Walk with the Dead

Rory Raven leads historic Providence Ghost Walks

Mike Braca

Sure, there are “haunted houses” you can visit this month. There are factories, asylums, mazes and tunnels where you can pay to have actors dressed as mutated homicidal maniacs and grotesquely painted clowns (shudder) give you some cheap thrills. But for some real haunts, try Rory Raven’s Ghost Walk, a walking tour of Providence’s haunted history. “I love hearing the local stories and oral history that get passed down the generations, the stuff that maybe doesn’t make it into the history books, and Providence has more than its fair share,” says the mentalist and author of Haunted Providence. “Growing up hearing ghost stories about Providence, about Poe and Lovecraft, I decided to put together the Providence Ghost Walk to preserve and pass along those stories.”

This year is the walk’s 13th season; expect to hear some of Raven’s classic stories, like the macabre lamplighter of Mill Street, Benefit Street’s man in black and the phantom women of Power Street. “I may have a few surprises in store,” Raven says, “but I’m keeping mum about that for now...” Walks run every Saturday and Sunday in October, leaving from the corner of Benefit and College Streets (250 Benefit Street, on the courthouse steps). 3pm. $9.