The Brooklyn Paper file / Gregory P. Mango

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As a kid, I tried to hold my breath whenever we drove past Green-wood Cemetery. Doing so, in combination with crossing my fingers and hoisting my feet off of the floor, was supposed to keep any lingering ghosts from being able to attack me. I never quite outgrew the habit.

So, when I heard about Green-wood’s Halloween tours, I was already frightened.

“It’s fundamentally a historic tour,” said tour guide Jeff Richman. “But we do have murders and mayhem and things that pertain to Halloween.”

Over the course of the two-and-a-half-hour tour, there are plenty of spooky spots. Richman will take visitors to see Mabel Douglass, known as “the petrified woman” because her corpse was preserved in Lake Placid until it was found 25 years after her death, as well as the famous Fox family, whose daughters tricked the world with their tales of spirits and communication from beyond the grave.

And if the above ground action isn’t enough for you, Richman leads his groups into the cemetery’s catacombs, an underground chamber where 30 families are buried.

Richman said that while it might sound scary, he’s never experienced anything out of the ordinary at the cemetery. But beware — there’s always a first time.

“Halloween at Green-wood” begins at 1 pm on Oct. 27 and 28 at Green-wood Cemetery (enter on Fifth Avenue at 25th Street in Greenwood Heights). Admission is $20. For information, call (718) 768-7300 or visit www.green-wood.com.

©2007 Community Newspaper Group