Let's face it: America's got ghost fever! This past Christmas, the Sci-Fi Channel ran a "Ghost Hunters" marathon all day long. On Christmas! Now we've also got spin-offs like "Ghost Hunters International" or copy-cats like "Ghost Adventures" and "Most Haunted" on the Travel Channel. You can even watch Jennifer Love Hewitt strut her stuff as the "Ghost Whisperer" on primetime CBS television.

We say: why should they get to have all the fun?

It's not like you have to be an expert to walk around and listen carefully. In the spirit of do-it-yourself-ness, here are five of the most popular ghost tours in the United States courtesy of USA Travel Guide.

#1 - New Orleans Haunted History Tours

With a history as sordid as New Orleans', it's no wonder that you're like to see a ghost or two. Treading deep into the tragic underbelly of the city's famous French Quarter, the New Orleans Ghost Tour is a fun-filled creep-fest brimming with ghosts, vampires, voodoo and more.

Keeping in the spirit of the town, you'll lead by a rather animated tour guide to a number of locations considered to be among the state's most haunted, a number of them with histories dating back over two hundred years. Many of these buildings will be historic French Quarter residences, some still occupied, but you'll also see cemeteries, a hotel and even a haunted bar. Be sure to bring your camera.

The New Orleans Ghost Tour is hosted nightly, but reservations are required. Learn more about the New Orleans Ghost Tour.

#2 - Ghost Walk of Old Wilmington

Wilmington, North Carolina is a historic city with roots reaching back to colonial America, the American Revolution and the Civil War, plenty of heady times ideal for enraging the spirit world. Truly, this is one of the creepiest places to take a nighttime tour, and you're sure to love every minute of it.

Ghost Walk of Old Wilmington, Inc. actually runs two tours: a traditional ghost tour and a humor-inclined haunted pub tour. The ghost tours last ninety minutes and cover Wilmington's entire historic district. During the tour, you'll investigate roads, alleys and buildings that reach up to 275 years of age.

Perhaps the bigger story, however, is the riotous Haunted Pub Crawl. A brazen mix of hilarity and fright, the crawl will take you to four or five of the most haunted bars in Wilmington (allegedly). Whether or not you see any ghosts, you'll manage to have a good time with drinks a plenty all along the way. Adults-only, obviously.

Both tours are hosted nightly or semi-nightly depending on the season. Learn more about Wilmington ghost tours.

#3 - The RMS Queen Mary

For a change of pace after those first two, consider the oceanic terrors of the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Built as a passenger ship in the early 1900's, the old girl today is berthed permanently and has grown into a top Los Angeles area tourist attraction. Long gutted of drive machinery, today the ship houses a hotel, restaurants, event facilities, shops and, if you're lucky, a ghost or two.

On the Queen Mary you have two options. The regular paranormal shipwalk tour covers a number of supposed "hotspots" that you can't visit during normal hours. A psychic tour guide sets the mood perfectly by regaling you with the sorrowful tales of the dead-but-not-gone. At two hours, this is definitely a fulfilling experience.

If you find yourself wanting more, you can upgrade to the weekly paranormal investigation tour. This augmented version of the regular tour starts at midnight and provides you with your own ghost detection equipment, including EMF devices and the like. It's designed to feel as if you're on a ghost hunting show, so go ahead and indulge that fantasy.

Learn more about RMS Queen Mary Ghost Tours.

#4 - Alexandria Ghost & Graveyard Tours

You might not expect the ghost tours of Alexandria, Virginia to be that different from those of Wilmington, after all the towns are quite similar, but that hasn't stopped the media at large from singling Alexandria out. Various hauntings throughout Alexandria's Old Town have been featured in shows on the Travel Channel, Sci-Fi Network, History Channel and HBO as well as primetime.

The Alexandria Colonial Tours Company hosts seasonal ghosts and graveyard tours with plenty of colonial panache. Your tour guide, decked out in authentic costume, will lead you from misty graveyard to narrow alleyway with only a small lantern and, if you're lucky, the moon to lead the way.

This is a family-friendly option, lighter on walking and less expensive than most, which may in part explain the incredible popularity. Reservations are highly recommended to get a spot with this one. Learn more about the Alexandria Ghost & Graveyard Tour here.

#5 - The Boston Spirits

Our exploration into the haunted history of America ends in a town with more history than just about any other, Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Spirits Walking Tour, hosted by the New England Ghost Tours Company, offers a different take than what all those daytime visitors get, even though you'll be visiting a number of the same places.

Beginning at the Boston Common, you'll explore several of the city's oldest and potentially most haunted places, including the Athenaeum, the Public Garden and the State House. These are places that have been in existence for hundreds of years, and with the nighttime comes a menacing atmosphere you can't deny, even as your tour guide offers stories as humorous as they are frightening.

The Boston Spirits Walking Tour lasts for ninety minutes and is hosted on select nights throughout the year, typically less in the wintertime. Learn more about the Boston Spirits Tour here.

This is, of course, an infinitesimal sample of the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of haunted history attractions throughout the country. You'll find tours with the colonial atmosphere of Wilmington and Alexandria all along the northeastern coast, and you'll find an entirely different attitude and intensity out west in ghost towns like Virginia City, Nevada and Tombstone, Arizona.

So go on, stop just watching it on TV and go out and try to live it for yourself. A scary good time is waiting for you.

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