Best Ghost Walk Tours of the Carolinas, 2007

With Halloween approaching, you may looking for some thrilling fun or family-friendly haunting entertainment. Ghost walk tours are a fantastic way to blend history with excitement as you follow a knowledgeable guide through eerie, dark streets, haunted houses, cemeteries and inns. They can range from truly original and terrifying experiences to the light-hearted fun suitable for the whole family. Some tours come complete with their own brand of "ghosts," and still others can be defined as a "ghost hunt" where you are on the lookout for real ghosts as you learn the haunting history of the area. If you live in or near the Carolinas, you can be a short drive away from an exciting night of thrills and chills.

Children as young as 5 can delight in some kid-oriented or family friendly ghost walks. In Charlotte, the Charlotte Museum of History provides a night of mild-mannered fun as you learn the history of Alexander Hezekiah and tour the homesite. On the last Saturday before Halloween the museum provides cookie decorating, fall craft activities and a spooky, but friendly, tour of Hezekiah's home. Reservations are required for this hauntingly good time so be sure to call 704-568-1774 before time runs out!

For more family friendly fun check out the Albemarle Ghost Walk on October 25. This is the 2nd annual Fall Festival for Albemarle, NC and it all culminates with the Ghost Walk leaving from downtown. Before the ghost walk you can enjoy the children's costume parade, trick-or-treating and dinner before embarking on your thrilling adventure.

Wilmington's highly acclaimed ghost tours have a variety of tours suitable for the family, including specialized tours for children. This year round tour is listed as 'Best Tour' by Encore magazine in both 2006 and 2007. Your adventure into one of the most actively haunted cities in the world begins at Market St. by the Cape Fear River. Your 90-minute stroll will take you down 275-year-old alleyways and through the graveyards holding the remains of thieves and murderers, and with 24 active sites to walk through the experience of the tour changes every night!

The legendary Blackbeard, English born pirate who's famous ship Queen Anne's Revenge is believed to have run aground near Beaufort Inlet, is said to haunt the grounds of his home in Beaufort. When night falls in this historic town you can join your pirate guide on the Beaufort Ghost Walk and walk by Blackbeard's house and a 300 year old cemetery. Real encounters from this tour are chilling, with visitors old and new flocking to this ghostly town. Due to it's popularity reservations are necessary.

Originally called the Lowcountry Ghost Hunt, Charleston, South Carolina''s Lowcountry Ghost Walk is a 90-minute journey into haunting history. This nationally recognized tour is the first year round ghost tour of the Charleston area. Guests are guided through Charleston while being delighted with the tales of The Ghost of the Whistling Doctor, The Boo Hag Legend, The Ghost in City Hall and others.

For more Charleston spooks be sure to check out the Haunted Jail Tour. This tour, not for small children or the faint of heart, takes you into the Old City Jail where some of Charleston's worst criminals lived and died. You will tour the cells, the hallways and even the warden's office in this chilling and popular tour in Charleston. The makers of this tour also host the Charleston Ghost and Graveyard tour where you are guided through one of Charleston's oldest graveyards. Most walking tours take you past graveyards but this tour is the only one to take you IN.

Whichever ghost tour you decide to take this Halloween season you are sure to have a good time. Mixing history with some thrilling adventures makes any ghost walk a unforgettable treat!