Wait, before you go any further – and certainly before you start imagining boring lectures being given by countless generations of less than dynamic tour guides – you need to know this: we’re not talking about the ordinary run-of-the-mill tour guides here, oh no.
Because this interesting career will take you miles away from the standard well-trodden tourist hot spots of the world, and into fascinating and sometimes eerie places; dark realms not touched by the light for countless years…Despite the general idea that tour guides are dull folk, destined to live a life telling people off for talking too much while they try and re-iterate for the thousandth time everything they know about a landmark (usually with frightening robotic accuracy), there is an entire industry out there waiting to be discovered by you. If you’re courageous enough, that is. In underground chambers, churches and cemeteries all over the world, a unique and little-known breed of tour guide works the night-shift, educating people about spirits, spectres and apparitions that seek to make contact with humans. Yes, this is the life of the seasoned ghost-tour guide. Day in, day out, it is their job to take unknowing, curious tourists into the heart of spooky goings on, and ask the spirits to make themselves known. Becoming more popular in recent years – largely due to the interest in the paranormal, as featured on TV shows such as Most Haunted – it looks very much like this unsettling occupation is here to stay.
And yes, before doubt creeps into your mind, it’s entirely possible to make a living at this decidedly unusual occupation. With many countries in Europe boasting centuries’ worth of ancient architecture, stately homes and mysterious history, the need for guides such as this has never been greater. Not only that but these alternative tour guides also play an important part in attracting visitors to certain areas, aiding to the growth of the local economy and encouraging business in nearby shops and restaurants.
Make no mistaking, though: you are never going to become rich and wealthy doing this job alone. But that isn’t to say there aren’t certain specific benefits, one of them being the hours – most ghost tour operators in England take their guests out at the dead of night, meaning they have the days free to either work a part-time job to make up their income or study a university degree – the other being the sense of satisfaction at scaring the hell out of a number of people who, up until moments before, may well have disbelieved that ghosts so much as existed.
Of course, being so unique, so are the various routes into this odd ocupation. Some guides come into the job with a love of history, which spurs on their supernatural investigations, while others simply enjoy the atmospherics, revelling in the thrill of exposing others to the great unknown and, it has to be said, embellishing the truth.
A quick google search should find any local attractions which may potentially be in need of such a guide, and one of the best things about this occupation is the variety: opportunities are available anywhere from museums to stately homes, and often take in a number of locations, each offering their own individual ghoulish stories along the way.
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