October is officially here, and that means that for those who spend all year looking forward to the Halloween season, it’s finally time to get involved in some fun and spooky seasonal activities around the community.
A local favorite that is sure to give you the chills is the Historic Frederick Ghost Tour, a nighttime walking tour of Downtown Frederick that takes you through some of the town’s dark, and as some suggest, haunted history.
Historic Frederick Ghost Tour is open for tours on select dates and times: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through the month of October.
Tickets can be purchased online at https://marylandghosttours.com/ or in person outside Brewer’s Alley restaurant prior to the tour. The cost of a ticket is $16 per adult and $10 per child (ages 8-14). Private tours are also available for large groups of 15 or more. For tour reservations and availability, visit the Maryland Ghost Tours website.
While October is the busiest month to take the tour, it runs from April through December.
The tour explores a lot of local history and has also developed a history of its own throughout its 25 years of operation, making it the oldest ghost tour in the state of Maryland.
Why Frederick for a ghost tour? “We like to consider our city the most haunted city in the state,” said Ron Angleberger, Historic Frederick Ghost Tours owner and Frederick native.
Tourgoers are taken to eight different haunted sites in historic Downtown Frederick, each of which is at the center of a macabre story from the city’s past. Whether the story be that of a gruesome late 18th-century execution, tales of lawless grave robbers, the unfathomable loss of life that occurred in the region during the Civil War, or otherwise… the tour explores it all in detail. The tour guide’s job is to be both informative about the history behind each story and engage the group by occasionally using a little theatrical flair.
“Even if you’re not familiar with the story, once you hear what it’s about, for lack of a better term, you’re dying to hear the conclusion,” Angleberger said.
Angleberger said what makes the ghost tours a great experience is the content of the tours themselves.
“Not only is it a ghost tour, it’s also a history tour,” he said. “Even if you’re a resident of Frederick or a visitor of downtown, you’re going to get a good overview of some of the historical events that have happened to the citizens of Frederick over the last 250 years.”
And, he said, those on the tour don’t have to be believers in ghosts.
“If you’re coming out with a group of people, spouse, or group of friends who aren’t really into the paranormal, it’s gonna be a great history tour for you,” he said, “you’re gonna learn a lot. If you’re really into ghosts, you’re gonna get a lot of great ghost stories as well.”
Those who purchase a ticket also receive a coupon from the Brewer’s Alley restaurant where the tour group meets before embarking on the spooky sightseeing journey.
The Historic Frederick Ghost Tours also offer a second tour: a tour of Mount Olivet Cemetery. Angleberger described the cemetery tour, saying, Due to the popularity of the ghost tour in Downtown Frederick, the Mount Olivet Cemetery tour will not be running in the month of October but will resume shortly afterward.
“It’s not a ghost tour, but it’s certainly a history tour for some of those history buffs. Some of the [subjects of the] stories we talk about on the ghost tour, we take you to their graves in Mount Olivet Cemetery.”
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