There are no bad tours in Charleston, only bad tour guides.

Mark R. Jones and Rebel Sinclair  are full time professional
tour guides, authors, historians and paranormal investigators
who have given more than 10,000 tours.

Most Charleston tour companies take 20 people on each tour.
Often, tourists feel they are being herded around the city in a
large group with screaming kids with a tour guide who has
been working for 6 months or less.
BLACK CAT limits their night time tours to no more than 12 people, and NO SMALL CHILDREN.
Mark and Rebel had only one single goal when they started BLACK CAT -
offer quality tours with an experienced guide for EVERY tour.

BLACK CAT is the only company where your tour guide will be a published author, historian
and paranormal investigator, NOT a college student working a summer job.
We do not hire new tour guides every spring and teach them stories to tell.
Mark and Rebel are full-time, career Charleston tour guides.
WHY ARE WE CALLED 'BLACK CAT TOURS'?

  • In the 1640s Charles I of England owned a black cat whom he fiercely loved. In late 1648 the cat fell ill and died.
    Charles I was heard to proclaim, “Alas my luck is gone.” The next day, he was arrested and charged with high
    treason. Ultimately he was beheaded. His son, Charles II, is the namesake of Charleston, SC.

  • When the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, they brought with them a devout faith in the Bible and a deep
    suspicion of anything deemed of the devil. They viewed the black cat as evil - a companion, or a familiar to witches.
    Anyone caught with a black cat would be severely punished or even killed. The early settlers of Charles Town were
    hard-drinking Scot-Irish and English merchants, the complete antithesis of Pilgrims. In fact, they looked upon the
    New England Puritans with suspicion and disdain.
  • Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at Ft. Moultrie on Sullivan's Island in 1827-28. His story
    'The Gold Bug' is set on Sullivan's Island. Other Poe stories which use Charleston as
    a setting include "The Oblong Box" and  of course, one of the most famous Poe
    stories is titled "The Black Cat."

  • In the low country Gullah culture, Black Cats are considered 'plat-eyes' - spirits that
    manifest into the shape of a feline only at night, and are usually found near
    graveyards and cemeteries ... close to home.

  • But of course, the REAL reason is ... Mark & Rebel have a black cat at home named
    Edgar Allan Poe.
Edgar Allan Poe
A B O U T  B L A C K  C A T
Mark's
Books
WICKED CHARLESTON: THE DARK SIDE OF THE HOLY CITY - Debauchery in old Charles Town! A bestseller in a fifth printing!
WICKED CHARLESTON, VOL. II: PROSTITUTES, POLITICS & PROHIBITION - More Sex, Murder & Sin!
PALMETTO PREDATORS: Profiles of nine serial killers in South Carolina.
SOUTH CAROLINA KILLERS: Ten harrowing murder stories between 1903 - 2003.
Rebel's
Novels
THE DEVIL OF CHARLESTON: Revenge, Pirates and Romance! Set in Charles Town, 1718.
SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS: A mysterious haunted mansion leads a lost woman to discover love.
Check availability & buy tickets
BLACK CAT
TICKETS
All material © Black Cat Tours, 2007-2009                           Who is John Galt?
CURRENT MOON
Award Winning DVD
FEATURING
Mark Jones &
Rebel Sinclair




CLICK HERE
for a preview
Member of the
CHARLESTON AREA
CONVENTION &
VISITOR'S BUREAU
"Better than other night tours." ~ New York Times.com                        Featured on MSNBC, National Public Radio, Southern Haunts and Phantoms of History
Advance purchase
STRONGLY recommended.
Limited tickets available.
WE GUARANTEE SMALLER GROUPS
AND NO SMALL CHILDREN!
Call our office
for more info:
8 4 3  -  5 7 1 -  6 8 7 3