If My Face or Name Seem Familiar...

"Hi everyone! I'm Vannah."

It's how I begin almost every experience.

And every now and then, before I've had the chance to tell my first story, someone smiles and says something that still catches me off guard.

"Oh good... we were hoping it was you."

Sometimes it's,

"We read so many great reviews about you."

Sometimes it's,

"Your name kept coming up while we were researching Charleston."

Sometimes it's,

"A friend told us that if we ever visited Charleston, we had to find one of your tours."

Every single time, I have exactly the same reaction.

Gratitude.

Not because someone recognizes my name.

But because complete strangers have chosen to trust me before we've even met.

That trust didn't come from advertising.

It came from people.

And that's one of the greatest privileges of my life.

I Never Set Out to Build a Reputation

When I began guiding tours on January 1, 2020, I wasn't trying to become a recognizable guide.

I wasn't trying to build a personal brand.

I wasn't chasing reviews.

I wasn't thinking about search engines.

I simply wanted to give one group of guests the best experience I possibly could.

Then I tried to do it again the next evening.

And then the next.

One tour became another.

One week became another.

One season became another.

Looking back, if my estimates are close, I've now had the privilege of leading roughly 2,000 tours and sharing Charleston with more than 12,000 guests.

That number doesn't make me think about success.

It makes me think about people.

Thousands of conversations.

Thousands of laughs.

Thousands of questions.

Thousands of opportunities to learn from someone I'd only just met.

You May Have Seen Me Before

If you've spent time researching Charleston experiences, there's a decent chance you've already come across my face or my name.

Maybe you found photographs of me leading tours.

Maybe you read reviews mentioning me.

Maybe you came across a travel blog describing an experience I personally hosted.

Maybe you've seen activity pages that still feature my photographs.

Here's the part that surprises many people.

Some of those reviews, photographs, and articles are connected to places where I no longer guide.

That can understandably be confusing.

After all, when someone researches an experience and repeatedly sees the same guide smiling in photographs, telling stories, interacting with guests, wearing historical clothing, carrying ghost hunting equipment, or handing out souvenir hats, it's only natural to assume that's the experience they'll receive.

Photographs create expectations.

Reviews create expectations.

Names create expectations.

If that's how you found me...

I'm genuinely glad you kept following the trail.

Because you found me.

Reviews Are Really Introductions

People sometimes congratulate me on my reviews.

Honestly...

Those reviews don't belong to me alone.

Every review represents someone who decided our evening together was worth remembering.

Someone who took a few minutes after their vacation to help someone they'd probably never meet.

Sometimes they wrote,

"Ask for Vannah."

Or,

"If you get the chance, request Vannah."

Or,

"We were lucky enough to get Vannah."

Every time I read those words, I smile.

Because reviews aren't really about ratings.

They're introductions.

One traveler reaching across time to another traveler saying,

"I think you'll enjoy spending a couple of hours with this person."

But today those reviews tell a slightly different story.

They still say,

"Ask for Vannah."

Only...

You can't.

At least not there anymore.

If you've found me because of one of those reviews—or because you recognized me from photographs taken during an earlier chapter of my career—you probably took a detour before arriving here.

And if that's your story...

Welcome.

I'm really glad you found your way.

I Didn't Get Here Alone

People often thank me for what they've learned on one of my experiences.

The truth is...

I've learned just as much from guests.

Some of my favorite research projects began because someone asked one simple question.

"Why?"

One guest noticed something I'd overlooked.

Another shared a family story.

Another challenged an assumption.

Another pointed me toward a forgotten newspaper article, diary, or historical record.

Those conversations didn't end when the tour ended.

Sometimes they became weeks of research.

Sometimes months.

Sometimes entirely new experiences.

My guests have challenged me to become a better researcher.

A better storyteller.

A better educator.

A better listener.

Most importantly...

They've challenged me to become a lifelong learner.

For that, I'll always be grateful.

I'm equally grateful to the organizations that gave me opportunities throughout my career.

Every chapter taught me something.

Every opportunity helped me grow.

History, Haunts, & Hahas! didn't appear overnight.

It was built one experience, one lesson, one guest, and one chapter at a time.

Why History, Haunts, & Hahas! Exists

Eventually I realized I wanted one place where everything I'd spent years learning could come together.

Not because I wanted to leave the past behind.

But because I wanted a home for the guide I'd become.

Today, History, Haunts, & Hahas! is the culmination of that journey.

It isn't one type of tour.

It's a collection of experiences built around curiosity.

Some guests join me for haunted history.

Others want history without ghosts at all.

Some enjoy paranormal investigations using Ghost Forensics, EMF meters, thermal readings, and spirit box sessions.

Others prefer history-forward experiences where reported hauntings simply become the doorway into Charleston's past.

Some love pub crawls.

Others prefer walking tours.

Some want to spend an evening exploring one specific era of Charleston history.

Others want a completely customized private experience built around their own interests, family history, favorite topics, or research rabbit holes.

No two groups are exactly alike.

So why should every experience be?

Curiosity Is the Common Thread

Whether we're discussing pirates...

The Civil War...

Charleston's taverns...

Reported hauntings...

Architecture...

Local folklore...

Or forgotten individuals whose names have nearly disappeared from history...

The process is always the same.

We begin with curiosity.

Sometimes a reported haunting becomes the breadcrumb.

Sometimes it's a historical mystery.

Sometimes it's a question a guest asks.

Then we follow wherever those breadcrumbs leads.

History gives context to reported paranormal experiences.

Reported paranormal experiences give history a deeply human voice.

Because every ghost story is ultimately a human story.

Sometimes we discover answers.

Sometimes we discover better questions.

Both are exciting.

I'm Not Really in the Tourism Business

People often describe what I do as tourism.

I've never quite seen it that way.

I'm in the people business.

History matters because people mattered.

The paranormal matters because people continue trying to understand experiences that don't always have easy explanations.

My guests matter because every person arrives carrying different perspectives, different life experiences, different beliefs, and different questions.

For a couple of hours...

We're simply curious people exploring together.

Learning together.

Laughing together.

Investigating together.

Growing together.

Sometimes we leave with answers.

More often...

We leave with better questions.

And I think that's the best outcome of all.

If You Were Looking For Me...

If you've found me because of an old review...

An old photograph...

A travel article...

A recommendation...

Or because someone once said,

"If you ever visit Charleston... ask for Vannah."

Thank you.

I'm honored that those recommendations have continued traveling long after the tour itself ended.

Today, everything I've spent years learning, researching, questioning, refining, and creating lives in one place.

History, Haunts, & Hahas!

https://www.historyhauntshaha.com

A small, locally owned business built around curiosity, ethical storytelling, thoughtful research, Ghost Forensics, genuine hospitality, and one simple belief:

The best experiences don't tell people what to think.

They invite people to think.

P.S. Every Tour Leaves Breadcrumbs

If we've explored Charleston together before, I'd genuinely love to hear where our paths first crossed.

Tell me what stayed with you.

A story?

A laugh?

A terrible dad joke?

A historical figure?

A ghost hunting experiment?

A question that followed you home?

One of my favorite discoveries over the years is realizing that the conversations don't end when the experience does.

Guests have reached out years later with newly discovered family connections, newspaper clippings, photographs, research, or simply to tell me they're still thinking about something we discussed while wandering Charleston's streets.

I don't think that's a coincidence.

Curiosity follows people home.

That's why I love breadcrumbs.

One reported haunting becomes a breadcrumb leading to history.

History becomes a breadcrumb leading to a person.

A person becomes a breadcrumb leading to empathy.

One answer creates three new questions.

One question opens another rabbit hole.

The journey continues.

So if you're reading this thinking,

"Wait... I think she was our guide..."

There's a very good chance you're right.

Welcome back.

You may have started by looking for a Charleston experience.

Instead, we found each other.

And that's a trail of breadcrumbs I'll always be grateful I followed. ❤️