Ghosts to visit Carson City

Those with triskaidekaphobia should take warning of this year's Kit Carson Trail Ghost Walk, themed "The Season of the Witch," on Saturday.

It is the city's 13th annual.

But the walk will focus more on the paranormal activity in 10 downtown 19th century-style buildings than on the number associated with misfortune.

Walks begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Nevada State Museum and run for about and hour and a half. Tickets are $15 for adults and seniors, $10 for children 6-12 and free for children under 6. The tours run every half-hour with the last group leaving at 2:30 p.m.

"We have two separate walks," said Joy Evans of the Carson City Redevelopment and Convention and Visitors Bureau, which sponsors the event. "You have to select which walk. We have the superstition walk and the spells walk. Each walk goes off in a different direction and different homes will be open on each tour."

Ten homes will be open all together this year, and walkers will see five each on their tour. The Superstition Walk visits the Bliss Bungalow, The Brewery Art Center's Performance Hall, and the historic homes of Stewart-Nye, Bliss Mansion and Edwards.

The Spells Walk will take visitors to the Brougher Bath mansion, the Brewery Arts Center and the Esser, Rinckle and Ferris mansions. The cost for the tour goes back to Carson City Redevelopment, and helps bring back the Ghost Walk each year.

"Tickets go very quickly," Evans said. "We try not to put any more than 30-40 people on a tour. We're not going to turn any people anyway. If we have to, we'll do another tour at the end of the day."

Tickets can be bought in advance at the visitor's bureau or on the day of the event. Call 687-7410 to order. Arrive about 15 minutes before the tour starts and pick them up at the will-call office.

"It's really quite an experience," Evans said. "I think people are interested in the unknown and they like hearing about the things going on in these homes. They like hearing about the spooky things happening."

The tours cover nearly a mile-and-a-half along the Kit Carson Walking Trail through Carson's downtown area. Comfortable shoes are suggested.

"It is a walking tour, make no mistake," Evans said. "But it is a leisure walk, not a power walk. And the (costumed) guide will tell you about the homes as we walk in and where (people dressed as) spirits of the past will be appearing in selected historic homes."

But if you're lucky - or unlucky - you might experience something more supernatural.

"Last year, we were in one of the homes, I think the Stewart-Nye Home and there was a man and a woman in the back of the group," Evans said. "Someone smacked him backside of the head, and he turned around to his wife and asked why she did that.

"She said, 'I didn't do that.'"

But, she cautions, the walk is truly not a scary event. Ghosts and goblins do not jump out from unexpected places. And it is appropriate for children.

"This is not a real scary thing," she said.

Unless, say, you've got a thing about the number 13.

If you go

What: 13th annual Kit Carson Trail Ghost Walk

When: 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Nevada State Museum, 600 N. Carson St.

Cost: $15 for adults and seniors; $10 for children 6-12; children under 6 free. Tours leave every half-hour. Call 687-7410 to order tickets.

- Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.