Editor’s note: This article was published in Grand Traverse Scene magazine’s Fall 2025 issue. Pick up a free copy at area hotels, visitor’s centers, chambers of commerce or at the Record-Eagle building on Front Street. Click here to read GT Scene in its entirety online.
Many Traverse City residents choose to settle into the community for life. But some, you might say, overstay. Desirae Dine introduces us to the spirits of those who have lingered among us beyond their earthly departure.
For nine years, Dine has operated Haunted Traverse Tour Company. She connects folks to the spirits of the area’s dearly departed residents who refuse to move on. It’s a realm she has known since youth, having inherited the ability to perceive spirits from her great-grandmother Addie Belle, a witch of Kentucky hill country.
The native Traverse City resident/paranormal guide offers an entertaining 90-minute Historic Ghost Lantern Tour through downtown. Wear comfortable shoes and bring your curiosity for the 11-block stroll along sidewalks, dirt paths and park lawns. Dine’s outdoor tour highlights the city’s notable architecture, provides insight into the community’s past and shares paranormal tales linked to familiar locations.
“We touch on a lot of history and why hauntings might be unfolding there,” Dine said.
Traverse City’s otherworldly reputation arises from strange occurrences and ghostly sightings reported over the years. The tour stops at several sites legendary for baffling incidents. Dine shares stories of hauntings at the Hannah Mansion, which today houses Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home. Other spirit-filled tour sites include the Victorian-era City Opera House, the Carnegie Library of the early 1900s, WTCM Radio building and the State Theatre.
Mysterious footsteps, objects moving on their own, doors slamming, children crying out are some of the unexplained happenings at these spirit-inhabited buildings. While Dine offers no guarantee tour clients will experience a ghost sighting, she said it’s always possible something supernatural may occur.
City Opera House special events manager Debbie Douglas has worked at the venue for more than 20 years. “I’ve been here late at night and heard strange pounding sounds,” she said. Although she has not witnessed paranormal sightings, she said others report perceiving the presence of the spirit of a young girl or woman.
“Intellectually, I think it’s bunk,” she said. “But emotionally you swear it could be something.”
Skeptics are welcome on Dine’s tours. “A skeptic can come out and enjoy the tours nonetheless,” she said.
Other haunted Traverse City touring tales involve the State Theatre. Originally constructed in 1918, the theater is believed to be the everlasting home of the spirit of a former projectionist who served movie fans for decades.
WTCM Radio has filled the local air waves for more than 75 years. The building is rumored to house a spirit who enjoys moving control panel buttons and producing unexplained footsteps. “There are skeptics,” Dine said. “But some of the DJs believe it.”
The Carnegie Library opened on Sixth Street in 1905. It’s on the list of many ghost hunters and has been the site of multiple paranormal investigations. The former library today houses Traverse City’s Crooked Tree Arts Center. Gallery and volunteer manager Brian Iler is aware of the building’s paranormal rumors but has yet to experience an encounter with a library-inhabiting spirit.
“We transformed a room that most looked like it could be haunted,” he said. “We call it the Libragallery honoring that the building was a library first. I hope it might have calmed down any ghosts.”
Tours conclude with a short introduction to ghost hunting with opportunities in using professional ghost-seeking equipment.
The theatrical Historic Ghost Lantern Tour is appropriate for youth 13 and older and well-behaved dogs.
“If someone is looking for chills, I would lead them to the Ghost Hunting Experience,” Dine said. The program takes place at a Kingsley farm where spirit encounters have repeatedly occurred over the years.
Dine’s Ghost Hunting Experience is designed for those interested in learning paranormal investigative skills. Ninety-minute sessions focus on lessons in using professional ghost hunting equipment. Participants become acquainted with spirit boxes, the technology which gives voice to spirits by scanning radio frequencies spirits can manipulate to communicate in words.
Another handheld device participants learn to operate is an EMF (electromagnetic) detector. The device indicates fluctuations in the energy field which may denote spirit presence. Spirit seekers also learn the use of a digital recorder, a radio receiver which scans and records sounds not audible to human ears.
Investigators-in-training are warned that when events happen, it can get scary. “The chilling part is when you see a full apparition,” Dine said.
Dine’s sister Shanna serves as the farm’s lead paranormal investigator. Like Desirea, she inherited the gift to communicate with spirits.
“Sometimes a loved one comes through,” Dine said. She warns that such an event can be highly emotional and disturbing.
Private tours and ghost hunting events for larger parties may be booked online. Ghost hunters are welcome to bring cameras or video equipment to capture any ghostly appearances encountered during a farm experience.
“What I love best is when people leave with a sense of wonder and awe,” Dine said.
For booking information, go to hauntedtraverse.com.