3 Midwest Ghost Tours Set Halloween Mood

October is the month for ghouls and ghosts and all things spooky. What better way to get into the Halloween mood than to take a ghost tour? I’m talking real ghosts, in places where people claim to have experienced apparitions. We’ve dug into our archives and found three ghost tours that we’ve taken over the past few years in Midwest cities. Although we haven’t seen or heard any ghosts, the stories we heard on the tours have me believing.

Midwest Ghost Tours

Alton Hauntings Walking Ghost Tour

Alton, Illinois, is billed as one of the most haunted small towns in America. It isn’t surprising since, during the Civil War, thousands died in a Confederate prison here. The Confederate prison site, where only one wall remains, is a stop on the Alton Hauntings Walking Ghost Tour.

Confederate prison wall, Alton Hauntings ghost tour
The last remaining wall of the Confederate prison where thousands died of disease.

Our guide, Len Adams, also led us down dark Alton streets to an underground room in a former Underground Railroad station. Like many buildings in Alton, the room is made of limestone. Limestone absorbs energy due to its high quartz content. Len explained that with heightened emotions associated with the Underground Railroad, the energy of slaves who were hidden here remains absorbed into the limestone long after their bodies are gone.

Hiding room on the Underground Railroad

Read more about the Alton Hauntings Walking Ghost Tour here.

Pythian Castle Ghost Tour

The Knights of Pythia fraternal organization built Pythian Castle in Springfield, Missouri, in 1913. The castle served as an orphanage and a retirement home. In 1942 the military took it over to use as a service club. However it was also rumored that German Prisoners of war were kept in basement cells.

Pythian Castle, Springfield Missouri, Murder Mystern Dinner

Two women, a mother and daughter, own the castle now, and it didn’t take long for them to realize they don’t live there alone. Some of the castle’s former guests never completely left, including a little boy and some German soldiers.

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On our tour we walked through a steam tunnel, which was just a few feet wide. Down in the dungeon, where the German soldiers were supposedly kept, my husband walked through a cold spot and the hair on the back of his neck raised. He looked around to see if there was an air duct or fan nearby. There wasn’t.

Steam tunnel at Pythian Castle

Read more about the Pythian Castle Ghost Tour here.

Marshall Carriage Company Ghost Tour

We climbed aboard a black horse-drawn wagon for a ride through the streets of Marshall, Michigan, on the Marshall Carriage Company Ghost Tour. We stopped outside several homes where our guide told captivating stories of paranormal activity in those homes.

Marshall Carriage Company

The highlight of the tour was a ride through Oakridge Cemetery, where some graves date back to the 1700s. As the horses clippety-clopped through the cemetery, Brian told us about ghost sightings near tombstones. Sightings include a fugitive slave holding the hand of a young girl and a young woman dressed in 1980s clothing who often walks through the cemetery and then disappears.

Marshall Carriage Company Ghost Tour

Read more about the Marshall Carriage Company Ghost tour here.

Have you taken any ghost tours?

Have you taken any ghost tours in a Midwest city? Tell us about them in the Comments section below.

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Disclosures: Our Alton Hauntings walking ghost tour was hosting by the Alton Convention & Visitors Bureau and Alton Hauntings. Our visit to Pythian Castle was hosted by the Springfield Missouri Convention and Visitors Bureau and Pythian Castle. We received complimentary tickets for the Alton Hauntings and Pythian Castle tours and a deep discount on the Marshall Carriage Company tour. However, any opinions expressed in this article are my own.

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6 thoughts on “3 Midwest Ghost Tours Set Halloween Mood

  • October 11, 2016 at 9:28 pm
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    Thanks for the fun read. If we ever get out your way, we’ll have to check them out. We love those ghost tours, too. Three have been in the southern U.S.: Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans, as well as Gettysburg, London and Stockholm. Sometimes, the guides are just as interesting as the stories they tell.

    Reply
    • October 12, 2016 at 7:44 am
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      I would love to take ghost tours in the cities you mention, Penny. Those cities have so much history.

      Reply
  • October 12, 2016 at 8:01 pm
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    These cities look to all have a lot of history included in these tours. Happy haunting this season, Connie!

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    • October 14, 2016 at 8:43 am
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      One of the interesting things about each of these tours, Sara, is that they include a lot of history information.

      Reply
  • January 24, 2021 at 1:21 pm
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    I love history and paranormal happenings, I believe in it whole heartedly. That being said I am also aware that going to these places can open you up to the unwelcome aswell so I have never purposely went to a haunted location or on a ghost tour. I live a few miles from Pythian castle and I am so intrigued but afraid to open myself up…any suggestions?

    Reply
    • January 24, 2021 at 6:55 pm
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      Hi Brit,
      The Pythian Castle offers other activities in addition to the Ghost Tours. We enjoyed a Dinner Play when we were there in addition to the Ghost Tour.
      Check out their website for more information. https://pythiancastle.com/
      Thanks for reading our post.
      Skip

      Reply

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