I recently took the Ghosts of New Haven walking tour. The tour takes place after dark and is a walking tour of downtown New Haven. It lasts about 90 minutes (mine was a litlte shorter). I used Groupon for my tickets but I think the regular price is $20/person. My mom is big into ghosts so this was her birthday present.
The tour was off to a bad start, because when we arrived for our 7 pm tour we were told that the two tours for the night would be combined and we weren't starting until 7:30. There was some kind of emergency with one of the guides. I understand things happen but I was upset that no one had called me. Phone numbers were required to be provided when we registered - what for if not for this? I had rushed into town and paid to park in a garage so as not to be late looking for street parking, which was a total waste that could have been avoided if we'd been paid the courtesy of being informed of the delay (they knew for a few hours prior to the tour, it hadn't just happened). So, we had to kill a half hour in Starbucks, then we had a double-sized tour group.
Once we got going we had an enjoyable walk around the green/Yale campus area. Our guide would stop in front of each "haunted" building or landmark and tell the ghost story. She had to read from a binder because she said she had only been on the job one month. I prefer guides to talk from memory but it didn't really bother me. However, I did find it cheesy that we didn't actually go IN any of the "haunted" locales. We just stood on the street. I had expected to actually experience the haunted places not just talk about them. I felt like I could have just looked the information up online since I didn't see anything special I don't see on any other day walking around New Haven. Tours should be about more than being read at, you should get to see something!
Finally, I have to comment that our guide heavily hinted at being tipped. Whether or not you find it appropriate to tip a tour guide should be your own decision. You should not be guilted in to it.
Overall we had a nice walk and heard some fun ghost stories, but I'm glad I only paid half price. The tour left me feeling disappointed in what it could have been.
(note: I marked it as food and bathroom facilities available because the tour meets up at Starbucks)