The season for ghouls and goblins is amongst us and so many haunted attractions are available in the Triad area. If you are not ready to run around the woods and would rather take a walk around the city and hear the various ghost stories of Greensboro, then you should look up Carolina History & Haunts.

Carolina History & Haunts began four years ago by New York native, Dan Riedel and his wife after experiencing many ghost tours themselves in Lexington, VA.

“I blame it all on my wife. She wanted to go to ghost tours and I’m a big history person so learning about the city and hearing the ghost stories too were a great combination,” said Riedel.

The 90-minute walk tour around downtown Greensboro travels to historic landmarks such as Blandwood Mansion,

Biltmore Hotel, Carolina Theatre, Chakras Spa, and more businesses and locations around the city .It is also given in Charlotte where Riedel himself gives a 75 minute tour of Charlotte’s many statues and buildings downtown.

The tour is filled with stories of the history of Greensboro and ghost stories that were passed down for generations that represent the certain sites. The first stop was Blandwood Mansion of former North Carolina Governor John Motley Morehead. The house was constructed in 1795 before the founding of Greensboro in 1808. Reidel told the story of a female who was waiting for her love interest to return from the Civil War. She died waiting in the mansion’s watchtower and her ghost still walks the halls of the mansion awaiting her loves fate.

Another stop on the tour was the Biltmore Hotel. The story behind the hotel is of two ghosts named Lidia and Phillip. Visitors who taunt the ghosts always fall down the steps. Riedel and his wife experienced the hotel firsthand when they stayed in it for a weekend. “I’m always trying to find an explanation for everything…when you find the history of things that happened, you cannot help but second guess yourself when you see things that are creepy,” he said. He continued on about the story on the ghost of Lidia always closing the door of one room until you ask her politely to not close the door and then the door will stop.

We ended the tour at the Biltmore Hotel and guests on the tour who actually stayed there were frightened by the story. Riedel feels that Carolina History & Haunt is a great way to get out and do something different rather than the normal. “To have a great time and get your mind off things and hear stories that you will not normally hear every day is what this tour is providing,” he added.

Carolina History & Haunts takes place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and on Halloween night at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tickets for adults are $15; children between ages 8-12 are $13; and children 7 & under are free.

They require that you get there 15 minutes early for check in and to dress comfortably and prepare to walk. For more information on Carolina History and Haunts tours in Greensboro and Charlotte go to, www.carolinahistoryandhaunts.com

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• Erik Veal, Online Editor