Napa Ghosts and Legends Walking Tour

Come for the Wine, Stay for the SPIRITS

NAPA GHOSTS & LEGENDS WALKING TOUR

BY MARISA MCCANN

Picture this: a crisp autumn evening in Napa – friends, conversation, and a glass of Cabernet to keep you warm. It’s the perfect setting to wind down after a day spent exploring the region’s wineries – or as Halloween draws near, to communicate with ghosts from the turn of the last century.

Thanks to Napa’s rich heritage, wealth of historic buildings, and ominous past, the city has proven to be the perfect backdrop for supernatural sightings and intriguing ghostly folklore. During the day, it may seem like a quaint, countrycasual town, but after dark, Napa comes alive with signs from the dearly departed.

Since 2014, the Napa Ghosts & Legends Tour has led lovers of histories and mysteries on year-round interactive ghost hunting adventures. Over the course of 90-minutes to two hours, guests walk to some of Napa’s most haunted locales while guides and tour company founders Ellen MacFarlane and Devin Sisk tell tales of Napa’s unsolved mysteries, famous executions, and untold murders. The evening walking tour allows those who dare to experience paranormal activity firsthand using ghost-detecting devices and reenactment methods to conjure spirits and to communicate with the dead.

THE SPOOKY SIDE OF NAPA

Each tour begins on the steps of the Old Napa Courthouse, where guests are taken back in time to the late 1800s through stories, photographs, and a conversation with a long-dead judge who is still on the job protecting the building. His presence becomes known through the eerie slamming of the courthouse doors and with the use of several ghost-hunting tools, like K-II electromagnetic field meters and dowsing rods. Guests are encouraged to befriend the judge and take a hand at conversing with him, using the position of the dowsing rods to translate. Then, through yes or no questions, it is revealed why the judge has yet to cross over, which segues to the next ghost encounter: a woman whose life ended publicly in a disturbing murdersuicide. Her spirit now wanders outside the courthouse, waiting to tell her frightinducing tale.

Ellen and Devin lead the conversation with the spirits, sharing historical findings and photographs of each ghost they come across to provide important context for guests. “Our tour is completely factual. None of the details about the people we’re meeting is fabricated,” said Ellen. “I’m big on getting the facts right.” The educational component is balanced with moments of exciting ghost hunting and infused with a layer of comedy to create a tour that has something for everyone. “Most of the stories on our tours revolve around people’s tragedies,” said Devin, “so we always incorporate comedy into the mix for some reprieve.” He added, “Plus laughter raises vibrations of ghosts, making them easier to detect.”

Devin Sisk and Ellen McFarlane

Just one of the ways they effortlessly integrate comic relief into the tour is through a staged reenactment of Napa’s famous 1897 public execution, which involved the hanging of serial killer Billy Roe. Guests are assigned roles such as the town’s mayor, the executioner, or Billy Roe himself, and are given simple lines to recite in hopes of conjuring his ghost. Billy doesn’t always make contact during the reenactment, which Devin likens to fishing, “you never know what they’re going to bite.”

The evening walking tour allows those who dare to experience paranormal activity firsthand using ghost-detecting devices and reenactment methods to conjure spirits and to communicate with the dead.

THE GHOST HOSTS

Ellen and Devin first met ten years ago and instantly connected over their shared passion for paranormal investigation. A writer and historian at heart and a medium by trade, Ellen enjoys bridging the physical and spiritual worlds. Discovering her mediumistic abilities at a young age, Ellen knew since she was 13 years old that she wanted to work in the realm of the dead. “My ability to hear messages from the dead runs in my family,” said Ellen. “My ancestors are from Ireland where the dead walk among the living, a common belief in many cultures worldwide, but not so much in America,” she continued. For over 20 years, Ellen has worked in the field, using her naturalborn gift to conduct research, work cases, and above all, to help both the living and the dead. Most recently, she worked with law enforcement to find a missing girl by communicating with her biological mother through spirit to get her back home safely.

Devin’s journey into paranormal investigation wasn’t until later in life, after a near-death experience in 2003. He died in the emergency room and was “on the other side” for nearly 17 minutes, which Devin jokes is the current world record. During that time, he desperately tried to communicate with his family before going through the “tunnel” of light, an eye-opening experience that later set him down the paranormal path to look for answers. As a paranormal investigator of 17 years, Devin explores a range of areas including ghosts, cryptids, and UFOs, and experimenting with dowsing rods daily for the past ten years.

Together, Ellen and Devin have successfully launched several ghost walking tours in the San Francisco Bay Area, with the original one based in Napa. Two years after launching their Napa tour, the business partners expanded to Sonoma, where they host an evening tour on the town plaza. In 2017, they partnered with the Vacaville Heritage Council to create the Haunted Vacaville Ghost Walk. The duo also plans to add additional tours, including a mobile version, in the next couple of years and continue developing their in-person and virtual event offerings in partnership with Napa Valley Distillery and local wineries.

FOR MORE INFORMATION 707-606-5050 // www.napaghosts.com