Ten Best Ghost Tours in Charleston

Posted: 05.12.2025 | Updated: 05.12.2025

As one of the nation’s most haunted cities, Charleston oozes with ghostly lore deeply rooted in centuries-old history. Ghost tours in Charleston bring you directly to locations like the Prohibition-era Blind Tiger Pub and the ominous Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon that house dark secrets of ages past. 

Echoes of the Civil War ring throughout the Holy City, which earns its nickname from the towering church steeples dotting the city skyline. Trying to see every haunted location in Charleston would take a long time. 

The benefit of a ghost tour is to truncate the spectral experience into select haunts pertinent to the city’s past. The best of these expeditions across realms offer detailed accounts of the otherworldly while walking the thin line that separates the ethereal from the material.

What Is The Best Ghost Tour In Charleston? 

Charleston is a spectral stomping ground with more ghosts, wraiths, and phantoms than one could ever count. It is primed for a ghost tour. Charleston Terrors is among the most comprehensive and takes the subject matter seriously without unnecessary and distracting showmanship. 

This Charleston ghost tour follows the spectral trail coursing through the city, stopping frequently to examine the threads of haunted history. From visions of the Civil War to the remnants of a devastating fire, Charleston Terrors confronts the city’s scariest locations and stories head-on. 

Charleston Terrors divides its experiences into two options: The Ghosts of Pirates and Patriots Past and the slightly more light-hearted, adults-only haunted pub crawl.

Charleston’s Best Ghost Tour | Charleston Terrors

Charleston Terrors invites locals and tourists on a nightly stroll through the Holy City. While there’s plenty of time to marvel at the ornate peaks, the focus of The Ghosts of Pirates and Patriots Past ghost tour is an itinerary brimming with eerie accounts. 

The one-hour guided walk spans over 300 years of local history, tying some of Charleston’s most notable events with lingering spirits. Pay close attention to your surroundings and notice the sudden cold spots, orbs of light, and other phenomena that indicate your tour group isn’t alone.

Villainous pirates, tragic figures, and watchful phantoms are commonplace in this thorough exploration of Charleston’s haunted history. The only way to elevate the experience is by tacking on an hour and adding stops at local haunted bars. 

The Spirits and Spirits Haunted Pub Crawl combines the thrills of a ghost walk with drinks with the dearly departed. The adults-only experience visits Charleston bars and taverns known for their ethereal guests.

If (somehow) ghosts aren’t your thing, Charleston Terrors peels back layers of history and dishes out the city’s best culinary treats with two daytime historical journeys.

Bulldog Tours

For its haunted excursions, Bulldog Tours opted for a more unique approach for many of its offerings. Guests can pick and choose the location of their descent into the realm of the dead, be it a haunted jail or an iconic vessel of the U.S. Navy. The Charleston Haunted Jail Tour, USS Yorktown Ghost Tour, Charleston Ghost and Dungeon Tour, and Charleston Ghost and Graveyard Tour all highlight one eerie aspect of the Holy City. 

Each tour ensures guests spend ample time in a spooky setting, improving the chances of a spectral encounter. These tours come with a walk through Downtown Charleston, though they really could have benefited from taking place entirely at one active location, like a mini ghost hunt.

Bulldog Tours also sells a Charleston Harbor Tour and Ghost Tour Package. Here, travelers trek out along the harbor and the haunted historic district on two different walks. There’s also the VIP Ghost Package, which includes a stop at the city’s oldest burial ground and the Provost Dungeon.

Old Charleston Walking Tours

Local personality Mike Brown headlines the Old Charleston Walking Tours Ghost Tour, Pleasing Terrors. Run seven nights, twice a night, the 90-minute excursion of spectral delights follows the Holy City’s haunting history. During the haunted walk, guests will hear about what lurks within the shadows and maybe even see a few examples in photos provided by the guide. 

Charleston has many stories to tell, from piracy to witchcraft, and the Pleasing Terrors stroll does its best to cover as much as possible without skimping on the city’s fascinating history.

Nightly Spirits

Nightly Spirits caters to the casual crowd with its Booze and Boos Tour and the All-Ages Ghost Walk. Then, the tour company kicks the spook-o-meter up a notch with the adults-only Nightcaps Tour. 

Similar to the Booze and Boos bar hop, the Nightcaps Tour does include alcohol. However, it journeys out into Charleston’s most haunted locations, serving up evening horrors through the city’s ghost-filled historic downtown.

For a hefty price, all Nightly Spirits tours can be made private. It’s worth noting that only the family-friendly ghost walk is dry, which may limit the options for some guests.

Ghost City Tours

Ghost City Tours offers adventures in some of the nation’s most haunted locations, like Savannah and St. Augustine. For its Charleston menu, Ghost City Tours features the Ghosts of Liberty Tour, the Death and Depravity Ghost Tour, and the Charleston Haunted Pub Crawl. 

The latter of those is pretty self-explanatory and echoes similar excursions. Alternatively, the Death and Depravity Ghost Tour is curiously macabre, with subject matter veering into the occult, voodoo, and demonic entities.

That 90-minute mature trek may be too intense for some, which is where the all-ages Ghosts of Liberty comes in. For 90 minutes, travelers explore Downtown Charleston, hearing recounts of ghostly encounters at iconic locations. 

Tour Charleston

The family-friendly Ghosts of Charleston walking tour kicks off outside Buxton Books, a fitting start considering the shop’s namesake authored the companion book of the same name. Venture into the haunted heart of the Holy City, hearing spooky tales of local specters and active apparitions. The tour spotlights the Unitarian Church Graveyard and the spike in auditory and visual evidence. 

The tour can sometimes feel like an ad for the companion book and the bookstore. Still, it’s an informative journey into the unknown marked with plenty of history about the local area.

Charleston Tours

The aptly named Charleston Tours opens the city up for exploration, with experiences focusing on architecture and local culinary favorites. Then there’s the Pirates and Ghosts Tour, an eerie venture into seaside haunts. 

Though technically a ghost tour, as it touches on the haunts in the region, Charleston Tours Pirates and Ghosts Tour is a little heavier on the history. It’s thoroughly informative, but missing some of that spine-tingling quality travelers may expect from a haunted walk.

108 Elemental Tours

Though the name doesn’t initially give away what this Charleston-based tour company offers, 108 Elemental is brimming with different excursions. Their tamer option, the Beauty and Tragedy historic tour, caters to a crowd not too interested in the spookier side of Charleston. That’s reserved for the Spirits & Spirits, City of the Dead, Myths and Monsters, and Ghosts of Christmas Past experiences. 

The 90-minute City of the Dead tour is your standard ghost walk, though where it stops may change from tour to tour. Unfortunately, if you were really looking forward to seeing one location, like the St. Phillips Church & Graveyard, there’s no guarantee the tour will stop there.  

Old South Carriage Co.

There’s something quaint and charming about enjoying a leisurely carriage ride through a historic city like Charleston. The Old South Carriage Co. uses this to amplify its spine-tingling experience, the Haunted Carriage Tour. The relatively short 40-minute ride through Charleston unveils some local haunts, all while catering to a crowd that either can’t (or isn’t interested in) walking the Downtown streets. 

As seating is limited, few people can venture out, and the 16-person limit could be a problem for larger groups. However, it’s difficult to deny the perks of comfortable seating. It’s also one of the more expensive ghost tours, again for the added benefit of the luxurious carriage ride.

WalknTours

Sometimes, moving at your own pace is nice, completely removed from a larger group. That’s WalknTours’ specialty. Curious about Charleston’s most active haunts, but don’t want the traditional ghost walk? The Ghosts of Charleston Haunted Tour is a solo journey across the veil, complete with a narrated dark history that covers the city’s most infamous ghosts, pirates, and tales of murder. 

The tour is conveniently laid out, providing a breakdown of where you’ll visit or hear about, including Blind Tiger Pub and The Pink House. Due to their group dynamic, ghost tours are rigid in their scheduling. WalknTours gives you control over when you tackle this solitary, eerie expedition.

Tour Haunted Charleston

Darkness hangs heavy over Charleston as the spirits of Poogan’s Porch, The Pirate House, Dock Street Theater, and more prepare to scare hapless tourists. A ghost walk is one of the most common dark tourism experiences, allowing travelers to peer into the spectral plane. Book your Charleston Ghost Tour and get ready to come face-to-face with the bounty of haunts that call the Holy City home. 

Charleston is a city rich with history, and choosing the best ghost tour will give you a well-executed blend of frights and information. 

To brush up on your Charleston history before setting off, be sure to check out our blog and follow US Ghost Adventures on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok.