More information For more information or to volunteer, go to www.northernnightmares.com or call 724-742-0400.

Ronald Carter takes his job of bringing the historic Strand Theater back to life very seriously.

But once a year he gets to let his hair down as the ghoulish character who takes visitors on the Nightmare Tour to visit sites between Zelienople and Harmony that are said to be haunted. All proceeds go to renovating the historic theater in Zelienople.

For $8, riders can board a trolley that takes them on one scary ride. The tour includes a stop at the Harmony Inn, said to be the most haunted site in Western Pennsylvania. It also stops at a former funeral home, a parking lot overlooking some railroad tracks and the site of a terrible accident before returning to the Strand.

Last year, Mr. Carter, president and executive director of the Strand Theater Initiative, told the story of a woman and her two children who were killed at a railroad crossing in the 1940s or '50s.

He told the riders about reported sightings of the woman and her children walking along the tracks as ghosts.

"I heard some murmuring in the back of the trolley after we started heading out to the next stop," Mr. Carter recalled. He later learned that a man in the back of the bus had been working earlier at another part of the tracks and said he had seen a woman walking along the tracks with two children, which he thought was a little odd, but forgot about until hearing Mr. Carter's tale.

"He was quite creeped out by the story," Mr. Carter said. When the tour makes its final stop, the Ghost of the Strand is unveiled.

"Every theater has to have a ghost and, as far as we know, we don't have one, he said. "It's a completely fabricated ghost."

The ghost is fabricated through The Ghost of the Strand creative writing contest, which challenges local students in seventh through 12 th grades to come up with a great ghost story. One of the prizes is the winner gets to see his or her creation brought to life in front of the theater.

Mr. Carter considers Halloween the most fun of all holidays. His house is decorated with all sorts of frightening devices and decorations and he continues the traditions from home on the tour. Last year, he dressed in white top hat and tails.

"I get to enjoy their reactions and the looks that they give," he said. "Most of what I talk about is very conjectural. You either buy it or you don't."

When driving by tour attractions, riders will swear they see curtains move in homes where no one lives. At a closed mill on the tour, some people thought they saw lights on. Mr. Carter laughed as he recalled their reaction: "They asked, 'Is that part of your show?' I say no, because it isn't."

The tour is part of a bigger event called Northern Nightmares, which features attractions Friday and Saturday nights through Oct. 27 in a festival tent on Main Street in Zelienople.

The Solid Mold dancers will perform and various dance studios will offer other free, Halloween-themed performances.

An Unbeauty Pageant for costumed kids ages 3 through 18 will be held at 7 p.m. Oct 20. Judging will be done in different age groups. The entry fee is $5.

Chiller Theater is offering double features of classic monster movies from 7 to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays during the event at Beecher's Cafe on Main Street.

Although Mr. Carter will be in costume and telling ghost stories, the renovation of the Strand is never far from his thoughts. He hopes that the first phase of the renovation will be completed so that the theater can open in late spring.

"What we're trying to offer with the Strand is a destination," he said, "so we're going to be bringing three to four hundred people on the Main Street for these performances. We're hoping that's going to be enough of a catalyst that's going to start driving more merchants onto Main Street."