Halloween is sneaking up and the Butler County History Center, 383 E. Central, will be providing Creepy Crawly Walking tours: True Tales of Murder, Madness and Mayhem.

Beginning Oct. 17, 18, 24 and 25 the center will be hosting downtown walking tours at 7 and 8 p.m.

Also the center will be taking individuals looking for an extra spooky adventure on Cemetery Walking Tours.

Tours of the cemeteries will begin at 3 p.m. Oct. 18 at Bella Vista and at 3 p.m. Oct. 25 at Sunset Lawns.

This will be the second year for the event and last year’s trolley tours are now walking tours.

Due to gas prices and the purpose of the event as a fundraiser, the center has decided to forego the trolley for more direct interaction with sites to be toured.

“Walking will be a nice way for guests to actually stand and interact with places that events have taken place,” said Lisa Cooley, museum curator.

Tours will include grave dowsing, which is a process similar to water-witching to find hidden or unmarked graves.

Participants will use forked wires and energy vibrations to attempt to locate graves.
“When someone walks over a grave the wires will turn,” said Cooley.

“We will also be explaining what some of the grave markings mean. Almost every symbol on gravestones represent things.”

The tours will also be featuring headstone rubbings.

Each tour will take approximately 45 minutes and the downtown tour will focus on the blocks directly north, south and west of the intersection of Main and Central.

Tour guides will be pointing out particular buildings such as the Courthouse, the old hospital and other historical buildings.

Tour guests will also be able to enjoy trivia regarding horror movies, myths and legends.

“We will be focusing on true tales of murder and madness,” said Cooley.

Cooley said the tours won’t include tales of hauntings, but if someone sees some spooky happenings that’s another story.

“We want to bring the darker side of history out,” she said. “It is sometimes buried, but still vital to our past and important to learn about.”

Tickets for the event are now on sale, with a $5 admission fee per tour.

For $13, fright-seekers can attend all three events.

Refreshments will follow the downtown tours at Scooters and Satchell Creek Steaks.

For more information or tickets contact the Butler County History Center at 321-9333 or visit the center’s Web site at www.kansasoilmuseum.org.