Boo-yah!
Boo-yah!: Explore WNC’s supernatural side with a ghostly tour
(Top left) LaZoom’s Haunted Comedy Tour; (bottom right) Legend Has It Tours
Led by a team of paranormal researchers, the Legend Has It Tours locks guests inside the Cherokee County Historical Museum, where guides use Native American and 19th-century pioneer artifacts along with ghost hunting equipment to delve into Murphy’s haunted history. $30; (828) 356-8166; legendhasittours.com
From faeries to witches to vampires, Dillsboro After Dark explores the influence of otherworldly beings on the whistle-stop town’s past as well as some of its most recognized architecture. The tour is also extending into Sylva this year to uncover some of its most gruesome events. $20; (828) 506-4074; Facebook: Dillsboro After Dark
Whether you crave haunted houses, graveyards, tales of murder, or the paranormal, you’ll find it with Macon County’s Where Shadows Walk, which leads walking tours in Franklin, Sylva, and Highlands. Owner Gregg Lee also pens books that offer ghostly thrills. $25; (828) 371-6958; whereshadowswalk.com
Get a spooky education with History, Haunts and Legends of Haywood County, which examines the storied people, places, and architecture of downtown Waynesville during guided walking tours that combine sightseeing and folklore. $20; (828) 246-6777; historyhauntsandlegends.com
Offered October 19 and 26, Candlelight Ghost Tours exposes the fabled spirits that besiege downtown Wilkesboro through strolls to haunted locales, including a Revolutionary War-era cabin and the town’s old jail, which once housed the infamous Tom Dooley. $10; (336) 667-3171; www.wilkesheritagemuseum.com/ghost
Asheville’s Fright Nights
Take in tales of specters, arson, goblins, massacres, and more—all while being carted around downtown Asheville in style in a retro trolley—with Gray Line Trolley Tour’s narrated Haunted History & Murder Mystery Tour. $25; (828) 251-8687; graylineasheville.com
Experience the dark sides of both downtown Asheville and Biltmore Village with Haunted Asheville. Helmed by noted paranormal investigator Joshua P. Warren, these walking tours also include instructions on how to use ghost hunting equipment. $20-$23; (828) 318-8579; hauntedasheville.com
With excursions in downtown Asheville, the city’s historic Montford neighborhood, and nearby Black Mountain, Ghost Hunters of Asheville’s interactive outings blend history and intrigue with paranormal tracking devices like EMF meters and dowsing rods to reveal the haints behind the area’s most haunted spots. $20; (828) 424-1089; ghosthuntersofasheville.com
Expect snickers along with shrieks when you climb aboard LaZoom’s Haunted Comedy Tour, which delves into some of the city’s most ghastly affairs from inside the iconic bright purple bus. An added bonus? This one’s BYOB. $26; (828) 255-6923; lazoomtours.com