Red Bank and Keyport tours share ghost histories
By Mary Ann Bourbeau
RED BANK – Autumn is a lovely time in Monmouth County. The leaves are turning bright shades of orange and gold. It’s a time for apple picking, baking pies and searching for the perfect pumpkin.
But it’s also the perfect season for ghost stories, and those stories are plentiful with Jersey Shore Ghost Tours, which take place on Friday nights in Red Bank and Saturday nights in Keyport.
Tabitha Bradley started running the Keyport tours with her husband Ryan back in 2006, and they expanded into Red Bank in 2009.
“It’s well-known that there’s a lot of creepy history in this area,” said the Keyport resident. “They say there are sea captains who co-exist in people’s homes. There are stories about pirates, sharks, Civil War heroes, sudden and tragic deaths and unfinished business – everything you need for a good ghost tour.”
When she was in college, Bradley had taken part in a ghost tour with her future husband in Harpers Ferry, W.V.
“We had never done a ghost tour and it sounded cool,” she said. “It was in an area with a lot of Civil War history, and the little old lady who led the tour was full of spit and vinegar. She took us through cemeteries and she was such a good storyteller. There was nothing that came out of her mouth that I didn’t believe.”
Now both New Jersey public school teachers, the couple decided to start their own ghostly venture out of both necessity and curiosity, Bradley said. They began by researching online and talking to people in the area who owned old houses.
“They were more than willing to share their ghost stories with us,” Bradley said.
On the walking tours, guides dress in period clothing and carry lanterns while leading groups of about 25 people. Some startled participants have even been treated to a scare from the ghosts themselves, Bradley said.
“We’ve had a few incidents on our tours,” she said. “Once, we walked past the Trinity restaurant, which had been closed for over a year. We heard a loud noise coming from inside and a light swirling around inside. The people were pretty freaked out.”
While the Keyport tour focuses more on ghosts occupying houses, Red Bank’s tour has more haunted businesses, such as the Dublin House, where the tour begins. Bradley said waiters and waitresses have seen and heard things shuffle around late at night, and are convinced it is the ghost of Mrs. Patterson, a former owner of the establishment.
Ayca User, one of the owners of Antoinette Boulangerie on Monmouth Street, has had a few strange happenings in her bakery. She said an elderly person came to the door on the night before the business opened last January and wished her luck, telling her the building was haunted. Since then, her staff has noticed small figures on a shelf, which are used to decorate cakes, are sometimes moved around or facing the opposite direction.
“They are behind the counter and no one touches them,” User said. “We haven’t witnessed anything else, but someone said they’ve seen images of a man with a lantern inside.”
Bradley had a haunting experience of her own back in 2012 when her grandmother died. The family had gone back to her mother’s house after the funeral, and suddenly the lights on the dining room chandelier started flickering and all the bulbs went out.
“Suddenly, one bulb, directly over the chair where my grandmother used to sit, lit up and illuminated her chair,” Bradley said. “Gradually, all of the lights came back on.”
Bradley’s mother said the chandelier had never done that before, so Bradley asked if it could be her grandmother playing with the lights.
“My mother said no, it had to be my grandfather doing it,” she said. “He was a prankster and he was letting us know my grandmother was safe.”
The cost of Jersey Shore Ghost Tours is $12 for adults and $10 for kids. Reservations are recommended, but same-day tickets are sold Friday nights at 8 p.m. at the Dublin House, 30 Monmouth St., Red Bank, and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. in the Mini Park across from Espresso Joe’s Coffee Shop on West Front Street in Keyport. Tours begin at 8:30 p.m. and last about 1 hour and 20 minutes. The tours take place rain or shine through November 7. For reservations or more information, visit www.jerseyshoreghosttours.org.
Vibe writer Mary Ann Bourbeau can be reached at mbourbeau@tworivertimes.com.
