Family Fun: Ghost Tours

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The starting point for the Ghost Tours of the Paranormal Society of Bradenton, FL / COOPER LEVEY-BAKER

The starting point for the Ghost Tours of the Paranormal Society of Bradenton, FL / COOPER LEVEY-BAKER

Oh... hello, creeps... What can I say? Halloween's just around the corner, and it's got me craving cold breezes and candy corn, horror flicks and haunted houses. But my 3-year-old and 10-month-old aren't exactly ready for scare-play or fright-seeing yet, which means it's up to me and my wife to venture out on our own to explore the haunted back alleys of downtown Bradenton during one of the Paranormal Society of Bradenton, FL's Ghost Tours.

My kids may not be ready for the 90-minute walks, which take place after dark on various days through Halloween, but I imagine they'd be good, creepy fun for older kids, with parental discretion advised. You're learning about ghostly spirits, after all, which means you'll hear several tales of suicide and murder. And, as my wife and I learn when we meet up with our tour group, we're not just hearing stories tonight. No. We're going to be communicating, directly, with spirits who haven't yet crossed over.

Zoinks!

The Paranormal Society takes its work seriously, telling old tales of violence in downtown Bradenton and odd stories of unexplained happenings in bars and businesses in the neighborhood. We're taught how to use our phone cameras to snap pics at haunted locations. Always using our flashes and taking two near-simultaneous photos, we scan through our shots looking for a suspicious color or light—a sign of an "orb," a "possible manifestation of ghost energy on film."

A Ghost Meter provided by the Paranormal Society of Bradenton, FL / COOPER LEVEY-BAKER

A Ghost Meter provided by the Paranormal Society of Bradenton, FL / COOPER LEVEY-BAKER

We're also given the chance to chat with ghosts ourselves, using the Paranormal Society's Ghost Meters. They look like restaurant pagers but with a fluctuating dial in the middle and a red light that blinks on and off at various speeds whenever a presence is detected. It turns out there are two kinds of hauntings—"residual" hauntings and "intelligent" hauntings. Residual hauntings merely record someone's historical presence, while intelligent hauntings involve spirits who can answer yes or no questions through the Ghost Meter. Bradenton's ghosts have personality, that's for sure. One prefers the ladies, while another is eager to hit up the bars.

I remain, er, skeptical that we're actually communicating with the deceased, but it's a blast to step into strange corners of the city and hear bizarre tales of mayhem. And I can't help but feel excited when my Ghost Meter suddenly goes nuts. The ghost chose me!

Many of our fellow tour-goers are aficionados of haunted sites and paranormal investigations. They relate stories of observing flashes of cannon fire in the fields of Gettysburg and strange lights in the cathedrals of Prague. The tour begins near the restaurant Pier 22 (haunted) and includes stops at the historic hotel that is now the Hampton Inn & Suites (haunted) and the Manatee County courthouse (haunted, natch), along with many other lesser-known corners and backstreets. My wife and I go orb-less on our tour, but other participants show off strange effects they've captured with their cameras.

I can't say I'm convinced my wife and I experienced any genuine ghost-to-person communication, but that doesn't feel like a letdown. We got to hear some creepy Bradenton lore, which scratches that Halloweeny itch I've been feeling, and we got an evening out away from the kiddos. If you've got older kids than mine and they're cool with spooky stuff, bring them along. If they're too little, ID a babysitter. But, either way, go. It would be a... grave mistake to miss it. Cackle, cackle, cackle.

The Paranormal Society of Bradenton, FL offers its Ghost Tour at 8, 9:45 or 11 p.m. on various dates. Visit paranormalsocietyofbradenton.wordpress.com for a complete schedule. The tours depart from the Bradenton Riverwalk near Pier 22, 1200 First Ave. W., Bradenton. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for kids. RSVP by emailing psobfl@gmail.com.

This is the 12th entry in Family Fun, a weekly column dedicated to fun things for parents and kids to do around Southwest Florida. To suggest a place or event to feature, email me at kidnplaysarasota@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter: @LeveyBaker.

Last modified: October 22, 2015
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