History but Make It Haunted: Historic Tours Around the Bay Area to Enjoy Around Halloween

The most blessed time of all has finally arrived: Halloween. (And yes, Halloween is a monthlong affair.)

And yes, there are plenty of opportunities to celebrate the vampires, zombies and werewolves of lore. But for history fans, the Bay Area also has no shortage of real-life storied spots with haunting backstories — or places that just make for a downright spooky visit at this time of year. 

From haunted manors and ghostly ships to castles, lighthouses and more, read on to see what historical sites are hosting Halloween tours, events and experiences this month around the Bay Area. (And if you want those jumpscares too at a more immersive horror experience, we’ve got a guide to those coming soon too.)

All aboard this giant warship, now a floating museum in Alameda. The USS Hornet Museum has a range of year-round exhibits, including one about its time as an aircraft carrier during World War II.

But during Halloween, the ship becomes The Haunted Hornet, inviting visitors on a seasonal group tour of the vessel after dark where you’ll learn the nautical ghost stories of its past. Tours are available until Nov. 1, and tickets can be bought online for around $39. 

There’s also a Spaghetti & Spirits Paranormal Dinner on Oct. 23 and a Monsters Bash party on Oct. 24.

This beautifully preserved San Francisco Victorian survived the Great Earthquake. And this Halloween, the nonprofit SF Heritage is partnering with the Gregangelo Museum to host “House of Weird” within the Haas-Lilienthal House’s walls, promising “a secret, sensory world” that’s an “only in San Francisco experience.” 

Slots are available online from mid-October up until Halloween night, for around $66 per guest.

The Bay has a castle. Who knew? (No, not that one.)

If you’re interested in checking out this unusual structure in Pacifica during Spooky Season, act fast: Tours of the castle are available only on Oct. 10 this month, although there are more in November and the new year. Tickets are around $35.

According to the website, there’ll be a possible guest appearance from the castle’s ghosts. But tour guides promise they’re friendly. 

It’s everyone’s favorite Bay Area fact: there are more dead people in Colma than living.

The reputation was founded in the 1900s, when over 100,000 bodies were exhumed and moved from San Francisco to Colma in order to make more room for housing in the city. Now, more than a million people are buried in Colma. 

The multiple cemeteries of Colma host the resting places of many famous people, including athlete superstar Joe DiMaggio and newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. KQED has a map of famed burial sites — some of which are striking mausoleums — that people can visit in Colma. There are also opportunities for trolley or walking tours.

Here’s where we’ll really stretch the definition of “historical.” 

The Winchester Mystery House in San José, dating from 1886, has always had an allure for fans of the paranormal. They’re drawn not just by its bizarre architecture but by the apparent sightings of ghosts that reportedly haunted its owner and widowed heiress, Sarah Winchester. 

Alas, the truth is sometimes a little less juicy, and Bay Curious has an episode debunking a lot of the myths around the Winchester House and Sarah herself. 

However, we can recognize there are still thrills to be had when touring the mansion’s sprawling estate — with lots and lots of stairs leading to nowhere. Tickets can be found online (around $48 for adults, $25 for children), with a seasonal Festival Fright Nights after-hours series running until Nov. 1.

A little further away: Point Sur Lighthouse in Monterey County, just off Highway 1 in Big Sur, is one of the state’s oldest — and most remote — lighthouses. It’s also said to be the visiting place of past families who once lived there, who’ve been known to make their ghostly presence felt. 

Now a state historic park, the lighthouse is open for haunting evening visits on Oct. 24 and Oct. 31, with tickets priced at $125 and limited to 40 people. 

Yes, it’s several hours’ drive north up the coast from the Bay Area. But up in the always-scenic coastal town of Mendocino are two pretty great tours for Halloween: the Haunted Mendocino tour and the Murder, She Wrote (of the Angela Lansbury television show fame) tour.

The Haunted Mendocino event will touch on Victorian specters and the town’s history. The Murder, She Wrote tour, meanwhile, visits former film sets and recounts behind-the-scenes tales about the television show that lasted for over 200 episodes.

Both tours cost around $25, and a calendar can be found on the Kelley House Museum website.

This Neoclassical house in Oakland has acted as the ultimate horror movie location in the Bay Area over the years, featured in movies like “The Vineyard,” “So I Married an Axe Murderer” and “Burnt Offerings.” But it’s probably best known for its role in Phantasm, a cult classic soundtracked by the father of KQED tech reporter Rachael Myrow.

Unfortunately, this gorgeous mansion in Oakland is not exactly open to the public right now, and its current condition has stirred up no shortage of community complaints online. But it’s still worth a journey into the Oakland Hills to look at from afar through the fence, due to its place in Halloween movie history.

While The Black House — the Church of Satan’s most well-known headquarters — was demolished in 2001, the founder Anton LaVey also reportedly resided in the Westerfeld House on Fulton and Scott streets overlooking San Francisco’s Alamo Square. 

While the impressive home is not open to tours or the public, it is an eight-minute drive from the Haas-Lilienthal House and can be a good opportunity to glimpse some more dark San Francisco history — albeit from the outside. 

If you’re craving other events with a historical tinge, you can also check out:

• Through Oct. 31: SF Ghost Hunt Walking Tours
• Oct. 9: A recounting of Valencia St.’s “deathly past” by Dead Reckoning podcast hosts Beth Winegarner and Courtney Minick at taxidermy store Paxton Gate in San Francisco.
• Oct. 21: More local ghost stories as told by Winegarner and Minick at bookstore bar Clio’s in Oakland. 
• Oct. 28: Death By Aria, a series of music performances at the iconic Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. 
• Oct. 31: Halloween Masquerade Party at the historic Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel in San Francisco.
• Oct. 31: NIGHT OF 1000 MARY TODDS at the White Horse Bar in Oakland. Kind of not historical at all, this reporter is tickled pink to see an entire party dedicated to the incredible piece of art that is Oh, Mary! — a fake biographical depiction of Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Mary Lincoln Todd, as a depressed diva. The touring production of “Oh, Mary!” is also currently in San Francisco until Nov. 1, featuring “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” season 2 winner Alaska as Mary.