The Dublin House is said to be one of the most haunted locations in Red Bank, with a history that dates back hundreds of years. PHOTOS BY JEREMY GROSSMAN/STAFF Having a ghost is good for business. At least that seems to be the case for the Dublin House, which, according to Tabitha Bradley, is one of the most haunted locations in Red Bank.
“[Being haunted] hasn’t hurt the Dublin House, I’ll tell you that right now,” said Bradley, owner of Jersey Shore Ghost Tours. “I would say at least 70 percent of my guests in Red Bank spend some time in the Dublin House.”
In the weeks leading up to Halloween, Bradley returns to Red Bank with her seasonal ghost tours, which she has been conducting in Red Bank since 2009. The tours take place every Friday night through Oct. 31.
Red Bank is one of two towns where Bradley holds ghost tours; the other is her hometown of Keyport. But while Bradley said Keyport residents are huge fans of the tour — she was even approached by a resident begging to have her haunted home featured on the tour — Red Bank residents do not take much of an interest in the Red Bank Ghost Tour.
A picture frame in the Dublin House was mysteriously turned to its side, despite the fact that employees do not have access to get inside the glass case. “We’ve had folks from other states come in, visiting from out of town,” Bradley said. “We had someone two weeks ago that was visiting from Florida that grew up in the area and wanted to see the tour. [We have guests from] kind of everywhere, but not really locally.”
Bradley said she wishes more Red Bank residents would join in so that they could contribute to the tour by sharing their own experiences.
“We actually had someone recently on the Red Bank tour [tell] our guide at the start of the tour, ‘Oh, I hope you don’t stop at my place, I hope you don’t stop at my place.’ … And we did in fact stop at her place,” Bradley said.
The Red Bank Ghost Tour takes place at 8:30 p.m. every Friday until Halloween and meets in front of the Dublin House. “When she heard some of the history of the building … she was completely in agreement, like, ‘Oh my gosh, I always wondered why that stairwell always frightened me. I had such a cold feeling when I went down there.’ ”
The tour begins at the Dublin House on Monmouth Street and travels through Monmouth, Broad and Front streets before circling back to the Dublin House. And if the Dublin House is any indication, business owners in Red Bank could make a hefty profit by speaking up if their business is a spooky site.
“When people share … things that have happened, you better bet that folks go there and check it out,” she said. “They’re getting people in the door, so if they have had an experience, I want them to tell me so I can get people to come check it out themselves and see if they have had a similar experience while they’re in their business.”
The Dublin House staff is happy to discuss the pub’s reputation. Waitress Meghan Matonti, who has worked there for more than eight years, was excited to discuss the ghostly Mrs. Patterson, the establishment’s former owner, who is said to turn on lights and throw glasses.
“When the coffee house used to be upstairs, coffee would brew by itself,” Matonti said.
One of Matonti’s most terrifying memories is when she arrived at work one day to find that a picture frame — located inside a sealed glass case — was turned to its side, which would have been impossible for someone to do without destroying the case.
While Bradley relishes stories of the dead, her tours help to breathe life into a town whose residents may think they already know everything there is to know about Red Bank.
“[Residents who take the tour] can expect to be a little creeped out about a place that’s very familiar to them during the daytime, and walk away with a little bit of history [and] some intriguing things that they didn’t know about their town,” Bradley said. For more information on Red Bank Ghost Tours and to reserve a spot, call 732- 500-6262.