One of the ways that people are making money is by conducting ghost tours. There is a great interest in this type of thing. If a tour is conducted in a city, there is sure to be a lot of so called haunted places to visit, because almost every city has these types of places, places where people might have killed themselves and it was reported later that someone saw their ghost walking the halls or sitting in a room or maybe playing a piano. In some places the ghost tour competition is thick and heavy. I bet the competition gets ugly at times just like in any other business. I wonder if one tour has ever bumped into another tour, I bet the ectoplasm can really fly. I could be wrong on this point because maybe the tour guides do the sensible thing and are friendly, like casper, with each other. Savannah, Georgia has an estimated 31 local ghost tours going at once. Each one is aimed at scaring their customers. The best way to see this side of the city, or most any city's "haunted" spots is by walking. There is nothing like that feeling you get when you enter a darkened room or church.

The problem with ghost tours in this country is that our history only goes back a few hundred years. There are none of those ancient castles to go into or 1400 year old churches. Still there are many places in America that are purported to be haunted. Old grave yards are usually included on any ghost tour worth their salt. Sometimes there are buildings that were built over graves, or at least legends that tell of old graves where structures have been erected over. In one way, we are lucky. We do have some places that were pirate hangouts. We also have places where great battles took place. Buildings where ghastly killings took place are also on the top of the list of ghost tours. What better way to spend time with your kids, or if you are not married, with your girlfriend or boyfriend, going on a ghost tour on Halloween Night?

New York City has it's share of ghosts as do most other cities. There are many famous places that claim to be haunted and some not so famous. Chumley's in the west village was once a speakeasy. They claim that the former deceased owner, Henrietta Chumley still comes there for a drink and when she does, the jukebox does strange things. One of New York's most famous landmarks, The Empire State Building, has had many reported sightings of suicide victims returning to it. These are supposedly people who had jumped off of the building. The oldest house in the city that is still standing is the Morris-Jumel Mansion. It was built for a British Colonel named Roger Morris and his wife. It went up in 1765 and was used as a summer home. Eliza Jumel, the colonel's wife is said to be haunting the house along with the ghost of a young girl who was a servant and an American Revolutionary Soldier. Eliza has been seen wearing a purple dress and rapping on windows. I guess that out of all of the haunted places, one of the most interesting would be the St. Marks Church. It is said that Peter Stuyvesant, the former Dutch governor of New York, can sometimes be seen roaming around the chapel. If one is lucky enough they might catch a glimpse of him. His grave is in a vault under the church where he has been resting since 1678.

When one thinks of ghosts, they should think of Nevada. Yes I said Nevada. You may think that I am crazy, but if you do, you are forgetting that Nevada has over 600 ghost towns. Delamar, Nevada is just a few ruined buildings now, but in 1889, when gold was discovered there, people rushed in and set up a camp. Over 1500 people settled there. There was even an Opera house built there along with the post office and many other buildings including a hospital. Unfortunately for the small town and the miners the gold was contained in quartzite, which created glass like dust which got into the lungs of all who breathed it in and created a disease known as silicosis. Because of this dust, the town became known as the widow maker. There are two old cemeteries there that contain inscriptions of all those that died from the dust. It is said that the ghosts of some of the miners can still be seen digging in the mines and a few brave souls go the mines every month to try and photograph them.

Don't think that Nevada has a lock on haunted ghost towns. St. Elmo is one of the best preserved ghost towns in Colorado. As with many of the ghost towns, it sprung up when gold and silver were discovered in the area. But there was a difference between St. Elmo and most of the other ghost towns and that is why it is so well preserved. The most prominent family in the town was the Starks. The town's population reached over 2,000 people at it's high point. When everything went bust, people left the town and it is said that at one point only a Stark or one of their descendents stayed, but this was enough to preserve the town. It is said that today you can see the ghosts of some of the deceased Starks walking the ground of the town. It is said that the ghost of Annabelle Stark, a very severe woman, is still keeping watch over the town, so if you go there you may get lucky and meet her, or should I say unlucky.

Florida is a state that is known as a retirement haven. I would suspect that more people die there than in any other state except for California with that huge population. This led me to check out some of it's haunted areas. There is a small cemetery named the Rouse Road Cemetery, in the Orlando area, that is said to be haunted since the 1840s. It is said that a Mr. Benjamin Miles appears in the cemetery every night and is announced by a screeching owl. It is also said that he is very angry and usually dressed in tan colored work clothes. Another area near the cemetery location is an overpass on I-4 near Orlando. it is supposedly a very haunted place where a lot of accidents have taken place.Before the overpass there were graves of yellow fever victims in the location. Here is a good one for you, ghosts have been reported sighted at Disney's Magic Kingdom. Hold on to your chair, they were reported at the haunted mansion. Lastly, there is a building in St. Augustine that is now a college. It used to be the Ponce de Leon hotel. When it was a hotel it was run by Henry Flagler and his wife. She hung herself on the fourth floor. It is now a girl's dormitory. One of the students was asleep in her bed when it began to move violently. It was located on the fourth floor. Today there are no students sleeping on that floor.

This is a big country and it has a big population. Some of us are more superstitious than others of us. Setting this aside, there are plenty of places in this country that are said to be haunted. I venture to say that people that live in big cities can find a place with a reputation of haunting within a few minutes of their home, I know that I can. Whether we believe in ghosts or not, this is sort of a fun topic. If anyone out there has a ghostly experience that they want to share, just drop me a line and if I think it is interesting, I will publish it with or without you name on it, it is up to you. EMAIL ME HERE.