Ghost Walk draws hundreds

Hundreds of area residents turned out Saturday for the annual Ghost Walk.

This is the 15th year the Convention and Visitors Bureau has organized the tour of some of Carson City's historic residences on the west side of town.

Along with the mansion tours, there were several other shows along the route.

Gunfighters of Nevada and Guns and Gals of Virginia City put on their own show " a gunfight between the ghosts of such famous characters as Billy the Kid and Doc Holiday and a group of unfortunate lawmen apparently unaware that bullets won't kill a ghost.

"You can't shoot a ghost. They're already dead," said Gabby Flatland of Gunfighters of Nevada.

The outcome of the gunfight was completely predictable with all five lawmen dead or dying. But Flatland, whose character is a ghost he named Rattlesnake Dick, said everything works out in the end because someone the ghosts fear comes to the rescue of the town's bank.

"The preacher comes out and chases us away," he said.

He said he and his wife, Judy, have been doing the shows for the Ghost Walk for 10 years.

Another highlight for the walking tours is Gary and Nancy Tel's stagecoach, also complete with ghost. During the week, he said, the stagecoach pulled by four horses carries tourists through parts of Virginia City.

He said it's the last authentic stagecoach ride in the U.S. " and not some quiet trip down the street. They run the horses down dirt roads for a thrill ride, he said.

"We tell people this is going to beat you up," she said.

They've been part of the Ghost Walk for a dozen years, said Tel.

Event coordinator Joy Evans said there were two separate tours this year, each featuring five mansions and all with otherworldly occupants.

"Quite a few of these, we've never been in before," she said. "We're very grateful to the owners."

At each of the mansions, tour groups of up to 40 apiece were invited in, told about the history of the mansion and treated to a live performance by actors from Reno's Bruka Theater who portray the "spirits of the past" supposedly inhabiting the homes.

Evans said the money raised " $15 a person for adults " goes to support next year's Ghost Walk and to support Bruka Theater.

She said they put together different acts and use different mansions every year for the Ghost Walk.

"We always mix it up because we don't want to give the same tour every year," she said. "It's very popular and a lot of people come back every year."

She said they didn't have a final count of visitors Saturday but that they were conducting a total of 26 tours of up to 40 people apiece.

- Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.