Tours to Explore City’s Dark Side

Ventura residents won’t have to go far to get a sample of the Halloween season.

Whether it’s scary tales, ghost tours or lessons on Victorian-age funerals, there’s much ghoulish choice in a series of historic tours offered by the city’s Cultural Affairs Division. The tours range from $4 to $8.

“Victorian Secrets” offers a journey on foot through the dark side of the Victorian age, including funerals, death customs and rituals of more than a century ago. A costumed reenactor provides commentary from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 7 and Dec. 2.

“Ghosts and Ghouls” is a walking tour into Ventura’s places rumored to have ghosts, including City Hall’s former jail and the historic Bella Maggiore Inn.

It runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 13 and Oct. 29.

“Chilling Tales of Old Ventura” offers storytelling at the Olivas Adobe Historic Park with a look at the art of the ghost story. It runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 14.

“Phantoms and Folklore Bus Tour” revels in stories of Ventura’s ghosts at the Olivas and Ortega adobes and Cemetery Park. It runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 21 and Nov. 4.

“Halloween Ghost Tours of the Olivas Adobe” tours the adobe home of Don Raymundo Olivas and will include stories of ghosts, tales of strange events and odd sightings.

It runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 28, with tours leaving every 15 minutes from Olivas Adobe. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

“Lost Treasure of Old Ventura” shares the stories of outlaws and bandits who walked Ventura’s Main Street 140 years ago. It runs from 1 to 3 p.m. Nov. 11.

The birthday of Teodora Olivas, wife of Don Raymundo Olivas, will be celebrated with a tour and a presentation on her life. The free tour runs from 1 to 3 p.m. on Nov. 12 at Olivas Adobe. Paid reservations are required. For more information, call 658-4726.