Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on February 8, 2023.
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Pick any city in the world, and odds are good there are a few ghost stories to be told. Pittsburgh is no different, and the city once described as “hell with the lid off” is said to be just as haunted as the rest.
To seek out the city's supernatural side, we booked a tour with Haunted Pittsburgh to learn about some of downtown Pittsburgh's most famous hauntings.
A Ghost Tour- Not a Ghoul Tour
The one thing that sets Haunted Pittsburgh apart from other ghost tours is that there are no gimmicks to shock or surprise you on the tour (if you want those, we may want to suggest a Pittsburgh haunted house instead). The tour leader is there with only one goal in mind- to share stories of hauntings in some of Pittsburgh's most iconic buildings.
This setup may therefore not be for everyone, and is worth knowing going into it.
Our tour began at the City-County Building and worked its way around to numerous haunted spots in the city- including the Randall's toy store, the William Penn Hotel, the Gulf Tower, the former morgue, the former Allegheny County Jail, the former Carnegie offices where Henry Clay Frick was shot, and many more. (Note- the tour does not enter any property.)
At each spot, the guide gave a rousing tale of the ghosts that are said to inhabit the buildings based on first hand accounts of the hauntings. From murders to suicides and other sightings of otherworldly origins, this tour covers a wide range of the city's supernatural side and is likely only just scratching the surface.
An Incredible Guide Makes the Tour
Although this tour covers a wide range of stories during the walk, we have to admit that we left the walking tour with mixed feelings overall- if only because we're not ones to be scared through ghost stories alone.
That being said, the tour guide does a fantastic job at bringing the haunting experiences to life, and certainly gave many others on our tour reasons to shudder (and if we have to guess, lose a little sleep as well).
So if you're looking for a way to get into the Halloween spirit in October, or simply want to learn more about Pittsburgh's dark side any other time of the year, this 90 minute walking tour in downtown Pittsburgh is well worth considering.
Haunted Pittsburgh offers several tours in downtown Pittsburgh on Fridays and Saturdays from May to October with additional times available around Halloween in Pittsburgh.Â
Looking for more things to do in Pittsburgh in October? Check out Kennywood's Phantom Fright Nights!
