Mineral Springs Haunted Tours

Do ghosts really exist? I think most people would answer this question one of three ways. Yes! No! Or I don’t Know! While I have done a few «Paranormal» experiences over the past few years I am still unable to answer this question definitively.
I wanted to «get something» from this experience and felt
I was open to the possibility of seeing some evidence of the paranormal. However, after 4 hours of tedium I am still no closer to answering the aforementioned existential question.
My chief complaint here was the group size. I was expecting a group of 8 – 10 people which should be ideal for a ghost sighting or at least for being able to interact with the guides. There were probably 50 people in my group of fellow spirit seekers. Way too large a group for this experience. Really though, do ghosts approach people only when they are alone?
The various guides were quite enthusiastic about their stories but not the greatest yarn spinners I have ever encountered. They had a variety of stories about folks who had passed in the old hotel back in the 1920’s who were haunting the rooms of the hotel. Intermixed in these stories was some interesting factoids about Alton’s history.
The story of Pearl was probably the most interesting with an experiment in the room where she died. (I wont give away the farm by going into detail here) This was actually pretty cool and with my analytical way of thinking I had a hard time explaining what unfolded here with logic.
The tarot card chic was cool and she seemed to know the cards pretty well. She was the most concerned about the flow of the evening while the male guides seemed so wrapped up in their tales that they didn’t notice the group losing interest, becoming over-​heated, and wandering away from the group to escape. I happened to draw the «Wheel of Fortune» card which was a good card to draw in my opinion. She was either quite intuitive or had some skill at palm reading with a few of her insights.
I left the tour early (during the séance) because 4 hours of boring wandering around a few blocks of old Alton and a stodgy smelling antique mall were about all I could take.
If you are into the whole paranormal, ghost hunting thing you might really enjoy this experience. I, however, am too much of a sceptic to have been approached by any apparitions so for me it was a little on the lean side of entertaining.

The whole tour wasn’t bad. Let me start with that. However… if you pay for the «catered» dinner DO NOT EXPECT MUCH!!! We went on the haunted tour as a work activity and had 21 people with us. The «catered» event that was supposed to cover a meat, potato or pasta, vegetable, salad and bread. Well we got pasta with alfredo (in a crock pot) that was cold, bagged salad, a loaf of bread and cans of soda or water. The snack is unwrapped Little Debbie Nutty Bars and Keebler cookies. DO NOT WASTE $ 20 ON THE CATERED EVENT!!! When we called about our disappointment with the food, Janet said that they don’t give any kind of refund or credit back. We weren’t asking for a full refund. We felt extremely cheated when it came down to the food.
The tour was fun and some crazy events did happen during the tour. Keep an open mind while doing it. They are very knowledgeable and will tell you everything they know. They did tell us that nothing that they said during the tour can be traced back by paper which was said because non-​believers are going to throw out any kind of event as just something that happened then.

OK… let me first say that I have never seen a ghost and when a friend got a group of us together for a haunted tour in Alton I was not expecting much excitement. I was wrong. I’m still not sure about ghosts but the folks that run this operation take it very seriously and did a great job of presenting historical information about the MIneral Springs hotel and some of its past visitors that may still be… hmmm…visiting. They also went into great detail about the background on a number of individuals buried in the Alton Cemetery which we also toured in the dark with flashlights.
The cost per person was $ 30 which included soft drinks and snacks at the hotel. Everyone also received a tarot card reading. Oh… did I mention we held a séance in the cemetery… hmmm.
The entire event took about four hours and I have to admit a few strange things happened during the tour. So based on the presentation of four hours of well-​thought out entertainment in a dark cemetery and old hotel, I give these folks four stars and a recommendation to check them out.
Tip #1: Bring a flashlight and wear comfortable walking shoes
Tip #2: Leave kids under 10 at home
Tip #3: If you ever plan to go on a ghost tour anywhere, download an app called Ghost Radar. It was not made by the owners at Mineral Springs (or me), but they told us about it. It cost a buck and I still can’t believe what happened when we used it during the tour of the cemetery.
Tip #4: Get ready to say: Hmmm…