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With Halloween approaching, stores are filling up with costumes, candy, and all manner of ghoulish items. But in Savannah, Georgia, it's Halloween every night, because Savannah is not only one of the most interesting cities in America, it's also the most haunted.

Founded in 1733, Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia, and it has one of the most colorful histories in the nation. This history led the American Institute of Parapsychology to name Savannah "America's Most Haunted City" in 2002. The Institute believed that the city was the perfect place for supernatural activity, given its history of fires, plagues, wars, pirates, murders, and voodoo.

Savannah was the scene of a bloody siege during the Revolutionary War and was captured by General Sherman during the Civil War (although Union forces did not destroy the city as they had Atlanta). The city's historical district has also survived hurricanes, fires and at least two devastating outbreaks of yellow fever. Being a port city, Savannah attracted a variety of inhabitants over the years, including colonists, slaves, voodooists, sailors, traders and pirates with unique social and religious beliefs. These elements combine to make a fitting backdrop for spooky ghost tales and unexplained happenings.

Savannah is perhaps best known today for John Berendt's best-selling book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which chronicles the four murder trials of internationally known antiques dealer Jim Williams in connection with the death of local hustler Danny Hansford. The book, and to a degree the film it inspired, also showed the charm and superstition that is Savannah. This raised interest in the city, increased tourism, and ultimately led to an increase in the now-ubiquitous "haunted tours."

There are currently at least 20 such tours, and they include sites from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.Danny Hansford was killed in the birth home of singer Johnny Mercer; the house has been the scene of other mysterious deaths, making it a logical stop. It has also been claimed that a house Jim Williams once restored on East St. Julian Street is haunted.

A must-see on any tour is The Pirates House, a famous Savannah restaurant that was originally a tavern frequented by pirates who sailed the Caribbean in the 1790's. Events at the Pirates House were the inspiration for Robert Lewis Stevenson's novel, Treasure Island. Legend has it that Captain Flint died there, screaming for rum. And the house where Juliette Gordon

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