Today we’d like to introduce you to Gretchen Upshaw
Gretchen, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve been fortunate to have diverse experiences, from teaching ESL to corporate executives in Prague to managing a ghost tour company in New Orleans and expanding it to nine additional cities. My journeys have taken me through South Africa, the UK, Europe, and the U.S., but my heart has always been drawn back to Central Texas.
After seven years in New Orleans, I returned to my family’s property in Jonah, where I live with my three horses, four cats, and one dog with two personalities.
In 2022, I founded Spell Caster Ghost Tours. Our mission is to preserve the area’s history and culture through the retelling of local legends, lore, and hauntings. We now operate tours in beautiful downtown Georgetown and historic downtown Round Rock.
In 2024, we began hosting ghost hunts/paranormal investigations around Texas and are excited to grow our Wicked Women Weekend trips in 2025.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Operating ghost tours in New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston, and many of the other “known” haunted cities in the U.S. taught me the importance of knowing your audience, capturing their attention, and creating an unforgettable experience. The challenge with offering ghost tours in Georgetown is less tourism, but the opportunity to educate our locals and give everyone something fun to do while learning about their hometown is rewarding.
Over the last three years, we have grown our market and our offerings. The biggest lesson I have learned in this endeavor is to stay present and patient. Listening to feedback and watching the evolution of people’s habits and interests can help predict where you need to be to stay on top of the curve.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Spell Caster Ghost Tours operates Adults Only and Family Friendly tours in Georgetown and Round Rock every weekend. I have worked in the ghost tourism industry since 2015, when I was living in New Orleans. While researching and writing ghost tours for New Orleans, Charleston, and Galveston, I realized my love for dark history, local lore, and hauntings. I also discovered that many people are much more interested in learning about local culture and factual history when the discomfort is delivered through the stories of real individuals.
When I started Spell Caster, I knew I wanted to create something unique that would appeal to the folks visiting and as well as our locals. So, I began to blend bits of “textbook” history with forgotten, or often hidden, local events, ghost story legends, and personal paranormal experiences to curate a “true crime ghost tour experience.”
I have researched and written over forty ghost tours for some of America’s most haunted cities. I can honestly say that our adults-only Ghost Maker Tour is one of the most interesting tours I’ve created. I spent a great deal of time gathering information, talking to historians, and designing the tour, and I feel like it shines just enough light on the shadows of our shiny downtown Georgetown.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I grew up in San Antonio, the youngest with two older brothers, which is probably where I learned to be a fighter, a survivor, and furiously independent. I lived in Austin for about twenty years. Austin was always the home I came back to after long travels and romanticized relocations.
I was blessed with amazingly patient parents and was encouraged to explore my many interests. The ones that made it past my teen years of editing and revising were horses, mysticism, and the supernatural. I now have a master’s degree in religious studies with a concentration in Christian Mystics, three happy mares, and a ghost tour company. Funny how life is always connecting dots.
I don’t often give the tours anymore, as I am fortunate to have found a wonderful team of tour guides, but I still love storytelling. I am currently working on my first novel, a low-brow paranormal rom-com, with the ambitious hope of publishing in late spring without any expectations. And there will be a book two regardless of how book one does, simply because I need to get these imagined tall tales out of my head.
Pricing:
- $19.95-$24.95
Contact Info:
- Website: https://spellcasterghosttours.com/
- Instagram: spellcasterghost
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Spell-Caster-Ghost-Tours-102452998962688
Image Credits
Spell Caster Texas, LLC
