Walking with the Dead: The Place of Ghost Walk Tourism in Savannah, Georgia

Ghost-themed walking tours are increasingly popular in the United States and globally. Although walking tours are often perceived as structured with pre-determined direction and content, this study of ghost walk tours in Savannah, Georgia alludes to something strikingly different. Although the tours are not usually free-form, interviewed ghost walk tour guides speak openly about how the tour experience is often negotiated and altered by the tour participants. Places visited, the length of visit, and the stories told all vary between tour groups. Surveyed tour participants suggest, both explicitly and implicitly, that the act of walking grants them more control over the tour experience. This paper introduces ghost walk tourism as a mobile form of dark tourism; discusses the role of walking in the formation of sense of place and relates the negotiation of the tour experience between guide and participants in terms of performance.