Spooky spots to visit in Old Town Alexandria this October from a ghost-tour guide

Spooky season is in full swing, and one of the most popular spots for a ghost tour is Old Town Alexandria.

7News headed out with Alexandria Colonial Tours Manager Jimmy Meritt to see some of the spooky spots right under your nose.

"We’re going to scare you, tell some creepy ghost stories, but I think you’ll also walk away with a sense of what it was like to be a person in the 1700s and 1800s," Meritt said.

Meritt took 7News to three locations.

The first: 107 N Fairfax St., now a gelato spot.

"We see so many people walk into this store, but they don’t always know both how old the building and the haunted history behind it," Meritt said.

That haunted history: Meritt said a woman, engaged to be married, was burned to death when her oil lamp caught her robes on fire.

"Ever since then, she has continued to haunt and lurk about the building," Meritt said.

The second stop: Carlyle House Historic Park at 121 N Fairfax St.

"So this is the Carlyle House, one of the oldest buildings in Alexandria," Meritt said.

Found inside during renovations in the '70s: A mummified cat. Meritt said the poor creature was put there on purpose to keep ghosts away, in accordance with Scottish tradition.

It worked--to a fault.

"In a sad irony, the front lawn ends up being haunted instead," Meritt said. "Because throughout history, we have several bizarre deaths all connected, throughout history, right on the front lawn."

According to Meritt, the location has also become a hot spot for "orb" sightings; bright glowing balls caught on video, believed to be spirits darting around in the dark.

The third and final stop on 7News's tour: The Old Presbyterian Meeting House at 323 S Fairfax St.

In the graveyard behind the meeting house, visitors can view a historic final resting place.

"Here we have the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the Revolutionary War," Meritt said.

Meritt said the soldier's body was found in an old munitions box during another set of renovations, but it's not he who haunts the graveyard. Meritt said the spirit of Mary Powell--a schoolgirl turned historian, who spent her life advocating for the tomb to be dedicated--keeps watch over the graveyard.

"Her death has not stopped her from still paying visit to her favorite soldier," Meritt said. "At night people do see the spirit of Mary Powell both with the naked eye and captured on film, moving about nearby the tomb, still maintaining her vigil over her favorite soldier--even in death."