Created for fans of Halloween and all things eerie and bizarre, the Spooky Secrets Tour, inspired by Kathryn Witt’s book, Secret Cincinnati: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure, returns for five nights in October 2023 to offer close encounters with some of the spookiest secrets in Northern Kentucky.
“One of Covington’s best-known arts landmarks, Baker-Hunt Art and Cultural Center, has stories of tragic deaths, seances and hauntings,” said Witt. “Listening to these stories on a lamplit street in the shadow of the building is particularly creepy.”
The guided walking tours, which sold out all dates in both 2021 and 2022, are led by Jill Morenz, president and CEO of Aviatra Accelerators, a local nonprofit that helps women entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Proceeds from the tour will support their work.
“We’ll tell ghost stories, visit haunted sites, and share some of the area’s more gruesome history,” Morenz said.
A number of “secrets” from Witt’s book are featured stops on the tour, including the Baker-Hunt Art and Cultural Center, the Riverside Drive Statue Tour, and Hail – Records and Oddities.
The two-hour, two-mile walking tours begin at 5:30 p.m. and lead attendees from the Covington riverfront to MainStrasse Village, highlighting more than a dozen spooky locales along the way.
In addition to the tour, attendees receive a signed copy of Secret Cincinnati: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure, along with a special bookmark to check off their adventures as they complete them. More than 80 adventures are included in the book.
Five tour dates are available for 2023: October 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30.
On opening night, Thursday, Oct. 26, tour participants can meet the author at Hail – Records and Oddities in Covington’s MainStrasse Village neighborhood, where she will autograph each attendee’s book at tour’s end.
Additionally, all tour participants will receive a coupon for a
special discount for Witt’s newest book, Cincinnati Scavenger: The Ultimate Guide to Cincinnati’s Hidden Treasures when purchased at Hail. A great companion book to Secret Cincinnati, it takes readers on more adventures throughout Cincinnati as well as Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana.
The Spooky Secrets Tours accommodate a maximum of 20 guests per tour. Tickets can be purchased here.
