San Francisco has a long history of haunted places and urban legends that dates back to the Gold Rush era, when the nearly lawless Barbary Coast provided fodder for ghost stories that have continued for generations. Today in San Francisco, several ghost tours revisit the city’s spooky past and paranormal activity, from the streets of Chinatown to Haight-Ashbury and twilight tours of Alcatraz.

San Francisco Ghost Hunt
PACIFIC HEIGHTS – 1801 BUSH STREET
The San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour is a historical walking tour of the Pacific Heights neighborhood, one of the few neighborhoods to survive The Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906.

Chinatown Ghost Tours
CHINTATOWN
Rediscover Chinatown on a narrative excursion through its narrow streets and alleyways at night. Chinatown historian Cynthia Yee and San Francisco native Korene Tom lead a journey through Chinatown’s past, starting with a tour of the gambling den where Magician Tamaka, a member of Hollywood’s Magic Castle, will conjure the spirit of former gambler Fu Ling Yu.

Alcatraz Island After Dark
PIER 33
Alcatraz Island After Dark offers a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset and an interesting perspective of the island—formerly home to notorious murders, gangsters and robbers. Reservations are almost always required ahead of time.

The Vampire Tour of SF
NOB HILL
The reigning vampiress of the Bay is back after a two-year hiatus with a special performance on Halloween night. Dressed in full vampire regalia, veteran tour guide Kitty Burns performs as vampiress Mina Harker of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, mixing her character’s fictional story of a vampire community beneath San Francisco with non-fictional accounts of the city’s past. Mina Harker’s story begins at on the corner of California and Taylor street, with stops at Nob Hill Cafe, Grace Cathedral, Huntington Park, the Pacific-Union Club, Fairmont Hotel and Mark Hopkins Hotel. A second tour will take place on New Year’s Eve.

The San Francisco Dungeon
FISHERMAN’S WARF
Professional acting and superb storytelling bring the spooky 200 year history of San Francisco to life in a 360-degree dungeon set. Descend into the dungeon through a shaft elevator, journey at sea through the back waterways of the harbor, and find your way through the maze of mirrors and tunnels in the Lost Mines of Sutter’s Creak. Along the way you’ll meet a cast of colorful characters as history unfolds before your eyes.

Haunted Haight Walking Tour
COFFEE TO THE PEOPLE
Tommy Netzband, president of the San Francisco Ghost Society brings the history of Haight-Ashbury to life with well-researched paranormal insight and rich storytelling. The tour relays the macabre history of the neighborhood’s most well-known characters as well as its changing architecture and landscape. The two-mile tour is popular for its mostly flat terrain and Victorian-lined streets. Guests can expect to visit the beautiful Victorian home of the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin’s apartment and the house of infamous cult leader Jim Jones. Netzband also offers the “Haunted Haight Paranormal Experience,” a separate tour where guests can more deeply explore two sites from the classic walking tour with ghost hunting tools used by the experts.