(NEW YORK) – Halloween is the second most-celebrated holiday in America and every year the industry surrounding this holiday just keeps growing and growing. Billions of dollars are spent on costumes, candy and decorations and every civic organizations across the country make millions with their own versions of haunted houses and Trick-or-Treat parades. If Halloween is your favorite holiday, get in on the fun and make money setting up your own Halloween Ghost Tours.
Most major cities have some type of Haunted House Walking Tour. A tour guide, dressed in a dusty, period costume, walks a group of paying customers around town and points out the haunted houses, hotels and restaurants. The groups seldom actually enters the buildings but the tour guide relates the details of the haunting from the sidewalk, with all the gruesome details thrown in for effect.
But even small towns have their share of haunted houses and eerie happenings. If you’ve seen the movie “To Kill A Mockingbird” then you remember Scout and Jem talking about Boo Radley. They’d never even entered the house but they made it seem like the scariest place on earth just talking about how Boo had gotten angry with his father one night and stabbed him in the leg with a pair of scissors! What an evil man, that Boo Radley! Whoa to anyone who had to walk by that house!
To start your own Halloween Ghost Tours you’ll need to find out a little about the history of your town. Start your local library, they’re usually packed with local folklore. And don’t be afraid to ask the librarian for help. If you have a local Historical Society, so much the better. They’re a great source of information, too. Get to know some of the older residents in your community, especially those guys who hang around the coffee shop all morning. Those guys are usually loaded with stories.
Once word gets around that you’re interested in local hauntings you’ll be surprised at the number of stories you turn up. Be sure to include old hotels and inns in your search. And don’t forget the local cemeteries!
Once your list of hauntings starts to grow, start mapping out a route for your tour. The scarier the better so make sure you start someplace creepy, like the steps of the old hotel, and end someplace even creepier, like the cemetery with the creaky gate!
Halloween Ghost Tours are all about the story. Weave a tale that takes you from one haunted location to the next. If you have to travel a little way before you get to the next haunted house, talk your guests about local murders or terrible disasters or disappearances.
And don’t forget to include little stops along the way to give your guests some photo opportunities. Point out the headstone where someone from a previous group got a picture of a ghost. Let them stand on the stairs where the dead body was found. Point out the tree where so-and-so hanged himself. If you’re really, really good at setting up special effects then go for it. If not, though, don’t hurt the integrity of your Halloween Ghost Tour by letting your guests catch you in the act. Sometimes the scariest part of the whole tour is what they imagine they see.