- Sat Oct 31Halloween 2026
- 6 toursTrolley, walking & pub crawl
- $27–$47Per person, from
- 1–2.5 hoursTour length
- All ages–21+Age rules vary by tour
Decide Before Halloween Weekend, Not On It
Halloween falls on Saturday, October 31, 2026, which makes the final weekend of October an especially busy one for Boston's ghost tours and Halloween events. If you're visiting in October, we wouldn't wait until that weekend to decide which tour you want. Ghosts & Gravestones puts it plainly on its own Halloween page: "Make your reservations well in advance for Boston Halloween. There is limited space available and halloween is the most popular time to go frightseeing!"
For most first-time visitors, the easiest choice is that Ghosts & Gravestones trolley tour. It's more theatrical than a standard walking tour, involves less continuous walking, and, most importantly, takes you into historic burial grounds rather than telling the ghost stories outside them.
If you'd rather walk through old Boston after dark, there are several cheaper options. And if everyone in your group is 21 or over, a haunted pub crawl makes a more social Halloween-season evening.
Which Boston Halloween Ghost Tour to Book
Three tours cover most October visitors. The table below adds the family and 16+ options.
Ghosts & Gravestones Trolley Tour
The tour we'd choose if you're in Boston specifically for Halloween and want the most complete spooky night out. A costumed guide, the trolley between stops, and time on foot inside historic burial grounds. It has more than 700 reviews on GetYourGuide, and its Viator listing showed more than 2,500 in September 2026, with strong recent bookings. Both sell the same Historic Tours of America tour.
Underground Boston Ghost Tours: Gravestones & Gunpowder
Choose this if you don't need the trolley or the burial-ground access and mainly want an hour walking around haunted old Boston after dark. The route takes in the Granary Burying Ground, Boston Common, the Massachusetts State House and the Omni Parker House, from $27.
Boos and Brews Haunted Pub Crawl
Better for couples and groups of friends who want Halloween atmosphere without a whole evening of conventional ghost tour. Expect ghost stories, historic pubs, haunted locations and plenty of Boston history, not a haunted-house scare. The Booze and Boos crawl, which starts inside the Omni Parker House, is the alternative.
| Tour on GetYourGuide | Format | From | Length | Ages | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghosts & Gravestones | Trolley + 2 burying grounds on foot | $47 | 90 min | 6+ (13+ advised) | 4.5 (717) |
| Gravestones & Gunpowder | Walking | $27 | 1 hour | No limit listed | 4.4 (210) |
| The Ghosts of Boston | Walking, family | $30 | 90 min | All ages | 4.4 (58) |
| Death and Dying | Walking, darker | $35 | 90 min | 16+ | 4.5 (6) |
| Boos and Brews | Pub crawl | $29 | 2 hours | 21+ | 4.4 (90) |
| Booze and Boos | Pub crawl | $33 | 2.5 hours | 21+ | 4.8 (5) |
Prices are GetYourGuide's per-person "from" prices; ratings and review counts are GetYourGuide's, checked September 24, 2026. Two of the six have very few reviews so far, so read the recent ones before booking. Every tour here has free cancellation up to 24 hours before on GetYourGuide.
Other Experiences You Might Enjoy
Spending several October nights in the city? Pair your ghost tour with a Salem witch-trial day trip from Boston, a Freedom Trail walking tour by day, a Boston Harbor ghost cruise, a haunted pub crawl through the old taverns, or a North End food tour, with live availability and prices below.
Ghosts & Gravestones: The One We'd Book for Halloween
If you're only doing one ghost tour in Boston, Ghosts & Gravestones is the obvious place to start. It isn't just someone walking through downtown telling ghost stories. You board the deliberately theatrical "Trolley of the Doomed" with a costumed host, ride through historic Boston, then get off to explore burial grounds on foot.
The itinerary includes the historic cemeteries where Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and John Hancock are buried, along with stories about darker characters from Boston's history. That combination works particularly well in October: you get the entertainment of the trolley, and you're also standing among genuinely old graves in one of America's oldest cities after dark.
Does the Ghosts & Gravestones tour actually enter cemeteries?
Yes, and it's one of the biggest reasons we'd choose it over a basic walking ghost tour. The tour includes after-hours access to two historic Boston burying grounds, usually Copp's Hill and Granary, although the operator says King's Chapel can be one of the pair. Several cheaper ghost walks visit famous cemeteries as part of their route, but may tell the stories from the pavement or outside the gates. If your picture of a Boston Halloween ghost tour involves walking among old gravestones, not looking at a cemetery from outside, check exactly what access your chosen tour includes. Our guide to Boston's haunted graveyards covers each burying ground in detail.
Is it scary?
Think darkly theatrical storytelling, not a haunted house. Nobody jumps out from behind a gravestone every few minutes. Much of the atmosphere comes from Boston itself: old burial grounds, narrow historic streets, nighttime lighting, and stories about murder, disease, grave robbing and some fairly unpleasant chapters of the city's history.
The operator says the tour may not be suitable for children under 13, and children under 6 are not allowed on board. For teenagers and adults who enjoy spooky history, the balance is probably about right. If you want something darker and more adult, the Death and Dying Walking Ghost Tour suits you better. For the full picture of how the evening runs, stop by stop, read our Ghosts & Gravestones review.
The tour leaves from Old Town Trolley stop #1, at the end of the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel, 200 Atlantic Avenue.
Check Halloween dates & prices
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before · Secure checkout via GetYourGuide
Gravestones & Gunpowder: Better If You Want to Walk
Not everyone needs a trolley. If you'd rather be outside walking through central Boston for the whole evening, Underground Boston Ghost Tours' Gravestones & Gunpowder is a straightforward and usually cheaper alternative. The roughly one-hour route includes stops or stories connected with:
- Granary Burying Ground
- Boston Common
- Massachusetts State House
- Omni Parker House, including the story of its Room 303
- Boston Athenaeum, and its book bound in human skin
- the King's Chapel area
- Old City Hall
The focus is on historical hauntings and local legends, not an elaborate theatrical production. It meets at 139 Tremont Street, across from the entrance to Boston Common, where the guide carries a lantern. It isn't recommended for anyone who can't walk more than a mile.
It's the better fit if you'd rather walk than ride, if you're trying to keep the price down, if you prefer storytelling to a theatrical performance, or if you only have about an hour and want a ghost tour after dinner without using up your whole evening.
We'd still pay more for the trolley if the graveyards are the part you're most excited about. Going inside them after dark is the more distinctive Boston experience.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before · Secure checkout via GetYourGuide
Ghosts of Boston: A Better Option with Children
Families don't have to skip a ghost tour completely. The Ghosts of Boston Tour is offered as an all-ages experience and runs for around 90 minutes. Ghost City Tours describes it as its family-friendly Boston option, next to its darker Death and Dying tour and its 21+ haunted pub crawl.
This would be our choice for families with younger children who like ghost stories but don't want anything deliberately intense. It starts outside King's Chapel Burying Ground, Boston's oldest cemetery, near 58 Tremont Street, and passes the statue of Mary Dyer on Boston Common.
It is still a ghost tour. Sensitive children can find stories about death and hauntings frightening, so "family-friendly" doesn't mean scare-free. It makes more sense, though, than putting a young child on a tour whose operator warns it may not suit under-13s. Our Boston ghost tours for kids guide matches each tour to an age.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before · Secure checkout via GetYourGuide
Death and Dying: Better for Older Teens and Adults
If you're visiting with older teenagers or adults and want less Halloween camp and more dark history, look at the Death and Dying Ghost Tour. It lasts about 90 minutes and is aimed at ages 16 and over.
The tour explores how colonial Boston thought about death, burial and the afterlife, visiting places around the historic center including burial grounds and the Omni Parker House. At King's Chapel Burying Ground you hear about a headless woman and a man who was buried alive. It starts at 24 Beacon Street, in front of the Massachusetts State House gates.
It isn't the tour we'd recommend to everyone. But if your question is "What's the darkest Boston ghost tour?", this is one of the more relevant answers. It's also a useful alternative when the more famous Ghosts & Gravestones trolley is unavailable on your date. It has only six reviews on GetYourGuide so far, so read them before you book.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before · Secure checkout via GetYourGuide
Haunted Pub Crawls: Probably the Most Fun Option for a Group of Adults
Boston's ghost-tour choices get much more interesting once everyone in your group is over 21: instead of another history walk or sightseeing tour, you can combine the ghost stories with Boston's old pubs.
Boos and Brews Haunted Pub Crawl
Boos and Brews is a two-hour walking tour that mixes haunted and historic locations with pub stops: nine sites in all, four of them pubs. The stories take in the Omni Parker House, the Boston Common area and the Granary Burying Ground, and drinks are paid for separately. It meets outside the Boston Common Visitors Center.
It won't be two hours of terror. The appeal is the combination: old Boston, ghost stories, pubs and Halloween atmosphere. For a couple or a group of friends spending Halloween weekend in Boston, that can make a better night out than a traditional walking tour.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before · Secure checkout via GetYourGuide
Haunted Boston Booze and Boos Ghost Walking Tour
Booze and Boos is another strong 21+ option. It lasts about two to two and a half hours with a costumed guide, combining historic locations such as King's Chapel and the Granary Burying Ground with stops at local bars. It meets at The Last Hurrah bar inside the Omni Parker House, which is fitting given how often the hotel turns up in Boston ghost stories. It has only five reviews on GetYourGuide so far, although its Viator listing has a longer record.
Around Halloween, don't rely on last-minute availability. Book early if you have a particular Friday or Saturday night in mind. Our haunted pub crawl guide compares the crawls bar by bar.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before · Secure checkout via GetYourGuide
What Is Special About Boston Ghost Tours at Halloween?
The tours don't turn into haunted houses on October 31. What changes is the atmosphere, and the demand. October is the peak month for ghost tours, and the Ghosts & Gravestones operator calls Halloween the most popular time for "frightseeing". There's also far more Halloween activity around the city.
In 2026, Halloween falls on a Saturday, with Halloween parties and nightlife events across the city on both Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31. That's an argument for not necessarily taking your ghost tour on Halloween night itself. If you're in Boston for several nights, book the tour for October 28, 29 or 30 and keep Saturday, October 31, free for whatever Halloween event or night out you want. You still get the late-October atmosphere without trying to fit everything into one evening.
Should You Book a Boston Ghost Tour on Halloween Night Itself?
You can, but you don't need to. The whole final week of October already feels seasonal, and the ghost stories don't get better at midnight on October 31.
Halloween night makes sense if the ghost tour is the main event of your evening. If you're also planning a party, a bar crawl, dinner or another Halloween event, taking the tour on October 29 or 30 may be much easier.
Most importantly, don't assume you can arrive in Boston and book your favorite departure at the last minute. Ghosts & Gravestones advises Halloween visitors to reserve well ahead because space is limited.
How Far Ahead Should You Book?
If you know your Boston dates, book it. Waiting for Halloween week gains you nothing once you've chosen a tour.
An ordinary October weekday may leave you considerably more flexibility. For the final weekends of October, treat the tour like any other seasonal attraction with limited space. It matters most for:
- Friday and Saturday evenings
- Friday, October 30
- Halloween night, Saturday, October 31
- larger families and groups who need several tickets on the same departure
- anyone set on Ghosts & Gravestones rather than whichever walking tour still has space
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before means an early booking costs nothing if your plans change. If you're still choosing when to come, our guide to the best time for a Boston ghost tour shows how early it gets dark in each month.
Are Boston Ghost Tours Good in the Rain?
Usually, yes, but your choice of tour matters. The walking tours run outdoors, and Gravestones & Gunpowder and Boos and Brews both say they go ahead rain or shine, so an October drizzle means you're going to feel it. Wear a waterproof outer layer and shoes you don't mind using on wet brick and pavement.
The Ghosts & Gravestones trolley has an obvious advantage, because part of the evening is spent riding instead of walking. For adults, a haunted pub crawl is another sensible bad-weather choice, since some of the night is spent inside pubs.
What Should You Wear on a Boston Ghost Tour in October?
Don't dress for the afternoon temperature. You'll be outside after dark, and you may spend stretches standing still while the guide tells a story. Bring:
- a warm layer
- a wind- or rain-resistant jacket
- comfortable closed shoes
- something warmer than you think you'll need if the forecast is marginal
The old parts of Boston have brick, cobbles and uneven pavements, so this isn't the night for uncomfortable shoes just because they match a Halloween outfit. And if you're doing a pub crawl, bring valid photo ID.
Can You Wear a Halloween Costume on a Boston Ghost Tour?
A practical costume is unlikely to be a problem, but don't plan your evening around an outfit that's hard to walk in. Ghost tours mean dark streets, steps, old pavements and sometimes burial grounds. If your costume has any of these, save them for the Halloween party afterwards:
- a mask that significantly limits your vision
- a long trailing hem
- elaborate heels
- oversized props
The ghost tour already supplies the atmosphere.
Boston Ghost Tour or Salem Ghost Tour for Halloween?
This is one of the hardest choices for October visitors, because Boston and Salem aren't interchangeable. Salem is where you go if the 1692 witch trials and the wider Haunted Happenings atmosphere are the main reason for your trip. Boston works better if you're already staying in the city and want to add a spooky evening without giving most of a day to the trip up to Salem.
Boston's ghost tours also draw on a much broader stretch of history: colonial burial grounds, Revolutionary Boston, murders, executions, old hotels, grave robbing and centuries of local ghost stories.
If you have enough time, you don't have to choose. Take a Salem day trip from Boston (4.6 from 12 reviews on GetYourGuide) during the day and a Boston ghost tour on a different evening. If you only have one night, choose by the experience you want; Salem doesn't win automatically just because it's Halloween. Our Boston vs Salem comparison weighs the two for Halloween 2026, from Haunted Happenings to the train and the ferry, and our Salem ghost tours guide covers the day trip itself.
Is the Ghosts & Gravestones Trolley Worth the Extra Money?
At Halloween, the strongest argument is burial-ground access. You can find cheaper walking ghost tours in Boston, and you can visit many of the historic locations on your own. What's harder to reproduce is the combination of:
- evening trolley transport
- a costumed performance
- Boston ghost stories
- historic burial grounds
- walking sections
- an atmosphere built for the Halloween season
The $20 between the trolley's $47 and Gravestones & Gunpowder's $27 mostly buys the ride and the time inside the graveyards. If you just want an informative walk, spend less on Gravestones & Gunpowder. If you want the night itself to feel like an attraction, choose Ghosts & Gravestones.
Are the Graveyards Open to the Public at Night?
Don't assume a nighttime walk on your own is the same as a tour. Boston's historic burying grounds have their own opening hours and access restrictions, which is another reason the burial-ground part of an organized tour is valuable.
Some walking tours stop outside the graveyards and tell stories about the people buried there. Ghosts & Gravestones includes entry into historic burying grounds as part of the experience. If going inside matters to you, check the wording of the exact tour before booking. Our haunted graveyards guide has the daytime visiting details for each one.
What About the Omni Parker House?
Even if you've never read about haunted Boston before, you'll hear the Omni Parker House mentioned again and again. The historic hotel appears on several ghost-tour and pub-crawl routes. Gravestones & Gunpowder tells the stories connected with it, and the haunted pub crawls use it as a stop or, in the case of Booze and Boos, as the meeting point.
That makes it a good tour stop if you particularly enjoy haunted-hotel stories. You don't need to choose a tour just because it mentions the Parker House, though; several competing tours cover it.
Which Boston Halloween Ghost Tour Is Best for You?
Find the line that sounds like your group.
Your first Boston ghost tour, and you're here for Halloween
- you want a theatrical experience
- you like the idea of going into old burial grounds
- you don't want to walk continuously for the whole tour
- you're traveling with teenagers rather than very young children
Boston: 1.5-Hour Ghosts and Gravestones Tour · from $47
You'd rather walk, and spend less
- the stories matter more to you than the production
- you only have around an hour
Underground Boston Ghost Tours: Gravestones & Gunpowder · from $27
Traveling with children
- you want a tour designed for mixed ages
- you prefer lighter spooky storytelling
Boston: The Ghosts of Boston Tour · from $30
Everyone is 16 or over
- dark history interests you more than theatrical scares
- you've already done a conventional ghost tour
Boston: Death and Dying Walking Ghost Tour · from $35
Adults only, and the night doesn't end with the tour
- everyone is 21 or over
- you're a couple or a group of friends
- drinks and a social atmosphere matter as much as the ghosts
- you want the start of a full Halloween night out
Boston: Boos and Brews Haunted Pub Crawl · from $29, or Booze and Boos · from $33
Is a Boston Ghost Tour Worth Doing in October?
Yes. October is probably the one month we'd actively move a Boston ghost tour higher up the itinerary. The city's history doesn't change at Halloween, but the setting works. Boston already has centuries-old burial grounds, narrow historic streets and an unusual amount of early American history packed into a small, walkable center. Add darkness, colder evenings and Halloween activity, and the same stories carry more atmosphere.
For the classic experience, book Ghosts & Gravestones. For a cheaper, history-heavy walk, take Gravestones & Gunpowder. With children, look at The Ghosts of Boston Tour. And for a 21+ Halloween weekend, consider swapping the conventional tour for a haunted pub crawl.
Whichever you choose, the final weekend of October 2026 isn't the time to rely on buying tickets after you arrive. For every Boston ghost tour ranked side by side, see the best Boston ghost tours, or compare the formats in walking vs trolley vs pub crawl.
Boston Halloween Ghost Tours: FAQ
Do Boston ghost tours run on Halloween?
Yes. Ghost-tour operators run throughout October, and Ghosts & Gravestones promotes Halloween as one of its busiest periods. Availability varies by departure, so check your date before making other evening plans.
Is Halloween 2026 on a weekend?
Yes. October 31, 2026 is a Saturday. That makes Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31, particularly important dates for evening activities.
What is the most popular Boston ghost tour?
Ghosts & Gravestones is one of the city's most established and most reviewed ghost tours. Its Viator listing alone showed more than 2,500 reviews in September 2026, and it has more than 700 on GetYourGuide.
Which Boston ghost tour enters cemeteries?
Ghosts & Gravestones is the clearest choice if going inside historic burying grounds matters to you. It has after-hours access to two of Boston's three oldest burying grounds, which its booking listings name as Copp's Hill and Granary, so you go inside them rather than simply passing them.
Are Boston ghost tours suitable for children?
It depends on the tour. Ghosts & Gravestones does not allow children under 6 and warns that it may not be suitable for children under 13. Ghost City Tours' Ghosts of Boston Tour is its all-ages option.
Are there adults-only Boston ghost tours?
Yes. The Death and Dying Ghost Tour is for guests aged 16 and over, and haunted pub crawls require everyone to be at least 21, with valid photo ID.
Do Boston ghost tours include drinks?
Standard ghost tours don't. Haunted pub crawls stop at bars, but drinks are generally bought separately. Check the inclusions of the specific tour before booking.
Do Boston ghost tours run if it rains?
Many do. Walking tours generally run rain or shine unless the weather turns severe, so bring suitable clothing. Haunted pub crawls spend more of the evening indoors, and the Ghosts & Gravestones trolley cuts down the amount of continuous outdoor walking.
Should I book Boston or Salem for Halloween?
Choose Boston for an evening activity that fits easily around a Boston city break. Choose Salem if the 1692 witch trials and the city's month-long Halloween celebrations are the main reason for your visit. If you have several days, you can easily do both instead of treating them as alternatives.
When should I book a Boston ghost tour for Halloween 2026?
As soon as you know your dates. Ghosts & Gravestones recommends booking Halloween tours well in advance because October is its most popular period and space is limited.
How We Checked This
Everything here was checked on September 24, 2026. Prices are GetYourGuide's per-person "from" prices, which move with the date, and ratings and review counts come from each tour's GetYourGuide listing on that day. The Viator review figure for Ghosts & Gravestones is as its listing showed it in September 2026. The Halloween booking advice and the age limits for Ghosts & Gravestones are quoted from the operator's own Halloween page, and the age groups for the Ghost City tours come from Ghost City Tours' Boston page.
Operators change routes and schedules, especially in October, so check your exact date and meeting point on the booking page before you go.