Looking for a fun way to spend an evening during the spooky season? Haunted Manitou Springs Ghost Tours provides a fun and informative exploration of Manitou’s paranormal nightlife. But organizers say October/Halloween tours are dependent on the number of early sales they get – signing up now will make tours during the most haunted time of year possible.
The tour gives you an opportunity to learn about the story of Emma Crawford, the eccentric 19th century pianist and inspiration of the annual coffin races, as well as the story of Redstone Castle, which is allegedly haunted by her sister Alice, an actress and spiritualist.
The American West is a prime spot for ghost hunting, according to experts. The various gold and mineral rushes, the violent rough-and-tumble lifestyle, and the transitory nature of miners, gamblers, entertainers and others create a perfect storm for ghost activity.
“In terms of ghosts, liminal places are key,” Connor Randall, a ghost hunter and member of the paranormal television series “Hellier” told the Colorado Springs Independent in 2021. “A liminal place being a location that is in-between. A liminal space could be physical, but it could also be a mindset. What are some of the most reportedly haunted famous locations? We’re talking about train stations, prisons, mental asylums, hospitals and hotels. What all of these places have in common is they’re not solid places where people are sitting. They’re places that are locations of transition. When we start to notice these patterns, we start to notice, ‘Ok, they’re something with a liminal location that seem to attract more haunting energy.’ Hotels, like the Stanley Hotel as well.”
Other places of interest include the Manitou Springs Cliff House, which is allegedly haunted by the ghost of a murdered night watchman who reenacts his murder every year, which Randall described as a “residual” spirit. “For whatever reason, something in these buildings is caught, like a broken record,” he said. “There’s no consciousness behind it. The classic trope of seeing a woman in Victorian dress walk through a wall. She’s not interacting with anything, that’s just a moment that occurred, however many years ago, and under specific circumstances – which is the big question we’re trying to answer with these hauntings often, what are those circumstances that bring it about? Whether it’s environmental or the right person in the right state of mind, they can see that image from the past. Another famous example of that is in Gettysburg. People see soldiers marching through the field. They’re not interacting with anybody, it’s just that moment that was captured.”
Other Manitou ghosts are more aggressive, like the Egg Man, who, according to the Gazette, “has been known to follow people, attack them and beat them with his cane. Victims can hear the short man with whiskers and a hat dragging something like a leg or a cane, and the sulfurous smell of rotten eggs emanates from the ghost.”
To learn more about Haunted Manitou Springs Ghost Tours, or to book a tour yourself, visit HauntedManitou.com.