The demonic doll Lily

While many Halloween activities have been cut due to COVID-19 concerns, Richmond Ghosts has made their popular ghost tour of Richmond, VA and Shockoe Bottom available across the country using GhostFlix, an on-demand streaming platform for haunted experiences across the country. Since launching in July, hundreds of viewers have tuned in to walk with local guides through over fifteen cities across the US to visit their most haunted locations and hear their most terrifying stories. Viewers no longer have to travel across the country to experience Richmond Ghosts tours, or explore other haunted destinations across the nation. Guests can type questions and hear answers from passionate local guides who lead the in-person tours or experience past ghost tours in the city of their choice on demand. Shows start at $13 for on-demand tours, or $15 for live streamed tours.

To watch a tour, viewers may visit www.rvaghosts.com/ghostflix.

Close to home,

“The haunted hot-spot in that area is Hollywood Cemetery. It’s a massive, 130-acre field that predates the Civil War by about 20 years. Entombed there are James Monroe, John Tyler, Jefferson Davis, and J.E.B. Stuart… all four of which are said to haunt the area. It also has a rather unique statue in the middle dedicated to the Confederate Dead; a rock pyramid built to commemorate the more than 18 thousand Confederate Soldiers buried nearby. There are countless tales of disembodied moans, screams, and even marching band music coming before dusk from the area around the statue.

Still, this being the 21st century, the most famous ghost, the one everyone talks about is a DOG. Two President, one faux-President, one Confederate General, an Army of phantom soldiers, and the one that takes the spotlight is a dog. The story goes that on February 1862, a two-year-old named Florence died of Scarlet Fever. Her father or a shopkeeper decided to position a black-cast iron Newfoundland dog on the right side of her grave. There are two theories as to why the dog was placed there. 1. A shopkeeper in town had a dog and Florence loved to play with it, hence he bequeathed the family the statue as a gift. 2. Her father was a pacifist, crafted the dog out of iron so it wouldn’t be used for bullets. Anyway, the dog statue has a tendency to move and howl at the night sky, and if someone comes near Florence’s grave with ill-intentions or is disrespectful near it, folks say the statue growls.

The final story concerns the Richmond Vampire or Ghost, folks aren’t exactly sure what it is. A foreigner died in Richmond, a man by the name of W.W.Poole, at the turn of the 20th century. Folks thought he had magical abilities, so, when he died they were certain that his spirit was haunting the cemetery. Others believed he never died because, well, he was a vampire. He’s one of the most famous ghosts in the Richmond area and many attribute the 1925 cave-in at Tunnel Hill to him.”