Ghost and Mystery Tours in Houston

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.
Ghost and Mystery Tours in Houston

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More about: Ghost and Mystery Tours in Houston

From the well known haunting story of the Galvez Hotel on Galveston Island to the horror stories at Spaghetti Warehouse, a good tour through the streets of the city will let you know the dark history it hides, so if you like to be scared, these tours are one of the best things to see and do in Houston.

These tours take place at night and take you to know the places that indeed have many paranormal stories. In addition to hearing these stories from the tour guides, you can also experience on your own the feeling of touring a haunted place, definitely an experience for the more daring.

1. Tour of 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 the most famous ghosts of downtown Houston, or you want to have a fun time enjoying the most iconic pubs and bars of the city. It is a tour for all tastes and ideal if you want to meet new people.

Throughout the tour you will 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 have the company of your expert tour guide who will tell you the history of each of the quintessential haunted places in downtown.

The tour will begin 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 most chilling stories of the ghosts of the area.

Details of interest

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

Tour Houston's pubs and haunted places

2. Ghosts of Houston: haunted city exploration 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 is an ideal experience for those who like fun but also like mystery. Because of the schedule, it is an excellent option among the 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. All this tour will have an incredible history.

Details of interest

  • Price: You can live this outdoor experience at an approximate price of 144 euros per person.
  • Duration: The tour has a duration of two and a half hours, more or less.
  • Means of transportation: The tour is on foot, so you will have to get to the meeting point on your own.
  • Advantages 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 service during the time prior to booking the experience. It 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 will get to experience within Houston, so I recommend you take this tour with adults only, because it is not suitable for children. During the tour you will learn firsthand the most harrowing and terrifying stories of this city that has a lot to tell.

In each of the places of this tour, which is definitely one of the best tours in Houston, you will learn a different story. In addition, you will have the opportunity to hear the terrifying stories from the voice of their own witnesses.

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 approximately one hour, during which you will walk to each of the locations proposed by your tour guide, who will also make sure you don't miss any of Houston's iconic spooky places.

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 transportation: The tour is on foot, so you will have to make your own way to the meeting place.
  • Advantages of this tour: The tour guide who will accompany you throughout the experience is included. Also included are real stories told by people who have experienced the appearance of supernatural presences.
  • Disadvantages of this tour: Transportation to and from your hotel is not included, and food is not included 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 also fun walk in the company of a tour guide who will be in costume and show you places that are truly haunted such as Buffalo Bayou, Market Square Park or 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 is a spooky and fun experience, it is indeed a good activity to do in Houston with kids.

Details of interest

  • Price: This tour can be priced at approximately €30 per person.
  • Duration: The tour can take approximately 2 and a half hours.
  • Means of transportation: You must arrive on your own at the meeting point. 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 or meals are not included. Transportation to and from the hotel or lodging site is not included. Not adapted for wheelchair users.

Duration of ghost tours in Houston

Clock| ©Cats Coming
Clock| ©Cats Coming

The duration of these types of tours varies greatly according to what you are going to learn about and how many places you will visit. A tour that takes you through downtown to show you some of the most iconic places could 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 type of experience that leads you to search for clues and is completed in the form of a game, the time can be extended even more.

As long as the tour has a specific duration, you can have the option to extend it if you pay an additional price. 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 transportation you use, if you go on foot it may take longer than by car.

Another determining factor in the duration of this type of tour is undoubtedly the amount of stories you will hear and hear along the way. When the experience includes the narration of stories by people who have lived a certain paranormal experience, you can last longer than you expect doing the tour.

What will I learn on this type of tour?

Alley Theater| ©Ed Schipul
Alley Theater| ©Ed Schipul

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

You're also going to 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. The 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 firsthand 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.

Going back to the paranormal theme, you will surely meet some of the most popular and pleasant spirits of the city, because not all stories are dark and scary, you will also hear love stories 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 tours for the whole family, so aim to get one of those.
  • Try to wear appropriate clothing according to the weather because most of the experiences are not carried out due to the change of weather.
  • If you are a person with mobility problems, I recommend you to think very well before doing this kind of walking tours because it can represent a real problem for you.
  • Wear comfortable shoes because in all the experiences you will walk more than 2.5 kilometers.
  • Keep in mind that none of the experiences include food or drinks, so I recommend you to eat before starting the walk because you will not have the opportunity to eat during the tour.
  • Make sure that there will be public transportation near the starting point and the end point of the tour.
  • If you are a wheelchair user or you go with 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 Houston Zoo keeper, 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, what occurred to him was to shoot him. Since then it is said that the soul of this keeper, named Hans Nagel, keeps appearing around 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 see the Zoo's splendor, I recommend buying Houston CityPass, which allows you to visit the city's most iconic sites at no extra cost.

La Carafe

This is definitely one of the most haunted bars in Houston. But besides that it is 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 creepy feature of this place, if there is one thing there is no doubt about, it is that this tavern is haunted. Occasional séances are held in the upstairs part of the premises. 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 is almost always dark inside, so from the moment you arrive the vibe already starts to be heavy and it becomes a completely creepy atmosphere that grabs 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

Mainly it is advisable to do a tour of this type if you are a great lover of scary stories, interesting stories and especially if you are attracted to everything that has to do with the development of a city. I recommend you to take 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 now they have remained in that kind of limbo, where they live in the city of Houston but from beyond the grave.

I recommend you to do 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 to do 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 tour like this to get to know the dark side of the city.

Reviews from other travellers

4.6
· 868 Reviews
  • V
    V.
    5
    (0 Reviews)
    A very fun experience with a lot of excitement in between. Highly recommended.
  • R
    R.
    5
    (0 Reviews)
    Highly recommended for everyone. The drinks we were offered were quite good, although the bars don't look like much from the outside, they have a nice side.
  • R
    R.
    5
    (0 Reviews)
    It is worth doing.
  • A
    A.
    4
    (0 Reviews)
    The guide was excellent, he was able to tell us each story in a very exciting and intense way, as if we were living it in our own flesh. An unforgettable experience.
  • K
    K.
    5
    (0 Reviews)
    It was an incredible few hours and a lot of fun.