Guest Author - Jill Browne

You might not think you're a tour guide, but putting together your own hometown Ghost Tour can be a lot of fun. It's a no-cost way of surprising and delighting your guests.

What is a Ghost Tour?

Ghost Tours are typically guided walking tours of places reputed to be haunted. If you don't believe in ghosts, or you think the whole thing is in bad taste, a traditional ghost tour probably won't be anything special to you. When you design your own, though, it can be a "story tour" or a "legends tour" - it doesn't have to be ghostly at all.

On a classic ghost tour, the group meets at the starting point, where the guide quite often has a black cloak or some other suitable costume. The tours are often held in the evening or at night, so the guide might bring a lamp along with the more modern flashlight.

The tour lasts about an hour to ninety minutes and covers a relatively short distance, with stops along the way to hear stories about the places and the scary things that went on there.

Doing Your Homework

First decide on the theme and the scariness level you want to achieve. Do you want something gruesome, true life, criminal, modern, and very scary? Or would you prefer something about people who lived long ago, without violence, maybe with a heart-broken lover theme? Those are two extremes. The second one involves death, but it can be implied rather than the focus of the tour, whereas the first one really focuses on the actual death event and the horrible things surrounding it.

Here are some more suggestions for themes:

- famous people who lived in or passed through your area. Example: Lewis & Clark. This is a great theme for families in the US where children learn about Lewis & Clark in school. You can tie it into ghostly stories of the people on the Lewis & Clark expedition.

- comedy theme. If you live in a place that is so new, or so small, or otherwise so unremarkable (!) that no one notable has ever been there, you can come up with a theme based upon cliches. You could include things like, "George Washington slept here", "This is where they found a piece of strawberry pie with the image of John Lennon in the crust", and "This is the stop sign where a man stopped his car and a mysterious force prevented him from starting again for a full three minutes". You can make this one ghostly or just silly, or both.

- cowboys, especially if you live in a cowboy kind of place. Once again there is the opportunity to invoke a ghostly feel by telling stories of shootouts and lonely times out on the range, mysterious drifters who just disappeared, and the like.

No matter what theme you pick, you need to do some practical research to plan your route. Walk it yourself at the time you are planning to run the tour, and preferably on the same day of the week. Are the places you want to visit all open and accessible? Is it all safe to walk? Are there places you can stop during or after the tour for refreshments and to carry on the fun?

The other kind of research you will do is about the actual people and places you're going to talk about. You can get a lot of help on this from the local public library, and possibly the local tourist bureau as well. If your town has a historic society, they may have some good suggestions. Basically, pick a theme you're interested in working with and see what you can do.

If there are kids around, this is a great activity for them. Invite them to put the whole tour together by themselves, and have fun enjoying what they come up with.

Making it Special

To jazz up the experience, dress in a simple costume appropriate to your theme. You might give out maps at the beginning, or clues about what lies ahead. Don't be afraid to ham it up. These are your friends and family and this is a cheap way to have some fun together.

There are a few courtesies you should practice.

Do be respectful of the people in your stories. Don't interfere with any professionals out doing tours in the same area - be nice and let them earn their living. Do get permission in advance if you plan to bring a large group to a place where it would be unusual for a large group to show up out of the blue. And, if you go into a store or restaurant to use the bathroom - please be thoughtful and buy something.

Know your audience and put together the kind of walk that they will enjoy. Then, for your payback, tell them you expect the same treatment the next time you're in their home town.

This link is here mainly to show you a picture of how a Ghost Tour guide might look in an inexpensive but stylish (!) black cape. Imagine yourself swirling down the street... I notice that both people are wearing the black cape, but on the lady it is hard to tell how long it is. She has a long red dress on under the cape. The man is a better illustration.