Sunday, 28 February 2016

New York City Ghost Tour

By Frances Stone


With 400 years of history, New York is a perfect place to have a ghost or two. In fact, it seems to have a ghost or two for every block of its many boroughs. Lovers of the paranormal will have no trouble finding a New York City ghost tour at any time of year. The tours range from child-appropriate to absolutely terrifying.

New York, NY, has been a center of American culture from its inception. It has always attracted and nurtured statesmen (and politicians), authors, artists, and astute businessmen. It has been home to settlers, immigrants, soldiers, pirates, the rich and richer, and society leaders. Some of these residents of the past seem reluctant to leave.

The tours have one thing in common - ghosts - but the themes vary. You can walk in the footsteps of Edgar Allen Poe or Walt Whitman. You can see the sites of former buildings and find out why they were significant, or you can learn more about structures that still stand. Neighborhoods in the Big Apple are as famous as people. Exploring Greenwich Village after dark with a well-informed guide shows you a whole new perspective on this renowned area.

Wear suitable clothing for the walking tours, which go on year-round and take place rain or shine. They may last an hour and a half to two hours, but the time goes quickly as the guide - maybe in period costume - paints vivid pictures of what once happened where you now stand. There are tours appropriate for children, spooky ones fit for Halloween, and those that focus on history and folk lore. Group rates can apply for parties, you can get gift certificates, and you can schedule a private tour.

NYC has haunted firehouses, museums, and churches. It has ghost-infested mansions, apartments, penthouses, cocktail lounges, and hotels. Ghosts lurk in grandfather clocks, oil paintings, and ancient wells. They walk down steps, glide through shrubbery, and slide down banisters. They ring bells, slam doors, break windows, and make the temperature drop.

Some tours are billed as scary, while others are advertised as great ways to learn obscure facts about earlier days, historic buildings that may or may not still stand, and people who shaped the history of this great city. From early colonial days to chaotic periods like the Roaring Twenties and on to the present, the residents of NYC have loved, fought, made their mark or their fortune, and generally kept the pot boiling. No wonder they leave ripples behind.

Mark Twain is one such personage. He wrote about meeting a ghost while in the Big Apple. He also has reportedly been 'seen' now and then since his death in 1910. Some guides relate sightings or experiences of their own. If you want chills and thrills, choose one of the tours that focus more on legends and folk tales. Others may prefer one of the more sedate forays into history.

After all, there have been enough strange happenings in New York City to fill all its many boroughs with shades of the past. The tours are fun for visitors and also for those born and raised in the area.




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