I think the company that did the tour in York is called the Original Ghost Walk of York, Contiki arranged it with a guide named Clive and he was fantastic! Clive was the kind of guy who you could tell did ghost tours because he loved the ghost stories themselves, not just to make a buck. He was very authentic, knew the city well and didn't do the theatrics that are often complained about in these types of tours. I did notice other tours in York while we were on ours that had a lot of theatrics, this was not one of them.
In Edinburgh I had a tour with Stuart from Mercat Tours, you could tell the tour was more scripted with a bit of theatrics (but no one jumped out at you). But it was a good tour, it covered a wider variety of the history of Edinburgh. Crime and punishment, life in the city throughout it's history and we went into the underground vaults for most of the ghost stories. It had a lighter, cheesier feel to it compared to my tour in York. But it was still enjoyable and not over the top.
The one thing I liked about both tours was that they made the city come alive a little more and in a different way. I wouldn't necessarily do a ghost tour to learn about a city, but if you're looking for a tour in the evening, or something other then a straight up history tour then a ghost tour is a fun way to see a city. How cheesy you like your tour is up to you, but I did like the more authentic style of tour better.
