“We really feel like Port Townsend has this haunted past that you can even feel today.””

Mari Mullen, executive director of the Port Townsend Main Street Program

As the veil thins, there is no better time to try and see the subtle realms revealed.

Those brave enough to delve into the unknown will be thrilled to hear the Port Townsend Main Street Program is hosting its second Haunted Histories & Mysteries of Port Townsend event Friday, Oct. 28 and Saturday, Oct. 29.

Through a series of tours, paranormal investigations, and psychic readings, devotees of the unearthly will be intrigued, entertained, informed, and yes, maybe even a little frighted during time spent immersed in the environs of downtown Port Townsend, Manresa Castle, and Fort Worden State Park.

“We really feel like Port Townsend has this haunted past that you can even feel today,” said Mari Mullen, executive director for Port Townsend Main Street.

One of the rarest affairs on offer is a tour of the iconic Hastings Building. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet the descendants of Lucinda Hastings, one of Port Townsend’s first pioneers, and take advantage of this scarce chance to survey the interior of the 1889 landmark building on Water Street.

“There’s a lot of people in town who are curious about the Hastings Building and while that’s not a haunted experience, that’s part of our history,” Mullen said.

“If you’re new to town, people will enjoy going through that space because I think a lot of people are curious about it and you can’t normally have access to it,” she added.

For those looking for a more direct connection to the other side, psychic medium Ankhasha Amenti will bring messages from loved ones to audience members while demonstrating the ancient art of psychometry. Psychometry is the process of touching an object and extracting information about the time, place, or persons connected to it in the past and present. Audience members are invited to bring a personal item that belonged to loved ones with the chance of being chosen for a reading.

“I’ve attended several readings by her and I first heard of her from the Port Gamble Paranormal Conference,” Mullen said. “You can bring an object and she can tell you about the history of that object or if it’s perhaps something that’s special in your family what the connection is if it’s from a person that’s passed on.”

“It can be very touching.”

Skeptics can take their inquiries into the paranormal investigations led on both days by the Olympic Peninsula Paranormal Society and Western Washington Investigators of Paranormal Science. Each of these four events will include a brief orientation class on using the tools of the trade before exploring sites like the Manresa Castle and its haunted hotel rooms, Alexander’s Castle at Fort Worden and the fort schoolhouse, the Point Wilson Lighthouse and the Lighthouse Duplex at Fort Worden, as well as the Mount Baker Block Building.

“We’re very excited that the fort wanted to partner with us,” Mullen said. “I’m curious about Alexander’s Castle and the schoolhouse. They both have a history of activity.”

Saturday will include guided tours from the Port Townsend Victorian Heritage Association, touching on events like supernatural sightings that took place at the Haller Fountain in 1904, though those events have sold out.

On Saturday night, however, all are welcome for a rare opportunity to come inside Taps at the Haunted Guardhouse from 6 to 10 p.m. at Fort Worden.

For this 21-and-over event, people can come and enjoy a cocktail, explore the jail in the back of the building, and share their spookiest stories.

All of the other events for the weekend are paid events and ticket-holders must be aged 16 years and older.

Tickets are going fast and some events may sold out. To learn more and purchase tickets, go to tinyurl.com/hauntedhistories.