the haunted house essay introduction

Essay on A Haunted House

Students are often asked to write an essay on A Haunted House in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on A Haunted House

What is a haunted house.

A haunted house is a place where ghosts or spirits are believed to live. These houses often have a scary and eerie feeling. People say they hear strange sounds, see odd things, or feel a spooky presence in these houses. These experiences make them believe that the house is haunted.

Stories about Haunted Houses

Many stories are told about haunted houses. Some are from books or movies, while others are shared by people who claim to have experienced it. These stories often involve ghosts, strange noises, moving objects, and other unexplained events.

Why are Houses Said to be Haunted?

Houses are said to be haunted for many reasons. Sometimes, it’s because something sad or scary happened there, like a death or a crime. Other times, it’s because the house is old and makes strange sounds. People’s imaginations can make them think a house is haunted.

Visiting a Haunted House

Visiting a haunted house can be scary but exciting. Some people do it for fun, especially during Halloween. Others do it to try and see if ghosts are real. But remember, it’s always important to respect others’ property and feelings.

250 Words Essay on A Haunted House

Appearance of a haunted house.

Haunted houses often look old and empty. They may have broken windows, an old rusty gate, and a garden full of dead plants. At night, these houses might seem even scarier with the moonlight casting long, dark shadows.

There are many stories about haunted houses. Some people say they have heard strange sounds, like footsteps or whispers. Others tell of doors opening and closing on their own. Some even claim to have seen ghosts!

Haunted Houses in Movies

Haunted houses are popular in movies and TV shows. They make the story exciting and scary. The characters in these stories often have to face their fears and find out the truth about the ghosts.

Visiting a haunted house can be a fun adventure, especially during Halloween. Some people like the thrill of being scared. But remember, it’s all just for fun. Ghosts and haunted houses are more a part of stories and our imagination than real life.

In the end, haunted houses are interesting because of the mystery they hold. They make us wonder about what might be living beyond what we can see. But it’s always important to remember that it’s just a story, and there’s no need to be too scared.

500 Words Essay on A Haunted House

The idea of a haunted house.

Haunted houses often look scary from the outside. They are usually old and in bad condition. The paint might be peeling off and the windows might be broken. The gardens around the house are often overgrown and unkempt. This creates a feeling of fear and unease. At night, these houses can look even more frightening because of the dark shadows and strange noises.

Inside a Haunted House

Inside a haunted house, things can be even more eerie. The rooms are often dark and filled with old, dusty furniture. Cobwebs hang from the corners and the air is heavy and cold. Some people say they can feel the presence of spirits when they enter these rooms. Strange things can happen in a haunted house. Objects might move on their own or doors might slam shut. People have also reported hearing strange noises like whispers or footsteps when no one else is around.

Stories About Haunted Houses

Visiting a haunted house can be a thrilling experience. Some people go to haunted houses for fun, especially around Halloween. There are also professional ghost hunters who visit haunted houses to try and capture evidence of the paranormal. They use special tools like voice recorders and cameras to try and capture the spirits on tape.

Haunted houses are a part of many cultures around the world. They are a source of fear, curiosity, and excitement. Whether or not you believe in ghosts, the idea of a haunted house can still give you a chill. It’s a reminder of the mystery and unknown that still exists in our world.

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Home — Essay Samples — Geography & Travel — Haunted House — Haunted House: A Portal to the Unseen

Haunted House: a Portal to The Unseen

• Categories: Haunted House Tourism

About this sample

Words: 660 |

Published: Jun 13, 2024

Words: 660 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Origins and historical context, architectural and environmental characteristics, psychological underpinnings, cultural significance.

• Desolate Location: Haunted houses are often situated in remote or isolated areas, amplifying their sense of mystery and inaccessibility.
• Gothic Architecture: Elements such as turrets, gables, and intricate woodwork contribute to the eerie aesthetic of many haunted houses. The Gothic style, with its emphasis on darkness and decay, enhances the perception of a structure as haunted.
• Disrepair: The state of neglect and decay in many haunted houses, with crumbling walls, broken windows, and overgrown gardens, evokes a sense of abandonment and loss.
• Environmental Factors: Natural elements like fog, thunderstorms, and dense forests surrounding haunted houses create an atmospheric backdrop that heightens the sense of unease.

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“The Haunted House”: Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf has crafted a highly abstract narrative titled “The Haunted House,” which presents challenges to comprehension upon initial reading.

Introduction : “The Haunted House”

Table of Contents

Virginia Woolf has crafted a highly abstract narrative titled “The Haunted House,” which presents challenges to comprehension upon initial reading. The story employs intricate narrative techniques, contributing to its complexity. Set within a home occupied by a contemporary couple, the narrative reveals that the same house was previously inhabited by another couple a century ago. The underlying thematic exploration centers on life, death, and love, ultimately emphasizing the enduring nature of love despite changing circumstances. The story posits that love transcends time and space, persisting even in haunted places.

Couple in “The Haunted House”

In the opening passages of “The Haunted House,” Virginia Woolf intricately weaves a sense of mystery and intrigue as the contemporary couple residing in the house perceives doors closing, suggesting the presence of a ghostly couple moving throughout the rooms. This phenomenon sparks speculation that the spectral pair is in search of something left behind, perhaps years earlier. Woolf subtly hints at the enduring bond between the ghostly duo, despite their ethereal existence, as they navigate the space together.

Furthermore, as the narrative progresses, the ghostly male figure expresses a sense of emptiness, symbolizing his loss and yearning for something elusive. His dialogue hints at the profound impact of his lover’s passing, which left him emotionally adrift and physically separated from his home. This loss is poignantly illustrated through his journey “North, went East,” symbolizing a physical and emotional departure from his former life, only to return to find it irrevocably changed.

Meanwhile, the contemporary couple observes the ghostly wanderings with a mixture of curiosity and empathy, recognizing the ghostly pair’s quest for joy and fulfillment in their eternal bond. Woolf masterfully explores themes of love, loss, and longing, inviting readers to contemplate the enduring power of love beyond the constraints of time and mortality.

These elements from the story emphasize Woolf’s skillful use of narrative technique to evoke a sense of mystery, while also delving into profound themes of human experience and emotion.

Love in “The Haunted House”

In a brief exchange, the ghostly couple conveys their enduring love, rooted in their shared history within the house. The current occupants sense they are searching for something lost, possibly a valuable item like gold or currency. Despite their efforts, the elusive nature of their quest persists, driving them onward. Upon entering the bedroom, their undisturbed presence suggests a serene connection to their love.

Interpreting the spectral dialogue, the current residents discern phrases like “death between us,” “hundreds of years ago,” “here we slept,” and “kisses without numbers,” revealing the depth of affection between the ghostly pair. This profound love seems to be the very essence they seek. Ultimately, the revelation of “the light in the heart” resonates with the living couple, signifying their shared understanding and discovery.

This mutual comprehension underscores the absence of animosity between the living couple, allowing them to grasp the essence of the ghostly couple’s quest. Unafraid and attuned to the mystery of love, they welcome the spectral visitation as a testament to its enduring power. Indeed, the presence of the ghostly couple reaffirms the notion that love transcends time and space, returning to the places it once thrived.

Works Cited: “The Haunted House”

• Cassigneul, Adèle. “ Virginia Woolf’s Haunted House of Fiction .” Journal of the Short Story in English. Les Cahiers de la nouvelle 70 (2018): 73-86.

Relevant Questions about “The Haunted House”

• How does Virginia Woolf utilize the motif of the haunted house to explore themes of memory and trauma in her work?
• What symbolic significance do the various rooms and elements within the haunted house hold in Virginia Woolf’s narrative, and how do they contribute to the overall atmosphere of the story?
• In what ways does “The Haunted House” reflect Virginia Woolf’s modernist style and experimental narrative techniques, particularly in its exploration of consciousness and perception?

Poetic Comments on “The Haunted House”

In the haunting whispers of the ghostly pair,

Echoes of love, timeless and rare.

Lost treasures sought in shadows deep,

In the bedroom’s embrace, their love did keep.

Through murmured words of “death between us” they spoke,

Centuries past, where love awoke.

“Here we slept,” they reminisced in delight,

With kisses unnumbered, their love took flight.

In the heart’s gentle glow, the truth did gleam,

Love’s essence found, a radiant beam.

For in the embrace of love’s sweet art,

The living couple discovered the light in the heart.

Unafraid, they welcomed the ghostly embrace,

For love’s eternal presence, time cannot erase.

Thus, in the house where love’s echo resounds,

The visit of ghosts, in love, abounds.

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“A Haunted House” by Virginia Woolf Essay

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The title of the poem “A Haunted House” brings out bad events that are associated to the house. The poem brings out how the dead are associated to the living; they do not want to wake them up. The poem explains several themes, which include love, positivism, death, and the living. Symbolism has been utilized in this poem.

“A Haunted House” being the title of the poem draws the attention of the reader to dreadful issues associated to the house. The poet talks of the couple as ghostly (Woolf, stanza 1, line 2); this explains why the house haunts many people. The writer of this poem is the occupant of the house, who acts as the owner. The poet explains on a first persona scenario, “…whispering not to wake us…” (Woolf, stanza 6, line 3). The use of the noun “us” brings out an individual point of view. It also shows that more than one person occupies the house.

The poet brings out several themes, for instance, the theme of love. The ghostly couple, as stated by the poet was in love. The fact that they go round the room holding hands is a sign of affection. The ghostly couple remind themselves of the good moments they spent in the house. The poet also talks of them kissing, sleeping, and waking up in the morning together (Woolf, stanza7, line 1). A lot of love is blowing in the air because the poet has brought it out in several occasions “sound asleep. Love upon their lips” (Woolf, stanza 8, line 3). Death is the other theme the poet has brought out diligently. The fact that the center of interest revolves around a ghostly couple affirms that death struck earlier occupants of the house. Life after death is another aspect that the poet has vitally talked about it; the couple could whisper and talk to themselves (Woolf, 2011). The dead still have a brain to remember where they left their valuable goods. For instance, the treasure, which the ghostly couple keeps referring to in the poem, is a clear indication, “Oh, is this your buried treasure?” (Woolf, last stanza, line 4). The apples and roses the poet talked about in stanza 4, line 2 is a symbol of nature and aesthetic value. The ghostly couple talked of spending time in the garden; this would further affirm their beauty affiliation.

The use of the phrase “Safe, safe, safe” in the poem asserts safety and enough security. It indicates that the ghostly couple is not harmful to the living occupying the room. The fact that the man went to all directions before coming back and to his surprise found her shows safety. The poet is talking broadly on the buried treasure, which explains the security in the house although it haunts.

Woolf, V. (2011). A Haunted House . Web.

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A Summary and Analysis of Virginia Woolf’s ‘A Haunted House’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘A Haunted House’, by Virginia Woolf, both is and is not a ghost story. In less than two pages of prose, Woolf explores, summons, and subverts the conventions of the ghost story, offering a modernist take on the genre. ‘A Haunted House’, which first appeared in Woolf’s 1921 short-story collection Monday or Tuesday , can be read here .

‘A Haunted House’ is at once easy and difficult to summarise; how we analyse the story depends on which aspects we emphasise. In summary, the narrator describes the house where she and her partner live. Whenever you wake in the house, you hear noises: a door shutting, and the sound of a ‘ghostly couple’ wandering from room to room in the house. The narrator (whom we can assume, tentatively, is female) claims to be able to hear this ghostly couple talking to each other. It’s clear they’re looking for something:

‘Here we left it,’ she said. And he added, ‘Oh, but here too!’ ‘It’s upstairs,’ she murmured. ‘And in the garden,’ he whispered. ‘Quietly,’ they said, ‘or we shall wake them.’

Next, the narrator describes reading a book outside while hearing the ghostly couple, in the background, hunting for this mysterious thing around the house. But as soon as she drops the book and goes to look for them, there is no sign of the ghostly pair – just the sound of the wood pigeons and the threshing machine.

The narrator confides that you could never see the ghosts, just reflections of apples and leaves in the sunlit windows. The house itself seems to be speaking, saying something about buried treasure. The light is fading, and the rooms are darkened. The narrator imagines the male ghost leaving the female one behind for some reason. It is now night-time, and the ghostly coupling continue to ‘seek their joy’. They appear to reminisce over the bed (where the living, present-day couple now sleep) where they once slept, centuries ago.

The narrator then imagines the ghostly couple standing over her as she sleeps, and, holding a lamp over the bed of the living couple, the ghosts pause, still seeking ‘their hidden joy’. Then, the narrator wakes up and feels that she has solved the mystery, and now understands what this ‘buried treasure’ is what the ghostly couple have been seeking: ‘the light in the heart’.

‘A Haunted House’ seems to be Woolf’s attempt to convey the feeling of sensing something just on the edge of hearing or sight: something you cannot see head-on but which you sense in the house with you, just on the periphery of your vision. We can probably all relate to the experience of being alone in a house and feeling that every creak, every hum, every far-off sound betokens something – a ghost, or an intruder, for instance.

Woolf’s story seeks to encapsulate that experience. That title, ‘A Haunted House’, is ripe with potential irony. And it is only ‘potential’ – for all we know, there may have been a ghostly couple in the house with the story’s narrator.

But it’s suggestive that the narrator seems most attuned to the presence of the ‘ghosts’ when she’s in states of semi-consciousness or her mind is somewhere else: just waking up, or engrossed in a book, for instance. Consider the very first sentence of the story: ‘Whatever hour you woke there was a door shutting.’

Three things suggest themselves here, at least. First, the use of the second-person pronoun ‘you’ attempts to involve us in the narrator’s experiences, as if to suggest that we have all felt something similar to this, things on the margins of our conscious experience. Second, the fact that she begins by talking about just waking from sleep – something that will come again at the end of the story – suggests waking from a dream.

Third, the fact that she mentions waking at any hour is indicative of someone who might fall asleep at any moment – someone who daydreams in the most literal sense, falling asleep during daytime, and therefore (arguably) more prone to confusing dreams with reality.

‘A Haunted House’ might be described as a short story – and, in one way, as a ghost story – but its language is almost that of a prose-poem. The rhythmical prose beats like a heart with the repeated refrain: ‘“Safe, safe, safe,” the pulse of the house beat softly.’ This mantra reappears later, with ‘softly’ changed to ‘gladly’, and then again in the final paragraph as the couple are reunited, with the adverb changed to ‘proudly’ and ‘pulse’ upped to ‘heart’ – and, suggestively, the tense shifted from past to present, as ‘beat’ morphs into ‘beats’:

‘Safe, safe, safe,’ the heart of the house beats proudly. ‘Long years—’ he sighs. ‘Again you found me.’ ‘Here,’ she murmurs, ‘sleeping; in the garden reading; laughing, rolling apples in the loft. Here we left our treasure—’ Stooping, their light lifts the lids upon my eyes. ‘Safe! safe! safe!’ the pulse of the house beats wildly. Waking, I cry ‘Oh, is this your buried treasure? The light in the heart.’

Was it all a dream? The pulsing sound that beats through the prose in its almost poetic rhythms could almost suggest the quickening heartbeat of the narrator as s/he awakes. The accumulation of active present participles, of ‘sleeping’, ‘reading’, ‘laughing’, ‘rolling’, and ‘stooping’, only intensifies the here-and-now of the moment being crystallised in prose.

That final phrase, ‘The light in the heart’, looks back to the use of both ‘heart’ and ‘light’ earlier in the same paragraph. Woolf’s ‘story’ positions itself neatly between dream-vision and ghost story, reinventing both using the new style of modernism and that movement’s interest in shifting tense and perspective. As with much modernist fiction, perception, rather than objective reality, is foregrounded.

In an essay on Henry James’s ghost stories, published in 1921 – the same year as ‘A Haunted House’ – Virginia Woolf called for new writers to find fresh and original ways of arousing fear and terror in readers of ghost stories:

To admit that the supernatural was used for the last time by Mrs. Radcliffe and that modern nerves are immune from the wonder and terror which ghosts have always inspired would be to throw up the sponge too easily. If the old methods are obsolete, it is the business of a writer to discover new ones. The public can feel again what it has once felt—there can be no doubt about that; only from time to time the point of attack must be changed.

Woolf sought to do this with ‘A Haunted House’, a story which is both a ghost story and a riposte to, or analysis of, the conventional ghostly tale. But, given that final phrase, ‘The light in the heart’, it is also a love story, and – given its relative plotlessness, its brevity, and its prose-poetry style – barely a ‘story’ at all.

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4 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of Virginia Woolf’s ‘A Haunted House’”

I hadn’t read this before and thought when it started that it was going to be the narrator herself taking on a male and female persona and looking for love. Because it seems like to me if she only hears them when she wakes or when she’s reading that they only exist in her mind and not in “reality.”

Reblogged this on Greek Canadian Literature .

Oh, this is definitely going on my TBR list. Thanks! I wonder that she suggests Radcliffe, rather than Poe, as the last “supernatural” horror writer, though. I suppose didn’t much go in for ghosts, per se, but it still seems an odd oversight.

I loved this story. I discovered it last year and read it several times, then featured it on my blog as well. I had never read a ghostly story like this before and it truly stands out. One of the lines that has remained with me was ‘Death was the glass; death was between us …’ Love the brevity of the story too—kind of like being given a private glance into the other side of reality.

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Haunted house narrative writing. The house stood on the top of lonely hill. There was no chance of taking the way through roads. I had to take the shortcut.

13 Redwood Villa

It was cloudy and the first few specks of the rain were exploding on the dark gravel. I was in the park and I knew that I was going to get drenched if I didn’t make my way quickly from there. A major storm could be heard on the distance echoing through the silent night.

I had to reach there, as quickly as possible. Just a few moments ago, I had got the message from my friend, Lucy, to go there – 13 Redwood Villa. She had asked me to reach there by 7 pm and it was already half past six. Thunder clapped overhead and the clouds burst on the horizon.

The house stood on the top of lonely hill. There was no chance of taking the way through roads. I had to take the shortcut. “What shall I do”, I pondered over it the second and decided I’d go the hill way to the top. So, I moved forwards. It was dead chilling cold and the rain had made it even more difficult to walk. The cloud had obscured the moon in the dark night and the whole way filled with sense of anger and malice.

I took a deep breath of the cool night air and walked faster towards the house. My curiosity was already beyond its limits. Now, I was almost to the top. The flickering light of the house could be seen nearby.

Finally, I reached there – 13 Redwood Villa.

The house stood, 3 storeys high, with boarded up windows and a broken chimney, giving the house a menacing look. Its door had been boarded up too but you could easily push it open between the planks at the bottom.

“Am I sure this is the house”, I thought to myself. Lucy hadn’t told me about why she wanted to see me. I was not really excited now, not after the dreadful smell and the abandoned look the house gave. “Well, I couldn’t turn back now, after all I’ve come till here”. I was stuck between fear and excitement.

But at last, a crack of thunder, a flash of lightning and slowly I pushed the door open. The rusty hinges gave a scary creaking noise. I took one last look at the outside of that fearsome house. The rain was splashing down around me. And then I had ducked under the planks of wood and was inside, peering about in the darkness.

This is a preview of the whole essay

As my eyes adjusted in the darkness, the room slowly came into the view, the long bare corridor with doors leading to unknown rooms. I then started even forwards. Suddenly I heard a squeak. I was totally daunted. And then I heard some footsteps as if someone was wandering around me.

My heart was accelerating. Thud, thud, thud... The rain was still pattering dismally on the window panes. Although petrified, I went to the door to see who it was. No one! I again heard the noise. I looked down. Thank god it was just a cat, an abandoned little black cat.

But its look was enough for me to give a fright. I had looked at the cat’s face in the gloom and I could see its dark hair, its perfect features and a ghastly eyes staring back at me. I slammed the door close and made a run. I could hear the cat meowing back as if trying to break inside. It all seemed stupid now. I should’ve never come to this house.

I was still running and just at the moment I saw a big door on the corner of the corridor. I went inside and entered a large bare room. It was all dark and smelled of sodden clothes and rotten fruits. Running through the side of the room I noticed a flight of stairs ahead of me. I could hear someone muttering on top of stairs.

Hurriedly, I ran up the stairs and reached the second floor. The windows upstairs were covered with large, black curtains which flapped along as the gust of wind rushed inside the windows. All the walls were covered with cobwebs. The floor creaked under my feet. That corridor had even more doors that led to unknown rooms. And I could still hear the voices.

Just then I saw someone hurrying inside one of the doors. It might have been the same person of whom I had heard footsteps of. I was shocked and shivered with frightfulness. “Who else could be inside? Was it Lucy?” I decided to follow the person. But the dim light of the moon flickered and the person darted away. I missed. That must have been my imagination.

Slowly I entered the room standing just behind me. That room was such a mess, as if someone had torn it apart in rage. All the things were tipped over on the floor. Through the bars of windows I could see the sky slowly clearing up. I looked at my watch. It was already ten to seven.

I still hadn’t seen Lucy yet. “If this was her trick to scare me then I would’ve never forgiven her, but what if she wasn’t playing a trick. She should’ve been here by now!”

I left the room and marched towards another room, and another. Through more doors and up another staircase and I realised I was totally lost. I swore I was. But I knew I was now on the topmost floor.

As I stood there, stiff, I heard the owl hooting and outside and also the rustling of leaves. But beneath all the noise, was the terrible silence that overpowered every other sound.

The voices were getting louder.

I checked through almost all of the rooms until I was really exhausted. I paused for a second and went towards the windows. I needed fresh air. Outside the windows I could see the whole city as dead as doornail. There was no trace of any sound, not even a single muttering or laugh. I again turned towards the corridors. I only had two more rooms to check.  

I stepped up to one door and slowly reached for the handle. Just as I was about to enter inside, a group of bats hovered outside from the room. That was scary. I screamed with terror. I closed my eyes and ducked down until every bat had flown away. Luckily it was all quiet again.

Hastily I grabbed out the torchlight from my pocket and set it alight. In the flashlight I saw a puddle of liquid on the floor. Drops were splashing into it. “Was that a blood?” I frowned.

As I looked up, I saw a large chunk of wood that had fallen out of the ceiling. The rain was seeping into through the crack. I sighed with relief. The puddle on floor was just a rain, not the blood.

Just then I noticed some white thing on the floor. I focused the light on the floor. The light shone vividly at a large pair of sharp fangs. My head snapped up. I tried to scream but no sound came up. I stumbled back, clutched my stomach and fell over on the floor. I was unable to rip my eyes away from the sight. It couldn’t have been a real Dracula!

Startlingly, I crawled forward to touch the fangs. It came off onto my hand. It was just a fake pair of fangs. I was confused for a moment. Was it any trick!

It was now already five past seven and I was still wandering around the house. I still had to check in through one more room. The door stood on the farthest corner of the corridor. It looked creaky and intimidating. The illusion made it look even more sinister. Standing there, watching the quiet patience of the door, I knew it was more than a fright inside. I knew something was there. Not evil or malicious, simply dangerous!

The muttering voices were now gone. The whole house stood dead quiet. The only thing I could now hear was my own breath. Through the windows, the pale light of the moon shone beneath the dark deep clouds. Everything seemed so ghastly and unrealistic. I got up and slowly made my way towards the final door. My knees were now too weak, I had to bend and walk.

Lastly, I reached it. I grabbed the door handle and pushed myself inwards.

Oh my God! The room was so dark and so creepy. No windows, no light, nothing! I stood there in the silent darkness for a moment, holding my breath. I knew there was something hidden behind this darkness. I was now too much scared. So, I started backing away. Suddenly, something touched my back. I swore it was a human hand. “I must run away”. All these creepiness was now too much for me to bear.

But a noise behind me made me stop. I turned around slowly and tried to adjust my eyes in the darkness. Bare feet hit the floor loudly as I heard someone running towards me. “Hello, who’s there”, I shrieked with fear.

Silence! But suddenly the lights flicked open and the balloons popped out. I saw all the faces I knew. Before I could even realise anything, everyone shouted “Happy Birthday, James!”

English coursework                               Asmita Dhakal         Page  of 4

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• Word Count 1578
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• Subject English

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The Haunted House, Essay Example

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Have you ever wanted to do something so bad that it kept you up all night thinking about it?  But, for some reason something is stopping you from doing that thing. That’s a common problem; a lot of people hesitate or are scared to do things for the first time. You can never over come your fears unless you face your fears.

When I was 15 years old I thought of not going to school, so I skipped school and decided to have a walk around the  area. Out of nowhere, a big, old, gray building grabbed my attention as I stood across the block. At that moment, my mind was distracted by how old it seemed. As I got closer, the more curious I became of what was hidden behind those paled rusted doors. In that silent moment, I felt the wind blowing and heard the sound of the tree leaves hitting against each other. The building attracted me, questions began to pop in my head, why is it spooky? What made it different? Is there anyone living there? So I began to research to try to find answers to my questions I began with asking people around the neighborhood about the house.

I found out that it was the first kings’ palace that was built in Kuwait and it was called Bayan Palace. It was abandoned, and no one had lived in it for 100 years. Some of the people I talked to told scary stories about it and some believed that it was haunted with ghosts and evil spirits. As I studied the palace I took a lot of pictures of it. The next day, I couldn’t keep it out of my thoughts, so I went to our history teacher to show him the pictures and find out more about the palace. I was not the only one with questions, at the same time there were two boys asking the teacher about the palace too. We talked a lot about the palace. Sharing a common interest the boys and I continued to talk and get to know each other.

The first guy was named Ali, he is a short and white. Ali’s father owned a lot of companies and he was the Minister of Education back in Kuwait. The other guy is named Abdullah; he is a free runner and gymnast. He has had a lot of adventures in haunted houses.

After that day we hung out together a few times. We made the decision to go the palace and to investigate what is inside.  Later, as we sat in Starbucks arguing over when would be the best time to begin our adventure, an old man came over to the table. His face felt familiar like I had seen him before and I felt a strange, eerie feeling about him. He said, “Hi young gentlemen were you talking about Bayan palace?” We all looked at each other and answered “yes, why?” he whispered “didn’t you hear about the missing man that went inside and never came back again?” We all were shocked. Abdullah said “what do you mean by that he didn’t come back, because it’s a haunted house? Huh, I don’t believe that can you prove it to me?” he laughed softly and responded “It’s just my advice to you stay away from that place. I don’t recommend that you go.” That’s the last thing he said and then he walked away.

We decided to give up and thought it was best not to go to that place any way. But, we all know that inside we were curious and we all want to discover what was in the palace. So we met together and logged on to a computer finding a chat room about the palace and chatted with someone about that house. We were all shocked when he said that he had entered Bayan palace! We all asked if we could meet him and if he would call us and tell us more about his experience. He just answered with a “yes anytime”. His name is Nasser, he was 22 years old and he is from Lebanon. He is a business man that works for two companies, one of them in Lebanon and the other one in Kuwait.  He motivated all of us and rekindled our curiosity to enter that palace. Nasser said that when he entered the palace he did not feel anything strange and that there was nothing to be afraid of.  He had only entered into the palace for few minutes and then stormed out immediately. At that point we said that it wasn’t worth it to go to that haunted palace, we were busy and all had our final exams and decided we would not go until we had finished our school work.

Then came the  we were finally ready to explore the palace, we got our tools, we charged our mobile phones, made sure we got lights, snacks, and everything we needed. We then started to walk to Bayan Palace. We were all both afraid and excited at the same time. No one spoke or said anything from the moment we moved, we were all nervous. We arrived and we looked at each other’s faces, we all had nervous and scared expressions. We went inside because from the gate it was too dark and we couldn’t see anything. I turned the hand light on and began to feel the breeze on my face and it was cold, although it wasn’t cold outside.

I noticed on the wall there were a lot of paintings and marks. I touched the wall it was rough and a thick layer of dust covered the ground. From outside the building seemed smaller but inside we found out it was bigger than we thought so we decided to split into groups. Each group went their own way and we would meet again and call each other if there is something creepy. We went to the basement floor it looked like a jail. All I heard is the wind blowing and my footsteps we didn’t find anything creepy yet we searched the whole basement. I had no idea why my heart was racing, I felt scared every footstep I took the thoughts of what the people said about the palace it gave me chills and I started to believe it too. We decided to go back upstairs. As I was walking up the stairs I stopped and heard a movement coming towards me from behind. I began to rush up the stairs and started to panic my friend rushed behind me, all I wanted was to get out.  My friend came to me asking, “did you see anything? Why did you run? Are you okay?” I felt somewhat embarrassed and said “I was just joking with you guys” he got angry and pushed me and said “don’t do it again and let’s continue searching and put an end to the myths.” So we continued on.

I felt better with him beside me and started to convince myself that it’s all a myth. As we walked upstairs there was this huge sealed door marked with an X my friends got together and tried to open the door but we couldn’t, we gave up, it was starting to get late so we decided to end it and leave.

I had to go back home so I left and started to walk by home. As I was walking I was feeling a huge disappointment that I didn’t get to see what was behind the sealed door. This thought made me more curious and I wanted to know why it is marked with an X.

The next morning I got a text from Ali telling me to come to the neighborhood park. I got up, washed my face, got dressed, and left the house heading to the park. I arrived at the park and I saw the whole gang there waiting for me so I went to greet them.  While I was greeting them I noticed Nasser wasn’t with them and I saw Ali holding a Hammer in his hand.  He told me now we can open that sealed door I smiled and started to think is it worth it?  I know I was curious and disappointed that I didn’t get to see what was there so I needed to choose. The whole gang was waiting for my answer and I nodded “ok let’s go”.

As we were walking back to the abandoned palace I asked about Nasser and why he didn’t show up, they told me you “didn’t talk to him?” He was to fly to Lebanon, he was too busy and still needed to pack his bag. I felt the group wasn’t complete without him. I wondered if the real reason he did not come was fear.

When we arrived to the palace I looked at my friends with a smile and said “let’s do it!” We entered together and headed to the sealed marked door. Ali said “move away”, as he got the hammer and started to pound the chains on the door. He was surprised that he didn’t have to hit too hard before the chain fell off. The door was opened we went inside and suddenly we thought that we saw something move at the end of the corridor. We were running trying to search and wanted to find out what was that. I thought it was a small child running; we’ve turned off our flashlights in order not to scare whatever that distracted us. All of the sudden, I felt something crawling around my left leg but, thankfully when I focused the light on it and it turned out to be a cat.  I had faced my fear and realized that in the end there was nothing to be afraid of, it was all in my mind.

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A Brief History of the Haunted House

How Walt Disney inspired the world’s scariest Halloween tradition

Chris Heller

Former Assistant Digital Editor, Humanities

The  scariest haunted house of 2017  is a giant walk-through attraction located in the former Georgia Antique Center in the outskirts of Atlanta. Named Netherworld , it features 3D special effects, aerial performers and, of course, flesh-eating clowns. Netherworld frightens so effectively, so inescapably, that people with heart conditions are  warned against buying tickets .

This is what a haunted house is supposed to do. They exist to scare people. The idea behind haunted houses is not new, of course— people have entertained themselves with spooky stories for centuries — but haunted houses are different because they are inseparable from the holiday that vaulted them to cultural prominence. The tradition could not exist without Halloween; Halloween would not be the same without it.

The origins of the haunted house date back to 19th-century London, when a series of illusions and attractions introduced the public to new forms of gruesome entertainment. In 1802, Marie Tussaud scandalized British audiences with an exhibition of wax sculptures of decapitated French figures, including King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Marat and Robespierre. Tussaud's likenesses were remarkably accurate, and with good reason — she created death masks of  the French Revolution's many guillotine victims . When she set up a permanent London exhibition, she dubbed her grotesque collection the "Chamber of Horrors" — a name that has stuck  to the wax museum to this day .

At the turn of the 20th century, as Rebekah McKendry describes in  Fangoria  magazine , the closest relatives to modern haunted houses began experimenting with macabre themes. In Paris, the Grand Guignol theater became notorious for its on-stage depictions of  graphic dismemberment ; the theater's director, Max Maurey, famously boasted that he judged each performance by the number of people who passed out, shocked, in the audience. In 1915, an English fairground in Liphook debuted one of the first " ghost houses ," an early type of commercial horror attraction. The public appetite for horror was picking up.

Lisa Morton, author of  Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween , tells Smithsonian.com that Halloween-themed haunted houses first emerged during the Great Depression as American parents schemed up ways to distract young tricksters, whose holiday pranks had escalated to  property damage, vandalism and harassment of strangers . "They came in about the same time as trick-or-treat did," she says. "Cities looked for ways to buy these kids off, essentially."

Those first haunted houses were very primitive. Groups of families would decorate their basements and hold "house-to-house” parties. Kids could spook themselves by traveling from basement to basement and experiencing different scary scenes.  This 1937 party pamphlet  describes how parents could also design "trails of terror" to spook their children. The effects may seem familiar to anyone who has ever been disappointed by a sub-par scare:

An outside entrance leads to a rendezvous with ghosts and witches in the cellar or attic. Hang old fur, strips of raw liver on walls, where one feels his way to dark steps....Weird moans and howls come from dark corners, damp sponges and hair nets hung from the ceiling touch his face....Doorways are blockaded so that guests must crawl through a long dark tunnel....At the end he hears a plaintive 'meow' and sees a black cardboard cat outlined in luminous paint..."

The haunted house didn't become a cultural icon, though, until Walt Disney decided to build one. Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion opened in 1969, nearly two decades after Disney first approved  the beleaguered project . The attraction, which was designed in the style of the  Evergreen House  and the  Winchester Mystery House , quickly became a success. In a single day shortly after its debut, more than 82,000 people passed through the Haunted Mansion. The attraction's centerpiece is the  Grand Hall , a 90-foot-long ballroom sequence of  dancing ghouls at a birthday party . Disney brought to scene to life through an exceptionally complex series of illusions known as Pepper's ghost, which use refracted light to project and shape ethereal images. "A lot of the professional haunters will point to one thing, and that's Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. It's the start of the haunted attraction industry," Morton says. The attraction was revolutionary, as she explains in  Trick or Treat :

What made the Haunted Mansion so successful and so influential, however, was not its similarity to haunted houses and "dark rides" (that is, tawdry carnival haunted houses) of the past, but its use of startling new technologies and effects. Ghosts were no longer simply sheets hung in a tree, but were instead actual shimmering translucent figures that moved, spoke and sang. A witch wasn't just a rubber-masked figure bent over a fake cauldron, but a completely realistic bodiless head floating in a crystal ball, conducting a complex séance.

Within a few years, the haunted house had spread across the country. The United States Junior Chamber, also known as Jaycees, became famous for raising money through its haunted houses. (The fundraising venture was successful enough to spawn its own how-to guide.) In California, Knott's Berry Farm began hosting its own Halloween night attractions, which soon transformed into a multi-week slate of events. Every year, a man named Bob Burns attracted national media attention for  his detailed recreations of classic horror movies . Evangelical Christians even made their own anti-Halloween attractions; Jerry Falwell and Liberty University introduced one of the first " hell houses " in 1972.

As Hollywood began to embrace slasher movies like  Halloween ,  A Nightmare on Elm Street , and  Friday the 13th , the haunted house industry reaped the benefits. The horror boom fueled a demand for scary attractions, not to mention cross-promotional advertisements. "If you went to a haunted house in the 1980s and 1990s, you would've seen a lot of Freddy Krueger, Jason, Pinhead. The haunted house industry really followed the movie industry at that time," Larry Kirchner, president of  Haunted House Association , a trade group for haunted house operators, tells Smithsonian.com.

Professional haunted houses first emerged as a force in the same era, quickly outspending non-profit groups like the Jaycees. Then, tragedy struck: A fire at a haunted house in New Jersey  trapped and killed eight teenagers . In the aftermath of their deaths,  attractions were shut down , and politicians enacted  stronger safety regulations.  Volunteer organizations struggled to compete against new competition under tougher rules. Soon, many were forced out of business. It was a watershed moment for the industry, says Kirchner: "The Jaycees got pushed out because their haunted houses were fairly basic. It was based on the premise that people would volunteer, but when you have people opening big haunted houses with lots of advertising, that's hard," he says.

During the next two decades, the number of professional haunted houses erupted. Kirchner estimates that roughly 2,700 of them operated nationwide last year. A large haunted house attraction can reportedly earn  $3 million during the Halloween season , and the industry is worth  $300 million , according to an NBC report.

These days, haunted houses are no longer just about creepy characters and hyper-realistic horror. Instead, the industry has flocked to all sorts of new, extreme frights:  zombie runs ,  escape games , and  experiences seemingly designed to traumatize . How long will these successes last? Can the haunted house last another half-century? And if it does, what will it look like?

Kirchner doubts that the haunted house is here to stay. "If I was going to guess, I'd say no," he says. "Every business will eventually fail, so we just want to last as long as we possibly can."

A Halloween without haunted houses? Now that's a scary thought.

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Chris Heller | | READ MORE

Chris Heller is the former assistant digital editor, humanities, for Smithsonian magazine.

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Welcome to st. petersburg's #1 rated ghost tour.

The Sunshine City can’t contain the tortured souls of tragedy and untimely deaths. Join St. Petersburg Ghosts to uncover a grisly history that keeps its icy grip on this Florida getaway.

Venture with St. Petersburg Ghosts down a sordid path that leads to the city’s most terrifying places and infamous hauntings. Learn why the ghosts of Babe Ruth and Jack Kerouac are forever tied to their former stomping grounds and why some spirits refuse to leave.

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THE EXPERIENCES YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT

Preview the most haunted locations in st. petersburg, williams park.

An unassuming park harbors a darkness that bleeds into its surroundings. Learn how the park earned its malevolent reputation and why its mystique made the Williams Park Hotel the choice hotel for Babe Ruth and Jack Kerouac… in the afterlife.

S.H. Kress and Co. Building

A former “five-and-dime” store, the building is now home to a variety of businesses and spirits. One business in particular was rife with so much unexplained activity the Paranormal Society of Bradenton was called in to investigate. What they found made the building a “must-see” on our St. Petersburg ghost tour.

Vinoy Resort and Golf Club

This luxurious hotel is a popular destination for MLB players in town to take on the Tampa Bay Rays. Not all of them, however, enjoy their stay. Discover the hair-raising events and terrifying entities that have made numerous players from various teams steer clear of the mystical hotel.

Welcome to St. Petersburg Ghosts

Tragedy traverses the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and spills out onto the blood-stained streets of the Sunshine City, infesting downtown St. Petersburg with restless souls and hair-raising hauntings. 

The Souls That Wander by The Water

Known as an ideal waterfront escape, St. Petersburg offers everything needed for a picturesque vacation. Though some may come for a permanent stay, others didn’t have a choice. St. Petersburg Ghosts invites you into the depths of the city’s most beautiful bodies of water to expose the dark secrets that dwell within the buildings they’ve taken hostage.

From the safety of the Mirror Lake Community Library, we introduce you to the terrors of Mirror Lake, a reservoir known for the numerous deaths that occurred around it, many of them brutal murders. Hear disturbing tales of spirits doomed to remain a fixture of the lake, such as Eric Hall, who isn’t shy about making his presence known.

The horrors of this cursed lake keep a cold, dead grip on everything near it. Learn the ugly truth of St. Petersburg High School. Though the school has since relocated, its time near the lake proved disastrous. No matter where it’s gone, students and faculty continue to report the chilling sounds of scratching and banging on the walls. It’s the dark shape figures that glide through the hallways, however, that keep the police coming back to the school. 

Of course, the apartments that now occupy the former site of the school aren’t unscathed. Prepare for a spine-chilling journey that begins at one of the most haunted areas in St. Petersburg and continues with a heart-pounding exploration of the places where spirits of a tortured past lurk in the shadows, ready to reveal themselves to those they envy the most: the living.

Welcome to St. Petersburg Ghosts.   

What Will I See?

Learn About St. Petersburg’s Most Haunted Locations, Including:

• Williams Park – An unassuming park harbors a darkness that bleeds into its surroundings. Learn how the park earned its malevolent reputation and why its mystique made the Williams Park Hotel the choice hotel for Babe Ruth and Jack Kerouac… in the afterlife.
• S.H. Kress and Co. Building – A former “five-and-dime” store, the building is now home to a variety of businesses and spirits. One business in particular was rife with so much unexplained activity the Paranormal Society of Bradenton was called in to investigate. What they found made the building a “must-see” on our St. Petersburg ghost tour.
• Vinoy Resort and Golf Club – This luxurious hotel is a popular destination for MLB players in town to take on the Tampa Bay Rays. Not all of them, however, enjoy their stay. Discover the hair-raising events and terrifying entities that have made numerous players from various teams steer clear of the mystical hotel.

The Bad News Phantoms

Hampton Inn’s usually offers cozy lodging unless it happens to be the one located in the heart of St. Petersburg’s hauntings. Don’t let its position as a chain fool you. Though only two decades old, the Hampton Inn & Suites in downtown St. Petersburg is really owned by a variety of mysterious entities that enjoy taunting the staff and guests. 

Learn what keeps the maintenance men on their toes, dodging water bottles, and on a never-ending search for their tools that constantly go missing. Hear true accounts of guests experiencing disembodied voices crying for help and ominous sightings of a mysterious woman who sends chills down witnesses’ spines before vanishing.

But it’s not the only haunted hotel in the Sunshine City. St. Petersburg Ghosts will give you the lowdown on the places where the accommodations include a free pass to the unknown. Learn all about the most well-known of them all, the Vinoy Resort & Gold Club, famous for the MLB players that stay there and the sinister spirits that keep so many of them away.

Museum of Haunts and History

The Vinoy isn’t the only place where baseball and the dark side collide. As you stroll through the otherworldly streets of downtown St. Petersburg, you’ll get a haunted history lesson whose main characters infest the St. Petersburg Museum of History. 

Join St. Petersburg Ghosts to hear more about a building designed to preserve pieces of the city’s history, even the most malevolent artifacts. Should you decide to venture into the museum during your visit, be sure to stop by the Victorian-era black mourning gown, an item known for moving on its own and exuding a heavy energy.

It’s the baseball exhibit, however, that keeps the staff peeking over their shoulders. Hear the eerie tales of the unknown figure that stalks all those brave enough to enter its territory. The dark shadow is known for evoking a feeling of dread, especially in those who are alone in the exhibit. And it’s not alone. Who else terrifies guests and has a reputation for making them run for the doors? Find out with St. Petersburg Ghosts.

Why is St. Petersburg so Haunted?

A park of peculiar deeds.

It’s not called the “Sunshine City” for nothing, as St. Petersburg holds the Guinness Book of World Records for “most consecutive days of sunshine.” But even the rays of bright light can’t penetrate the wickedness that taints even the most unsuspecting areas of the city. Case in point: Williams Park – a charming recreational spot that’s delightful by day and ghostly by night.

Visit the very park that has been subject to nightmarish acts that resulted in the discovery of numerous corpses over the years. The body count may have come to a standstill, but the spirits born of brutal crimes have yet to find peace. Stay vigilant, as they’re known for manifesting at night, crying out for attention.

Like Mirror Lake, the darkness that consumes the park cannot be contained, as several buildings surrounding the park come with their own mysteries of the macabre. Discover Williams Park Hotel, a historic hotel that caters to everyone from tourists to the spirits of Babe Ruth and Jack Kerouac. Learn more about The Williams House and its resident ghost known for its violent temper. Who is this entity that causes the hair on staff members’ arms to rise? And what other locations are possessed by the horrors of Williams Park? Get these answers and more with St. Petersburg Ghosts.

Rooms With Otherworldly Views

No matter how much the city grows and how many new buildings pop up in downtown St. Petersburg, it seems that nothing can hide the dark underbelly of the Sunshine City. Venture with St. Petersburg Ghosts on an unflinching exploration of the city’s most cursed locations and peek behind the spectral veil that envelopes this historical site.

Uncover the mysteries of the creepy Ponce De Leon Hotel, a Spanish Mission-style staple with a backstory so disturbing the residual energy that has made guests flee the hotel in the middle of the night. Who or what is causing the blood-curdling screams that send chills down the spines of visitors and staff alike?

The sinister spirit that scares people right out of the Ponce Del Leon likes to keep an invisible profile, opposite of the one that inhabits the infamously haunted Don CeSar Hotel. Though a bit less petrifying, the hotel has its own resident specters that don’t shy away from letting the living know who truly owns the hotel. Find out who these ghosts are that leave a cold chill in the air and witnesses in a state of shock with St. Petersburg Ghosts.

What’s so Special About the St. Petersburg Ghosts Tour?

See the darker, seedier side of the sunshine city .

Beyond the sandy beaches and fascinating museums, St. Petersburg offers a variety of family-friendly activities that add to the draw of this tourist destination. Theater lovers of all types of entertainment are in good company when visiting the city as downtown is home to the best of them. Of course, you have to be willing to mingle amongst the dead.

St. Petersburg introduces you to the local venues where the performers are in constant competition with the otherworldly entities vying for attention. Backstage is synonymous with seedy, and these theaters are no exception. Learn about the ghosts that command the curiosity of venue-goers, putting on heart-stopping performances for more reason than one.

Experiences and Stories You Won’t Get Anywhere Else 

Book lovers rejoice! The only thing better than a bookstore is an indie bookstore, and in St. Petersburg, there’s one that was so delightful the spirit of one of the most prolific novelists in the nation still visits. His name is Jack Kerouac, and his presence is so profound that paranormal investigators have explored the building attempting to contact him.

Uncover the oddities of Haslam, the former bookstore that provided readers with ample reads and unlimited frights. Hear more about the famous Beat writer’s inebriated spirit traipsing around the building, wreaking havoc on the work of the employees, moving books around, and giving his prominence. The bookstore may be no more, but the building is still very much alive with unexplained activity. Hear more with St. Petersburg Ghosts.

Be a Part of a Growing Ghostly Community

The otherworldly industry is continuously growing with no end in sight. Whether it be to curb curiosity or to find a ghostly hot spot to explore, more and more individuals are attempting to lift the veil on the unknown and peek beyond the curtain of the unexplained. 

Tonight, become one of the many who dare to explore the events and entities that defy logic. From the Comfort Station One that’s meant to be a relief station but serves as a terminal of terror, to the rows of haunted eateries such as La Cote Basque Winehouse, our expert guides leave no stone unturned. The ghostly community is growing, and we invite you to join them on a thrilling ghost of St. Petersburg with St. Petersburg Ghosts.

* This is a walking tour and we do not enter privately-owned buildings or private property *

5 REASONS TO BOOK YOUR ST. PETERSBURG GHOSTS TOUR RIGHT NOW!

1) you want to explore st. petersburg on dry land.

The beautiful beaches and luscious lakes make St. Petersburg the perfect vacation spot for families and lovers of the sea. But let’s be honest, there’s only so much you can do out on the water. If you’re ready to take your exploration of the Sunshine City out on dry land, we have an ideal way to keep your journey enjoyable. Take a St. Petersburg Ghosts Tour and uncover an entire world that beckons to be investigated and is guaranteed to keep you on your toes.

2) You’re a Baseball Fan 

Tampa may have the Tampa Bay Rays, but St. Petersburg has Tropicana Field. From baseball players to the fans that pack the stadium, the city is a mecca for America’s favorite pastime. Visiting the city to take in a game or two? Fill your downtime with a ghost tour by St. Petersburg Ghosts. We’ll give you the lowdown on the haunted hotels known for sending chills down the spines of MLB players and where you just might be able to meet the Sultan of Swat himself – if you don’t mind seeing a ghost.

3) You’ve Seen the Museums, Now You Want to Hear the Haunted History

St. Petersburg has a great variety of museums that provide an in-depth look at how the city came to be. As informative as they are, these places of knowledge don’t tell the whole story. Take a St. Petersburg Ghosts tour to learn about the city’s history that the Visitors Center doesn’t want you to know about. Get the whole truth on what keeps the Sunshine City in the dark.

4) You Need a Fun Way To Walk Off Your Brewery Tours

St. Petersburg is a city that’s fun for all ages. There’s plenty to do for the kids, and the breweries offer an afternoon of fun for the adults. When you’re ready to do something that’s fun for the whole family and will help you walk off some of that delicious craft beer, join us on a thrilling ghost tour of St. Petersburg. When it comes to entertainment and frights for the whole family, we’ve got you covered!

5) You Want to Make the Most of Your St. Petersburg Vacation

If St. Petersburg isn’t a place that’s a regular vacation spot for you, why not make the most of it while you’re here? There’s plenty to see and do in the Sunshine City, but none offer the nonstop excitement that comes with a heart-pounding tour through the city’s most haunted area. You’ll hear stories you won’t hear anywhere else and visit places that you may only see once in a lifetime. Get everything there is to get out of your St. Petersburg vacation and book your ghost tour with St. Petersburg Ghosts tonight.

Further Reading

• Philadelphia PA
• Special Events
• Group Tours
• Lancaster PA
• Lancaster Ghost Tour
• Strasburg Ghost Tour
• Contact Lancaster & Strasburg
• Strasburg PA
• Brinton Lodge
• St Petersburg FL

St. Petersburg Ghost Tour

Join us for a fun and entertaining evening of true ghost stories, real haunted houses, and where they buried the bodies!

Why does the "Lady in White" materialize at the Vinoy Hotel? Is there a phantom hitchhiker on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge?

Join our costumed tour guide for a night of mystery and intrigue along Tampa Bay's historic streets and beautiful waterfront!

Discover forgotten tales brought back to life...wandering spirits, haunted mansions, phantom lovers, age old curses, and more!

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LOCATION: DOWNTOWN ST. PETERSBURG

DEPARTS FROM: SWEET DIVAS CHOCOLATES, 181 4TH AVE NE, ST. PETERSBURG, FL 33701 VIEW MAP >

Peer into the shadows and mysteries of Florida's "Sunshine City" on a candlelight walking tour of downtown St. Petersburg! Hear true ghost stories of wandering spirits, haunted mansions, phantom lovers, and age old curses...forgotten tales brought back to life. Join our costumed tour guides for a leisurely stroll along St. Petersburg's quaint streets and beautiful waterfront!

Tickets are $24 per person ($16 ages 4-12). Advance ticket purchase required. We recommend purchasing by 6pm to ensure your spot. Book online or call 727-894-4678.

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Tickets are non-refundable. Under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

GHOST STORIES OF ST. PETERSBURG

The Ghost Tour is based on the book, Ghost Stories of St. Petersburg, FL. Discover cursed happenings at the Vinoy, Al Capone's love nest, Dead Man's Key, haunted forts, and "deserted" islands! 140 pp. Purchase with your tickets or at our Book Store .

Open for private tours for parties of 6 or more through the winter. Please call 727-894-4678 to book. Regularly scheduled tours will resume in the spring!

Reviews, Ratings, & Rankings

"We had a great time last night! The tour was a lot of fun, and even having lived in Tampa for the better part of 30 years I learned some local history I wasn't previously aware of." - Eric K.

"Love haunted history? This walk is for you! It was very interesting and entertaining." - Richele C.

"The tour was fun and exciting. I truly enjoyed this, and highly recommend it." - Ruthie R.

Read more reviews >

• Tampa Ghost Tour on ABC - Watch now >
• VisitSouth.com: "Tampa's colorful past makes it a perfect host for ghosts."
• VisitFlorida.com: The Ghost Tour "carefully documents all of the stories...This makes the tours equally popular with history buffs who want an entertaining trip through town. But it’s still entertainment, not history. All of the guides are trained storytellers."
• Florida's Ghostly Legends and Haunted Folklore: "This tour is entertaining and offers a good history along the way. The tour guides tell fun and fascinating tales of specters and haunted places throughout St. Petersburg."
• Tampa Bay Times: "Where to get your scream on"
• Recommended by destination360.com for a "candlelit walk through the most historic and mystic city streets."
• Best in St. Petersburg Magazine and City Guide: Attractions and Entertainment

Phone: 727-894-4678

Group Tours: 727-894-4678

Email: [email protected]

Fax: 866-692-9332

DEPARTURE POINT

The Ghost Tour of St. Petersburg departs from Sweet Divas Chocolate, 181 4th Ave NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701 View map >

Facebook: @tampabayghosttours

Twitter: @tampabayghosts

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