Best Houston Ghost Tours

Houston easily ranks as the city with the most spooky places in all of Texas. I'll show you some of the best tours to learn about those stories.

Andressa García

Andressa García

10 min read

Best Houston Ghost Tours

Houston by night | ©Ken Lund

From the well-known haunting of the Galvez Hotel on Galveston Island to the horror stories at the Spaghetti Warehouse, a good tour of the city's streets will give you a taste of the dark history behind it, so if you like to be scared, these tours are some of the best things to see and do in Houston.

These tours take place at night and take you to places that do indeed have a lot of paranormal stories. In addition to hearing these stories from the tour guides, you can also experience for yourself the sensation of walking through a haunted place, an experience for the more daring.

1. Tour Houston's haunted pubs and haunted places

Houston Pub Crawl| ©Ed Schipul
Houston Pub Crawl| ©Ed Schipul

This is a dual experience that you can enjoy whether you want to learn more about downtown Houston's most famous ghosts, or you want to have a fun time enjoying the city's most iconic pubs and bars. It's a tour for everyone and ideal if you want to meet new people.

Throughout the tour you'll be able to visit the trendiest pubs and taste the most popular drinks, so this also counts as one of the best wine tours in Houston. You will be accompanied by your expert tour guide who will tell you the history of each of the quintessential haunted places in downtown.

The tour will start in the late afternoon, with the intention of giving you a chance to see the streets of the city in the evening hours. Definitely a good time to hear about the spookiest ghost stories in the area.

Details of interest

  • Price: This experience has an approximate price of 37 euros per person.
  • Duration: It can take around 2 and a half hours to do this tour.
  • Means of transport: You will have to get to the starting point on your own, while the rest of the experience is done on foot.
  • Benefits of this tour: An experienced local guide is included. Also included is admission to four haunted bars and Houston's spookiest ghost stories. You will be given a Houston-themed gift cooler or mug to take home.
  • Disadvantages of this tour: Alcoholic beverages are not included and are at your own expense. Gratuities are also not included in the base price of the tour. The tour is not wheelchair friendly.

Tour Houston's Pubs and Haunted Places

2. Ghosts of Houston: Haunted City Explore Game

Downtown Aquarium| ©hannah sl0an
Downtown Aquarium| ©hannah sl0an

This is an amazing and fun Halloween adventure to do any time of the year. It consists of a game of clues that will appear on your phone to take you to the next point in your journey. Each of these locations are part of a spooky story that will be told as you unravel each mystery.

The best part of this experience is that as you unravel each mystery in the story, you will learn about each secret and haunted location in Houston. It's an ideal experience for those who like fun but also like mystery. Because of the time of day, it's an excellent choice of things to do in Houston at night.

Some of the places you will visit during your tour are: the Downtown Aquarium, Alley Theater and the Esperson. You can also visit other lesser known places in the city, and the place where John F. Kennedy was the night before his assassination. You can also visit an ecological park. The whole tour will have an incredible history.

Interesting details

  • Price: You can experience this outdoor experience at an approximate price of 144 euros per person.
  • Duration: The tour lasts two and a half hours, more or less.
  • Means of transport: The tour is on foot, so you will have to get to the meeting point on your own.
  • Benefits of this tour: The exploration game is included to download to your phone. The walking tour is also included along with a tour guide, and you will also have 24/7 customer support for the time prior to booking the experience. This is a private tour so only your group will participate.
  • Disadvantages of this tour: The weather must be good for the experience to take place.

3. Houston's Haunted History Tour

Houston Haunted History Tour| ©Megan
Houston Haunted History Tour| ©Megan

This is one of the spookiest supernatural experiences you can have in Houston, so I recommend that you take this tour with adults only, as it is not suitable for children. During the tour, you'll get a first-hand look at the most harrowing and terrifying stories of a city that has so much to tell.

In each of the places on this tour, which is definitely one of the best tours in Houston, you will get to know a different story. In addition, you will have the opportunity to hear the terrifying stories from the voices of the witnesses themselves.

You will also have the opportunity to learn about the history of the city and how it is linked to supernatural encounters. The tour takes about an hour, during which you'll walk to each of the locations proposed by your tour guide, who will make sure you don't miss any of Houston's iconic spooky locations.

Details of interest

  • Price: You can experience this paranormal encounter with history from 27 euros per person.
  • Duration: The tour lasts approximately one hour.
  • Means of transport: The tour is on foot, so you will have to make your own way to the meeting point.
  • Advantages of this tour: The tour guide is included and will accompany you throughout the experience. Also included are real stories told by people who have experienced the appearance of supernatural presences.
  • Disadvantages of this tour: Transport to and from your hotel accommodation is not included, nor is lunch during the tour.

4. Spooky walking tour of Houston with costumed guide

Tour Group| ©Haunted Houston Tours
Tour Group| ©Haunted Houston Tours

This will be a spooky but fun walking tour with a costumed tour guide who will show you truly haunted sites such as Buffalo Bayou, Market Square Park and the Conservatory Underground Market. All of these places have dark stories that you have to know.

Not only that, but your guide will also tell you everything you need to know about Houston's history and how it is closely linked to ghost stories.

The walk will last approximately two and a half hours, and since it's a spooky and fun experience, it's a great activity to do in Houston with kids.

Details of interest

  • Price: This tour can be priced at approximately 30 euros per person.
  • Duration: The tour can take approximately 2 and a half hours.
  • Means of transport: You must get to the meeting point on your own. Once there, the tour will continue on foot.
  • Advantages of this tour: The tour guide with all the knowledge of the dark history of the city is included. It is not too scary not to bring children. There will be a maximum of 10 people per experience. It is not cancelled due to weather conditions.
  • Disadvantages of this tour: Tips, drinks and meals are not included. Transportation to and from the hotel or accommodation is not included. Not suitable for wheelchair users.

Duration of Houston Ghost Tours

Clock| ©Cats Coming
Clock| ©Cats Coming

The duration of these types of tours varies greatly according to what you're going to see and how many places you'll visit. A tour that takes you through the city centre to show you some of the most iconic places might last around one to one and a half hours.

In case you want to choose a much longer family tour, with more places to see and many more stories to discover, the tour can be extended to two hours. On the other hand, if you choose the kind of experience that involves searching for clues and is completed in the form of a game, the time can be extended even further.

As long as the tour has a specific duration, you can have the option to extend it for an additional fee. The duration can also vary depending on the quality of the group and how enjoyable the trip is. It also depends on the type of transport you use - if you are on foot it may take longer than by car.

Another determining factor in the duration of this type of tour is undoubtedly the number of stories you will hear and hear along the way. When the experience includes storytelling by people who have lived a certain paranormal experience, you may last longer than expected on the tour.

What will I get to know on these tours?

Alley Theatre| ©Ed Schipul
Alley Theatre| ©Ed Schipul

Mostly you will learn about Houston's most famous ghost stories. Needless to say, Houston is one of the spookiest and most haunted cities in the United States, so there is no shortage of ghost stories.

You'll also hear about paranormal experiences from people who have experienced one, and if you're lucky, you might even get to hear about a real paranormal experience of your own. Ghost stories in the city vary according to where the story takes place, some are in hotels, others in restaurants.

You won't just hear ghost stories, because on most of these types of tours you'll get to hear first-hand the general history of the city, from its formation to the present day. And in fact, on some family tours you can hear more than just spooky stories, you can hear interesting and even funny stories.

Back to the paranormal theme, you will surely meet some of the most popular and likable spirits of the city, because not all stories are dark and scary, you will also hear stories of love whose protagonists became urban legends of this city.

Tips for a ghost tour in Houston

Comfortable shoes| ©Alexandra Tran
Comfortable shoes| ©Alexandra Tran
  • If you want to go with children first make sure the tour is kid-friendly. There are many family-friendly tours, so aim to get one of those.
  • Make sure you wear appropriate clothing for the weather as most experiences are cancelled due to weather changes.
  • If you are a person with mobility problems, I recommend that you think very carefully before doing this type of walking tour because it can be a real problem for you.
  • Wear comfortable shoes because in all the experiences you will be walking more than 2.5 kilometres.
  • Note that none of the experiences include food or drinks, so I recommend you eat before you start the walk because you won't have a chance to eat during the tour.
  • Make sure that there will be public transport near the starting and ending points of the tour.
  • If you are a wheelchair user or a wheelchair user, then make sure to choose tours that provide wheelchair-friendly tours.

What are the must-see places on a ghost tour in Houston?

Houston Zoo| ©vagueonthehow
Houston Zoo| ©vagueonthehow

As Houston is a city with many iconic and mostly spooky places, it is common for you to visit the places where there is estimated to be the most paranormal activity in the city. Among these places are the Houston Zoo, the ICON Hotel, La Carafe or Hermann Park. Each has its own spooky stories.

Houston Zoo

This is one of the most incredibly haunted places in Houston. In fact, one of the experiences that haunts the site in question tells the story of a zookeeper at the Houston Zoo, in fact the first of them, who was caught by the police trying to spy on some teenagers who were in a nearby car.

The policeman, upon discovering this person, had the idea of shooting him. Since then it is said that the soul of this zookeeper, Hans Nagel, keeps appearing in the zoo when the gates are closed and the lights are turned off.

If you don't want to wait for the lights to go out to experience the Zoo's splendour, I recommend buying the Houston CityPass, which allows you to visit the city's most iconic sights at no extra cost.

La Carafe

This is definitely one of Houston's most haunted bars. But it's also one of the oldest places to stop by for a glass of wine or a beer. La Carafe is such an old bar that the cash register doesn't accept debit or credit cards, so you'll have to go with cash to pay.

On the other hand, and going back to the spookiness of this place, if there's one thing there's no doubt about, it's that this tavern is haunted. Occasional seances are held upstairs. The bar's employees also report that they have often seen bottles falling over on their own.

The atmosphere of the bar itself is really creepy, because it is kept by candlelight and it is almost always dark inside, so from the moment you arrive the vibe is already heavy and it becomes a completely creepy atmosphere that grips you from start to finish.

Why is it advisable to take a ghost tour in Houston?

At La Carafe| ©M&R Glasgow
At La Carafe| ©M&R Glasgow

It is mainly recommended to do a tour of this kind if you are a great lover of scary stories, interesting stories and above all if you are interested in everything that has to do with the development of a city. I recommend you to do this tour whether you are a local or a tourist in Houston, because it is a way to get to know the other side of the city.

On the other hand, I love this kind of ghost tours because it gives you the opportunity to learn more about the protagonists of these stories, how their lives were in the past and why they are now in this kind of limbo, where they live in the city of Houston but from beyond the grave.

I recommend doing this tour in a guided way because it is much more fun to live the experience in a group and with a person who will guide you through all the spookiest places in the city because that way you are guaranteed to learn things you didn't know before. And look on the bright side, if something scary happens, at least you'll have company.

And of course I recommend you take any of these ghost tours because **Houston'**s reputation as a haunted city is not in vain, so it's a real waste if you visit the city and don't dare to take a ghost tour to get to know the dark side of the city.