If you want to see something scarier than that first glimpse of yourself in the mirror in the morning, then join the believers and skeptics, locals and tourists, on the San Francisco Ghost Hunt walking tour.

"I want you all to have a supernatural experience, safely, here tonight," said guide Jim Fassbinder before the tour began. "I'd love it if something strange happens to you."

But here is the caveat: Fassbinder promises only "unearthly fun," not scenes from movies like "Ghost" or "Ghostbusters."

"There is no way I can guarantee the supernatural," he said.

The San Francisco Ghost Hunt offers a three-hour, mile-long, relatively level walking tour past a cluster of haunted spots in Pacific Heights.

As it turned out, testimonials and ghost stories revealed that practically every other past tour group saw, felt, smelled or sensed supernatural activity -- but ours did not.

Two shivering Florida women who did not dress warmly enough for the tour were offered -- but did not accept -- a blanket from Fassbinder. Had they draped themselves in it, we may have actually witnessed a ghostly form that evening.

The interactive and intimate tour is hosted by supernatural expert Fassbinder, who willingly shares his knowledge of ghosts, history and all things San Francisco. He projects a unique, witty and dramatic shtick.

He dresses the part by donning an overcoat, top hat, vest, and pocketwatch. He clutches an oil-burning lantern to light his way.

The 62-year-old's interest in the supernatural started by interacting with shadows and imaginary friends as a youth in Chicago, and followed him to San Francisco as an adult.

"There are fewer reports of ghost sightings in San Francisco than in other U.S. cities," said parapsychologist Loyd Auerbach from the San Francisco-based Office of Paranormal Investigations. "San Francisco was razed to the ground in 1906, so most hauntings now are relatively new."

Even so, Fassbinder shares about a half-dozen haunted locations containing resident ghosts ranging from benevolent to poltergeist with those on the tour.

"A haunted house holds information about its history," Auerbach said.
And if there's one thing the tour is full of, it's history.

A painstakingly restored Victorian gem -- The Queen Anne Hotel on Sutter Street -- is a fitting place for the tour to begin, as it is haunted by a "ghost friendlier than Casper," according to Fassbinder. The benevolent presence of schoolteacher Mary Lake in the form of an apparition or cold spot still comforts hotel patrons.

Flora Summerton disappeared in 1876 to escape her impending marriage to an older man, only to be found dead in Butte, Mont. decades later. Her remains were brought back to San Francisco and her apparition has been strolling along California Street in Victorian finery ever since.

The site of a mansion owned by Mary Ellen Pleasant, a successful African American woman known as the "Voodoo Queen of San Francisco," is still haunted by her 105 years after her death. Her ghost occasionally pelts passers-by with gum nuts from the eucalyptus trees she planted on Octavia Street.

Among those disturbing the former Mansions Hotel on Sacramento Street is the spirit of a murdered woman, Claudia Chambers. Ghosts there have been known to make noises, throw objects and scare guests.

Astoundingly, neighborhood folks don't give Fassbinder funny looks. In fact, they exchange pleasantries with him and occasionally step out of their homes to tell ghost stories to his tour groups. Obviously they're used to him by now; he has been
doing this since 1998.

Fassbinder admonishes participants to dress warmly for a chilling adventure. The nippy weather made me thirst for spirits of another kind. But my hope of stumbling upon a haunted bar en route where I could down a stiff drink to warm my innards didn't bear booze.

The Fetzers of Lincoln, Neb. -- no relation to the famous winemaker, by the way -- have attended ghost tours nationwide and gave Fassbinder's version the old Siskel and Ebert two thumbs up.

"It was scientific, but at the same time, still a lot of fun," said Joe Fetzer, honeymooning in San Francisco with his wife Julie. "(Fassbinder) was not hokey at all in a bad way ... he put a little bit of cheese on it, which was great, but he backed everything up with a story and some kind of fact."

San Francisco can consider itself fortunate to possess characters like Fassbinder. And he isn't going anywhere; Fassbinder is in this gig for the long run. "I plan on someday giving tours of living people to ghosts," he said jokingly.

The San Francisco Ghost Hunt starts at 7 p.m. daily except Tuesdays in the lobby of the Queen Anne Hotel at 1590 Sutter St. Cost is $20 per person, cash only. More information can be found at www.sfghosthunt.com.