Want to get to know a few of Atlanta's ghosts? These guided tours take divergent routes to presenting the afterlife. From a businesslike tracking of electro-magnetic fields to a child-friendly stroll through an old plantation estate, experts and costumed characters alike are ready to shepherd guests through Atlanta's many macabre tales. Dress comfortably, and don't forget to tip your guide.
City Segway Tours: Ghosts and Legends Tour
This is the kind of ghost tour that's as educational as it is spooky. A look at downtown's legends, history and landmark buildings, past and present, is led by employees pursuing graduate degrees in history and heritage preservation. Highlights of the tour include turns past the Ellis Hotel, formerly the Winecoff, where 119 people died in a historic blaze in 1946 that is still regarded as one of the worst hotel fires ever. A guest reported a ghost sighting there while on the tour in 2007. Tooling around downtown on a Segway adds a healthy dose of comic relief. Arrive 20 minutes prior to the tour's departure for an operating lesson.
THE 411: City Segway Tours' Ghosts and Legends Tour. $60. Two-hour tour begins at 7 p.m., seven days a week. Reservations recommended. 50 Upper Alabama Street, Suite 256, across from the Atlanta Visitors Center. 404-588-2274, www.citysegwaytours.com/atlanta.
Roswell Ghost Tour
Taking the Roswell Ghost Tour can be like participating in one of those ever-popular ghost-chasing cable shows. And if you've got it, guests are welcome to bring along any of their own tracking equipment (a camera or a tape or digital voice recorder would do). When the tour was taken over by Dianna Avena and her husband, Joe, in 2005, it began treating ghost-hunting more seriously than before and prides itself on replacing the period costumes, funny accents or theatrical gimmicks of some ghost tours with sober paranormal research. Dianna wrote the book "Roswell: History, Haunts and Legends"; founded an investigation team, Roswell Georgia Paranormal Investigations; and hosts a weekly talk show at www.aftertwilight radio.com. The Avenas are helping to bring a conference led by A&E psychic and medium Chip Coffey, called A Spooky Southern Soiree, to the area Nov. 21-23.
THE 411: Roswell Ghost Tour. $15 for adults. $10 for children 12 and younger. Not recommended for young children. Tours are held every evening in October, with multiple times on Fridays and Saturdays. Depart from the bandstand in the Roswell Square across from the Roswell Visitors Center, 617 Atlanta St., Roswell. 770-649-9922, www.roswellghosttour.com.
Lawrenceville Ghost Tour
Bizarre things have happened in Gwinnett County. Explore some of the area's disturbing and quirky stories, told by a costumed storyteller. From the kidnapping of heiress Barbara Jane Mackle, who survived being buried alive, to the shooting of Larry Flynt, Lawrenceville has no shortage of strange tales. Other highlights of the tour include the flying corpses legend and a few stories told inside the old jail on Calaboose Alley.
THE 411: Lawrenceville Ghost Tour. $15 for adults; $12 for children Fridays and Saturdays. $12 for adults; $9 for children Sundays-Thursdays. 7:30 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays. 7 and 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Through Nov. 1. Park in the City of Lawrenceville Parking deck, 135 Crogan St., Lawrenceville, and meet in the Aurora Theatre. 678-226-6222, http://scarystroll.auroratheatre.com.
Ghosts of Marietta
Founder Joni Goodin used to run Original Ghost Tours of Key West, but when she moved to the area in 2004, she was surprised to find Marietta, whose Kennesaw House reportedly hosts 700 ghosts, didn't have a tour of its own. With input from Kevin Fike, a paranormal investigator who founded Historic Ghost Watch, the tour stands on a leg of investigative credibility as it continually gets to know the historic city's afterlife population. Attention to a good yarn is also important. "The scientific side is interesting, " Goodin says. "But I'm a storyteller. It's a dying art." For the month of October, the tour is partnering with the Historic Marietta Trolley Co. for a ride through the city's haunts called Scary-etta that includes stops at three local cemeteries. Walking tours are held at least once every evening in October.
THE 411: Ghosts of Marietta. $25 for adult trolley tours; $12 for children 12 and younger. Prices don't include tax. Walking tour rates are $15 for adults; $10 for children. Cash only for walking tour. Trolley tours are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays in October. Reservations are required for both tours. To reserve a trolley tour, call 770-425-1006. For walking tours, call 678-290-9193. 131 Church St., Marietta. www.ghostsofmarietta.com, www.mariettatrolley.com.
Stone Mountain Park's Tour of Southern Ghosts 2008
One of the few ghost tours appropriate for young children, this lantern-led stroll around the grounds of Stone Mountain's antebellum plantation —- whose oldest building dates to 1784 —- is hosted by costumed storytellers recounting Southern ghost stories.
THE 411: Tour of Southern Ghosts 2008. Tours depart every 10 minutes at the Antebellum Plantation. 7-9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 7-9 p.m. Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays. Oct. 15-31. $14 ($12 advance); $6 ages 12 and younger; $8 parking. U.S. 78 East, Stone Mountain. 770-469-1105, 770-498-5600, www.artstation.org/tosg/southernghosts.htm.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
