Ghost Stories

Ghost tours are a great way to get out into a city a learn a little about its history that you wouldn't hear on a normal historical tour.  They tell some great stories about often unremarkable buildings and locations that make them into more than what they appear to be.  "So and so was depressed and killed her family with a hatchet and then was mauled by her Doberman ... you can still feel a cold spot where the blood pooled"...you know...that sort of thing. Growing up, everyone had that run down house out in the woods that was supposedly haunted or the weird stories about the murderer who killed a bunch of people under a local bridge in a bunny suit, and even those that completely don't believe in it can convince themselves to be creeped out when visiting these places.  Tell a remarkable story about an unremarkable place and all of the sudden you have kids going out of their way to go there at night to scare themselves.  It's similar to the idea behind Seth Godin's "All Marketers are Liars,"  tell a remarkable story about your product and it will become an attribute of the product.