Small world!
I became acquainted with Troy about 8 years ago through some coincidental circumstances. At the time, my brother was working as a candlelight "ghostwalk" storyteller in Gettysburg PA, and Troy happened to be on one of my brother's tours. Troy later included a few of my brother's personal ghost stories (submitted by me :-)) in his book Spirits of the Civil War. We've remained casual friends over the years, though I think it's been about a year since I last talked to him. He's a very unique guy who's fun to talk to.
Since that time, I have read & enjoyed a number of Troy's books, visited his store in Alton IL, and my husband & I have enjoyed a couple of his tours. Several years ago, we went on one of his Alton afternoon/dinner/evening tours - first a Mississippi River ride up to Grafton and back in the riverboat Anastasia, followed by dinner at a little restaurant in Elsah IL, a visit to some cave along the river, then a nighttime driving ghost tour of Alton. Great stories and great fun!
December before last, my husband & I went on one of Troy's Chicago tours along Archer Ave. Obviously, Resurrection Mary figured pretty heavily into this tour, but there were lots of other great stories too. There was just 3 other people and us on the tour, so we stopped off for a drink at Chet's Melody Lounge. I thought that the creepiest part of the tour was some little graveyard (no, it wasn't Bachelor's Grove; unfortunately I can't remember the name), and Rico D's (across from the Willowbrook Ballroom in Willow Springs). It was closed at the time, so we didn't go inside, but there was an eerie glowing light in one of the rear upper floor windows, which combined with the stories Troy was telling on the bus, really creeped me out. It was quite late by the time the tour concluded - we definitely got out money's worth - so the last stop of the night was for a cup of coffee at some coffee house. Once inside, we discovered it was a local grungy teenage hangout. It was just filled with them, practically up the rafters, and those of us on the tour were all old enough to be their parents. We later kidded Troy that the scariest part of the tour was the other patrons at this coffee house :-)
Troy has a marvelous sense of humor, which he interjects throughout his tours and in his writing. Though the stories may be creepy, the tours are also very entertaining. Troy doesn't take himself too seriously. History is as big a thing to him as the ghost stories, and he fills his tours with a great deal of very interesting historical background. He is also very conscientious about rational explanations. For example, if he thinks a story is bunk, he's pretty honest about that. I've never been along for any of his investigations, but my understanding is that he does his best to rule out any rational explanations on those as well. If he tells you he saw or experienced something he couldn't explain, he truly means it.
Haven't been to any of Troy's events, so I can't speak for those... I believe that Linda S. Godfrey is also on the schedule for the Weird Winter Event in Decatur. Let me know if you and your husband go to it - I won't be able to be there and I'd love to hear about it!