Like any town that has a long history, Hillsborough has its share of haunted places -- and on Halloween, if you summon your courage, you can explore them.

The Alliance for Historic Hillsborough will lead a series of "Spirits of Hillsborough" guided tours Friday night.

The tours will leave from the Alexander Dickson House, 150 E. King St., at 7, 7:30, 8 and 8:30 p.m.

Among the spirits you may feel brush by you in the darkness is that of a young woman named Nancy Hamilton. No one is known to have seen her ghost, but in life she wore lilac-scented perfume, and if she passes by you may catch the fragrance of lilac in the night air

At Hillsbrough Presybterian Church, more than one person claims to have seen the figure of a man wearing a jacket and riding pants walk through a doorway -- with the door closed.

Many around here know the story of the Regulators, a movement of residents who rose up in revolt against corrupt local officials in the pre-Revolutionary War Piedmont. After Governor Tryon defeated the Regulators at the Battle of Alamance, six of the vanquished rebels were hanged on a hill in Hillsborough. The site now is marked by a plaque noting the executions and, it seems, by the spirits of the doomed men.

Then there's the old ice house where two men long ago became trapped and froze to death. If you're there at just the right time, some say you can still hear them banging on the door in vain.

Tickets can be purchased in advance or the days of the tour at the Orange County Visitors Center at the Alexander Dickson House, 150 E. King St. in Hillsborough. Cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 5-15.