings has arrived. But what if dimly lit rooms, strobe lights and costumed actors leaping from the dark corners of a haunted house attraction aren’t quite your thing?
If you prefer history and good ghost stories to get you in a spooky mood, you might just want to check out a ghost tour. Lucky for us, our region is rich with such offerings.
Here are 10 interesting ghost tours within a day’s drive.
Salem Ghosts
Halloween in Salem, Mass., is unlike Halloween anywhere else. Salem’s witch trial history gives it a unique historic, and possibly paranormal, pedigree. With a mix of scares and history, Salem Ghosts winds around all of Salem’s most haunted locations. Don’t worry about whether you should bring the little ghost-hunters along – it’s family-friendly. Plus, AAA members get a discount.
Baltimore Ghost Tours
Fell’s Point is among the oldest areas of Charm City, with a shipbuilding history that includes production of the Continental Navy’s first frigate. Ghost tours explore its maritime lineage with a mix of historic and contemporary tales, such as that of a retired sailor whose favorite polka song played in a local tavern after his death, even after it was removed from the jukebox. Guests 21 and older can explore haunted taverns on a pub walk. Tours of Mt. Vernon are also offered in October, where beautiful architecture blends with spooky stories.
Boroughs of the Dead
New York
Hipsters might be the scariest things to come to New York City in recent years, but they’re not the most frightening part of the city’s history. Voodoo, poltergeists and potter’s fields are all part of a haunted Astoria tour. Or check out the mystical symbolism of architecture in the West Village, walk by the Brooklyn home of horror author H.P. Lovecraft and learn about haunted taverns in lower Manhattan.
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Canada
These tours are separated from others on this list based on pure theatricality. Guests can choose from two ghost walks. The traditional trip explores the dark side of Old Montreal’s past with a mix of ghost stories and history. The second option includes encounters with two spirits – costumed actors – who deliver creepy stories about their characters and the area.
Gettysburg Ghost Tours
Gettysburg, Pa.
Gettysburg’s bloody past makes it a magnet for history buffs and ghost hunters. Gettysburg Ghost Tours appeals to visitors of either interest by highlighting everything from Civil War soldiers to local architecture. Brave souls can sign up to explore frightening areas using ghost-hunting equipment.
Ghosts of Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry, W.Va.
Harpers Ferry has a history seemingly made for ghost stories. The site of an abolitionist raid in 1859 repeatedly changed hands during the Civil War. Pegged as the country’s oldest ghost tour, guests explore several blocks of Harpers Ferry’s lower town area. Many highlighted stories come from a 1977 book written by a former restaurant owner whose inexplicable experiences led her to research the area’s past.
Ghosts of Newport
Newport, R.I.
Newport’s history isn’t all sailing, folk festivals and Gilded Age-opulence. Ghosts of Newport tours explore more than 350 years of tragedy in the city’s oldest neighborhoods. Guides claim the stories highlighted on each trip were passed to them by eyewitnesses. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be the next tourgoer to see something you simply can’t explain.
Queen City Ghostwalk
Burlington, Vt.
Quick. Picture Burlington, Vt. If you imagined sandal-clad pedestrians walking amid fall foliage and quaint cobblestone shopping areas, you probably aren’t alone. Queen City Ghostwalk explores a slightly different part of the city – a history laden with lumber barons, railroad tycoons, smugglers and war heroes. Choose from walking tours that include Burlington’s downtown or a local cemetery. Bus tours highlighting allegedly haunted spots on the University of Vermont campus are offered in October on a limited basis.
Seaside Shadows Haunted History Tours
Mystic and New London, Conn.
Do you know where you can find the giggling ghost of Mystic? Those who’ve taken a Seaside Shadows tour do. The company offers ghost tours of the well-known coastal community including one highlighting the downtown area with stories of sea captains, boats lost at sea, hidden treasurers and Civil War widows. The other explores Whitehall Burial Ground, highlighting the significance of grave markings and the burial place of interesting local figures. In New London, guests visit Ye Antientist Burial Ground, one of the nation’s oldest graveyards and resting place of important Connecticut historical figures.
Washington, D.C., Ghost Tours
Strolling the nation’s capital is a good bet any time of year. To properly enjoy such a thing in October, however, one must do so while hearing ghost stories. Victorian-costumed guides lead walks focused on Lafayette Square, across from the White House. Tales of soldiers, first ladies, war heroes and other figures highlight the area’s tragic past.
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Have you ever been on a ghost tour? Tell us about it in the comments.
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4 Thoughts on “10 Best Ghost Tours in the Northeast”
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Well….Maryland, the Virginias, DC , New York , Pennsylvania…most are considered Mid Atlantic states and arent considered in the Northeast usually. Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticutt, Rhode Island, upstate New York? Sure! Quebec (if you want to skip over the border, ok) can be considered the Northeast. The Eastern Seaboard, maybe?…But thanks for the recommendations!
Nantucket has (or at least had) a great ghost tour, walking through the back streets at night. On a whim, I went to the starting point in town (the big bank building that looks like a Greek temple), and asked the tour guide if it was possible to join a tour that evening; he said I was the only person interested that particular night, and normally he would say no, but “I need the money”. It was a lot of fun, and since it ended up being a private tour just for me, an even more intimate experience – just the two of us (and the ghosts) walking around in the dark.
This was almost 20 years ago, and I don’t know if he is still doing those tours, or if someone else has taken his place; but if you’re on the island, and you’ve done the traditional sites like the Whaling Museum (a must-see), the ghost tour offers a very different kind of fun – if it’s still happening.
42nd Annual Ghost Walk Olde Towne Portsmouth, Va-The Ghosts of the Olde Towne Portsmouth Ghost Walk are gearing up to tell their tales of love, loss, murder and mayhem!
Patrons are guided on a walking tour through the historic district of Olde Towne, Portsmouth. At each haunted house visitors hear costumed actors retell the legends of ghostly visitations and things that go bump in the night!
Cape May has many Ghosts. Must see and experience for one’s self.