Downtown Knoxville may be known for its restaurants and music venues, but as Halloween approaches another Knoxville attraction takes the spotlight.
Haunted Knoxville Ghost Tours will ramp up the number of tours throughout the month of October.
"The peak of our season is in October," said April Hill, who is a tour guide for the Market Square district.
The tour does not simply look for ghosts, but rather uses technology to try and locate spirits that may be present at "ground zero."
A ground zero is a place that has been deemed to be haunted. There are thirty ground zeros in all.
The most frequent tour that is provided by the company will go on a one-mile loop through downtown Knoxville.
Participants have the opportunity to use different technology, such as EMF detectors, to find energy that is thought to be present when spirits are materializing. Once someone has had a positive reading, the guide or other participants will take a picture in the hopes that something will be captured on film.
J-Adam Smith, the founder of Haunted Knoxville Ghost Tours, explained that when spirits attempt to materialize, they draw energy from various sources.
"There is a lot (of) unprotected electrical wiring in Knoxville," Smith said. "That's one of the reasons Knoxville is such a good place for paranormal research. All the unprotected wiring gives spirits a lot of different sources to draw from."
The tour not only gives participants the opportunity to use the technology and look for spirits, but also gives them a history of the area.
The first stop on the downtown tour is near what is now the East Tennessee History Museum. During the stop, the tour guide tells the members of the group that the building used to be the customs house in Knoxville. In addition to this, it served as a courthouse and post office during the Civil War.
After the guide gives the group a brief history, they then show the tour where apparitions or orbs appear.
In the instance of the old customs house, the image of a woman has appeared in the room that used to be the judge's chamber.
The downtown tour finishes just outside of Mast General Store on the site of the great Gay Street fire. Here, the guide presents the most compelling paranormal photo: a picture from that area where a woman can be seen wearing a nurse's dress from the Civil War.
Haunted Knoxville Ghost Tours will host 14 more tours throughout the month of October, including one on Halloween. There are different options for tours including the downtown tour and a psychic tour.
Tickets must be purchased prior to the tour and can be obtained online at http://www.hauntedknoxville.eventbrite.com/.
Not everyone who goes on the tour is a believer in the paranormal. Some people may just want to get more information on the city of Knoxville.
"Historically, (the tour) had more value than the paranormal," David Pinkard, Knoxville resident, said. "It was worth it for the historical aspect."