Looking down over a small cemetery just below Benefit Street in Providence, R.I., Rory Raven, dressed in top hat and tails, is relating the tale of the Lamplighter’s Daughter. His delivery is — pardon the pun — dry as a bone, as it is every time he tells us another macabre story.
It’s a bright, beautiful October afternoon on a gorgeous Providence street lined with old trees and older homes. I was never really one to find the concept of “ghosts” scary in any way, so I’m not finding much of what Rory tells us frightening, but some of the other ghost-tourists are definitely a little spooked.
My 9-year-old son, Alessandro, is one of three or four children, ranging in age from about 6 to 12, taking the tour. Alessandro stands listening attentively just in front of Rory, with a look of what appears to be a healthy combination of skepticism and kid-appropriate horror. Later, Alessandro describes the tour as “freaky” — clearly in a good way, although he wouldn’t recommend it for young children because he thinks it might scare them.
Skeptics are okay with our guide Rory; he’s something of a skeptic himself. He doesn’t claim to see spirits, and he doesn’t put much stock in the “channeling” done by TV psychics and others who claim to communicate with the dead. It seems he just likes a good, spooky story.
Rory’s more interested in what the tales of Benefit Street’s less, shall we say, substantial residents tell us about history and culture. These include Edgar Allen Poe’s not-so-respectable behavior, Providence’s involvement in the slave trade, and Native American beliefs about the spirit world. He also throws in information about the effects of things like the tuberculosis epidemic and the Civil War on the psyche of the city and the country at the time.
That’s what makes ghost tours a wonderful way to entertain older children (and adults) while sneaking in some education about a place’s history and the beliefs and ways of life of past generations. When done well, they’re just spooky enough to hold children’s attention so that they’re open to learning things that they might find “boring” if presented in another way.
More Poe Sightings
Leanna Foglia, on the other hand, clearly believes that ghosts are as much of the scene in Baltimore’s spirited Fells Point district as their breathing neighbors, and — in some cases — more fun. The Baltimore Ghost Tours — at least as led by Leanna — are raucous, dramatic affairs, during which you get the sense that Leanna has something of a personal relationship with the spirits of Fells Point.
Fells Point is definitely not the sedate, well-heeled neighborhood that Providence’s Benefit Street is, although it’s an up-and-coming, eccentrically pretty district for Baltimore’s nouveau-hip, artsy crowd. Traditionally, Fells Point was a hangout for sailors, pirates, “ladies of the evening”, Edgar Allen Poe (who seemed to have had a fondness for East Coast seaport towns) and people just out to have a good time. The quarter boasts a large number of old taverns, former brothels, and houses that are clearly haunt-worthy.
With glitter on her eyelids, guide Leanna is a dramatic presence perfectly in keeping with the subject at hand. She tells her ghost tales with an infectious glee that keeps everyone in her tour group either laughing or nervously glancing around on some of the neighborhood’s darker streets.
Poe, as well as, quite possibly, Jack the Ripper, is a looming presence in the ghostly history of Norfolk, Va., too. Guide Ricky D’Alonzo’s take on the existence of spirits is hard to read, but he’s nevertheless convincing as he leads his tour along the Norfolk waterfront and up peaceful-looking Freemason Street. The setting for several murders, a possible deliberate poisoning, some suicides, and a cat who passes the time playing with another, invisible, cat, the area isn’t quite as peaceful as it looks, apparently. A psychic who knew nothing about the neighborhood before being brought in, Ricky tells us, confirmed that the players in the various dramas still linger in Norfolk.
The Norfolk ghost tour is hosted by Nauticus, the city’s waterfront, maritime-oriented science and technology center. With exhibits (most of which are free of charge) ranging from shark-petting tanks to tours of the U.S.S. Wisconsin, which is docked just outside, it’s a great place to visit before or after the ghost tour. A harbor tour aboard one of the city’s many cruise vessels is a good way to let the salty winds blow off any last remnants of the ghost-tale creeps.
Choosing a Tour
Ghost tours can be found in cities all across the country, as can ghosts, if Leanna Foglia knows what she’s talking about. You might want to consider the following when deciding which one might be most suitable for your grandchildren (and you):
• How long are the tours? How much walking is involved?
• Are the tours given at night or during the day?
• How “racy”/spooky are the tales, and to what age levels is the presentation geared? The tour guide or company should be able to give you a good sense as to whether the material might be too sophisticated for younger children, but obviously your own knowledge of your grandchildren’s individual levels of sophistication and interest will be your best guide.
• Does the tour guide or company offer any tours specifically geared toward children and/or teens?
If you find the right tour, you and your grandchildren will get a unique (if, at times, a little twisted) perspective on the city you’re visiting. You’ll learn some things you didn’t know before, and perhaps make a few new shadowy friends. But remember to be respectful — spirits are, or were, people too.
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