Jump to: Historic Ghost Walks | Haunted Pub Crawls | Paranormal Investigations
San Antonio has plenty of ghost stories, and the best way to hear them is from someone who knows the streets, buildings, and cemeteries behind them.
San Antonio ghost tours cover everything from the city’s haunted history and infamous murder cases to hands-on paranormal investigations where you can try using spirit boxes and EMF meters yourself.
Not every tour is the same, though. Some are relaxed history walks, others take you into reportedly haunted locations, and a few pair the stories with drinks along the way.
If you’re deciding how to spend an evening in San Antonio, here’s a look at the tours available and what you can actually expect from each one.
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Historic San Antonio Ghost Tours & Creepy Walks
Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours — Haunted History Walk
Image credit: Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours and Oddities Parlor
Walk through downtown San Antonio with a guide who knows its haunted history inside and out.
Sisters Grimm co-founder Lauren Swartz is a 12th-generation San Antonio native whose family roots stretch back to the city’s founding. She and her husband, James, turned years of local research into The Haunted History of Old San Antonio.
That book helped earn Sisters Grimm a No. 3 ranking among the nation’s ghost tours from USA Today.
Your night begins at the Menger Hotel’s Oddities Parlor, where guides with names like Elizabeth Decay and Graveyard Greg introduce you to one of San Antonio’s most haunted landmarks.
The hotel reportedly has 36 spirits, including Sallie White, a chambermaid shot by her husband in 1876.
You may also hear about Captain Richard King, the King Ranch founder who died at the hotel in 1885 and is reportedly spotted near the King Suite, or Teddy Roosevelt, whose ghost is said to linger in the bar where he recruited his Rough Riders in 1898.
From there, you’ll walk through Alamo Plaza, Main Plaza, and Military Plaza, covering nearly a mile and a half of downtown history, chilling accounts, and reported paranormal activity.
When: Runs nightly
Where: Various locations in San Antonio
How Much: Starts at $25
RJA Ghost Tours — Historical Ghost Walking Tour
Image credit: RJA Ghost Tours
Before you head into the dark, RJA Ghost Tours gives you a crash course in what paranormal investigators actually look for.
You’ll meet your guide at the Crockett Tavern inside the Crockett Hotel, built on land that formed part of the original Alamo compound during the 1836 battle.
There, certified paranormal investigator David Segar introduces you to concepts like residual and intelligent hauntings, electronic voice phenomena (EVPs), and electromagnetic field readings. You can bring your cameras, too.
The tour then takes you to the Alamo and the Menger Hotel, both associated with frequent reports of paranormal activity, including photographic orbs captured by past guests. The Menger has also been voted the fourth-most-haunted spot in Texas.
If you’re heading into the RJA’s gift shop after the tour, just know that it is reportedly built over a cemetery. So, if the weird creepy feeling continues up to there, don’t panic. It’s all part of the experience.
When: Runs nightly
Where: Various locations in San Antonio
How Much: Starts at $25
Bad Wolf Ghost Tours — Ghost Walk
Image credit: Bad Wolf Ghost Tours
Built in 1926 as a medical arts building, San Antonio’s Emily Morgan Hotel once housed dentists, psychologists, and trauma specialists, along with a morgue. Just the perfect recipe to create some hauntings, if you ask us.
Bad Wolf Ghost Tours gets into the specifics of the reported hauntings, specifically the seventh floor, formerly associated with the psychiatric ward; the ninth floor, where surgery took place; and the 14th floor, where the morgue was located.
Guests have reported an antiseptic smell on the 14th floor and apparitions of patients in hospital gowns knocking on doors.
From there, you’ll have roughly 12 more stops and a walk around roughly a mile of downtown San Antonio.
Along the way, you’ll hear about the Crockett Hotel and its ties to the Alamo, the famously haunted Menger Hotel, and the San Antonio River Walk’s darker past, including its reputation as a high-crime corridor through the 1950s and its history of multiple murders.
The walk begins and ends at the Bad Wolf Occult Shop on Houston Street, making it one of the few San Antonio ghost tours to start and end inside a haunted building in its own right. You can also browse the century-old shop before setting out or return afterward for a tarot reading or aura photo.
When: Runs nightly at 8 pm
Where: Various locations in San Antonio
How Much: S$25 for adults | $20 for kids 21 and under
Ghost City Tours — Ghosts of Old San Antonio
Meet outside the Menger Hotel at 300 Alamo Plaza and prepare for a walk through the stories that have made downtown San Antonio a favorite destination for ghost hunters.
The Ghosts of Old San Antonio tour leans into the city’s best-known haunted landmarks, mixing local history with accounts of unexplained encounters.
One of the opening stories centers on the Alamo. According to paranormal accounts shared on the tour, six fire-wielding spirits appeared after the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836 and drove away Mexican soldiers who had been sent to destroy the mission.
You’ll also visit the Spanish Governor’s Palace, built in 1749 and reportedly haunted by murdered victims and the ghosts of children, and San Fernando Cathedral, where visitors have claimed to see faces appear in the walls and reported encounters with phantom priests.
This is one of the best San Antonio ghost tours that accommodate all ages, strollers, and wheelchairs and is a popular choice for exploring San Antonio’s haunted history on foot.
When: Runs nightly at 8 pm and 9 pm
Where: Various locations in San Antonio
How Much: $29.99 for adults | $14.99 for kids 6 – 11 | Free for kids 0 – 5
Ghost City Tours — Madames and Mayhem
San Antonio’s old vice districts have plenty of stories that don’t usually make it into the family-friendly version of a ghost tour.
Ghost City Tours’ Madames and Mayhem starts at the Bexar County Courthouse fountain and digs into the city’s Wild West brothels, notorious outlaws, violent deaths, and reported demonic activity.
You’ll also hear about the Cadillac Bar, a historic saloon reportedly still haunted by bootleggers, and the Spanish Governor’s Palace. Despite its name, the palace wasn’t actually a governor’s residence; it served as a military fortification, adding another layer of context to the stories associated with the site.
This adults-only walking tour is for ages 16 and up, so expect darker subject matter as you explore the people and places behind downtown’s more unsettling history.
When: Runs nightly at 9 pm
Where: Various locations in San Antonio
How Much: $34.99 per person
River City Ghosts — San Antonio Apparitions Ghost Tour
La Villita, the historic neighborhood just south of the Alamo, has a past that’s considerably stranger than its charming streets might suggest.
On the San Antonio Apparitions Ghost Tour, River City Ghosts shares an account of a 19th-century doctor who reportedly collected and boiled the heads of deceased Comanche warriors to study their skulls.
The route also takes you past the Tower Life Building, where multiple suicides have reportedly occurred, including the 1929 death of one of the brothers who built it.
You’ll also hear stories about the Emily Morgan Hotel’s former psychiatric ward, surgical floor, and morgue, along with accounts of Davy Crockett’s ghost at the Alamo.
The standard tour lasts about an hour, making it one of the shorter San Antonio ghost tours exploring the city’s haunted history, but an extended version adds another 30 minutes for more stories.
When: Runs nightly at 8 pm
Where: Various locations in San Antonio
How Much: $26 for adults | $17 for kids 7 – 17 | Free for children under 6
Walking Tours of San Antonio — Ultimate Ghost and Murder Walk
An alleged ghost photograph is an unusual way to begin a haunted-history tour, but that’s what you’ll be hearing about at the Walking Tours of San Antonio.
The Ultimate Ghost and Murder Walk opens at the Spanish Governor’s Palace, where the company says it has photographic evidence of a ghost dating back to 1868.
From there, the walk continues to San Fernando Cathedral and Main Plaza before reaching the Majestic Theatre, which opened in 1929 and was then the second-largest theater in the United States.
Reported hauntings at the theater include a magician who once performed there regularly, and ballerinas said to have died at the venue. Staff and visitors have reportedly encountered the dancers long after the performances ended.
The tour combines paranormal accounts with true-crime stories, giving you a look at the murders and unexplained events woven into San Antonio’s history.
When: Runs nightly at 7 pm and 8 pm
Where: Various locations in San Antonio
How Much: $26 for adults | $12 for kids 10 and under
Spooky Haunted Pub Crawls & Alamo Ghosts Walks
Bad Wolf Ghost Tours — Haunted Pub Crawl
Bad Wolf Ghost Tours calls this the first and oldest haunted pub crawl in Texas, with more than a decade of tours and TV appearances behind it.
You’ll get free cover at four bars along the route, where your guide shares the history and reported paranormal encounters tied to each location.
The evening begins at the Bad Wolf Occult Shop on Houston Street, a building more than 118 years old that’s reportedly haunted itself. From there, your guide leads you through a rotating selection of bars, with stops varying by night.
Along the way, you’ll hear about the darker side of Alamo Plaza and the River Walk, including the corridor’s history of violent crime and documented murders.
Bring your camera, too: paranormal photography is encouraged throughout the crawl, and the tour reports that guests regularly capture unexplained phenomena in their pictures.
When: Runs Friday and Saturday nights at 10 pm
Where: Various locations in San Antonio
How Much: $30
Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours — Ghost Bus & Pub Crawl
Image credit: Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours and Oddities Parlor
An air-conditioned bus makes all the difference when your haunted pub crawl ventures beyond downtown’s usual walking-tour circuit.
Sisters Grimm starts at its Oddities Parlor at 204 Alamo Plaza, then takes you to haunted drinking spots that are harder to reach on foot, including Hotel Havana along the Museum Reach section of the River Walk.
Built in 1914, the Mediterranean Revival hotel has a candlelit basement bar and its own collection of ghost stories, including accounts passed down among hotel staff.
The Menger Bar is another stop. It opened in 1859 and is the oldest continuously operating hotel west of the Mississippi. Teddy Roosevelt recruited his Rough Riders at the bar in 1898, and his ghost is reportedly still spotted there in military uniform.
You’ll also hear about Sallie White, a chambermaid shot by her husband in 1876, whose coffin the hotel paid for, and Captain Richard King, the King Ranch founder who died at the hotel.
Sisters Grimm earned a No. 3 national ranking among ghost tours from USA Today, and this bus-and-bar format lets you explore haunted locations beyond the usual downtown route.
When: Runs nightly
Where: Various locations in San Antonio
How Much: $60
Nightly Spirits — Booze & Boos Ghost Walking Tour
Image credit: Nightly Spirits
San Antonio’s haunted nightlife gets especially dark at the Gunter Hotel, where a 1965 murder case remains part of the building’s chilling lore.
On February 8, 1965, a housekeeper named Maria Luisa Guerra reportedly opened Room 636 to find Walter Emerick standing over a blood-soaked bed, holding a box. Strangely, no victim’s body was ever found, and investigators believed the remains had been disposed of in wet cement at a nearby construction site.
Emerick wasn’t immediately jailed. He then fled to the St. Anthony Hotel and shot himself. The case remained officially unsolved for 45 years, while reports of a woman’s ghost near Room 636 and unexplained hammering from the empty room continued.
Nightly Spirits takes you into both hotels on the same tour.
At the Gunter, you’ll also stop at Bar 414, named after Room 414, where blues musician Robert Johnson recorded his first session on November 23, 1936. His ghost is reportedly still seen there, alongside accounts of two flappers from the 1920s.
At the St. Anthony, you can also settle in at the bar named Haunt, where the cocktail menu features drinks named after individual ghosts associated with the hotel. Keep your ears sharp for stories about the Lady in Red, a well-dressed apparition reportedly spotted in the lobby and women’s bathroom.
When: Runs nightly
Where: Various locations in San Antonio
How Much: $29.95
River City Ghosts — Spirits & Spirits Haunted Pub Crawl
Your first drink comes with a serious dose of Alamo history at the Crockett Hotel.
Built in 1909 on the southeast palisade of the original Alamo compound, the hotel occupies ground associated with the 1836 battle and the deaths of Davy Crockett and the other defenders.
The hotel’s pool and patio area sit over part of that historic ground, and reports of paranormal activity include unexplained knocks on guest room doors at 3:14 a.m., allegedly linked to Crockett’s ghost.
The lobby, bar, and several individual rooms have also been associated with reported activity.
From there, River City Ghosts takes you to the Emily Morgan Hotel, which USA Today ranked the third-most-haunted hotel in the world in 2015.
Look up at its exterior gargoyles, each depicting a medical ailment that reflects the building’s original use as a Medical Arts Building. Inside, reports include apparitions of nurses pushing gurneys on the seventh, ninth, and 14th floors, formerly associated with the psychiatric ward, surgery, and morgue.
The Menger Hotel and Majestic Theatre complete the four-stop crawl.
When: Runs nightly at 6:30 pm
Where: Various locations in San Antonio
How Much: $29
Bad Wolf Ghost Tours — Haunted Dinner Tour at the Emily Morgan Hotel
Dinner at the Emily Morgan Hotel comes with a side of haunted history.
The Haunted Dinner Tour gives you time inside the building before the walking tour begins. You’ll enjoy a three-course dinner while a Bad Wolf guide explains the hotel’s history, including the basement morgue, the former psychiatric ward on the seventh floor, the surgery level on the ninth, and the 14th floor, where the building skips the number 13.
Guests have reported an antiseptic smell and apparitions of nurses pushing gurneys on the upper floors.
After roughly an hour of storytelling over dinner, you can join Bad Wolf’s full 12-stop ghost walk through downtown San Antonio.
To wrap up the night, choose between Moses Rose’s Hideout across the street and the Emily Morgan bar for a Haunted Happy Hour.
When: Runs Fridays – Sundays at 6:45 pm
Where: Various locations in San Antonio
How Much: $75
Ghost Hunting & Paranormal Investigation Tours
Curious Twins Paranormal — City Cemetery #1 Investigation
City Cemetery #1 has some remarkable residents, including Civil War veterans from both sides, more than 300 unidentified soldiers, and 13 Congressional Medal of Honor recipients.
Then there’s Sandra Ilene West, a socialite who died in 1977 and requested burial in her 1964 Ferrari, reclining in a nightgown. Her will even stipulated that her brother-in-law could inherit the remainder of her estate only if he followed those instructions. He did.
You’ll visit her grave during this investigation, which takes place entirely inside San Antonio’s oldest cemetery, established in 1853.
Curious Twins runs the only San Antonio ghost tours experience set entirely inside an active cemetery from start to finish.
The 90-minute investigation begins with a guided walk through the grounds, where your certified investigator guides explain the history behind specific graves, decode symbols carved into 19th-century headstones, and share reports of paranormal activity around the grounds.
Then comes your chance to investigate for yourself. You’ll get to try equipment such as EMF meters and spirit boxes, learn how to use it, and spend the final 30 minutes exploring alongside the group.
When: Runs Fridays at 6:30 pm
Where: City Cemetery #1, 01023-000-0010, San Antonio, TX 78203
How Much: $25
Curious Twins Paranormal — Victoria’s Black Swan Inn Investigation
Victoria’s Black Swan Inn has attracted paranormal investigators, television crews, and podcast researchers for years.
During a 2013 episode of Ghost Adventures, Aaron Goodwin reportedly captured a figure looking through a window on a thermal camera, while the team recorded unexplained footsteps and attempted to communicate with the deceased mother of property owner Jo Ann Rivera. Rivera moved into the house in 1987 and still lives there.
The property has also appeared on TLC’s Gates to the Underworld and was covered by the Red Web podcast in April 2026. For a location with this much reported paranormal activity, there’s plenty of history to investigate before you even pick up an EMF meter.
Rivera’s accounts are particularly unsettling. She has described a male presence that reportedly attacks male guests and inappropriately touches female guests, a child’s spirit that plays pranks and throws tantrums around living children, and a young woman seen sitting on a bed.
She’s also recounted waking up to find a man standing over her and described a dark presence in a closet as “a black hole in the air.”
Guests have also reportedly experienced electronics losing battery power unusually quickly, too.
Curious Twins limits these investigations to 20 guests, so you’ll have room to participate rather than simply watch from the back of a crowd. Certified psychic medium Fred Garza-Guzman investigates alongside you, and each guest receives paranormal investigation equipment.
When: Runs Fridays at 6:30 pm
Where: Victoria’s Black Swan Inn, 1006 Holbrook Rd Ste A, San Antonio, TX 78218
How Much: $25
Know Before You Go: Getting Around San Antonio’s Scary Attractions
Most downtown ghost walks meet near Alamo Plaza or Main Plaza, so you can usually get to the starting point without much trouble if you’re staying in central San Antonio.
Paranormal investigations and haunted attractions may take you farther out, including to Selma, Devine, and Helotes, where you’ll need to factor in a drive of roughly 20 to 30 minutes from downtown.
Check the meeting address before booking, and reserve ahead if you’re planning a Friday or Saturday night visit during Halloween season. Popular dates can fill up quickly.
Common Questions About San Antonio Ghost Tours
What is the best ghost tour in San Antonio?
Sisters Grimm and RJA focus on the city’s history and ghost stories, while Bad Wolf offers a haunted pub crawl if you’d rather hear local legends with a drink in hand.
For a more hands-on experience, look at paranormal investigations that let you try the equipment yourself.
Are ghost tours in San Antonio worth it?
Yes, if you enjoy local history, old buildings, or a good ghost story. You’ll hear accounts tied to San Antonio’s past, from historic landmarks to reportedly haunted hotels and cemeteries.
Just keep in mind that paranormal activity is part of the tour’s lore, not something you’re guaranteed to witness.
Are these ghost walks kid-friendly?
Some are. Traditional history-focused walks, including Sisters Grimm’s Haunted History Walk, may suit families, but check the age guidance for the specific tour before bringing children.
Pub crawls are for adults, and late-night investigations or scream parks may have age restrictions or more intense content. Check the rules before you book.
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