Chasing ghosts in Door County

DOOR COUNTY, Wisc. - Door County is such a popular vacation spot that people keep coming back year after year - even after they're dead.

Or so I learned on a Door County Trolley Ghost Tour in the small harbor town of Fish Creek. The tour company's perky red trolleys are a familiar sight on the byways of the peninsula, offering a variety of themed trips ranging from lighthouses to wineries.

As summer blends into fall, though, the company's most popular offerings are Ghost Tours. Each evening, trolley passengers get a two-hour introduction to the supernatural side of the region, which turns out to be one of the best places in the Midwest to get into the Halloween spirit.

Afterall, despite its idyllic appearance, early French explorers dubbed it 'Porte des Morts,” or Death's Door. The nickname - a reference to the treacherousness of the strait linking Lake Michigan and Green Bay at the end of the peninsula - is just part of the regions's checkered past.

Before modern navigation, the rocky shoals destroyed hundreds of ships. While the Death's Door name was eventually shortened to the more PR-friendly Door County, stories of phantom ships, ghostly apparitions and inexplicable happenings have long been traded by locals.

That doesn't mean, however, that a Door County Ghost Tour is depressing. In fact, it may be the single most entertaining thing one can do here, particularly if you're lucky enough to have Bob Kohout lead your tour. With his disheveled gray hair, commanding height, resonant voice and black cape, this former teacher has done nearly 1,000 ghost tours, in the process becoming somewhat of a local legend himself.

'I've been on this tour four times and always ask for Bob,” a fellow passenger whispered to me as the tour started.

I could soon see why. With scary organ music playing over the speakers, Kohout began to spin one intriguing tale after another as he drove to various haunted buildings in the small town of Fish Creek. We heard about Huey Melvin, a little boy who's still making friends more than a century after his death, and the odd happenings associated with the wreck of the Erie L. Hackley, a boat that went down in 1903 with many of her passengers and crew.

On a visit to the town cemetery, we were shown several moss-covered gravestones piled with coins.

'Some of our stories have gotten folks so excited they've left money on the graves of the dead people we talk about,” explained Kohout. 'The local teenagers are mighty grateful for the beer money.”

Our longest stop was at the Alexander Noble House, built in 1875 and owned by the local historical society. A guide dressed in nineteenth-century garb took us on a tour of the home, which is said to be haunted by a number of spirits. 'Feel free to take pictures of the mirrors in the house,” she informed us. 'You never know what may show up when you look at the images later.”

As daylight waned, the tour became even more atmospheric. By the time we reached our final stop, Eagle Bluff Lighthouse in Peninsula State Park, it was fully dark. We exited the trolley and found our way with flashlights to a spot outside the lighthouse, which was built in 1868 to help guide ships along the treacherous shoreline. In the distance we could hear the rhythmic splashing of waves, while above us a light shone brightly from the top of the tower, just as it has for nearly 150 years.

Kohout had saved one of his best tales for last, a story told by a park ranger who on a number of occasions encountered a spirit who turned out to be the drowned son of the lighthouse keeper. The mood of the group shifted into a more somber mode as the master storyteller wove a story of regret and sorrow. I realized that while Kohout had entertained us, he'd also taught us a great deal about Door County history, giving us a visceral feel for the fragility of life in the peninsula's pioneer years. When his last story ended, we stood in respectful silence for a few long moments, listening to the waves and thinking of the loneliness and loss that often shadowed frontier life.

The atmosphere shifted again, however, on our journey back into town, as Kohout led us in a merry medley of spooky tunes that ranged from the Ghostbusters and Adams Family theme songs to the Halloween staple 'Monster Mash.” Driving through the quiet streets of Fish Harbor, we sang at full volume, drawing curious looks from passers-by.

'Makes ‘em wonder what we're doing!” Kahout called out with a cackle, looking like a mad scientist at the steering wheel of the trolley.

By the end of the evening, I realized I'd been entertained, intrigued, and just a little bit scared - the perfect combination for a ghost tour.

If You Go

Door County Trolleys offer nightly ghost tours from June through October. Adults are $25; children are $18. The two-hour tours begin at 6 p.m. in October at the Orchard Country Winery south of Fish Creek. In September and October, additional ghost tours are given in Sturgeon Bay. Pub crawls to four haunted drinking establishments are held from June through November 1 (the stories get more believable as the evening proceeds). Reservations are required; call (920) 868-1100 or visit Doorcountytrolley.com.

For more information about the area, contact the Door County Visitor Bureau at (800) 527-3529 or Doorcounty.com.