Johlene “Spooky” Riley has been managing the Gettysburg Ghost Tours for over 15 years. She has always been fascinated by ghosts and was drawn to the job description. She went from being the premier tour guide to the manager of operations.
“I have always had an interest in things I didn't. I didn't quite understand or couldn't explain.”
The Gettysburg Ghost Tours has a connection to Gettysburg and the Civil War. There’s a few Civil war soldiers that can be sensed on the tours.
“Well, you're not going to have the same experience in any place that they're all different, obviously, due to the different landmarks that you're taking the guests to, the different types of spirits. You might go to a town that didn't have a civil war impact. So, you're going to get altogether different kind of activity.”
The ghost’s tours are endorsed by the Gettysburg Paranormal Association. It hosts professional run ghost hunts at private haunted locations.
“We have about 15 indoor and outdoor exclusive locations now that we can take our guests where they don't have to be outside with public investigations, where you don't know how many people are going to be out there or the weather conditions or the intent of the people out there as well. So, we provide them with ghost hunting equipment. We teach them how to use it, and we're pretty proud about it. We're very proud of our organization and we're having a membership.”
The Gettysburg Ghost tours cannot ensure that you will see a ghost while on tour, however they say you have a good chance of a ghostly encounter or photo along the routes.
“The ghosts, I always say, are not on their payroll, so we don't know what they're going to do. And unlike people, because they were people at one point and they're just now in spirit form. They're drawn to some people more over than others. And that's just a fact. So, and sometimes they're grumpy just like people are, or they may just not they just may not be active at one particular location at that particular time. It comes down to being at the right place at the right time more than anything else.”