Photo courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg
Although Elizabeth Hay has been a ghost tour guide for Colonial Williamsburg for more than a year now, she admits she is still frightened by some of the tales that are shared.
“Being a guide is an enjoyable experience, even though I do get scared sometimes,” said Hay. “When you are left alone in the dark at night, sometimes you wonder ‘Why did I just listen to that?’ It’s disturbing, but it also means that it’s good storytelling.”
Colonial Williamsburg, which was once home to the first public hospital in North America for mentally ill patients and was often a site for public hangings, is rife with opportunity to swap ghost stories. Colonial Williamsburg offers three ghost walking tours including “Ghosts Amongst Us,” which takes guests inside the historic buildings. Tours are held throughout the year, though Colonial Williamsburg does see a 20 percent increase in sales in October as Halloween draws near. Stories are based on true accounts from historical documentations—like the tale of Moses Riggs, an insane man who believed in demonic possession and was tried for the murder of a slave boy—and that enhances the experience.
“Authenticity based in historical ‘fact’ is critical,” said Robert Currie, Director of Entertainment, Evening Programs and Signature Events for Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. “However, they are still ghost stories, so our master storytellers do have a lot of creative input into how these stories are interpreted.”
Spooks and Legends Haunted Tours, which has a ghost tour as well as a tour on witches and pirates, uses stories collected from employees, residents and tour guide experiences. Tour guides dress in costume and act as the spirits of past residents of Williamsburg from the 1700s.
“Someone always has something new to share, a first-hand account of something spooky that has happened to them,” said Bonnie Florek, creator and owner of Spooks and Legends.
When she first started in the business, Florek wasn’t a believer.Now she isn’t so sure.
“I still try to convince myself that I do not believe, but it’s hard,” she said. “I have seen way too much, heard too much, and seen way too many photos with spirits and other oddities in them to deny they exist.”
One evening outside of the Peyton Randolph House, Florek and her tour guests watched “as we saw shadow sof someone walking behind the one front window. There was also a small silhouette of someone, probably a child, looking out below the other being. We watched and clicked our cameras like crazy.”
Cameras are welcome on tours, and people sometimes catch mysterious orbs and other unexplained objects through their lenses. Some tour companies including The Original Ghosts of Williamsburg and Colonial Ghosts have late night tours featuring ghost-hunting equipment for braver souls.
“I’ve had many things happen on ghost hunts and have seen various things on tours,” said Victoria Golds by, manager of Colonial Ghosts. “Yes, ghost tours are entertainment. But I also believe there’s something more to it. Science can’t explain it yet, but there’s definitely something to these ‘ghosts.’”
Mike Rhodes, who recently did a Colonial Williamsburg ghost tourwith his family during a visit from Pennsylvania, agrees.
“Ghost tours are quite fascinating,” he said. “It is where history meets possibility. I like that creepy feeling you get where your hairs stand on end.”
Colonial Williamsburg is one of Brandy’s favorite places to be in Williamsburg, though she will stick to just visiting during the daytime since she isn’t a fan of being scared.
Here’s a sampling of the many ghost tours offered throughout Williamsburg. Halloween is the most popular time of year to take in a ghost tour, so be sure to book early.