MomSkoop
New Orleans has earned its reputation as one of America’s most haunted cities, with centuries of mysterious deaths, voodoo rituals, and restless spirits lurking in its historic streets.
While tourists flock to the French Quarter for ghost tours, locals know which experiences cross the line from entertainment into genuine spine-tingling territory.
Some tours have become legendary among residents for leaving even the biggest skeptics feeling genuinely unsettled. Here are the ghost tours that New Orleanians themselves admit feel a little too authentic for comfort.
1. French Quarter Ghost & Haunted House Tour
Walking through narrow alleyways where pirates once roamed, this tour takes visitors deep into the shadowy corners of the oldest neighborhood in New Orleans. Your guide shares bone-chilling tales of murders, betrayals, and hauntings that occurred within these ancient walls.
Locals whisper about encounters with cold spots and unexplained voices echoing from abandoned courtyards. Many participants report feeling watched from the shuttered windows above. The tour stops at actual haunted houses where paranormal activity has been documented for decades.
What makes this experience particularly unsettling is how guides share stories passed down through generations of French Quarter residents. The history feels personal rather than rehearsed, adding an authenticity that sends chills down your spine.
2. The Voodoo Bone Lady Tours
Join a practicing voodoo priestess for a fascinating journey into the living traditions that define New Orleans’ spiritual heritage. With sacred tools in hand and stories drawn from experience, she offers an intimate look at a culture often misunderstood.
Participants learn about Marie Laveau’s legacy while visiting locations where real ceremonies took place. The priestess explains how voodoo connects the living and the dead, making the supernatural feel uncomfortably close. Her authentic approach transforms curiosity into something more profound and slightly unnerving.
Locals respect this tour because it treats voodoo as a living religion rather than Halloween entertainment. The Bone Lady’s stories come from personal experience and family tradition, not internet research. Her energy and conviction make believers out of skeptics.
3. Marie Laveau Cemetery Tour
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 serves as the final resting place for the legendary voodoo queen herself, and this tour brings her story to life in ways that feel almost supernatural. Above-ground tombs create a maze-like city of the dead where shadows play tricks on your eyes.
Guides recount Marie Laveau’s most powerful spells and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death. Visitors often report camera malfunctions and strange orbs appearing in photographs taken near her tomb. The atmosphere grows heavier as you venture deeper into the cemetery’s oldest sections.
What residents find most disturbing is how many people still leave offerings at Marie’s grave, proving her influence endures beyond death.
4. True Crime & Ghost Tour
Combining real murder investigations with supernatural encounters, this tour explores the darkest chapters of New Orleans history. Your guide details unsolved killings, notorious criminals, and the restless spirits they left behind in graphic, unsettling detail.
Locals find this tour particularly disturbing because many crimes discussed happened within recent memory. The guide shares police reports and autopsy details that most tourist-friendly tours avoid. Standing at actual crime scenes where violence occurred creates an uncomfortable connection to tragedy.
Participants frequently report feeling overwhelmed by sadness or anger in certain locations, as if absorbing emotions from the past. The combination of true crime facts and paranormal activity makes this experience feel dangerously real.
5. New Orleans Haunted Pub Crawl
Spirits of both kinds await on this tour that combines ghost stories with visits to the city’s most haunted drinking establishments. Each bar has its own resident ghost, from murdered bartenders to patrons who never left their favorite stools.
Bartenders and regulars share their own paranormal experiences, lending credibility that scripted tours cannot match. One tavern features a mirror where a woman’s face reportedly appears behind unsuspecting guests. Another has glasses that mysteriously shatter without explanation.
The alcohol definitely loosens inhibitions, but locals swear the hauntings are genuine regardless of how many drinks you’ve had. Staff members refuse to work alone after dark, and some rooms remain permanently locked due to disturbing activity.
6. Haunted Plantation Night Tour from New Orleans
Venturing beyond city limits, this tour transports visitors to antebellum plantations where centuries of suffering left permanent scars on the land. The darkness surrounding these remote estates feels oppressive, especially when guides extinguish all lights during storytelling moments.
Former slaves, cruel masters, and tragic deaths created layers of paranormal activity that even plantation staff acknowledge. Tour groups regularly hear footsteps on empty staircases and children’s laughter echoing through abandoned slave quarters. The isolation amplifies every unexplained sound and shadow.
Locals warn that plantations hold darker energy than city locations because trauma occurred over generations in these places. Many visitors leave feeling emotionally drained, as if they absorbed the pain embedded in the property.
7. New Orleans Ghost Tour
This classic walking tour covers the greatest hits of New Orleans hauntings, from hotels to restaurants where staff report daily paranormal encounters. The guide balances historical facts with spine-tingling ghost stories that have been verified by multiple witnesses over decades.
What sets this tour apart is its focus on locations where ordinary people—not just tourists—experience unexplained phenomena. Restaurant servers describe plates flying off shelves, and hotel housekeepers refuse to enter certain rooms. These everyday encounters make the supernatural feel unavoidable rather than rare.
Locals appreciate how this tour respects the dead while acknowledging their continued presence in the city. The guide encourages respectful interaction with spirits, treating them as former residents rather than entertainment.
8. Witches Brew Tours
Focusing on the city’s thriving witchcraft community, this tour explores covens, spell shops, and locations where powerful magic has been practiced for centuries. Your guide is a practicing witch who shares genuine spells and rituals rather than Hollywood fiction.
Participants visit shops where locals purchase serious magical supplies, not tourist souvenirs. The guide explains how New Orleans witches blend different traditions to create unique practices rooted in the city’s multicultural heritage. Demonstrations of actual spellwork make attendees question what they thought they knew about magic.
Residents find this tour unsettling because it reveals an active supernatural community operating alongside everyday life. The guide’s matter-of-fact discussion of hexes, protection spells, and spirit communication feels uncomfortably real.