Carolyn Crouch is the founder of Washington Walks, the company that offers guided tours of the city, including the “The Most Haunted House” walk. The $10 walks begin at 7 p.m. every Wednesday from outside the Farragut West Metro station’s 17th Street exit on the corner of 17th and I Streets, NW. The tour lasts until Oct. 31.
You know a lot about Washington. What’s your background?
I moved to Washington, D.C., in 1994 to earn an M.F.A. Acting degree at the Catholic University of America. That makes me someone who can pick up a good script, analyze the action and characters, and delve into the backstory or history — all to make the play come alive for the audience. Washington, D.C., has provided an excellent script!
Is D.C. more haunted than most other city’s?
I suspect New Orleans may boast more ghostly lore than D.C. because NOLA has the added advantage of all that voodoo eeriness. Washington, however, offers a great deal in terms of hauntings that materialize from our large cast of high-profile individuals swirling about in the cauldron of conflict, desperation, and unchecked ambition, many of whom have experienced violent and untimely deaths.
What’s the most haunted place in D.C.?
The site with the most stories attached to it is The Octagon House.
What’s your favorite D.C.-area ghost story?
The one I find most amusing is the tale of the Demon Cat that is said to appear inside the U.S. Capitol. This kitty has the ability to swell to jumbo, monstrous proportions. The most tragic, unsettling story concerns the night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and the young Maj. Henry Rathbone who attempted to fight off the murderous John Wilkes Booth. Both Rathbone’s life and that of his fiancee Clara Harris were never the same following that event. There’s a bloody evening gown involved. My favorite “ghostly” item in D.C. is the “Ghost Clock” sculpture on display at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery.
