Going “Grim” With Summer Tours Featuring Philly Thrills and Chills

Murder. Mayhem. Lust. Public scandal.

It sounds like the premise for tawdry dinner theatre entertainment – or an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians – but this is the stuff of which Philadelphia history was made. Suffice it to say, the juiciest dirt from the city’s past never makes it to the prepackaged, sanitized tours aimed at sweet, goggle-eyed tourists seeking Liberty Bell keychains and pics of ol’ Betsy’s sewing table. No, Grim Philly‘s tour offerings are gleefully aimed at the locals.

Philly’s cemeteries seem staid and dignified… until you dig up the dirt on some of those notorious departed souls resting in peace there!

Halloween is still five long months away, but nobody ever claimed October had the whole market on spooky. With a delightful blend of bone-chilling tales and accounts of seamy sexcapades – plus a healthy infusion of beer and history (this is Philly, after all!) – Grim Philly’s making sure that your next evening outing is a total blast. Many of the tours just started for the summer season, and all take place after dark (as the name suggests). Just in case you didn’t figure this out from context, these are strictly adults-only.

The Midnight Ghost Hunting Tour kicks off in a Center City bar (location TBA) – because, LBR, is there any better way to pregame a supernatural spelunking ? – on the last Friday of each month at 11pm and takes the intrepid “over the cobblestone paths of America’s most historic, and haunted city” with provided equipment and an allegedly clairvoyant guide to hunt down the ghouls and ghosties of Old City.

Then there’s the “Bootlegger’s Ball,” a raucous, rollicking combo ghost tour and pub crawl that ensures you’ll end the evening entertained one way or another! There’s trivia, ample education about local gangsters and Prohibition-era rumrunners, and lots of chances to earn free beer. What more could you ask for?

And don’t forget the Grim Philly flagship tour, Vampires, Sex, Ghosts! …& so much more! Loaded with tales of pirate wenches, looted treasure, mass burials, and – yes! – vampires, this hilarious and decidedly “R rated” tour has been consistently voted one of the city’s best. Starting with a stroll past Philly tourism mainstays like Independence Hall, this voyage into the past soon takes a decidedly saucy and sinister turn.

All these – and more! – can be booked on the Grim Philly website. If you take one of these tours, be sure to let me know about it… and if you encounter the specter of a founding father, tell ’em that Shannon said hello!