Shop Local When Taking A Ghost Tour

When you visit a city and want to take a ghost tour, always look for a local tour company.

I have been a paranormal investigator and researcher for over twenty-three years.  I have also been a ghost tour guide for the past sixteen years.  During my tours, I draw heavily on my experience as an investigator to field questions and ensure my stories are accurate.  I have dedicated myself to making sure my tours are accurate, realistic, and enjoyable.  I avoid being hoaky and dramatic, and I refuse to act and wear costumes because I want my guests to have an authentic experience.  

Unfortunately, I have recently noticed an alarming trend: the emergence of large, nationwide ghost tour companies.  They can enter a market, outspend smaller local “Mom and Pop” tour businesses on social media ads and SEO, dominate, and force everyone else out of business.  As a local tour owner, this trend concerns me deeply.

My tours have been refined over the years through research into local history and conducting investigations.  I don’t have a script;  I have my own personal knowledge.  My tours are usually comprised of one-third paranormal and ghost stories, one-third creepy history, and one-third true crime.  These three genres seem to work well together to support the claim that the sites we visit are actually haunted.  I didn’t memorize a script; I learned local history, investigated the places along my tour route, and through years of experience, learned to convey this knowledge in a way that’s not only educational but also enjoyable.   I avoid sensationalism at all costs, because the old adage holds true (with a slight twist): “The truth is always creepier than fiction.

I’m not an employee; I’m the owner, and I give my own tours.  The five-star ratings my guests leave reflect not only my business but also me as the presenter.  I’m not an uncaring teenager working a part-time summer job before heading off to college.  I’m a small business owner who pays the bills by walking routes and telling ghost stories.  Your review of my tour is a direct rating of my performance.  

Most local smaller tour agencies are the real deal.  They are not only tour guides but also actual paranormal investigators.  They give their tours based on their own experiences, not from a script that someone a thousand miles away wrote, who has never visited the tour route themselves and wrote the stories purely to enhance their creep factor.  No matter how much information a person memorizes, it cannot replace the actual knowledge one gains through personal experiences and research.  I had a college professor once tell me that memorization is not knowledge.  If you simply memorize facts, you haven’t learned anything.

When you visit a city and want to take a ghost tour, always look for a local tour company.  You’ll get an authentic experience and help the local economy.  The tour guides from local tour agencies work in, live in, and investigate the areas they tour.  The stories they share are their own, not intellectual property owned by a large corporation.

Dr. Mark Farley

Owner

St. Louis Paranormal Research Society

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