Haunting Tours for a Happy Halloween Across the United States

Too old for trick or treating? Tired of the costume party circuit? Are haunted houses dull instead of dreadful?

How about a haunted tour instead?

A haunted tour is usually a guided tour around a city that hits areas said to be infested with the creepy and the kooky, mysterious and spooky. Landmarks where murders, suicides, and all sorts of general unpleasantness have happened, and the previous inhabitants are unwilling to leave well enough alone. Below I've highlighted ten great haunted tours from around the United States. Happy haunting!

1. Ghosts and Legends Tour - Atlanta, Georgia

This tour is not only creepy, it's motorized! After a brief training on how to use Segways, you will be shown the most haunted spots in Atlanta. For two hours you'll be immersed in history and whodunits as you roll through the Underground, the Fairle-Poplar District, and down Peachtree Street. Learn stories about the less genteel side of the historic South as your knowledgeable guides lead you through the dark underbelly of one of the major cities in Dixie.

Available through City Segway Tours. Tours start at 7:00 pm, and run at $60 USD.

2. Ghosts of New York - New York City, New York

Quoth the raven, "Tour some more!"

Okay, I couldn't resist. The Ghosts of New York tours offer something for everyone, including fans of Edgar Allan Poe. These 90 minute walking tours cover places like Greenwich Village and Times Square, and historical figures like Mark Twain, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Additionally, you'll feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up as you hear stories of Algonquin Indians, slaves, and the ghosts of Trinity Churchyard. Most tours are less than a mile walking distance, so you'll have plenty of time for freaking out without peaking out.

You can find these tours at Ghosts of New York . Call for rates. Group discounts are available.

3. Ghosts & Gravestones - Boston, MA

Ghosts & Gravestones takes you to the scariest places in Boston, as only a 17^th century grave digger can know them. Yes, your tour guide is a damned soul sentenced to recount the wretched souls he's encountered and speak of the horrific events he's witnessed. Over two hours, he will lead you through the streets where the Boston Strangler found his prey, inform you of some of the more nefarious participants in the Salem Witch Trials, and acquaint you with some of the heroes of the American Revolution as you visit their final resting places. This is a walking tour.

You can find this tour at Ghosts & Graveyards. Rates run from $30.60 to $35.00. Ghosts & Graveyards also offers tours in Savannah, Georgia and St. Augustine, Florida.

4. Haunted History Tours - New Orleans, Louisiana

Katrina certainly didn't wash away the supernatural in New Orleans! These tours have been covered by a multitude of media, including the Travel Channel, and cover a wide range of New Orleans afterlife. From voodoo to vampires, from the Garden District to the French Quarter, these blood curdling tours are a must for any thrill seeker. Tread lightly through the legendary Vieux Carre, and step carefully through the City of the Dead; the St. Louis Cemetery #1. Do you dare to disturb the resting place of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau? How about take a drink alongside a paranormal patron in a haunted bar? If so, then Haunted History Tours are for you. Tour lengths and prices vary.

You can find these tours at Haunted History Tours.

5. Alamo Ghost City Tours - San Antonio, Texas

You can be sure plenty of people remember the Alamo, particularly the ones who died there. During daylight or evening hours, walking or riding in a private limo, the Alamo Ghost City Tours delivers a richly dreadful experience sure to raise the goosebumps. Investigate the discontented undead at two Hanging Trees, meet soldiers slaughtered on historic battlefields, and search out the early European movers and shakers at the Old Spanish Palace. Tour lengths and prices vary.

You can find these tours at Alamo City Ghost Tours.

6. San Francisco Ghost Hunt - San Francisco, California

What could be better than a tour from a guide knowledgeable about ghosts? How about one that can see them? Jim Fassbinder, currently seen on the Travel Channel's "Haunted Hotels", has been seeing ghosts since he was a small boy. Instead of becoming afraid, he was fascinated and has devoted his life to learning more about them. He shares his experience and knowledge with you as he leads you through San Francisco. Along the way you'll enter Gertrude's home, which began experiencing hauntings when her dead husband's body was returned to her - inside a rum barrel. Mr. Fassbinder will introduce you to Flora, San Francisco's most reported ghost. He even goes so far as to guarantee you'll have a great time during your two hour romp through the supernatural!

You can find this tour at San Francisco Ghost Hunt. Tours are $20 per adult, and $10 for each child under the age of 16. The tour is not recommended for children under the age of 8, as the tour can run very late at night. Group discounts for 6 or more adults are available.

7. Portland Haunted Tours - Portland, Oregon

This tour will show you the spectral thorns of the City of Roses. Using a shuttle bus and a van, you will be transported to sites of mortification, tragedy, and the macabre. You'll meet the victims of a flood that destroyed the city so quickly barely anyone had time to escape. Your skin will crawl as you step onto the site where a haunted radio station once stood, and learn about the curse an industrial baron placed on his own home. Learn the historical and the haunted of scenic Portland. Tours run from 2 to 2.5 hours.

This tour is available at Portland Haunted Tours. Price is $30 and must be purchased in advanced. Group discounts for 10 tickets or more are available. This tour is not recommended for children under the age of 13.

8. Chicago Hauntings Ghost Tours - Chicago, Illinois

Based on the series of books by Usula Bielski, which cover over 20 years of Chicago hauntings, these tours offer an experience as chilling and provocative as they are informative and historical. Chi-Town is noted as one of the most haunted cities in the world, and do they have reason for it! Gangster wars during Prohibition, the Great Chicago Fire, and when Chicago was still a frontier outpost are all fodder for ghosts. Notorious and macabre, thoughtful and insightful, whimsical and capricious, all of these adjectives describe what you'll experience on a Chicago Hauntings Ghost Tour. Tour lengths vary.

These tours can be found at Chicago Hauntings Ghost Tours. Reservations are required. Pricing available upon request.

9. The Original Ghosts of Gettysburg - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Rated as the #1 Ghost Tour in America, this tour blends the historical and the haunted researched and written about by Mark Nesbitt. You'll see the old Pennsylvania College campus that was treated as a field hospital, where the suffering living lay next to the peaceful dead. In Gettysburg, quaint old houses often hide dark secrets and have more than skeletons in their closets. Your guides will also lead you to where soldiers whisper of their duty, their deaths no excuse to abandon their posts. Informative and ominous, you'll come away from Gettysburg knowing more about the ancient, and the awful. Tour lengths vary.

You can find this tour at Ghosts of Gettysburg. Prices vary.

10. The Ghosts of Savannah - Savannah, Georgia

The #1 Ghost Tour in America was #9 on this list, but the #1 haunted city in America is reportedly Savannah. This tour creates a fantastically macabre journey through the cobbled streets of this history rich city. Spirits of all sorts find no rest here, from bloodthirsty pirates to the first woman hanged in Georgia. As dark falls, and the light fades through the Spanish moss hanging from the trees, you'll feel the touch of spectral fingers on the back of your neck during this 90 minute, one mile tour.

You can find this tour at The Ghosts of Savannah. Prices are $18 for adults, $10 for ages 8 to 14, children under 8 are free.

I hope this helps put a new spin on Halloween! Happy haunting!