ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the role of death, dying, and ghost tours in historic house museums, using museums in the southeastern United States as case studies. Historic house museums in the United States dealt with declining visitation in the past decade and staff have developed creative programming to bring new audiences to the historic sites including ghost and death themed tours. These tours range from educational tours about Victorian mourning culture to pseudo-scientific full-scale ghost hunts or appearances on popular television programs. This chapter analyzes several of these offerings and their impact on the site and the local community.
