Richard T. Crowe is not your average Chicagoan.

He is a professional ghost hunter who lives in a haunted house in Chinatown. And for the last 37 years, Crowe has been running his very own Chicago Supernatural Tours.

"It had never been done before," Crowe says. "Nobody had ever taken people around on a bus to haunted places before."

Crowe wants parents to know that all of his tours are family-friendly. "Ghost stories are a great teaching device for kids," Crowe says. "Kids love ghosts." The tours are open for children of all ages, though he recommends age 10 and up simply because kids can get antsy during the four-hour tour.

Crowe offers four different ghost tours, including his newest addition, the Chicago Supernatural Cruise, on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. He tells tales of ghost ships on Lake Michigan and the Lake Monster seen in Evanston and Hyde Park.

The special Halloween Supernatural Tours are Fridays-Sundays, 1-5 p.m. and 7-11 p.m. Oct. 15-30. And of course, there is a special Halloween day tour Oct. 31 at those times. But if you're like me and too creeped out for the Halloween tours, Crowe still offers his regular supernatural tours. This is where you'll hear classics like Rosemary's Baby and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

Crowe's other tours include Gaslight Magic and Mayhem, where you can hear about the deathly curse over Chicago mayors and ghostly secrets about the Museum of Science and Industry; and Supernatural Chinatown, which is the most haunted area in Chicago, according to Crowe. Visit ghosttours.com for specific dates and times.

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