It's Buffalo history with a twist. Since 1996, Mason Winfield and his team of tour guides have been leading "Haunted History Ghost Walks" around Western New York.
Mason Winfield began his tours in East Aurora in 1996 with the Buffalo tour commencing a year later, followed by the Allentown tour in 1998.
"I consider it a civic function to get people out walking and learning about their history, culture and architecture," said Winfield, author, researcher and creator of Haunted History Ghost Walks, Inc. "The supernatural theme is what gets [people] out in the first place."
In order to get the richest history and most accurate details, Winfield and his company work with town historians, conduct interviews with the public and search high and low in libraries for newspapers and publications.
"Every tour incorporates the town's history into the story," said Robert Lockhart, a tour guide. "It is one of the factors that make our tours stand apart."
Lockhart began his career with Haunted History five years ago and recently co-authored Winfield's latest book, Haunted Rochester: A Supernatural History of the Lower Genesee. He leads tours all over Buffalo, but his favorite place is East Aurora.
"It's a combination of setting, content and history that make it a great experience every night," Lockhart said.
According to Winfield, Haunted History Ghost Walks differs from other historic tours because the sites and events discussed are unique for their psychic and ghostly aspects.
Both guides agree that certain stops on the tour are more haunted than others. According to Lockhart, places like East Aurora's Roycroft Campus and Lewiston's Barton Hill House, both have a deep history and intricate ghost stories and folklore.
Winfield believes that the Town Ballroom in downtown Buffalo on Main Street is one of the most haunted sites in Buffalo.
While a ghostly sighting is possible on any one of the tours, Winfield does not expect it.
"Almost every season someone or several on one of the tour report psychic experience, something so out of the norm that it might be supernatural," Winfield said.
Lockhart does not admit to having seen a ghost but said that orbs in photographs are a regular occurrence.
"A friend and fellow tour guide led a group who all testified that they came across blue lights dancing wildly across a golf course," Lockhart said. "Everyone was spooked and every person on the walk believed they witnessed a paranormal event."
According to Lockhart, Buffalo and the surrounding area seem to be quite popular in paranormal phenomena.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Western New York is special," Lockhart said. "It truly is one of America's richest places for the paranormal."
Winfield believes that it is Buffalo's battlefield history that makes it stand out in the paranormal world.
"Buffalo was burned and destroyed by the British, Canadians and Mohawk in 1813," Winfield said. "There were also at least a couple of known prehistoric Native American clash-sites within city limits."
With the energy of Niagara Falls, N.Y., Native American traditions and the Spiritualist movement all a part of Western New York's past and present, Lockhart believes there are dozens of factors and theories to Buffalo's paranormal activity.
"The key is not to pin it on one, but to embrace and celebrate Buffalo's supernatural, paranormal and New Age heritage as a whole," Lockhart said.
Besides the Ghost Walks, Winfield's company also puts on Ghost Toasts and Haunted Pub Crawls.
The Ghost Toasts are events put on by request where guests share an informal evening that includes a lecture by Winfield, or one of his associates, on a topic in their subject area.
Following the lecture, guests are free to listen to another lecture, participate in private psychic readings, take a tour and "ghost hunt" the host building or even a take in a ghost walk of the surrounding village.
The Pub Crawl is a new activity that has proved to be quite popular. It is a big ghost walk that focuses on historic pubs and inns found in one of four historic areas on the Niagara Frontier.
The tour is broken up to give attention to each pub and restaurant. Guests are free to mingle about enjoying the paranormal history of each stop. Most restaurants and pubs happily host these events, even offering drink and dinner specials.
"What differentiates us from historic tours is that the sites and events we discuss are distinguished for their psychic - ghostly - aspects. We include the historic aspects of the matter, with which we try to be accurate and comprehensive." Winfield said. "There is truly something for the skeptic and something for the believer and everyone in between."
All tours begin at 7 p.m. and cost $10 for adults. Tours are available throughout the Buffalo and Western New York Area. Information on each individual tour, including location and dates, can be found at www.masonwinfield.com.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
