Owner: John and Kim Hirchak
By Ann Marie Byrd, Feature Writer
The Ghosts of New Bern
With Halloween just a few weeks away, it’s time to explore the dark underbelly of New Bern history. Head to the Ghosts of New Bern tour and visit the Black Cat Shoppe. Located at 246 Middle Street, the tour and shop are owned by John and Kim Hirchak, respectively. Together they are the local experts on the history of ghosts and hauntings in both New Bern and Wilmington.
“I’ve been fascinated with ghosts, folklore and myth all my life,” says Kim. “Many years ago John and I went on a ghost tour in Savannah, Georgia and it was amazing. We came back home and I immediately started researching the history of hauntings in our area. John, who has written two books on ghosts and legends, started writing the stories and compiling a script. We started the Ghost tour first in Wilmington, in collaboration with the local community theatre, and then the shop. Then in 2015 we opened the Black Cat Shoppe in New Bern, and the Ghosts of New Bern tour in 2019.”
For John, it is important that the Ghosts of New Bern tour tells the history of people and their real lives. “Our guides are providing stories that have a deeper, more complex history—not the sanitized version. The research is accurate and factual and the stories are often gory. It is the true and actual account of what happened that led to the homes being haunted in the first place.”
The Ghosts of New Bern tour begins in the evening, just as the light fades away. It is a walking tour that includes a guide who is in costume and describes in terrifically gruesome and horrifying detail the historical events and the stories of the individuals who suffered through war, illness, grief, persecution, torture, mutilation, suicide, drowning, hanging and enslavement.
The spirits of these individuals, the guides claim, are still restlessly wandering through our most famous historical buildings such as the Harvey Mansion and Christ Episcopal Church, amongst many others. For example, The Harvey Mansion is actually built upon one of the bloody sites of the massacre of early Swiss and German Palatine settlers by the Tuscarora. The grounds of Christ’s Episcopal Church hold mass graves from yellow fever and other epidemics from before, during and just after the Revolutionary War.
The guides also share their firsthand accounts with ghosts at various sites on the tour, as well as the accounts of employees and residents who continue to regularly have ghostly encounters in popular downtown New Bern restaurants, stores, galleries and historic sites.
Overall, the tour is a spooky and engaging experience and provides a generous amount of historical information about New Bern and its buildings—with just enough creepy details to raise the hairs on the back of your neck.
The Black Cat Shoppe
The Black Cat Shoppe is an eclectic assortment of randomly inspired FUN. It’s filled with unique gifts of all sorts, designed to appeal to a wide range of tastes, attitudes, ages and styles. There’s a little bit of everything for everyone, but the overarching theme here is playfulness—so be prepared to laugh and have a good time!
“We want people to feel comfortable here, to touch things and laugh and play,” says Kim. “It’s a very relaxed establishment and we offer the best customer service with warmth and a smile. Adults and children alike are welcome to spend as much time as they like exploring and enjoying themselves.”
Top sellers in this store are the textiles like kitchen oven mitts and funny towels, hilarious magnets and bumper stickers, toothbrushes and bath items, signs and posters, jewelry and home décor as well as games and toys for adults and children. In the center of the store is a beautiful assortment of handmade imports from India, including dresses, shawls, purses and jewelry.