The First Ghost Story

As you may or may not know we were recently honored by being named one of the Top Ten Tours in New York.  While there are many options available for touring the city of Manhattan, we believe we were selected for numerous reasons.  One of the things that sets our tours apart from others is the degree to which we embrace the historical aspect of the ghost tales.  We make a claim that our tours are where horror and history meet, so we’re providing an educational element in addition to the thrills and chills of your standard ghost stories.

One of the best parts about being in this field is that we’ve added stops to our tours that go back to some of the earliest days of our history.  New York City has an extensive and colorful history, and our tours embrace the supernatural elements surrounding the past of this city.  In order to fully uncover the wonderful historic and haunting elements of this city, sign on to take one of our tours and experience it for yourself.

In the meantime, before your tour begins, have you ever thought about the world’s oldest ghost story?  How did it all begin, and when was the first documented haunting experience?

Some of our country’s oldest ghost stories begin with the Civil War, unsurprisingly, but the one of the oldest ghost stories in history began in Greece during the 1^st century.  According to most historians on the subject, there was a story written by Pliny The Younger, a respected man of society.  The documentation, collected from letters written and saved, speaks of a house in Athens that had an interesting reputation.

People close to this house, and those who lived in it reported the sounds of chains beginning from far away and growing closer throughout the course of the evening.  When the sound got too close for comfort, the listener was often greeted with the sight of an unkempt old man bound by chains at his hands and feet.  One resident of the home followed the ghost until it disappeared in the home, and when he lost sight of him, he recorded this spot.  The following day, the spot in which the ghost vanished was excavated, and the skeleton of a man was discovered.  The skeleton was shackled in chains.

If this story whet your appetite for most haunting and historical tales, any one of our three tours would be perfect for you.  Check out our website for more information!