Historic Galveston Ghost Tours — Local services in Galveston

Title: Disappointing Experience – Felt More Like a Walk Than a Tour I recently attended the Historic Galveston Ghost Tour, and to be honest, it didn’t live up to the expectations set by the website or the price tag. We arrived on time, as instructed, only to be told to meet in front of a local bar. I had expected something more like a tour bus experience, where we’d be driven around to various haunted spots, perhaps going inside some of the historic buildings. Instead, we were left standing outside a bar for a while before a gentleman greeted us and introduced himself as our guide. While he seemed knowledgeable, his attempts at humor fell a bit flat, and the overall tone of the tour lacked the spookiness or excitement I was hoping for. In total, the "tour" consisted of walking about a block and back, where we looked at an 8-story office building and stood outside the closed Museum of the Old Train Station (standing outside a fence isn’t exactly the immersive experience I expected). To make matters worse, we then walked back down the same block, sat on some stairs near a noisy bar, and listened to the guide share a few more details, but it didn’t feel like much of a tour. It was underwhelming to say the least. For $30 each, I honestly felt like I got 30% of what I was hoping for — and that’s being generous. I understand that running a business like this can be challenging, and the people involved are certainly trying to make a living, but I can’t shake the feeling that I didn’t get my money’s worth. I was really hoping for a deeper, more immersive experience with much more actual haunted sites or insider stories, but what we got felt more like a casual stroll with a few ghost-related anecdotes thrown in. I’m not trying to be harsh, but I was disappointed. There’s definitely potential here, and I’m sure others may have had a different experience, but for me, it just didn’t deliver. I’d suggest looking into other options or maybe consider lowering expectations if you decide to...

Look, I have personal experience with what it's like to try and earn money via performance. I know it's not an easy thing to do. But I just wasn't impressed with this ghost tour. First issue they had was it is clear they don't have a max capacity limit to the number of tickets they sell. We had 57 people in our group. 57 people on one ghost tour. They called in a backup guide, but didn't split the group? Letting the paying customers vote on whether or not to split the group or offering refunds for ppl not comfortable or happy with that size group would have saved them this 1 star review alone. Despite their "efforts" to make sure we could hear, halfway through the tour we couldn't. I was grateful for this however when we got to the end and I only heard bits and pieces of what I eventually realized was an explanation of the trouble they had disposing of 12k dead bodies after one of the major hurricanes. There were several other issues I had but I'll leave it with this last one. If you are going to include Juneteenth, the mural and the history of Galveston as the birthplace of Juneteenth in your ghost tour, either include a Juneteenth related ghost story, or if there isn't one, maybe include the history of the building it's been painted on and the people responsible for it (The Juneteenth Legacy Project.) But above all keep it short, sweet and respectful. Don't stand outside with 60 ppl, composed primary of YT ppl for so long that you just look like gawkers. And don't criticize the mural, saying this should have been done this way or include such and such when the mural wasn't done by or for you. I know these guys were well intentioned in this being one of the stops, but it's hard to explain why it felt problematic. To be honest it just felt like their intention was to share their pride in being local galvestinians sharing their history (aka felt like they made it about them) instead of sharing the quite frankly, bomb as h*ll history of Galveston as the birthplace...

I had seen this tour offering, Storm on the Strand, and decided to check it out. I love history and the architecture of the buildings along the Strand. The whole area really fascinates me, and I was interested to learn more about the devastating period of time and the horrible storm that changed everything for this city. That, combined with potential paranormal activity seemed like a perfect evening. We took the 7:30 time slot the day after Halloween. Josh was our guide and did a really good job. He interjected some of his own experiences, as he lives in the area, and it really gave the tour just so much more authenticity. We did get to go inside the Sealy building and had some creeped out experiences there on the second floor near the arch and the bathrooms. I enjoyed all the stories very much and it made me want to come back for one of the other tour offerings...perhaps the red-light district tour. These tours are not just for Halloween. With so much sadness and loss of life here, it's no wonder it's a magnet for the supernatural. I took many pictures and will attach them. The creepiest places were, for me, the Sealy building ( on the second floor in the back where there is an arch and bathrooms and the creepy glass floor), the alley in front of the haunted house attraction where the little children died, and the larger alley between the buildings where the store goes out of business and can't keep a tenet (Frankie's Liquor Store). One suggestion that I do have is to start the tour perhaps where the railroad museum building is. We met in front of St. Patrick's bar and the live band was just really too loud. I had a hard time hearing Josh until we moved a little way down. Other than that it was great!! Thanks Historic Galveston Ghost Tours for a...