Portland, Oregon “Beyond Bizarre” Paranormal Walking Tour

If your business travels take you to Portland, Oregon, the home of BootsnAll, the Beyond Bizarre Tour may be an…entertaining way to spend an evening. Beyond Bizarre is offered by Portland Walking Tours, who had the following to say about the new ghost tour on the block: “We hired a leading expert on the paranormal and a proven clairvoyant to help us develop this tour, and now, as certified members of the International Ghost Hunters Society, we’re leading walkers on an eerie crawl through the creepiest parts of our town.” said David Schargel, founder of Portland Walking Tours. The International Ghost Hunters Society? Who ya gonna call?

Tourists are provided with “real ghost hunting equipment”, and taken down shadowy streets to reveal Portland’s paranormal, catch glimpses of ghosts, expose psychic hoaxes and duck through haunted passageways.

The tour includes:

• Wield a working electromagnetic frequency meter to search for supernatural activity at the entrance to the legendary underground Shanghai Tunnels, one of “America’s top ten most haunted places,” according to the Travel Channel.
• Visit the site of Portland’s deadly cholera outbreak while trying not to disturb the sleeping spirits lurking in the nearby burial grounds.
• Tiptoe through the top floor of Portland’s most haunted hotel to catch a glimpse of skin-crawling sights.
• Hear tales of dark secrets, strange rituals and things that go bump in the night.

I don’t believe in ghosts or the paranormal at all, but I find things like this hugely entertaining. And the tours take place at night, which provides business travelers with a perfect opportunity. What else are you going to do? Sit at the hotel bar AGAIN?

Here’s another fun quote from the press release: “In all my years of researching the paranormal in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve never seen an urban area with a higher concentration of supernatural activity than here in Portland,” said Jefferson Davis, author of A Haunted Tour Guide to the Pacific Northwest. “This tour visits the top three haunted places in the city and gives walkers the unmatched opportunity to witness other-worldly things most never experience.” Ohhhh.

“Family-friendly” tours are offered daily at 7 p.m. and a late-night version with true tales of murderous mayhem, deadly debauchery and extreme weirdness for the over-21 crowd begins at 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. All Beyond Bizarre tours start at Old Town Pizza, located at 226 NW Davis (between NW 2nd and 3rd Avenues). Tickets for the 7 p.m. tour are $19 for Adults ($17 when booked online), $15 for Senior/Youth, $5 for Children, and Tots are free. Tickets for the longer 10 p.m. tour are $29 (which includes a drink voucher). Tours regularly sell out and advance ticketing is required to reserve ghost hunting equipment. Space is limited and tours begin promptly, so walkers are required to arrive at least 15 minutes before start time.