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Other stories in "Fall"

• This weekend
  See elves, artists and Irish dancers.
• Next weekend
  Elves, artists and Irish dancers are hard at work during holidays.
• Remember the wrecks
  On Lake Superior, gales of November bring haunting memories.
• Welcome, Southwest
  Finally, low-cost air fares to Chicago have returned.
• All quiet up north
  Like the leaves, room rates have dropped.
• Big birds
  Eagles are flocking to a stretch of river best known for tundra swans.
• Join the fun
  With an outdoors club, make friends, see new places and save money.
• Homes for the holidays
  On tours, see where the rich and famous celebrated Christmas.
• Culture in the bluffs
  Follow musicians to four unusual venues near the Mississippi.
• Bash on a bike trail
  Kick up your wheels at small-town fall festivals.
• Scenery in the studios
  On autumn art tours, treasure hunters strike gold (and orange and red).
• Closing the deal
  Believe it or not, it's time to reserve hot dates for 2009.
• Ely's blue over hues
  Act now to keep town's future bright.
• Eyes on the skies
  On bluffs and ridges, it's time to watch the hawk migration.
• Price check/A northwoods weekend
  Two Minnesota B&Bs offer a Boundary Waters adventure — is it a deal?
• On the ropes in Lanesboro
  Try walking a high wire on Halloween.
• In Iowa, a singular inn reopens
  Through December, snag a $99 room at the Hotel Pattee.
• Hunters on the North Shore
  A special deer season this weekend may put guns close to hikers.
• Geocaching for beginners
  Try a fall treasure hunt.
• Hot tip/A different North Shore
  Didn't reserve for fall-color season? Thunder Bay has rooms.
• On the road/A fall drive along the St. Croix
  A stretch of river valley is packed with attractions.
• 10 great trails to ride in fall
  Here's where to get your fill of flora, fauna and fall colors.
• Go on a trail-clearing trip
  If you enjoy a hike, help make it possible for others.
• In river towns, favorites debut anew
  On the Red Cedar and in Red Wing, three inns and restaurants finally reopen.
• Home of horsepower
  In Wisconsin, see where race cars, snowmobiles, outboards and motorcycles were born.
• Go swan watching
  

Ghouls ahoy

On Great Lakes, two haunted ships are spoiling for a fright.

It began with a sepulchral fugue, crashing through the frigid iron innards of the ship. Then there was a shriek. And throbbing blood-red lights.

At a fork along a curtained gantlet, a hand-lettered sign advised, "Choose wisely.'' We chose. Another sign said, "You chose poorly.'' Then the ghouls began to crowd in, chattering like monkeys: "Where you goin'? Where you goin'?''

A skeleton slowly turned to face us. We climbed a Plexiglass ramp over an open coffin and into an electrocution chamber. A tortured face poked out of the wall. Behind us, the tunnel closed.

The terror stretches through October on the Great Lakes. In Duluth, the S.S. William A. Irvin in Duluth becomes a claustrophobe's nightmare. The 610-foot ore carrier  once was the Great Lakes flagship of U.S. Steel. But in October, it's taken over by university theater students, who take full advantage of its narrow hallways and rooms full of hidden nooks and crannies, turning the Irvin into the Haunted Ship.

Tours of the six-story Irvin, which is chilly and slightly creepy even on a summer day, will be given the evenings of Oct. 3-4, 9-11, 15-18, 23-26 and 29-Nov. 1. Admission is $8, $6 for children 12 and under.

On the western shore of Michigan in Manistee, the 77-year-old S.S. City of Milwaukee, which once transported whole freight trains across the Great Lakes, becomes the Ghost Ship. It's open Fridays and Saturday nights through Nov. 1. Admission is $7, $5 for children and seniors, but it's not recommended for children under 9.

Last updated on October 23, 2008