As you plunge into the whitewaters of the Seattle ghost tour scene, be warned that-just as with the bawdy gold-rush era some of the ghost tales take place in-there's a bit of drama and an air of rivalry. The source of the friction is that Ross and his AGHOST (Advanced Ghost Hunters of Seattle-Tacoma) team, who take ghost-hunting pretty seriously, have been doing these thoughtful and well-researched tours for a few years...and by his claim, they were clearly the first on the scene, until the interloping "Ghost Tours" sprouted up in the very same location, with their proclamatory "THE ORIGINAL!" ad copy and a spookier, more distressed typeface on their sandwich boards. I'm not going to feign neutrality here: There is no competition between these two. Or rather, there should not be. You see, the confusion between these tours is likely not accidental, and it's also unfortunate, because Spooked in Seattle is far and away superior. (Also: quick Cliff's notes for tourists: if you're torn between this tour and the Underground Tour, opt for this one.) But I'm sure the contrasting experience we had with the other tour only deepened our appreciation. Here's how that went down: We arrived at Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe eight minutes late and they were nowhere in sight. The haunted walk waits for no one! After poking my head inside and asking--and here I can't recall if I specifically said "Spooked in Seattle" or "ghost tour," but I was directed to 1st and Yesler and assured they'd be there for quite a while. Off we fled to the corner in question, and saw the Ghost Tour sandwich boards, as yet unaware that this was not the right tour. This tour consisted of a man gesticulating like a preacher, but I reasoned that some theatrics were surely okay. But as we approached, a woman said, "Trust me. You don't wanna be here." Taken aback, I scanned other faces. Apparently, no one did. It was actually the timing--he began to wrap up very shortly after we arrived--that clued us in that we were on the wrong tour. But we heard enough for my boys to get both bored and miserable, and it ended in talking about Jesus and the afterlife and felt like a strange blend of a country sermon and the stuff the toothless guy yells about in the 7-11 parking lot. There were a couple of interesting anecdotes but it was just..."off." We soon realized our mistake and got set for the Spooked in Seattle tour, which they were good enough to let us attend after missing our reservation for the first. Armed with a tablet for showing illuminated photographs, an amiable delivery, and a clear knowledge of the subject, Ross led us straight into the stories of creepy locals, such as Seattle's first known female serial killer, a famed practitioner of baaad medicine; a ferry-haunting ghost, a colorful state representative who couldn't be trusted around coconuts, an irritable banker annoyed with the poor ventilation, an artist's graceful (though accidental) plunge to death, and a couple of mischievous dead children. Throughout it all, we were shown photos, and occasionally archival video of the incidents in question, and (especially cool) heard EVP recordings Ross' team had gathered, ostensibly audio of the ghosts saying a phrase or a name here or there. Whether you're convinced or not, it's more fun to believe it when there's evidence! We took a ghost tour in Victoria B.C and really liked it, but compared to this one it was dry and academic. This one, at least in part due to the media, feels much more engaged and visceral. But an unexpected bonus, for me, was seeing things anew in not just a city, but a neighborhood, that I ought to know by now. The Merchant's Cafe; how had I never ducked in there? It's insane...a red glow within, then narrow stairs down to a basement chamber, then, within that, a strange, dollhouse-like padlocked (yet fully stocked) bar...whoa. (As we were leaving the joint, we saw five men dressed nearly identically like postcard cowboys. They were not, as best we could determine, dead.) Then there's the Arctic Club. How many workdays did I stroll past that place and never notice the row of beautifully carved walrus heads below every window of the fifth floor? Maybe we could all stand to see our own city as the tourists do every now and then. read more

We went on the true crime tour. Rai was a great guide. There's a ton of good stories. Great if you're interested in dark history without the embellishments of a ghost tour. I highly recommend this! read more

I recently went on a tour with my mom for her birth day and loved it. I would recommend Kim as your guide for the tour. I am going to go back for a tarrot reading somtime. read more

Aten was really the worst guide I have ever had on any type of tour I have gone on. I was more scared of him than of the spooks. I read the earlier review of how he contacted the guy who gave a negative review and wow, he better not contact me. I would suggest if you take this tour to ask for a different guide because the others seem to be better and actually give good experiences. read more

Soooo this tour was great! Aten was our tour guide that night, and lets just say, he was one of the most interesting guys I've ever met! He's way cool, super nice, and totally genuine with the work that he does. We couldnt have asked for a better guide. He was quite informative and helpful, and like a said before, he was so genuine. The stories of the city were interesting and pretty creepy. The tour is NOT designed to scare you, its designed to give you the stories and legends of the area and then give you possible explanations for why these phenomenons occur. My sister and I had a lot of fun, and we would totally take a different tour of theirs if given the chance! Thanks for a super fun night!! read more

Maybe I'm strange for not agreeing with the rest of the reviewers here. I go on ghost tours in almost every city I go to looking for an experience but this is the worst one so far. I do have to admit the stories were good but that's it. The tour was given in an upbeat way with lots of help from gadgets. All the other tours I've been on created an atmosphere where we were able to try an experience something as well as imagine the story without help from tablets. If you are the type of person who wants to experience a haunting then this is not the tour for you. On the other hand if you just want to hear ghost stories told in a happy manner then this would be the tour for you. I personally did not get anything out of this. It felt fake and overly staged to me. read more

Totally worth checking it out. Our guide, Jerome, did an excellent job weaving history with the paranormal whiile keeping it fun. The Museum of Death was pretty cool, too. read more

My wife surprised me with the ghost tour, and it was a really awesome surprise. You meet at the Ye Old Curiosity shop by the ferry terminal, which is a neat little place to check out. The group we went on was pretty big (25-30 people), which didn't really affect the tour itself to my surprise. Our guide, Ross was really informative, funny, and straightforward about his personal experiences and about "ghosts" in general. We walked around the Pioneer Square area and stopped at a few places for interesting "ghost" stories. I'm not from Seattle, so it was cool to hear a different type of history of the city. The walk wasn't too bad, and you get to experience the local flavor of interesting Seattle characters while walking around, and the tour itself the right length at 90 mins. At the end of the tour, you get to go inside the headquarters, which includes a part of the Seattle Underground. I will admit, that that part was a bit underwhelming, BUT it was a cool bonus. Overall, I enjoyed this tour and the sights and sounds of Pioneer Square. We even were introduced to the oldest restaurant, the Merchant Café, which we got to go inside and hear about the ghost stories there. (Side note, they have an AMAZING deep fried cheese curd dish you have to try!!) Note: You end at the headquarters in Pioneer Square, so just keep that in mind when parking. read more

Great tour to take. Tour guide Jordan was very witty. Felt like I was with Willy Wonka. A must-do tour.

Great tour! Loved Aten, our guide who was very knowledgeable and passionate about Seattle's early history and ghost hunting. Definitely not your typical campy ghost tour. We got to go into some haunted locations and . Easy 90 minute walk around town with lots of interesting information and humor. read more

Spooked in Seattle Haunted Pub Crawl was nothing but a long, drawn out history lesson. We took the tour last Thursday evening. Each time we passed by a place they "claimed" was haunted, there would be an excuse that it was either being Renovated or some other reason why we could not go in, and then promise if you come on a future tour you would be able to go into the building or basement that was haunted. Although the history of Seattle was interesting, If I wanted that I could have went on the Underground Tour. I would not recommend this tour at all for a ghost tour. UPDATE** And just to clarify... Although we did walk into different bars, most of the claims of citings and haunting were either upstairs or in the basements of these establishments... and those were the area's that were always being renovated or blocked off until future tours. When we decided to take this tour, I was under the impression we would at least see one basement, or creepy "haunted' area of an establishment, rather then just stepping into the entrance for a minute or two. The only eery part of the tour were the bums of Pioneer Square! read more

It was the most BORING tour I ever Attended. The only 2 underground places you went, where at the location which holds the Dead Museum, a room just filled with a bed, some skeleton's (you check in there), After 60 minutes of Stephanie the tour guide and having you hear some VOICES on a recording, you were taken to the "Merchants Bar" to their basement (you can do that on your own and enjoy a drink). Do not pay it is not worth it. WHAT A WASTE OF TIME AND $$$, very disappointed on something that I had been looking forward to do. read more

Excellent tour complete with fun and interesting facts of Seattle's past. Would definitely recommend this one.

Horrible tour! My Wife and I go on ghost tours in every city we travel to, we are in the dozens at this point... this has easily been the worst tour we've ever taken. Our tour guide was Graham and he couldn't have done a worse job. Graham's history knowledge was non-existent, he relied on an iPad to conduct the tour (which ran out of battery before we were finished), he admitted he does not believe in ghosts, and he wasn't even fully educated on the talking points of the tour. The tour itself had very little "ghost" content, and basically showed us a few old buildings and a few areas of the Seattle underground, which anyone who went on the Seattle Underground tour would already be very aquatinted with. Huge waste of money, don't waste your time. Really disappointed, we were really excited to take this tour on Friday the 13th, but we got served up a big dud. read more

I wish I could have taken the tour. I booked on Groupon, excited to see it. Earlier that day I booked the underground history tour, they were so nice and happy to see us. I thought I booked the same type of tour that night. I showed up all excited, but when I got there, the guy said you can't use that here you didn't confirm 48 hours in advance. I said sorry I didn't know the fine print can you get us in? He said sure for full price, next time read the fine print. I just left. Wasn't in the mood to argue with him read more

What a fun way to learn about Seattle. I have done other tours about the city but this one was fun and bone chilling. My husband and I took the 6pm Tuesday night walking tour. The tour guide was very knowledgeful and prepared. The tour was hey well organized. I didn't feel like I was hearing repeats of the same history lessons I have been getting through out my many tours. The tour also ended berg well my husband and I bolted from the Spooked in Seattle headquarters feeling way more spookdd then when we started the tour in Pioneer Square. Great job. read more

If you're looking for something fun and different to do on a Saturday night, this is it! Our tour guide was Aten, who was really great! He was super knowledgeable about the history of Seattle and its paranormal activities. I would definitely come back and bring out of town friends! read more

The tour guide was very informative about some of the history of Seattle but as for a "spooky" tour there was nothing spooky about the tour. We took the "spooked in Seattle" tour. Our daughter took the ship tour and her and her boyfriend loves the tour and actually "felt" a spirit and thinks she caught a "noise". read more

I've always wanted to do this tour so when I found a living social deal for two admissions for LESS than the pice of one admission...I had to make it happen. Our tour guide was Aten. He was super knowledgable and you can really see his passion for the subject and what he does. The tour is not cheesy at all, they don't try to frighten you or have lame illusions. It was very much a lesson in the history of Seattle and the unexplained occurrences that have taken place in connection with the areas on the tour stops. I would highly recommend the Pioneer Square tour and will probably do it again, myself! read more

Got two tickets on Groupon since my friend and I are visiting from Texas and the tour was very enjoyable. Anita was our haunted tour guide and was very kind and resourceful. I'll be sure to recommend. read more

My friend and I had bought a Groupon for this. I'm not exactly sure why because I'm not crazy into ghosts but we thought it would be something fun to do. I called the number on the Groupon and booked the tour easily. It starts at the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. There were 6 people on our tour and our guide's name was Emily. She took us to the Ferry Terminal, the Smith Tower, inside Merchant Cafe, outside a toy shop (something happened right outside it), the Arctic Club, the tour headquarters and perhaps some other places I might not remember. As far as being close enough to actual supposed ghost sightings, she covered it at the Merchant Cafe, the you shop and Arctic Club. For the others, you don't exactly get quite up close to the spots of the sightings. You also get a good history lesson with some of this stuff which I thought was fun. They use a tablet to show you some multimedia stuff to go with the tour which is cool. Guessing that feature hasn't been around the whole time! They also take you to this cellar-ish place inside their shop. It's kind of silly because there's no ghost sightings or anything. It's just to make you feel like you're somewhere spooky but I'm not sold on the stuff they say might have happened in the shop. It feels a little forced. The shop itself is pretty new so there isn't a lot happening there so far. Overall, I thought the stories were good, the locations interesting- I especially liked the Arctic Club, Toy Shop and Ferry stories- and the tour guide did a good job. If you have any ghost or history enthusiast friends visiting and whatnot, they may enjoy it! 3.5 stars read more

Recently took a quick trip to Seattle and wanted to do something less touristy than the typical ideas. I love haunted houses and murder mysteries, so we decided to go on the Spooked In Seattle Ghost Tour. Wow, it did not disappoint! Kim, our funny and informative tour guide was able to expertly balance the creepy stuff (for me) while still making sure my friend (who isn't so into the paranormal stuff) was able to sleep that night. Highly recommend the taking this tour with Kim - she'll make sure everyone has a great time and is expertly spooked while learning about Seattle's haunted history! read more

Cool tour. Got to learn some of the history of underground Seattle. The tour guild was great. Seemed to really enjoy what he was doing.

I bought the tour from the living social site. Intended as an anniversary date night after dinner. Our tour guide was Attin, (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) he wore a top hat and Victorian period clothing, but somehow it works on him. Our tour started in an underground part of Seattle where he gave us a quick history lesson. The origins of the building we were standing in and what we may or may not encounter on our adventure. He is funny and pretty darn knowledgeable, I like him. I don't usually like anybody. We stopped at a couple different locations out and around pioneer square. He took the time to explain each site and answer questions. He did a pretty good job making sure that everyone could hear him. My favorite part of the tour, was the Market cafe and its infamous basement, the basement section was actually the first floor of the original structure. Fascinating! I know! He even passed around a tablet with photo evidence captured in that very room, on a previous tour. I won't spoil the details for you but highly recommend doing this tour any time of year. Fun and very informative, perfect for a date night. Try and tour with Attin(spelling-sorry) he makes it fun and not in a cheesy way. Be sure to wear your rain gear and comfy shoes, you'll be outside, inside and underground. Why are you still reading this? GO! read more

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It was so much fun! The guide was informative and very charismatic! Fun tour in underground Seattle!

My husband and I went on this tour in October...the best month of the year for scary things...after we did another tour from another company that shall remain un-named. This was so fun and different from the other one we went to (which was good too). The guide...I wish I remembered his name...was hilarious! Very interesting, easy to talk to and answered questions very easily. You could tell he had done his homework and knew a lot about the history of Seattle (a very dark history indeed). I Loved the stories about the past and found it so interesting to learn more about the city I live in. Yes, I live in Seattle and I did the tour. The majority of my group, as it happens, were locals. I would highly recommend this tour company and we plan on doing more tours (Hello Pub Tour!). read more

Well worth the price of admission. Our guide was knowledgeable, personable, and charmingly funny. I learned some new things about Seattle's past, and had a great time in the process. We had about 15 in our group and it was about the right size. And I think what I most appreciated is that the tour stuck to facts and didn't attempt to fabricate or expand on the ghost stories. They kept it real. I highly recommend this tour. read more

Wasn't planning on it, but heard about the tour while browsing at the oddities shop. It was great fun and educational. Learned a lot about Seattle along the way. read more

What a delight! We had fun with the whole family and learned stuff We never knew even after living in Seattle for 30 years,The tour guide Aten was very knowledgeable and charismatic and sharply dressed which added to the entire experience! We highly recommend, Would make for a fantastic date night ;) read more

Excellent tour. Unfortunately the old man behind the counter, at the conclusion of our tour at 8 pm, responded to me asking where to hail a cab by telling me to go down to the heart of Pioneer Square to the pergola. Well, alone with a young child, sending a woman down to what the tour guide called Skid Row is reckless and disgusting. I knew this but he seemed unwilling to help. We were being harassed by a homeless man (the same one who'd harassed our group earlier) and had to hide out in Starbucks (where he approached us again) after they closed, with management permission. Waited for the uber without success and was about to dash into a Subway- the only obvious, safe business open, when I managed to hail a cab. Not cool, not okay. I'd say this man's referral shows a callous disregard for the safety of human life. That's spookier than anything on the tour. read more

My fiancé and I went on the Haunted Pub Tour and our guide, Jerome, was fantastic- knowledgable, energetic, looked the part and had great comedic timing. You get a complimentary drink at the end of the tour (beer, wine or well) which I thought was a nice touch. In the other bars, you have the option to purchase a drink to sip on as you learn. Went to three bars total (not counting the one we met in). We even stopped in to the headquarters to check out their spooky underground museum. Loved it! Thanks Jerome and Spooked in Seattle for a great night! read more

Went on the uss turner joy haunted investigation was an awesome time.ross was knowledgable and professional and a great guy.cant wait to go on their other tours at the merchants cafe and the underground tour.unfortunately I'm from British Columbia because you can go to their meetings I believe every two weeks and would love to join their team.was better than expected was expecting it to be a little cheesy and gimmicky due to never being on a ghost hunt before as I've wanted to since I was a kid.i would recommend this to everybody.felt some cold spots could've been just that it was night time and creepy at times and it could sometimes give you chills but that was part of the thrill.also made some new friends with people on the tour which was an awesome bonus.thanks again ross awesome tour will be back to your other tours! read more

Went on this tour as a native Seattleite, and had a wonderful spooky time! Aten was our tour guide, I was truly impressed with the knowledge, storytelling, and humor he gave on the tour. There was so much I didn't know about my city! And such spooky stories, with a collection of photos, evps, and other ghostly activity recorded and provided to add to the paranormal atmosphere. On top of that the guide was so happy to answer people's curious questions. You could tell he loved giving these tours and involving the audience as well as being great with the kids on the tour. He dressed the part too, with full Victorian clothing! If you're looking for some great history and eerie stories, please check these guys out. And if you're a big fan of the paranormal, you'll love this tour as well. Also if you're not from Seattle or just forget easily, please wear some rainboots/raincoat because you get to walk outside to haunted places for a bit! I will definitely be going on this tour again with more friends. I am truly impressed with the tour company, keep up the good work guys! And thanks Aten for the awesome spooky experience! read more

I have been on 3 different tours from Spooked in Seattle, and they're always a good time. Most recently, I went on the Pioneer Square tour with Aten as our guide. Aten was gracious, entertaining and hilarious. You'll learn some dark history behind Seattle's early years, see some historic sites and end up back in the super creepy Spooked HQ and Death Museum. There is also a cute little gift shop featuring unique items from local crafters and artists. If you're visiting Seattle and are wondering if you should do the Spooked Tour or the Underground Tour, I would say that both are good, but The Underground Tour is more impersonal due to the huge groups and involves a lot of yelling. You also get very different information on each tour, so you may want to do both. If you are at all interested in spirits, the paranormal or 19th century history, don't miss Spooked in Seattle! read more

It was great! Me and my family had a lot of fun. The price is totally okay. I payed 16$ as an student. We booked the ghost tour. The story's where interesting, especially the one about the bar. I would it do it again. Our Tourguides was friendly and funny. You could understand everything clearly even on the busy streets of Seattle. read more

I decided to purchase tickets to the Spooked in Seattle Walking Tour of Pioneer Square after reading the reviews of this place, and deciding that a ghost tour might be a fun and interesting way to spend the early evening with my teenage kids. The tour leader, Aten, was very knowledgeable, engaging, and funny.(He mentioned he was in his 40's, but I swear he looks 20 years younger - I'm jealous). Not a good tour for people with significant mobility problems since the Spooked in Seattle headquarters where you meet is downstairs, and much of the tour is conducted underground down sometimes uneven stairs with no wheelchair access, but if this is not an issue, I highly recommend the tour. We visit Seattle frequently, therefore we were aware that Pioneer Square is not perhaps the safest area at night, so I would recommend that you take this into account when you plan your trip - inadvisable to dress like you own an Aston Martin and a chateau in the south of France! You do learn a lot about Seattle's history on the tour, and honestly, having done the Bob Speidel's Underground Tour, if I had to choose between the two, I'd go with Spooked in Seattle since you learn a lot of the same things about Seattle's general history, and have the bonus of learning also a great deal about it's paranormal history. If the paranormal is not your bent, then Speidel's Underground tour is also very noteworthy, but has similar restrictions for people with mobility issues/strollers. In short, a brilliant tour worthy of a review from someone who seldom bothers - CW, Yelm read more

Way too many people in the group, couldn't hear most of what was being said. We only got to go inside a couple places to actually see the space that was being talked about. Most places we just stood outside and we're told about what had happened. The tour guide wasn't paying attention at one point and caused the huge group to cross the street during a green light for traffic, not very safe :( The voice recording were kinda cool and the the basement bar were actually got to go into was pretty creepy. But again it was hard to hear the voice recordings due to the amount of ppl in the group. This tour was pretty cheap mind you, but we enjoyed the underground tour WAY more. read more

Let me start off by saying my boyfriend and I have never been on a ghost tour before, so while we were in Seattle we thought, why not? Sounds fun and they have that whole creepy underground area to explore. I looked up Ghost Tours on Yelp to narrow one down, (probably what you're doing right now) and with all the review praise for this particular tour, decided on this one. Also the groupon helped to sell it. What I was looking for in a tour was stories/history, venturing inside "haunted" places and experiences. I didn't get all I hoped for on this tour. Our tourguid, Megan, was adorable and I honestly put no fault on her for the tour itself because she's just doing her job. She was sweet and told the stories well, appreciated guest participation and seemed to genuinely enjoy her job which is always nice...but it was the whole structure of the tour that I didn't really care for. We walked from place to place, would stop -- outside the haunted buildings that were usually across the street -- she'd point and say "so and so died there and now it's haunted. Onto our next spot." So on and so forth. Out of all the sites we stopped at, we only went inside two: Merchant's Cafe and then a very, very small portion of Seattle's underground. In the Cafe, we sat downstairs in the basement for a few minutes while she told the story, showed us some photos on her ipad and then we were off again. No exploration, no discussion, no feeling anything out or investigating the claims. It was the underground we were most looking forward to because we were told we'd navigate the cavernous walkways in the dark with flashlights and who doesn't want to do that? I couldn't wait! I'm not even being sarcastic, that sounded awesome and exciting to me. Well, we entered the underground, LITERALLY walked around a corner and were back inside the Spooked in Seattle Headquarters -- which was also the end of the tour. At the end she showed us a small chair that they claimed to move with a haunted doll sitting in it that would also move, but again, were just told the story for all of two minutes and were on our way. Didn't get to watch and see if anything might happen while we were there. I get that it's only 90 minutes and they can't feasibly fit everything in to one tour but maybe if they cut out some of the walking time (which takes up a lot) and only went to a few selected places which are pretty reputedly haunted, the guests would have more time to feel the spooky side of the stories. So that's pretty much how it went. My boyfriend and I had fun because we were just happy to be in Seattle, walking around listening to history...but it wasn't spooky at all. And I'm not sure that without the Groupon two for one thing we got, it'd be worth the money. We'd gone on Bill Speidle's Underground tour an hour before Spooked in Seattle and that was creepier and just better paced than this ghost tour. The problem I see with this tour is, you're not given time to have any "experiences". It's a walking story-time. You don't stay anywhere long enough to feel anything eerie and don't even go IN anywhere that's "haunted". It's hard to appreciate a "haunted" site when you're staring at the building from across the street. Again, we've never been on a ghost tour but we have been to "haunted" places with friends just because and have had spooky things happen so we know the difference. Perhaps I was looking for more of a ghost hunt type deal? Overall, if you're looking for a really seriously ghost tour where you might actually feel something or get to experience creepy sites from the inside, this is not the tour for you. If you're looking for something more lighthearted and mostly just want to hear creepily interesting stories without having nightmares at night, this tour is for you. And once again, I don't blame our tour guide because I truly believe it's the structure of the tour itself that is it's downfall. I feel like, for anyone who really digs this stuff and really believes in the paranormal, it would be a waste of time and money, and it's actually kind of hard for me to believe that the people who started this were ghost hunters themselves. read more

I learned about how Seattle was started, but not as much ghostly or spooky fare as I imagined there would be. It was just man on the street storytelling, not really going to actual haunted places. Expected more underground visits, not just the very small portion of the underground as part of their main office. Left a bit disappointed. read more

Fantastic experience with Ross! The tour was highly informative, super entertaining and yes... spooky! In the best way!! The 2 hour tour just flew by as he shared his knowledge of the city, paired with his experience as a paranormal investigator. He has access to areas you wouldn't normally see making this tour worth every penny! Plus his collection of unique items in the museum is like nothing I've seen before. Also the staff was incredibly friendly! Highly recommend!! read more