>When thinking about ghost stories, Brooklyn is not the first place that comes to mind.
The most infamous tales always seem to occur in southern cities with histories of witchcraft and possession, or mountainous towns with stories surrounding haunted cabins and mysterious forests.
When pondering the second most populated New York borough, one is more likely to think of classic diners, overpriced juice bars, or warehouse art studios. But many of these places are home to some of the most unusual ghost tales in the country. In fact, if you do a little digging (literally and figuratively), you can find a lot under a Trader Joe’s.
Although not traditional, the hauntings of North Brooklyn are not to be overlooked. The Victorian-esque trolley that zig-zags through these neighborhoods, blasting “GhostBusters” and “The Monster Mash,” ensures its visitors never forget the bodies buried under Brooklyn.
For six years, “Madame Morbid,” a woman-owned haunted history trolley tour, has made a home on the corner of Driggs Avenue and North 9th Street. Tricked out with velvet curtains, a dry ice smoke machine, and faux candles, it’s impossible to miss as the ghost hosts of the night, Allison Chase and Lucifer the Shih Tzu, emerge from the vehicle to greet jittery guests.
The co-founder and driver, Matt Zaller, drives the supped-up trolley they purchased in Wisconsin to bring the tour to life. Matt laughs when asked why they chose the trolley and states, “Well, the Brooklyn Dodgers were the Brooklyn trolley dodgers, right? From the days when there were so many trolley lines, they were all of the borough … The trolley was the vehicle of the era, and we were trying to capture old Brooklyn and bring it to life through a modern lens.”
This fresh take on ghosts stems from a long-standing relationship with the supernatural. Allison grew up in the haunting business, with her father running multiple haunted houses, and dreamed of making that more portable. To accomplish that, she and her ex-boyfriend turned business partner ventured out to find the best tours: “Matt and I went all over the world… like a thousand different ghost tours, and there just isn’t one that has videos, sconces, … and people either love us or hate us” she states, pointing to the artificial lighting above the driver seat.
The two co-owners became experts on spirits, with Matt even having a folder of Brooklyn ghost stories allocated to him at the public library. Through endless research and a passion for history, the two learned that a great deal of Brooklyn was constructed on the bodies of dead soldiers, mafia hitmen, and tragic civilians.
The wheeled homage to the borough starts its nightly journey with the mysteries of Brooklyn Navy Yard, with “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder adding some musical ambiance. There, passengers get a taste of the dark history of the Bay, where hundreds of American Colonists died under British imprisonment, and the military hospital experimented on Confederate soldiers with anesthesia.
“I really love the history of the Navy yard,” Matt mentions, “ I mean with ‘love’ in air quotes because it’s a very sordid place, with so many crazy things that have happened there.”
The tour continues under the Brooklyn Bridge, over the Gowanus Canal, and through Park Slope. These were home to even spookier stories, from headless workers on the bridge to a phantom child searching for his lost luggage. Allison is sure to remind riders about satanic ghost heads left in Prospect Heights and deadly seances near the Brooklyn Public Library.
“It’s a really fun project because it’s part theatrical, part historical, and just a fresh new idea,” Matt affirms. Although Zaller and Chase lead the story, the real guides are video impersonators of iconic Brooklynites, like Mike Tyson, Lucky Luciano, and Joan Rivers.
For Allison, this is what makes the tour so novel:”The celebrity voices, people either love them or they hate them, but they are completing the picture of Brooklyn… and it’s supposed to be funny and campy.” I mean, who wants a serious ghost tour anyway?
Fans of “Madame Morbid” agree. Victoria Rutwind, a New York-based travel influencer, discovered the tour through her love of the city and the Halloween season.
Her favorite part of the tour was how it didn’t take itself too seriously: “ I love that the tour is both funny and informative. It isn’t really scary. I had so much fun learning about Brooklyn’s history, and our tour guide kept us entertained, listening and laughing the entire time!”
Although a little goofy, both guides take the time to remind guests that this all really happened. One tour stop is the grounds of the old Brooklyn theater, where a fire in 1876 killed more than 300 people, while another commemorates Revolutionary War soldiers buried in a mass grave under the Staples on Fourth Avenue.
Their main message is that while Brooklyn’s history is dark, it deserves to be recognized. This is why the journey begins and ends with Vivian (Allison’s Stage Name) warning guests, “Any place you step in Brooklyn, there is probably a dead body.”