Haunted Travel Is Having A Moment

I recently returned from what you could effectively call a paranormal tour of Colorado. I stayed in haunted hotels — The Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, The Stanley (aka The Shining hotel) in Estes Park, and The Historic Delaware Hotel in Leadville — and went on ghost walks and haunted history tours. At one point, I even used divining rods to communicate with the spirits rumored to still be lingering in Breckenridge.

And while a lot of people looked at me like I had perhaps lost my mind when I told them about my itinerary, one thing that stood out to me about the trip is how many people there were, just like me, leaning into all of the paranormal lore. Building their travel around it, even.

Turns out, spooky tourism is on the rise. Across the country, ghost tours are selling out, historic hotels are booking out months in advance, and hot girl walks have given way to witch walks. New Orleans, Salem, and Savannah all made Viator’s latest report ranking the Top 10 Spookiest Cities in the U.S., areas increasingly drawing in visitors hoping for a bit of haunting.

But experts say our fascination with paranormal places isn’t just about chasing jump scares. If you want to get deep, it has a lot to do with human connection as well as our need to reckon with our own mortality. “Haunted tourism isn’t really about the paranormal,” says Paul Whitten, founder of Nashville Adventures. “It’s about the parts of history we can’t explain but still want to feel.”

And, OK, yeah… also the jump scares.

Facing Our Fears (& Mortality)

Experts say there are probably myriad reasons travelers seem to be seeking out spooky spots more than ever. Some of these reasons probably won’t come as any surprise to you (like the fact that travel is surging in general), but some may not even have occurred to you.

Like, says Jen Billock, aka “Chicago’s Kitchen Witch” and world’s only professional cheese fortuneteller, how paranormal tourism and the pandemic could be connected.

“During the pandemic, we were all faced with potential death. I think a lot of people are choosing to embrace that instead of letting the fear control them,” explains Billock, who’s had firsthand paranormal experiences around the country. “So, dark tourism and ghost tours became a bigger thing as a way to confront our own fears of the endless darkness of death and of things we can’t control.”

Haunted experiences also offer what psychologists refer to as “controlled fear.”

Explains Adam Sargant, a ghost tour guide with Haunted Haworth in West Yorkshire, UK, “It’s a safe way to get your heart pounding, a jolt of adrenaline that makes you feel alive. It's the same reason people ride rollercoasters.”

Seeking Connection

It’s probably also no coincidence that haunted travel has spiked in the same era we’ve all been glued to our phones. Being online all the time seems to be contributing to the rise in paranormal travel in two distinct ways: social media travel reels are making people more aware (and more interested in) certain spooky destinations, but alternatively, many travelers also seem to want to lean out of the artificial, algorithmic nature of digital life and tap into something more primal.

“The world feels heavy right now. I think a lot of travelers are craving a break from the news cycle and the daily grind,” says Canadian travel blogger Tanya Turner, who has noticed her audience really enjoys haunted travel posts. “Haunted hotels and paranormal stories offer a kind of escape. Not just physically, but emotionally too. They give us something deeper to connect with. It’s history with heart, and a little thrill on the side.”

Sargent agrees. “People are tired of living through screens. We live these clean, digital, polished lives. A ghost tour is the exact opposite. It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s authentic. You’re standing on the actual spot where something tragic or mysterious or brutal happened,” he says, adding, “While we walk through the dark, even if we don’t believe in ghosts, the atmosphere is enough to cause us to suspend belief. In a world where we can feel pretty disconnected, it’s a powerful shared experience.”

Ghost Chasers For Life

For some of us, paranormal tourism is a combination of all of the above — and even a way to connect with younger generations.

“I’m a historian by profession, an adrenaline junkie by nature, and a natural wanderer, so for me, paranormal tourism is the best of all three worlds,” Erin Egnatz, haunted travel expert and creator of Hauntings Around America, tells me. “Exploring the unknown by way of diving into history is my favorite pastime. Now that my kids are a bit older, they are starting to enjoy it as well, which makes for exciting family road trips.”

But whatever your reason is for seeking out spooky spots to visit, don’t let anyone give you sh*t about it. If it’s your thing, you’re in good company. Whether you’re tracing witch lore in Salem or creeping around the Old City Jail in Charleston, you’re part of a long tradition of travelers who go looking for ghosts and find something even more powerful: community.

Spooky Hotspots in the U.S.

If you’re itching to dip your toes into the supernatural (or just want an excuse for a creepy-cute weekend getaway), here are a few of my favorite picks:

• New Orleans, LA: Voodoo legends, vampire mythos, and ghost tours galore make this Southern city a spooky dreamscape.
• Salem, MA: Not for the faint of heart in October, but the witch-trial capital is heavy on history and spectral sightings.
• Leadville, CO: The stop from my Colorado trip where I felt the most “energy”! I swear I heard footsteps walking around my bed at The Delaware every night.
• Gettysburg, PA: Egnatz says one of her favorite paranormal road trips started here with a visit to the Gettysburg Battlefield.
• Charleston, SC: Come to my hometown and find plenty of moss-draped cemeteries, creepy cobblestone alleys, and more lore than you’ll know what to do with.

Happy hauntings!