Block Island offers educational tours and seminars about local ghost sightings.
On a foggy night, a dozen souls gather at an appropriately named meeting spot: Oddfellow’s Cafe. It’s a few minutes before 9 p.m., and darkness has settled in. From the porch of the antique building, across Water Street, ferry docks and one lone vessel are faintly visible. While it’s not Hawthorne rattling off spooky tales in Salem, Mass, the sights are certainly stage-setters for a night of ghost stories on Block Island!
Block Island Ghost Tours makes nightly outings, with tales narrated by knowledgeable-local Rick Lysik. His charm and presentation made our jaunt well worth the price of joining the ghost tour. (Perhaps Rick should try his hand at writing a “Seven Gables of Block Island.”)
GHOST RESEARCH ON BLOCK ISLAND
JOIN THE TEAM. BOOK WITH GHOST TOUR AND THE BLUE DORY INN:
OCT 25 & 26
Experienced ghost investigators are teaming up with BIock Island Ghost Tours in October to look for Ghosts on Block Island. Expect a nail-biting time at the Blue Dory Inn and all the local haunts. Details are provided below.
We were handed flashlights and told to stay close. So began an hour and a half of narration and banter as Rick recounted the spookiest stories from the island’s past; and, we noted that some were not at all in the distant past!
The tour starts with a brief history of the Harborside Inn. And that hotel’s history comprises the night’s first start and jolt. Yikes. The inn burned down just last year, with all the guests making it out safely. Still, there is now but a pad of land, a half-acre under what used to be a haunted hotel. And where have the ghosts gone? Those tales were covered as the group began the one-mile loop around town.
Our tour contained a healthy dose of history. Even an island native is apt to learn a good deal about the island’s history.
Like most venues on Block Island, we found the demographic of our tour to be an even split between teenagers and those middle-aged and older. I think we were the only guests in their twenties. But upon reflection, young adults will definitely enjoy this experience.
As the night gets darker, the tour follows suit, with topics going from apparitions of children playing hide-and-seek with angry spirits, violent murders, and malevolent demonic presences. It can be tricky herding a group of 20 or so people around town at night, so some of the haunted locations in question are viewed from a slight distance, with tour-goers gazing at the building wherein the denizens of years past were horrified by ghosts and sounds that send chills up and down the spines of those hearing the tales.
Block Island Ghost Tours is run primarily by Rick and David Lysik and Holly Herdman, with help from other business associates and their several ghost hosts. Rick says
that no two tours are quite the same; each host puts their own spin on the evening. “And we might spend more time on certain subjects, depending on the intersts of the guests,” he said.
Block Island Ghost Tours also offers a thorough, host-led pub crawl, cheekily titled “Spirits With Spirits,” a delightful-sounding experience that I hope to try for myself before the summer is over.
A special ghostly event is planned for the Oct 25 and 26. If you dare, you can book a stay and join expert ghost investigators looking for apparitions and evidence of ghosts in various buildings and cemeteries. Rooms for the event are available at the Blue Dory Inn. Room rates vary. It’s $50/person to take part in this ghosting event. A relaxed dinner and a meet and greet is planned on the first night, and a meet-up at Club Soda is planned for the last night; and the first drink is on BI Ghost Tours!. There will also be a tour and free time just to enjoy Block Island.
