| Rating |
Date Attended [v] |
Reviewer |
Gender |
Age |
Where From? |
Group Type? |
|
Not Recommended
|
| Fri, Jun 6, 08 7:30 PM |
alanveasey |
Male |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Couple on a Date |
| My girlfriend and I went on the ghost tour. It was boring! Maybe it was the guide, he said this was his first week on the tour. I would not recommend this tour. |
|
Memphis Ghost Tour a Hit
|
| Sun, Jun 1, 08 7:30 PM |
saricher |
Female |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family With Children |
| My daughter, Katherine (10 years old), and I went on the Memphis ghost tour recently. Our guide, Zack Fly, was funny, personable and very knowledgable, both of local lore as well as local history as he was a native of the city. More importantly, he was able to keep both an adult (me) and a child amused and intrigued, and his material was age appropriate for my daughter.
I also went on a similar tour in Nashville. The guide was costumed in period dress and also well versed in history, but not as fun and certainly not as interactive. I think the tour in Memphis nicely reflected the laid back atmosphere of the city. When I visit Memphis again, I would like to take Backbeat Tours' other tours, because it was a great way to learn about the city while being entertained!
-- Stephanie A. Richer, Esq. |
|
|
interesting and insightful
|
| Sat, May 31, 08 7:30 PM |
mirandis |
Female |
30-39 |
Unspecified |
Unspecified |
| The tour was very interesting and I learned lot about the history of Memphis etc. Our tour guide was absolutely wonderful. He made the tour so much fun. We enjoyed him so very much. I do not think that the tour would have been the same without him. I believe that his name was Mike. Another person was to have done our tour that night but he called in so Mike did it in his place. |
|
Great Balance
|
| Sun, May 25, 08 7:30 PM |
coachl63 |
Male |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family With Children |
| My family and I like ghost tours; period. We do not believe in ghosts of the departed; we love the history and the mystery. We've been on tours in Savannah, St. Augustine, Gatlinburg, Franklin, TN, and Nashville, TN. I'm sure there are more I just can't remember right now.
Some tours provide surprisingly accurate historical info while others entertain with no accuracy. Backbeat tours had the best balance we've encountered. Our guide admitted what he didn't know (more knowledgeable than he realized perhaps?) but entertained the crowd better than any guide we have had. He made all feel easy and safe but made sure we got all the information he had been provided and researched himself (with locals).
As a history teacher, (my wife teaches English) I highly recommend this tour for anyone wanting an interesting and fun evening that is filled with mystery and mirth. |
|
Never again!
|
| Fri, May 23, 08 7:30 PM |
emilyperkins |
Female |
30-39 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Couple on a Date |
| At the beginning of the tour, the tour guide said that it wasn't a scary ghost tour, it was a funky ghost tour. It wasn't even funky. He gave us some interesting historical details, but as for actual ghosts, he didn't seem to know much. I totally expected half of what he said to be fabricated, and I would've been fine with that as long as it was entertaining, but he didn't try to sell it. That was our main complaint. His attitude was too nonchalant for us to get into the stories he was telling. It was like, "This may be true or it may not. This is what I've been told but you can believe whatever you want." Sometimes he would start to tell a story and we would stand there listening a long time and then realize their wasn't going to be any mention of ghosts or scary things at this spot, either. I think he there needs to find out where more ghosts are, or make up some ghosts. Either way I think he needs to work on his storytelling technique. Sell it! He was very friendly, though. |
|
|
Good entertainment!
|
| Fri, May 16, 08 7:30 PM |
idagal14 |
Female |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| This short but entertaining tour near Beale St. was as humorous as it was informative. No ghosts were seen, but in one location, some eerie sensations did occur. Makes you want to return in the middle of the night just to see what pops up!
Highly recommend it. If you have an elderly person in your group, rent a wheelchair. |
|
|
Tour guide was factual energetic
|
| Fri, May 16, 08 7:30 PM |
ehartig |
Female |
20-29 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Group of Friends |
| We met the owner and staff of one restaraunt and each said the same info the guide did. This really showed he knew his stuff and wasn't trying to "entertain." He was able to answer questions, be direct and offer so much information. One of the better tours we took on our road trip! |
|
Fun but needs work
|
| Fri, May 2, 08 7:30 PM |
Pollytnjc |
Female |
50-59 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Individual |
| Hi
I took the ghost walk. The guide was a very fun and nice young man, and enthusiastic about his role. He was so energetic, I hate to even make a constructive comment! But since you asked, I will and I hope it will be helpful.
Basically, this was not really a ghost walk, so I think I would re-name it. If there are no other ghost stories in Memphis, then I would not even attempt to manufacture that type of expectation. Rather, this had a few quirky stories and more history than ghosts. Either refer to it as some sort of "offbeat Memphis" theme, or "Memphis history" tour. However, I do think there are probably a number of ghost stories, and you are possibly not reading the right books or touring the right spots, or not talking with the right people. Something is just not clicking with the "ghost scene" in any case. I thought the history aspect was really a pretty good one - especially about the cotten storage, and how they got the cotten up into Memphis from the riverbanks, and also about the plague and how the blacks really re-built Memphis. There are great stories there- tap into them!
I would also suggest taking more advantage of the "atmosphere" of downtown Memphis. There is more of that than you are using. You are not taking advantage of Beale Street, nor the river. Why not? I did like the walk thru the alley's and his showing us how Memphis may have looked early in the 1900s. If you could combine perhaps even a trolly ride downtown, or somehow get folks down near the water and riverboat, I am sure there are stories there. Also there could be some good characters and descriptions of life during the heyday of the riverboats....even about the "town that cotten built".
The Peabody is a gem, and there have to be some good stories from there - in fact, he did tell us a very good ghost story from there, but proceeded to sorta dampen it by offering way too much about how no one who works there will validate it and even further, thinks they have signed a statement that they'll not talk, and so forth....it was a good story that got lost in too much personal angst.
We stopped in a local restaurant, which was delightful. However, it was about 20 minutes into the walk, and he was using it as a stopping point for us to catch our breath??? I'm old, but geez, not that old! Still it was one of the highlights and I enjoyed meeting Polly and some of her dining guests there....he should definitely keep this on the tour - but perhaps further into it???
Anyway, I am about to run out of "character space" so I am going to stop. I did not feel that the walk was worth the price. I think you need to perhaps reduce the price to maybe $10-$12 tops until you get it more refined and organized. I do these ghost walks in various towns, and if you want a great example, check out the ghost walk in Key West or Charleston. There is also a fantastic Jack the Ripper walk in London! Does Memphis have a similar character? Well, that's it. Thanks - Polly |
|
|
Was okay for the money
|
| Sun, Apr 13, 08 7:30 PM |
Dihahn |
Female |
40-49 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| Was interesting but I had my mom with me and she is 69 with bad knees and could not keep up with the pase the tour guide walked. Very fast pase until he stopped to talk. Great for younger folks or even my age but for seniors I would not recommend it. Plus, there really wasn't much to the tour. So okay - but I would not do again. |
|
|
Absolutely wonderful!
|
| Sun, Apr 6, 08 7:30 PM |
chelledaniel |
Female |
30-39 |
Domestic Tourist(s) |
Family Without Children |
| Our Memphis Walking Ghost Tour was the highlight of our trip. Not only was our tour guide funny ... he was also very knowledgeable about the area and the vivid pictures he painted for us was as intense as it was interesting. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone in the Memphis area who is interested in the paranormal ... and even those who aren't. I guarantee that even the most skeptic person alive would enjoy the stories about the town and the past inhabitants there. |
