Cleveland Ghost Tours, Willoughby Hills

It’s hard not to be a little frightened when surrounded by this many graves. Lit by the glow of tour groups' nervously clutched candles and flashlights, the cemetery tombstones and what lies beneath them receive a lot of attention during Cleveland Ghost Tours’ changing lineup of walking expeditions. During the 90-minute treks, tour guides narrate the history of the people buried in the city’s oldest and largest gravesites, explaining what made them important in life or unsettled in death. Home to numerous purported ghosts, the cemeteries offer a way to learn the history of the city while experiencing spine-tingling chills, much like giving a social-studies teacher an exorcism.

After leaving the hallowed ground, groups wander off to some of the city’s most haunted buildings to perhaps catch glimpses of the flapper who inhabits the Federal Reserve Bank building, the militiamen who wander through Grays Armory, or the architect's wife still lurking in Squire's Castle. Beyond their unearthly thrills, the stops also offer tidbits about the city’s architecture, burial methods, and legends between ambling strolls by the light of the moon.