How to Spend a Spooky Weekend in Virginia

With its history dating back to the founding of the United States, Virginia is a great destination for those who want to spend a weekend ghost-hunting. There are plenty of old houses and graveyards to search for the spirits of those who lived and died in Virginia as long ago as the American Revolution. Here are some tips to get your ghost hunt started.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Books by L.B. Taylor

1. Acquire books by L.B. Taylor, who writes about Virginia ghosts and their haunts. Some titles to consider are Civil War Ghosts of Virginia, Ghosts of Tidewater and Ghosts of Williamsburg Volumes I and II.

2. Visit Colonial Williamsburg and take part in a ghost tour. You will walk through the historic area after dark while listening to the guide relate ghost tales about the buildings along the tour.

3. Get a visitor's pass and tour Fort Monroe in Hampton. Many of the buildings inside the moat are said to be haunted, although you will not have access to most of them. There are no ghost tours of the fort, but there are several websites that will tell you where the ghosts are said to be.

4. Visit Rosewell Mansion in Gloucester. The ruins of this mansion, built in 1725 and destroyed by fire in 1916, are said to house ghosts who play the harpsichord, among others.

Tips & Warnings

• For another kind of spooky weekend, visit Busch Gardens in Williamsburg for the annual Howl-O-Scream event, which takes place every weekend from mid-September through the end of October every year.

Resources

• To learn about the ghosts said to haunt Virginia, visit the Web site of author L. B. Taylor.