I'm writing this review way after the fact, so I don't remember a lot of details. But what I can say is that I enjoyed the tour so much I did it twice - once in 2021 and a second time in 2023. I've taken "ghost tours" in San Diego; Washington, DC; New Orleans; Seattle; San Francisco; and Tucson, and Mike Brown's Charleston tour is among the best. Commit with confidence!! read more

Genuinely Horrible. Not to discourage our tour guide, but we did the Hidden Gems walking tour. Our tour guide, Marc, obviously just liked to hear himself talk. It was boring, way too long, and not a single "joke" was funny. It lasted about a half an hour longer than it should have. Two hours was an hour and a half too long already. If you like sweating, getting bit by bugs (due to the alley ways) and dying of heat stroke all while it feels like you're back in high school with your least favorite teacher giving a lecture, being told "stand here" "take a picture now" "no move over there" then this is the place for you! Complete waste of money. We're all disappointed. I hate leaving bad reviews, truly I hate bashing someone's passion or career, but I just wanted to warn you all. read more

Hands down Mike was the best tour guide. Not only did he know his history but his calmness made the ghost tour even better. His story telling and his facial expressions gave the tour a more visceral effect. The way he told the stories made the hairs on the back of your neck crawl. We could've listened to him much longer than the 1.5 hours. The time went by so fast you didn't realize it was over. The walking isn't too bad. Take this your you won't regret it. read more

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Mike was so informative. Loved hearing about the local ghosts. His voice was totally soothing and can't wait to listen to his podcast! I also love that he was able to show pictures along with his stories. read more

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My girlfriend and I could not be happier with how great this tour was. Mike was an excellent story teller and went into more historical detail than any other guide we have had. After a really terrible tour earlier this year, this tour was a fantastic palate cleanser. read more

Old Charleston Walking Tours - Walking Tours Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

TripAdvisor had AMAZING reviews for Pleasing Terrors walking ghost tour. A group of us are up for the weekend and decided to take the 9:30 tour. We were absolutely captivated with the stories. Mike had such a commanding state presence. We could've listened to him all night! I would hands down recommend him and his tour to any tourists or natives. Loved!!! read more

Old Charleston Walking Tours - Walking Tours Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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I had a really great time on this tour. The guide ( Mike Brown) was very engaging and provided illustrations (via iPad) in addition to taking us to sites. I was never bored and his stories did not feel rehearsed. We went to about half dozen sites and he told us of the haunted past associated with them. There were two time slots offered (7:30pm+ 9:30pm). The tour was $20-22 (discount if purchased online. Also, the tour was pet-friendly. My two small dogs accompanied me and there was another large dog there as well. My 5-star opinion may be biased because I'm a sucker for a good ghost story. Still, It's a great way to tour the historic areas of Charleston at a very reasonable cost. read more

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Book the Haunted Jail Tour. I booked this tour when my mom came to visit me. I love ghost tours, and Charleston is supposedly haunted, so of course I had to do this with her. This tour is a walking tour (hence the name) that goes through the cobblestone street of Charleston. You will go into the haunted jail, where they will tell you spooky stories and a little history. They will take you by one of the oldest cemetery's in Charleston, where many yellow fever victims are laid to rest. It was a fun tour and very easy to book online. read more

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My favorite part of my trip to Charleston! Coming all the way from LA I was excited to do all the spooky cool historical things in Charleston! I highly recommend this tour! Tour guide mike was a great story teller, definitely had me spooked the whole time! read more

Old Charleston Walking Tours - Walking Tours Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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We had a great time on Mike Brown's ghost tour! He has done his research and is a natural storyteller with great delivery. We passed other tour guides while on tour with Mike and heard the others trying to be too theatrical and showy. Mike tells ghost stories about Charleston with ease and lets the history do the entertaining. You get some great stories and a nice walk around the historic district during your 90 minutes on tour. We'd absolutely recommend Pleasing Terrors for your Charleston visit! read more

Ghost tour with Mike was....... ......OK. We weren't sure what to expect but don't book this or any of the night time ghost/paranormal/haunted walking tours if you actually expect to see anything scary. Mike, the guide and teller of spooky tales, did an admirable job of providing scary folklore regarding supposedly haunted sites we visited in our 2 hour walk in the historic district. For access and safety (trips & falls) reasons, we did not go into buildings nor grounds, but stood outside these places while listening to Mike spin his yarns. Mike was pretty low-key, as apropos for this type of tour, but if you wanted someone more animated, look elsewhere. A good 1+ mile walk and talk, though not sure if it's worth the $20/head. Still, it is a nice evening time diversion. read more

Ann our tour director was a lovely older woman, a native to Charleston, and was very well informed. She knew a lot and had a very good command of all the points of interest. It was an extremely hot day and she was a good encourager to keep going. We were quite pleased with how well the tour went. read more

Highly recommend this walking tour. Learned a lot of Charleston history. Denis Mardis was our tour guide. He has lived in the area along time and new a lot of the back stories around the area. Highly recommend this tour agency. read more

One of the best ghost tours in Charleston, Mike is very knowledgeable and it's obvious he does his research. This is not a job for him but a passion. He leads his tour with over 20 years experience and also is a native charlestonian. read more

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Adam is incredible! His story telling is top tier. Our group had so much fun. The tour lasted 90 minutes and every story was better than the last. read more

We came across this tour and saw the outstanding reviews so we decided to give it a try. The guide, Mike, is extremely knowledgeable and is a fantastic storyteller. He easily captures the group's attention with his haunted/creepy stories which are supported by pictures that he shows. Overall, I highly recommend this tour if you're into ghost tours as he is an excellent tour guide. read more

Mike is great! Check out his podcast before booking to get a feel for Mike. He has a passion for history and ghosts alike. This is not a tour to get into buildings but definitely a 90 minute ghost story walk and as he gets to parts of the story he points to the building and has pictures of the occurrences...I wish I had worn a tank top and walking shoes...hitter than hell at night and humid in Charleston! BRING a water...not many places in historic Charleston to just stop and get a water...Mike Goes over the country and can tell you about hauntings in your own state or even more creepy (the hotel you're staying at in Charleston). Really wanna go back and visit the jail and the library he mentions on tour! read more

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Great informative tour. We had Evans who is a master tour guide. He's a charlestonian and knows every detail about the beautiful city! Overall great tour. It was very hot when we went but Evans does a good job to make sure people are in the shade! Definitely a must if first time in Charleston read more

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The tour was a cool way to learn about the city's history and some haunted places. Mike was an excellent tour guide with a loud and slow speaking voice. He hyped us up at the beginning of the tour, but my interest was waning toward the end. At the end of the tour, he showed us this old picture from a magazine and tried to relate it to 9/11. I thought nah, bruh, I ain't feelin' this. There is a lot of walking, so wear comfortable shoes and clothing. We didn't come across any ghosts unfortunately. read more

Old Charleston Walking Tours - Walking Tours Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

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We thought this company had a red flag on their website and our gut was correct, unfortunately. We saw the website said if they are booked they recommend bulldog tours, which is extremely strange unless the two companies are related and they bate people in with the lower price one and then cancel that one. That was the case with us, they cancelled our tour and recommended bull dog. They said they cancelled ours because we were the only ones to sign up, I'm sure the fine print must say about that being ok, our issue was the amount of notice. We were walking to dinner and then we're supposed to go on the tour, they called around 3 hours before our scheduled tour time and just said they were cancelling it, would refund our money, and recommended bulldog tour. I believe we have to give them 24 hours notice and they can notify us anytime? Very curious as to the relationship with bulldog tours, I'll be sure to look into that further. read more

This ghost tour was such an enjoyable experience! Mike was a very interesting and captivating storyteller. I wish he offered other types of ghost tours too. I would love to do another ghost tour with Mike! read more

Old Charleston Walking Tours - Walking Tours Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

What. Great tour we had! Everyone kept masks in and learned a lot of history on a beautiful evening.

Five years ago, my walking companion and I took our first ghost tour while visiting Charleston -- the Pleasing Terrors walking tour led by Mike Brown. Since then, we've done ghost tours in New Orleans, Louisiana; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; and Cape May, New Jersey and came away vaguely disappointed with each because the tour guides were not as experienced, interactive, or engaging as Mike. We recently returned to Charleston to celebrate our wedding anniversary, took another ghost tour with Mike, and realized what makes his ghost tours so unique. Mike's ghost tour is more than just a collection of stories about creepy stories retold from a script written by someone else while walking around the Historic District. It's obvious that he's very passionate about the subject. He's done his own extensive research -- seeking out firsthand and secondhand accounts -- and weaves a strong narrative of strange, scary, and creepy occurrences through the long history of Charleston from the witch trials held by the earliest settlers during the Colonial Era through the bloody battles of the Civil War. Mike recently launched the Pleasing Terrors podcast -- which is available for free wherever listen to podcasts. Definitely recommend both the ghost tours and the podcast! read more

Mike is an awesome story teller and tour guide. He incorporates the history of Charleston and all of the creepy things you want to hear about. You can tell he spent a lot of time researching and crafting his storytelling technique. I highly recommend this tour. I also listened to his podcast on the way back to the hotel and it's the same delivery and quality of story telling as his tour. I will definitely book again next time I'm in town. read more

My wife and I have always wanted to do a ghost tour ... this was our first and we had a blast. Mike is extremely knowledgeable and can weave facts into a great story about the history and haunts of Charleston. At one stop - the restaurant Poogan's Porch - as Mike was beginning his story, one of the patrons who was outside smoking a cigarette said that he had just recently had an encounter with the ghost in the story. (He was recently pressure washing the building late in the night/morning and saw the lady of fame) And there was none of that hokey fake haunted house type "scares" that other reviewers mentioned as a turn-off. This was as much a tour about Charleston's rich history as it was a ghost tour, weaving in tales of Quakers and even Edgar Allen Poe. Mike would also point out places of interest that were unrelated to the Ghost Tour proper - whether it be a historic building or an award-winning restaurant. There was one part of the tour that I thought was a bit of a stretch, but it was still interesting and provided some historical information of Charleston that I wasn't aware of. Overall, it's a good investment of time for the price ... about $16 a person if you buy online for a 90 minute tour. (Plus you get some exercise time to walk off those calories you've been downing at those fantastic Charleston restaurants!) read more

Had a great time going around downtown and learning about the spooky history. Great knowledge about the tour and answered all questions asked. Highly recommend if you are even remotely interested in spooky history. read more

We went on Mike Brown's ghost tour last night and it was great! It was the perfect mixture of history and scary ghost stories / experiences. We enjoyed his tour so much that we listened to his podcast, Pleasing Terrors, all the way back to Charlotte! read more

This was the highlight of our visit to downtown Charleston. We went as a family with my husband and two kids (9 and 13 years old) and attended the 9:30 pm tour. Why not pick the time ghosts will likely be active? Mike Brown is the best story teller. This is the reason for his successful Pleasing Terrors podcast. He uses history and current experiences/ evidence of ghosts in Charleston. The kids were so engaged that as we were walking from one place to another, they asked questions. Mike patiently and thoroughly answered their questions. Adults had questions too. We were all scared and excited at the same time. This was an A++ experience. Run to do this ghost walk. read more

This review is long overdue. We were in Charleston over Halloween weekend last year. They give excellent customer service. We booked a Civil War and History tour for Halloween day. When we got to the meeting place we realized there was no tour group/guide at the location. So we called the company and one of the tour guides explained that there were no scheduled tours that day. Instead of re-booking us our tour guide drove all the way from his home and met us in 30 minutes. The tour was highly informative and gave us a new perspective on the city. If you're visiting/living in Charleston you need to understand the deep roots that go along with the city. We highly recommend any history tours they offer. We also went on a ghost tour. The tour guide Mike Brown was also well researched and told some great ghost stories. It was an added bonus that it was Halloween weekend. We would recommend this company to anyone. These guys are world class. read more

Perhaps I've been spoiled by the incredible ghost tours I've taken in New Orleans over the years, but the Old Charleston Walking Tour was a bust for our party. Besides being muggy and hot at 9:30 on a Saturday night, the tour guide (Mason, I believe) was very boring. Remember that movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off?" The teacher with the monotone way of talking? Yeah, that was our guide. We tried to listen, but in the end we bailed about 45 minutes into the tour. I'm a history teacher and I LOVE historical walking tours, but just couldn't get into this. At least if the tour is bad in NOLA, they let you drink on the streets to ease your pain away! I cannot recommend this tour. read more

What a great tour! I took the 9:30 tour with Mike and heard a lot of great stories and also some some creepy pictures of things that happened on previous tours. Mike is very friendly and a great story teller. Would definitely recommend! read more

We were fortunate enough to have the co-owner, Mike, as our tour guide. He uses his own experiences as a tour guide for 20 years as his stories on the tour. He has people tell him ghost stories and then he researches what they might have seen. This is very different than what I expected but good nonetheless. He's very passionate about his work and has so much knowledge. I did get tired of listening by the end and the group didn't seem too intrigued but if you are looking for a knowledgeable, passionate tour guide, Mike is him. read more

I went on the haunted jail tour in Charleston, SC and had a great time. I highly recommend Joy as a tour guide because she made the entire experience captivating and thrilling simply based off her charisma and storytelling skills. She really makes you feel as if you are living during that time in which the events took place. read more

Personally I LOVED the ghost tour. It was super creepy and the guy that did it was really good. 10/10 would recommend.

I researched other tours and found this one to be highly recommended. My family absolutely loved it! The price was reasonable and Mike was an excellent story teller. read more

We love this tour! Mike Brown is our favorite and we have recommended him for years! Last night we had another tour guide name Mike Coker. He was FANTASTIC! Mike was smart but personal. He offered many behind the scene stories that he had gathered throughout the years. We loved it! I highly recommend this tour. read more

This was such an experience. We were in town over Halloween weekend and this made it spookier. We were lucky enough to have Mike do our tour and he told us stories and showed pictures on the tablet. You aren't allowed to enter some of the places after dark but I was expecting that and I truly enjoyed the stories much more than going into the cemeteries. The jail has its own separate tour and that's something to experience on its own. Mike has a wealth of knowledge and just having the ability to ask him questions was wonderful!! My friend and I loved it and look forward to listening to his podcasts!! Thanks Mike read more

This was our first walking ghost tour ever and we were enthralled with Mike's stories the entire time. He wove a tale of tragedies and history, some of whose spirits still reside in Charleston. With photographic evidence and multiple sightings, even a skeptic might begin to entertain the possibility that the supernatural really does exist. read more

Did 9:30 pm ghost walking tour this past weekend. I do not recall name of tour guide. The tour was boring and I felt like we stood around talking about haunted places more than actually walking over to them to see them in real life....He went on and on about the haunted jail but we never actually saw the place-aside from on his ipad....He told us that because of City guidelines or something that you cannot actually go into the jail, but we later heard that other tours go into the jail! We stood by a modern parking garage for over 20 minutes just hearing the guide talk about pretty boring stories and show us things on his ipad. Would not recommend. I did not learn anything historical and I was not scared in the least. read more

The ghost tour with mike was really super cool. I wasn't sure what to make of tours in general or a 'ghost tour' because I thought it would be kind of hokey or on the opposite end - just plain weird. We started in a really silent park where it was incredibly dark and peaceful yet solemn. We were lucky enough to have the other 3/4 of the guests no show and ended up having a private tour. Mike has done lots of historic research and provided us with an amazing private tour. He had a voice that was perfect for story telling and we were never bored! For someone has trouble walking long distances do not hesitate to book. He tied the story in to lots of places to stop and sit - it was like living in the ghost story. Thank you Mike! Well deserved 5 star company. read more