Talking with the Ghostess of Galveston on Houston Live and Local

First of all, I love the Halloween season. I think it's so much fun. And did you guys know Galveston is home to the Grand Galvez? It's a historic hotel. It's 115 years old. And guess what? It is haunted. Do you believe it? I believe it. I've actually stayed at the Grand Galvez and I love it. It's beautiful, but it also has that haunted element. So the Ghosts of Galveston tour at the Grand Galvez is available to anyone. And it is led by our friend Melissa Hall. And it sounds like it is just so much fun to go and experience. So I'm going to bring in Melissa. Thank you so much for joining us. I am so excited to hear all about this haunted ghost tour that you could go on. It's always such a pleasure to be here, and I can't wait to tell you about it. I've got to tell you, though, it's year-round, not just in Halloween or not just in October. Yes. How does it work? I know these go year-round, but now everybody's kind of into the spirit. So how does it work? How do you book the tour and link up with you, and what happens? It's very easy to book. All you have to do is go to ghostsofgalveston.com. Just look for—there's two experiences, actually. I've actually partnered with Historic Galveston Ghost Tours so one of their uh local guides will be leading the Grand Galvez Ghost Tour mine is the Ghosts of Galveston Galvez experience mine is a little bit different i have over a decade uh worth of knowledge of the property i've been in every nook and cranny um i have photos from you know all the time that i've been here and it's just so much fun it's a 90 minute tour we walk through the Galvez uh go into the ballrooms and just i tell stories i i mean i'm just having as much fun as the guest i mean that's what's so fun about it and Grand Galvez has so much history already and when you have a historic building like this right on the beach might i add there's gotta be some crazy stories that have happen. Can you kind of give us a little tidbit of what people might hear on the tour? Certainly. So, you know, of course, we do talk about 501, our most famous ghost here at the Grand Galvez, and that's Audra, our love-lorn bride. But, you know, it's not just Audra. You know, we, like you said, you hit it right on the nose. We have so much history, and that history is what you're going to hear. I mean, I'm telling you history of the island, history of the hotel, and believe it or not i know some of these ghosts very very well um we had one that was an employee from 1964 to 1976 i actually have seven photos of him so um i'm gonna tell you just a few days ago on one of my ghost tours when we were in room 501 which is a very special treat to go to i had three different people have an experience in there and it was amazing to watch so room 501 i wonder what room i stayed in whenever i stayed there i wasn't really aware of all the haunted stories whenever i stayed probably a good thing i stayed at christmas time it was so holly jolly in there so i like wasn't thinking about it but now i want to come back and experience your tour i love this um and and it's cool because you don't have to be a hotel guest this is open to the public is there a cost to it it's there is my tour is $30 a person um and i will tell you christmas time is one of the best times to come you know why that brings out all of our little ones i mean it's just the energy you walk into the hotel and you could just feel it it is so overwhelmingly beautiful and that's what is so exciting here and i will tell you it doesn't matter what floor what room you stayed in when you stayed here it was haunted oh my gosh I love that I've got I've got to come on this tour I love learning well I love that it's a little bit of history and a little bit of ghosts too because even when I was just walking around the lobby I took a lot of time and just read all of the things that you have there on the wall and kind of just learned about the Grand Galvez and Galveston and you have so much history just available to look at for free for anyone to look at in there it's so cool of Of course, yes. And everything that we have here at the hotel, the Founders Bar is open to the public, our coffee shop, our restaurant, and everything's open. I mean, we're open to the public. Come in, have a bite to eat, have a cocktail, walk around, absorb that history, or sign up for a tour and get to learn more about that history. I know. What got you into wanting to give these ghostess tours? And, you know, you've been doing it for over a decade. So what made you want to get into this? And I mean, aren't you scared at all that you're like poking the bear? i will tell you i could do ghosts i could do ghosts but i can't do scary movies i mean that's me isn't that silly but um when i started here i know but when i started here it was actually a part of the concierge position and i was concierge for eight years um and then with the new owners you know that position was was eliminated but like i said it was just part of my position but i mean i've been into the the paranormal since i was about six years old I mean, I've had experiences. I had different things happen. Everything that I've read in that book, some of the things started coming true. I had a babysitter. I was nine years old and she actually passed away from spontaneous combustion. So which is unheard of. So that is what I have to tell you. I mean, things like that when they started coming true. I've always been interested in the strange and the paranormal. so i don't know it was just something that i love so much oh my goodness i i think these are pictures of you and there it is the Ghostess of Galveston tour that's the information with Melissa Hall so beautiful i just love this you can go to www. um what is the website actually ghostessofgalveston.com ghostessofgalveston.com that's how you're going to book your ticket and there's a cost to it but you can get your spot and I feel like Melissa this is well worth it I've got to book with you I'm excited I'm gonna just make it a night I used to love going to haunt like fake haunted houses but as I've gotten older this sounds like such a fun night to me like go to the Grand Galvez get a cocktail a little something to eat and then go on your tour exactly it's an it's an entire evening of it and it's an experience i mean and please do i would love to have you on my tour yes my parents actually in Pennsylvania they go on ghost tours a lot to Gettysburg and other like historic towns and they always talk about it and i have not joined them yet so i think this would be a good start it would be i mean it's it's a great way to learn about any city that you're in just make sure it's a local tour yes is there anything else that you would like to add that's a great point um just like i said just research a little bit just make sure that you're choosing local there are a lot of local or national chains here in Galveston i'm not saying that their guides don't know what they're talking about but i mean here you know there are so many we've got Kathleen Macka you've got um you know like i said historic galveston ghost tours you know it's local we're a community you know and our what we're telling you is not going to be blown up you know we don't try we don't have to try to sensationalize it you know it kind of does it on its own um melissa well thank you so much go book it sounds like such a fun night thank you so much for coming on the show and hopefully i'll see you at your tour i hope so thank you for having me happy halloween you too