Some students get their Halloween thrills by watching horror films or touring haunted houses. However, there are haunted places to visit in Richmond that do not cost a penny.
There are many ghost tours that can help students learn of Richmond’s haunted and historic past.
Haunts of Richmond has been giving ghost tours of the city for five years. The most popular tour according to tour guide Melane Armstrong is Shadows of Shockoe, in which a tour guide leads visitors around Shockoe Bottom, one of the most historic and haunted neighborhoods in Richmond.
Armstrong has been giving tours for more than a year. She said she enjoysedthe tours because it is a good way to teach Richmond’s history while still providing entertainment. Armstrong said VCU students often go on the tours.
“We do have a fair few (VCU students) that come in,” she said.
Laser Quest
Laser Quest is a popular business that provides students with games of tag and hide-and-seek. But few know the history of the building or the strange events that have happened there. According to the Richmond Department of Parks and Recreation, the location was built in 1853 as a tobacco warehouse and later converted into a Civil War hospital. There have been multiple sightings of soldiers walking around the second floor of the building according to Armstrong. ,
One witness saw “two gentlemen in full Confederate uniform, walking down the hallway looking to either side of them . as if at beds in a hospital ward,” Armstrong said.
The ghostly soldiers are not Laser Quest’s only strange phenomena. In one room designated for birthday parties, there is a large rust-colored spot that has reappeared multiple times despite intense cleanings.
“Whatever they did, the spot would always come back,” Armstrong said. “People who knew this was a Civil War hospital have said, ‘Well obviously it’s a blood spot.’ ”
The owners of Laser Quest have come up with a solution: They have covered the spot with a soda machine and a rug.
“But if you kick up the rug,” Armstrong said, “It (the spot) is still there.”
Restaurants and Bars
Julep’s, a restaurant in the River District, is said to be haunted by the ghost of a gunsmith who was murdered there in 1826 according to Armstrong. Daniel Denoon, an apprentice gunsmith was shot by James McNaught, the shop owner. Years later, when the shop was remodeled into a restaurant, the stairs Denoon fell down were closed off and turned into a storage closet.
“People do report hearing something falling in that storage closet. When they walk past they hear a thump,” Armstrong said. “And if you open that closet door, you’re going to get a blast of cold air from approximately where Daniel Denoon’s spirit left his body.”
Tiki Bob’s, a popular bar in Shockoe Bottom, was once a fishmonger’s shop and is reported to be haunted by the soul of a worker killed there Armstrong said. Bartenders and managers have reported seeing a man wearing a smock holding a large carving knife.
“If you are foolish enough to make eye contact with the man with the knife, he’s going to come for you,” Armstrong said. “Nobody has stuck around long enough to see what will happen when the man with the knife comes racing towards you.”
Rosie Connolly’s is a family-owned pub famous for its beer and whiskey. On multiple occasions, the family has seen a man standing in the kitchen. When the eldest daughter first saw the man, she decided to confront him.
“He vanished right as she rounded the corner,” Armstrong said.
One of the waitresses has seen a woman in an old-fashioned dress standing and looking, as if at a mirror. The waitress went to get a bartender to show him the ghost.
“By the time she got back with the witness,” Armstrong said, “The lady was gone.”
Church Hill Tunnel
In 1925, workers were repairing the train tunnel under Church Hill when the tunnel suddenly collapsed. Only a few men managed to escape.
“An unknown number of people were trapped in the tunnel as the whole hill came down,” Armstrong said.
Rescue efforts began immediately but were soon abandoned because it was determined that every man in the tunnel had died.
Officials decided to seal up the tunnel and leave the train and the workers inside . where they remain to this day, according to Armstrong. Those who dare to get close to the tunnel’s entrance have reported hearing unearthly sounds.
“Over the years, people have heard strange things emanating from the site on various occasions,” Armstrong said.
“People who worked in the warehouse adjacent to the tunnel did not like working in the back corner late at night,” Armstrong said. “They could hear screaming, train whistles, or pickaxes and cries for help coming from the hill.”
The Richmond Vampire
According to Armstrong, on the day of the tunnel collapse, a well-dressed man was seen bending over the body of a tunnel worker. When rescuers questioned the man, they noticed he had elongated teeth and a trickle of blood running down his cheek.
Someone yelled “vampire” and the rescuers began to chase the man. Armstrong said they followed him all the way to Hollywood Cemetery where the man disappeared into the crypt of William Pool and his wife.
The crypt was locked, and the cemetery’s groundskeeper would not let the rescuers inside the crypt. The men reluctantly left the cemetery, but the story of the vampire spread quickly.
Armstrong said over the years, many people have attempted to break into the crypt to kill the vampire thought to be inside. The groundskeepers finally decided to move the remains of the Pools to an undisclosed location.
According to a Richmond.com interview, grounds foreman Donald Toney found a broken wine glass inside the crypt. The glass was said to be newer than the date the crypt was sealed.
The legend of the Richmond Vampire has grown considerably over the years with each retelling.
Millhiser House
Gustavus Millhiser built the Millhiser House for his sweetheart in the early 1890s, according to VCU Director of Education Abroad Stephanie Davenport who said there are many legends associated with the Millhiser House.
According to Davenport, legend says Gustavus’ lover had an affair with a man living in the Scott House across the street. There are stories of a tunnel built between the Millhiser and Scott Houses where the lovers would meet in secret. When Millhiser learned of the affair, he hung himself in despair. People have reported hearing footsteps on the upper floors and seeing apparitions while working late at night, Davenport said.
April Sheppard, a senior advertising major who works as a program assistant in the Millhiser House described the house as “creepy.”
“Just today when I went down to the basement, I was going through some files,” Sheppard said. “And I heard some footsteps and jetted up the stairs. So I haven’t heard any legends, but I’m assuming something’s going on.”