Haunted New York City

New York is a city of history. So many famous people have lived (and died) here; so many important events have taken place. With all of this, it's not surprising that the city has its fair share of ghost stories. In honor of Halloween, I went on a "Ghosts of Greenwich Village" scavenger hunt with Watson Adventures. It was a great way to learn more about New York - the city and its stories. I didn't know all the people who lived there - Washington Irving (author of Sleepy Hollow), Mark Twain, and the fictional cast of Friends.

plaque honoring Twain and Irving: credit

For the hunt, we were told to meet in Washington Square Park to receive our clues for the hunt. My friend and I took the D train to the Village, and met around 25 other people also participating in the scavenger hunt. We named ourselves Harry's buddies because we were dressed in our Harry Potter Halloween costumes. We were also the only ones dressed in costume - where was all the Halloween spirit?! Each team was given a map, two hours, and a list of hints, each leading to a specific haunted location. (Example: one clue told us to go to a church with a famous painting. When the artist of the painting died, the painting fell from the wall and crashed to the floor. Who was the artist?) Each hint had an answer that could be found in the specified location. The plaque in the picture above actually contained the answer to one of our clues. However, it wasn't as easy as it might sound. Some of the questions were tricky! My team wound up with 13 correct of 20 and we placed in the middle of all the teams.

The same company has scavenger hunts all around New York. Some of my friends did a murder mystery themed one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and had a great time. I would definitely do another one. It's one of the best ways I've found to learn about the city in a non-traditional, non-touristy way. And it was an awesome way to celebrate Halloween!