Everyone knows that Lexington is a town at the epicenter of American history. Often referred to as the “Shrine of the South” by Civil War history buffs, our little town is no stranger to fantastic stories. 

When the sun sets, however, a new flock of stories — more phantasmic than fantastic — rises from the dead. And the man who can guide you to the “other side” of Lexington is named Mark Cline.

Cline has been giving nighttime ghost tours in Lexington since 1996, after he and his wife attended a Jack the Ripper tour in London during their honeymoon. He’s also known for his fiberglass statues and sculptures that appear in amusement areas and businesses around the country. 

Cline operates the local favorite Dinosaur Kingdom II in Natural Bridge — a tourist park featuring more than 30 fiberglass dinosaur statues depicted in conflict with Civil War Union soldiers.

Unlike his dinosaur park, Cline’s tour focuses on the variety of human spirits that call the city their stomping grounds. This past Friday night, I joined Cline and a group of spirit seekers on one of his famed tours.

Cline’s walking tour lasted an hour and a half, which included 12 different stops and ghoul stories. Starting at the Lexington Visitor Center, tour guests were greeted by two lamp-holding figures — Cline and another tour leader. Even before the trek began, the theatrics were in full swing.

Our first stop on the walking tour was the spot where Lexington’s last public hanging took place in 1906. Eleven years ago, Cline reenacted the hanging before a crowd of more than 300 people, using actors related to the citizens originally involved in it.

Other highlights of the tour included learning about the many dog and cat ghosts of Lexington, whose pitter-patter of paws populate the nighttime soundscape. We also visited the Episcopal church and learned more about the mysterious death of Robert E. Lee and, later, his complicated burial.

We walked by the Middleton House, affectionately referred to as the House of Eight Ghosts — which Cline called one of the most haunted on the East Coast. The spirits here include the Rev. Samuel Vanderslice and his peculiar wife, who refused to wear anything but red.

The killer moment of the tour comes when Cline guides the group into Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, where, if you’re lucky, you’ll contact one of the many spirits who call the cemetery home. My group was fortunate enough to feel the presence of the undead — and it was quite the experience.

Near the end of the tour, Cline recounted the story of Phil Nunn, a Lexington resident who carried all his money in a burlap sack until his death. Many have reported hearing what sounds like a bag of coins being shaken late at night, and some have allegedly seen Nunn’s spirit.

There are many more stops and ghastly tales you’ll encounter on the tour, but you’ll have to join Cline and his team to experience them all.

Overall, Cline’s tour expertly balances history and comedy and even includes a few magic tricks that will completely catch you off guard. I won’t spoil any of Cline’s behind-the-scenes work, but if you’re someone who enjoys street theater and the macabre, Cline is your guy.

Weirdly enough, after Cline’s tour ended around 10 p.m., while he and I were speaking, we both saw a man dressed like a wartime Robert E. Lee standing in front of the Stonewall Jackson House on Washington Street. Maybe Cline truly is in touch with Lexington’s supernatural society, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.

The stories you hear during your spectral journey are only matched in intrigue by the guide himself. I give my full endorsement to this tour, and I think everyone — from families to students to seasoned ghost hunters — would have a wicked good time.

To book a tour with Cline or one of the Lexington Undead guides, visit ghosttourlexingtonva.com.

Tours run from the end of May through the beginning of November each year. He also conducts multiple tours during the week of Halloween, and what better way to celebrate the holiday?