Intrepid Souls Invited:

Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours Returning

HARTFORD — The Mark Twain House is famous for being the home of Samuel Clemens, the spirited author who created some of his most indelible characters while living in Hartford from 1874 to 1891.

Over the past year, however, the 25-room picturesque Gothic mansion has become famous for spirits and characters of another sort. Following years of reported ghostly apparitions, mysterious bangs, otherworldly voices, and other unexplained phenomena, SyFy’s hit television series Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters Academy conducted two investigations of the National Historic Landmark home of Mark Twain. The television shows recorded disembodied footsteps, knocks, moving shadow figures, EMF activity and voices. 

Inspired by the results of the Ghost Hunters investigations, the Mark Twain House & Museum is offering eight October nights of its popular Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours, a nocturnal guided walk through the historic and, some say, haunted mansion.

Previous sold-out engagements of these tours featured details from paranormal investigations, staff and visitor encounters with the unexplained, tales of Victorian traditions surrounding séances and death, and tragic tales from the Clemens family’s haunted history. Guests have reported seeing apparitions, experiencing chills, hearing spectral voices, and smelling cigar smoke. The one-hour tour takes guests through all three floors of the house, plus the Servants’ Wing and the spooky basement.

Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours will be offered this year on Fridays and Saturdays, October 8-30. Tours step off on the hour between 6 and 9 pm. Admission is $18 ($15 for MTH&M members), and ages 16 and under are an unlucky $13. Tours are not recommended for children under age 10 years of age.

Reservations are required and can be made by calling 860-280-3130. The house and museum are at 350 Farmington Avenue. Additional information is available at MarkTwainHouse.org.