I Explore Ghosts

“The West Virginia Society of Ghost Hunters conducts weekly Paranormal Investigations of haunted houses and sites. It holds training and certification programs for Paranormal Investigators and conducts research into issues of vital interest to Paranormal Investigators. Founded in 1989 by Susan Crites, the West Virginia Society of Ghost Hunters has conducted over 1,000 Paranormal Investigations and interviewed more than 5,000 people who believe they have encountered the supernatural. It is the oldest and largest organization of its type in WV.”

Information supplied by Ayn Hunt - www.authorsden.com/aynhunt

While I was in the middle of writing my first mystery, we had a most unusual visitor who’d appear, then disappear, seemingly at will. At first, he seemed oblivious of us and gave the impression he wanted to be left alone…and we were all willing to let him go his own way. Anyone who could walk through walls the way he could had our utmost respect.

But the more often he appeared, the more curious I became about what we were dealing with here. At the time, I knew nothing about ghosts, wasn’t even sure I believed they existed, so I started researching from scratch. And this is how my mysteries changed from who-dun-its to Gothics.

For example, in my first book, Unwilling Killers, I changed the setting from an old, dilapidated house to an old haunted house which I researched not far from my home. I’d seen it, been in it, knew of its reputation, but never thought much about it. Being a stickler for realism for my books though, I wrote to the local historical society which proved to be a wealth of information about it, even sending me full-color pictures of every room.
(Read more…)

Information supplied by Carol Nesbitt of www.ghostsofgettysburg.com

Over the years since the infamous battle, stories of scores of sightings, stranger than reality, have emerged from the quaint houses and gentle fields in and around the town of Gettysburg: Stories of sightings of soldiers, moving again in battle lines, across the fields where they once marched… and died; tales of visions through a rip in time into the horrible scene of a Civil War hospital; whispers of a look at men long dead held eternally captive by duty. These apparitions - and more - come back to remind us, in one way or another that they are not to be forgotten for what they did here…

In 1994, Mark Nesbitt started the first ghost walk in Gettysburg, The Ghosts of Gettysburg Candlelight Walking Tours®. Armed with tales from his ghost books - and with a few that are not in the books-guides dressed in period attire take visitors on evening tours through sections of town that were bloody battlefields 13 decades ago; through night-darkened streets to houses and buildings where it is not as quiet as it should be; to sites on the old Pennsylvania College campus where the slain once lay in rows, and the wounded suffered horribly, waiting to become corpses themselves; to cemeteries where the dead lie… sometimes not so peacefully. Gettysburg may very well be, acre for acre, the most haunted place in America.
(Read more…)

Information Supplied by Bulldog Tours

We have a wide variety of walking tours for you and your group. Our two main Ghost tours are the Ghost and Dungeon and Ghost and Graveyard Tours. Both are an hour and a half walking tour through the historic district talking about ghosts, legend, mystery, history, voodoo, and superstition. They will take you to some of the most haunted places in town and tell you their story.

The difference in the tours; the Ghost and Dungeon will take you into the Provost Dungeon built by the British in 1771; and the Ghost and Graveyard will take you into the oldest graveyard in Charleston. Both of which are exclusive to our company.

Ghost and Dungeon 7 pm and 9 pm Tuesday thru Saturday, Ghost and Graveyard 730 pm and 930 pm every night $17 per adult and $8 per child.
(Read more…)

Information Supplied & Written by Susan Sheppard
www.hauntedparkersburg.com
Contact: Susan Sheppard

TALES OF WEST VIRGINIA BANSHEES

Not all fairy tales have happy endings. Not all fairies bring goodness and light. Among the Irish and Scottish people there is a supernatural creature called “the Banshee.”

The Banshee is an attendant death fairy, one who brings an omen of doom to those of Irish or Scottish blood. It is the Banshee that announces the death of a family member, usually over bodies of water with her keening, or caoine, a shrill crying for the dead.

But the Banshee doesn’t just stay near bodies of water washing out the grave clothes of the dead as it is told. She also travels to the homes of those about to die, sometimes mounted on a pale steed or riding a black funeral coach with two, pale headless horses leading the way.

There are various descriptions of the Banshee. The Irish Banshee is called Bean Sidhe in an older tongue. Depending upon what source you use, ‘Bean’ means woman and ‘Sidhe’ means fairy. But other sources say that ‘Bean Sidhe’ is translated as “woman of the hills.” Some ancient lore says the Banshee can even be the ghost of a young woman who has died in childbirth, especially if she was not given the last rites of confession.
(Read more…)

Information Supplied by Destiny Tours Sydney - www.destinytours.com.au

Destiny Tours Sydney is the only ghost tour operator in Australia using converted Cadillac hearses as their means of transport. Apart from the Sydney tours they also operate them in Parramatta, Campbelltown and the nation’s capital, Canberra. But no matter where they are, the hearses (Elvira a 1967 model and Morticia a 1962 model) really turn on the paranormal for their participants. Thousands of persons have noticed the cold psychic breezes and been touched, had their hair stroked or felt ill etc. Many highly regarded psychics including Debbie Malone from Channel 10’s Sensing Murder have confirmed the presences in the vehicles and their owner, Allan the Hearse Whisperer proudly carries letters from them in his hearses. Likewise the world’s leading mystery investigator Tim the Yowie Man who hosts the Weird Canberra Ghost and History Tours has attested to them being a magnet for visitors from the other side.
(Read more…)

Information courtesy of The Myrtles Plantation & The National Park Service

In St. Francisville, Louisiana there is a plantation home that was the 13th home listed as haunted in the world - that home is ‘The Myrtles Plantation’.

A number of theories abound as to why the spot is so haunted. For one thing, ten murders have been committed on this site since the late 1700s.
(Read more…)

Information courtesy of Joy Hanson

Here’s our story: When we (Chuck and Joy Hanson) bought the Mason House Inn Bed and Breakfast in Bentonsport, Iowa in 2001, we were told there was an old lady ghost in the south room on the 3rd floor. But if we left her alone, she would leave us alone. That did not bother us and we just use that room as storage and keep the door closed. But soon after we moved in, we noticed things going on and felt
things and then started seeing things that led us to believe there was more than just the one old lady. Our guests would tell us things they saw and felt and heard and I started keeping a journal of the reports.
(Read more…)

Written by Amy Lynwander - Owner

Fells Point Ghost Tours was named Best Tour, City Paper’s Best of Baltimore, 2003 & 2002. Ranked #2 ghost tour nationwide by DigitalCity.com, 2003.

Make a Day of it in One of Baltimore’s Most Interesting Neighborhoods - Follow the brick promenade east past the skyscrapers that overlook Baltimore’s famous Inner Harbor and you’ll suddenly find yourself in an 18th century maritime village known as Fell’s Point. It’s easy to imagine the neighborhood bustling with sailors, immigrants, and ladies of the night calling out of windows to passers-by and walking in and out of the boarding houses and taverns that lined the streets. Beneath you, paving the quaint narrow streets of the neighborhood, is the Belgian block that arrived in Fell’s Point as ballast for cargo ships returning from Europe over 100 years ago. Before you are the Federal and Victorian style rowhomes where dashing captains-turned-privateers and ship carpenters lived side by side.
(Read more…)

Written by Carol Nesbitt

Over the years since the Civil War battle in 1863, stories of scores of sightings, stranger than reality, have emerged from the quaint houses and gentle fields in and around the town of Gettysburg, PA: Stories of sightings of these soldiers, moving again in battle lines, across the fields where they once marched. . . and died; tales of visions through a rip in time into the horrible scene of a Civil War hospital; whispers of a look at men long dead held eternally captive by duty. These apparitions and more come back to remind us, in one way or another that they are not to be forgotten for what they did here. . .

In 1994, Mark Nesbitt started the first ghost walk in Gettysburg, The Ghosts of Gettysburg Candlelight Walking Tours (registered trademark). Armed with tales from his Ghosts of Gettysburg book series - and with a few that aren’t in the books - guides dressed in Civil War period attire take visitors on evening tours through sections of town that were bloody battlefields 13 decades ago; through night-darkened streets to houses and buildings where it’s not as quiet as it should be; to sites on the old Pennsylvania College campus where the slain once lay in rows, and the wounded suffered horribly, waiting to become corpses themselves; to cemeteries where the dead lie. . . sometimes not so peacefully.
(Read more…)

Compiled from The Cadies & Witchery Tours

The Witchery Tours take a light-heated look at Edinburgh’s darker side including tales of witchcraft, plague, body-snatching and torture.

Your ghostly guide through the dark alleyways and eerie courtyards is none other than Adam Lyal, Highwayman, executed for his crimes in the Grassmarket on March 27th 1811.

Adam Lyal (deceased) will blend history with humour and facts with fables, while ‘jumper-ooters’ provide guaranteed ghastly appearances.
(Read more…)

Written by Cathleen Grant
CEO New Orleans Spirit Tours

Welcome to belle New Orleans, jewel of the Mississippi. New Orleans allure is alive with historic places, fabulous food, music, incredibly beautiful architecture, amazing shopping and GHOSTS!

Since her beginnings, New Orleans has been indefinably mystical. There is a legacy of death and dying, inhospitable surroundings, and merciless disease. Above ground burial, the horrors of slavery, savage piracy and outrageous corruption make this legendary haunt like no other!

In 1997, New Orleans Spirit Tours began their Ghost & Vampire tour which combines the ancient art of storytelling with historical documentation to provide an eerie evening walk of suspense into the dark edges of the historic Haunted French Quarter. Discover why the unrested and living dead roam among us.
(Read more…)

Information courtesy of Haunted History Tours

Participants on the tours have experienced a variety of personal hauntings while on these daily and nightly expeditions throughout the French Quarter. For example, quite often time pieces stop working and camera equipment fails to function at one particular spot. Another location has spawned severa fainting spells during the guide’s rendition of a sparticularly horrific tale of man’s inhumanity to man. Additionally, “cold spots” are abundant and many people actually hear, feel, and see entities and apparitions while on the tour.

“This is not a Halloween spook house,” Smith often tells guests on the tour. “Some people are simply more sensitive to paranormal activity than others.”

For instance, he recently heard a story from a woman on his tour about a man she met at French Quarter hotel. He was on the adjoining balcony to her room. “She talked to him for a while and enjoyed his company, ” said Smith. “When she went downstairs and inquired who was occupying the room, she was told it was empty.”
(Read more…)