Mollie Stewart, Spellbound Tours Salem, Massachusetts Ghost Tours

Mollie Stewart

Mollie Stewart, the owner of Spellbound Tours in Salem, Massachusetts, is a licensed Ghost Hunter with the International Ghost Hunters Society and a certified Parapsychologist. She has been conducting ghost tours since 1996, beginning in the most haunted city in America, New Orleans. She is the head of Paranormal Investigators of New England, a private company specializing in paranormal research and investigations. Ms. Stewart has been featured on Good Morning America, Showtime, the Travel Channel and has another upcoming segment on the Travel Channel this Fall, called "Haunted Salem".

website: www.spellboundtours.com
e-mail: spellboundtours@mindspring.com

20 Questions with Mollie Stewart

1. Where do you see Ghost tours like your own going in 10 years?

I see my Ghost Tours staying around for another 10 years because people never get tired of ghosts and ghost stories, especially when things are "bad" all over (such as the economy). In these times, people need an "escape" and ghost tours and scary movies provide a sort of release from the everyday stress and trauma.

2. What would you personally consider to be the definitive proof that ghosts are real?

A ghost saved my life in college. It whispered in my ear about the danger I was in and I changed my course of action. This is in my book "Ghosts Among Us". This was a serious "wake-up call" for me.

3. What is the most real evidence you personally have uncovered so far?

EVP recordings and ghost photos that I have personally taken are the most real evidence for me that ghosts exist.

4. Are you skeptical of the claims other make of their findings?

I am the world's biggest skeptic! That's why I became a scientific investigator...to try to find empirical evidence of ghosts. I am not a psychic or medium. So, I am very doubtful of other's findings. We receive ridiculous photos from people on our tours that aren't even close to being orbs or ectoplasm or apparitions. But once in awhile we get something fantastic and we'll post it on our "Guest Ghost Gallery" page. Check it out!

5. If you could investigate your "Dream Haunted Hot Spot" where would it be?

I would love to go to Transylvania to Dracula's Castle and do an overnight investigation!

6. What was your first Paranormal encounter?

I would have to say the ghost saving my life was my first real paranormal encounter.

7. What is the best highlight a must see on your tour?

The old abandoned jail in Salem would be the most active site on our "Vampire & Ghost Hunt" tour. There have been so many murders, suicides and state-ordered hangings in there. I've been inside the jail four times. It is very creepy and oppressive inside.

8. If you could work side by side with one of the Paranormal Investigator greats, who would it be?

Lou Gentille....because I don't believe in devils or demons and I would like to film and record an actual "possession". I'm very skeptical of these types of encounters and would have to be an eye witness to the entire event and scope out every inch of the room for wires, microphones, for any type of "faked" occurrences.

9. Read any good Paranormal Books lately other then your own?

"Will Storr vs. the Supernatural" by Will Storr. It was amusing.

Mollie Stewart Haunted Ghost Tour Salem, Mass

10. What Question do people ask you most when you tell them your a paranormal tour owner?

They always ask me, "Do you actually believe in ghosts?" like I've got two heads or something. So I have to explain that I'm a scientific investigator. I'm not talking about UFO's or space aliens!

11. In your opinion, Where is the most Haunted city in America?

The most haunted city in America is New Orleans, and this was true before Katrina and the floods killed a lot of people. I used to do a two-hour ghost tour every night in the French Quarter and that was just a fraction of the number of haunted buildings there. I also did an overnight investigation at the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francesville, Louisiana. This is absolutely the most haunted house in America! Christ! The ghosts never stopped making sounds, closing doors, making shadowy appearances in the mirrors, etc! I was never so glad to leave a building as that one! (This is also a chapter in my ghost book).

12. Do you feel more people should get involved with Ghost hunting or Paranormal Investigation on ghost tours?

I don't think you can do a proper investigation on a ghost tour. There is so much noise, the tour guide talking, cars driving by, etc. I feel the only proof they can get during a ghost tour would be with their cameras. We tall them to shoot at random at all the haunted locations during our nightly ghost tour. We certainly encourage our guests to do their own ghost hunts when they get back home. We teach them enough so that they can get a head start on their own.

13. So most people See Ghost On Your tour or encounter them?

Most people don't "see" ghosts on our tour...plenty of them have gotten definitive orbs and ectoplasm on their photos and film. However, we have had a lot of strong and strange reactions to the ghosts during our tours. One night a registered nurse fainted at one location. I've had several people throw their cameras onto the ground or against a wall and take off running from the tour. I had one woman screaming and shouting something about "Satan" before she hotfooted it away from the tour!

14. Do you think a city like yours can and should have more then one ghost tour?

We already have about seven companies doing ghost tours and most of them truly "suck". We are the only company from Massachusetts to make the "TOP 10 GHOST TOURS IN AMERICA" for 2007! We blow everybody off the map!

15. What is your most favorite local ghost story?

Probably the murder of Captain Joseph White here in 1830. It's too long to tell here but the game of "CLUE" was based on this murder case. And Daniel Webster was the prosecutor. It's a great story!

16. Tell us about your best moment on a ghost tour for you?

I had an older woman who didn't believe in any of this supernatural stuff and told her husband it was probably "all crap" just before the tour started. At our first location, a hunted graveyard, she was the only person who encountered a ghost. She was shaking and crying and begging me to get "it" away from her. I laughed inside because I knew how skeptical she was...

17. What is the hardest part about being a paranormal Investigator or writer guide?

The hardest part is gaining access to the haunted sites here. These people do not want to talk about ghosts in their buildings. So, it has been difficult to get inside a lot of these places in Salem.

18. What is the hardest thing about your business to deal with?

I would have to say the locals....They sometimes harass us during tours and shout insults from cars or windows (the cowards!) because they think they have the right to express themselves at any time. They have acted this way since 1692 and the Witch Hysteria days. This was when they executed 20 innocent people as "witches"! The mentality of the locals is definitely sub-par!

19. Have you ever taken a ghost Tour other then your own? And, What about it did you not like?

I just got back from England and Scotland and I did ghost tours in both cities. The ghost walk in London was very well done. But in Edinburgh, every ghost tour I went on had someone in a costume jump out and scream at us, to try and scare everyone. I thought that was cheesy and ruined the tours. We don't resort to that on our tours. We let the ghosts do the "scaring" for us.

20. What in the field of ghost hunting and Paranormal Investigating or ghost tours needs the most attention?

Ghost tours should stick to the truth, not make up bogus stories that never occurred. It makes us all look bad. I do all my own personal investigations of buildings before I start the ghost tour and spend months at the local libraries researching the facts. It is very important to be convincing and to be believed by our guests. That's why I get very angry when I hear from customers the completely faked stories by another tour company here, apparently just for "shock value". Out motto is "Just tell the truth...it's strange enough!"

Brightest Blessings!
Mollie Stewart
Spellbound Tours & Museum

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