Haunted Tours

Three centuries of plague, war, voodoo, and violence have left a residue in New Orleans that no amount of tourism can dilute. The French Quarter sits on top of former cemeteries. St. Louis Cathedral faces a plaza where public executions drew crowds. The LaLaurie Mansion on Royal Street, where one of the most documented cases of torture in American history was discovered in 1834, still stands — and still unsettles. Ghost tours here don't manufacture atmosphere. The city does that entirely on its own.

When visiting, immerse yourself in the hauntings with a stay at historic spots like the Hotel St. Marie, Bourbon Orleans Hotel, Bienville House, or Place d'Armes Hotel. For chilling experiences, check out the French Quarter Ghost Tour, the Haunted Ghost, Voodoo & Vampire Walking Tour, or the True Crime Pub Crawl.

Savannah is regularly cited as the most haunted city in America, and the case is not hard to make. The city was built over its own dead. Bodies displaced during construction still lie beneath Forsyth Park, Colonial Park Cemetery, and the foundations of private homes that have been occupied for two hundred years. The Mercer Williams House, the Marshall House Hotel — which served as a Civil War hospital and kept the amputated limbs in the basement — and the cobblestone squares at night combine to create a place that feels haunted even in full daylight.

Experience the eerie elegance by staying at the Hamilton-Turner Inn, The Desoto Savannah, Planters Inn, or the Cambria Hotel. Discover the dark past on the Fraidy Cat Ghost Tour, the Adults-Only Dead of Night Walking Tour, or the Spirits & Spirits Haunted Pub Crawl.

Salem carries the weight of 1692 everywhere you look. Twenty people were executed for witchcraft. An entire community tore itself apart under pressure, suspicion, and fear. The Witch Trials Memorial, the Proctor's Ledge execution site, and the Peabody Essex Museum hold the documented history. The ghost tours hold everything the documents left out. October transforms Salem into a full month of programming, walking tours, and candlelit evenings that draw visitors from around the world. But Salem in February — quiet, cold, and almost entirely yours — is its own kind of unforgettable.

Embrace the history with accommodations at The Hotel Salem, Daniels House Inn, the historic Hawthorne Hotel, or The Salem Inn. For an immersive experience, take the Mysteries & Murder Guided Walking Tour, the Witch Trial History Tour, or the Boos and Brews Haunted Pub Crawl.

More Americans died at Gettysburg in three days in July 1863 than in the entire War of 1812. The battlefield draws more paranormal investigators annually than almost anywhere else in the country, and the volume and consistency of reported phenomena — apparitions on Cemetery Ridge, voices in the Triangular Field, figures at the windows of the Farnsworth House — have made it the most documented haunted location in American history. The overnight ghost tours here cover the battlefield after dark, when the monuments are lit only by moonlight and the quiet is complete.

Stay close to the haunting grounds at the Inn at Lincoln Square, Hotel Gettysburg, Brickhouse Inn, or the Inn at Cemetery Hill. Investigate the unknown with the Ghost Hunt Tour, a Small Group Paranormal Investigation, or the Civil War Ghosts Boos & Booze Pub Crawl.

Founded by Spanish settlers in 1565, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States, which means it has had more time than anywhere else in the country to accumulate its dead. The Old Jail, the Castillo de San Marcos, the Huguenot Cemetery, and the Flagler College campus — originally a hotel built in 1888 — have all produced decades of consistent paranormal reports. Walking the city at night, with its narrow streets and gas lamps and the smell of salt air off the Matanzas River, the history doesn't feel past. It feels present.

Rest your spirits at the quaint Agustin Inn, the Guy Harvey Resort, the AC Hotel Downtown, or the Casablanca Inn on the Bay. Unveil the mysteries with the Haunted Dixie House Investigation, a Semi-Private Paranormal Investigation, or a True Crime Guided Pub Crawl.

The Alamo is the most visited site in Texas, and it is also one of the most reported haunted locations in the state. The 1836 battle killed more than 200 Texan defenders in a matter of hours, and the site has documented paranormal activity going back to the days of the Mexican Army, whose soldiers reportedly refused orders to demolish it after the battle because of what they said they encountered inside. The River Walk turns atmospheric after dark, the Spanish Governor's Palace carries four centuries of colonial history, and San Antonio's ghost tours connect all of it into a single evening that earns the early alarm the next morning.

Base your spectral encounters at the Plaza San Antonio Hotel & Spa, Drury Plaza Hotel Riverwalk, Kimpton Santo San Antonio, or the legendary Menger Hotel. Explore the unknown on an Historical Ghost Tour, the subterranean Natural Bridge Caverns Hidden Wonders Tour, or the Spirits & Spirits Haunted Pub Crawl.