Explore the dark side of Euclid Avenue, Erie Street Cemetery on a ghost tour

CLEVELAND, Ohio -If you believe in ghosts – or just wonder about them - this tour is for you. You'll learn where spirits linger on Euclid Avenue between Public Square and Playhouse Square plus a detour to Erie Street Cemetery. (Or is that "eerie" Street Cemetery?)

You'll learn their stories and how they manifest – unexplained patches of cold air, orbs of light or humanlike apparitions.

If you're like Valerie Springer, a tour guide from US Ghost Adventures , you hope they'll come out to play during your one-hour-plus tour.

Ghosts don't have to be scary. Unlike movies, Cleveland's ghosts are mostly harmless. A few may be unexpected pranksters, but some are even helpful.

Springer is one of a half-dozen folks who learned Cleveland history and hauntings and works for U.S. Ghost Adventures. Tours are available at 8 and 9 p.m. seven nights a week no matter the weather. Well, unless there's lightning or a severe snowstorm.

For added drama, Springer wears flowing period dresses that replicate some of the spirits' garb when the weather is permits. It was too warm when we toured in early October, so she simply added a lantern to her daywear.

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Tours meet on Public Square and make their way to Playhouse Square, noting the hauntings along the way. A tour extension is available for a small, additional fee and takes the tour later into the evening and gets into the Torso murders.

The OG tour is as much history as ghost story. History puts hauntings in context. With so many old buildings, Cleveland has plenty of both.

Built in 1890 the Arcade, now the Hyatt Regency, has some active poltergeists. Springer regaled us with tales, which several guests shared on TripAdvisor. For example, one guest wrote,

"We stayed in 811 great views of the city! Room was spotless! Very nice upgrades in bathroom. Room had everything we needed. As soon as we walked to our room I literally felt like someone was watching us! As we walked into the room I told my wife-this place is definitely haunted! I was very restless and couldn't sleep but my wife had no problem sleeping. finally I fell asleep only to be woken up by something literally bouncing up and down at the foot of the bed ... I went into the bathroom at that point and asked my wife if she felt the bed moving that night and she told me she thought I was goofing around bouncing on the bed! I told her that wasn't me and that the bed just did it again while I was trying to rest while she showered! SPOOKY but I have to say the place was beautiful- the staff was great! ... Next time I'm bringing the kids so I can scare the hell out of them!"

Perhaps the most frightening part of the trek was Erie Street Cemetery. The nine-acre cemetery that dates back to 1827 is full of trees that block and/or dapple both the moon and the city lights. A dark cemetery is enough to spark the heebie-jeebies. Add in worn, century-old tombstones, crickets, a random scream and the amygdala goes into self-preservation mode.

Springer reassured that the spirits are nothing to worry about, as she knelt by and shown her lantern on the fractured gravestone of Chief Joc-o-Sot. The chief was a Native American of the Meskwaki tribe and lived in the mid-19th century. He eventually joined a touring theater company to portray native American life. Chief Joc-o-Sot died in Cleveland before returning home.

Legend has it that Joc-o-Sot's unrest about returning home caused his flat tombstone to fracture into several large pieces. To some superstitious folks, his restless ghost is responsible for losses by the Cleveland Indians/Guardians. For that reason, his upright grave marker is stacked with tokens of reparation. These include lucky stones, medicine bags, small bottles and more.

Springer talks about ghosts – Mathilde, the Green Man, the man in the yellow raincoat – spread throughout the central city.

Now, no more spoilers.

If you book a tour, make sure you have plenty of time. Some guests were delayed and we set off 30 minutes late for our tour. The tour also ran over, but who can complain about learning more.

U.S. Ghost Adventures offers tours in more than 100 cities. Some tourists try to "collect" as many of those experiences as possible.

Five Tips for the Tour

Dress for the weather. These tours go year 'round.

Wear comfortable shoes. You'll be walking for at least an hour.

Leave your heavy purse locked in the trunk. It will just get burdensome on the walk.

Bring water if you need to hydrate.

Be aware that restrooms are available halfway through, in a "haunted" port-o-potty in Erie Street Cemetery.