We roamed the area around St. Paul's, down dark passageways and into secret courtyards, accompanied by Shaughan's insightful commentary. We then walked northwest past the Old Bailey, a haunted bombed-out churchyard that has been turned into a rose garden, West Smithfield (where William Wallace and many Protestant martyrs were put to death), and then into the churchyard of St. Bartholomew the Great.

There is apparently a ghost every few feet in London, and I don't want to spoil the walk for anyone by giving too many details. We had no frightening experiences, although we did stay pretty close together. It's easy to let your imagination run wild when you're walking around in a 2,000-year-old city.

Even for those not particularly interested in ghosts, this is a great tour. Shaughan threw in plenty of history and anecdotes that did not involve the supernatural, and it was a great opportunity to explore the city at night without feeling unsafe.

This group was larger and rowdier than the sedate group that toured the Inns of Court the day before. Several of the younger people fortified their nerve with cans of beer (carried in their pockets), and by the end of the tour, they were feeling no pain. But Shaughan handled the situation well, and everyone had a good time.

My first London Walk some years back (in the 1980's, if the truth be known) was on a Ghost Walk in the Old City. After the first walk, I was hooked. There are walks to suit every interest: Magical Mystery Tour walks, Jack the Ripper walks, historic pub walks, Charles Dickens walks, walks featuring London's famous eccentrics, Mayfair walks... the list goes on and on.

On this trip, I chose to go on an "Oscar Wilde" walk. The guide, Alan, was easy to spot when I arrived at the meeting point. He was turned out in full Oscar regalia, complete with green carnation. For two solid hours this man with the gift 'o gab charmed us, showing us around a small section of Mayfair once frequented by Oscar: the places where he bought his cigarettes, his clothes, his hair tonic, his hangover remedy (which I sampled in the shop where it's made to order); not to mention the places he'd meet Bosie or spots where the Marquis of Queensbury tracked him down and insulted him. Alan knew everything and I mean everything there was to know about Oscar Wilde. Amazingly enough, though, he wasn't the least bit pedantic. He loved his subject and really warmed to the questions the fairly knowledgeable people that were in our group asked him.

London Walks meet in the morning, afternoon, and evenings, with different walks held on different days of the week. Check their web site or the London Edition of Time Out magazine for the schedule.