Exploring the Eerie: Houston’s Most Haunted Houses to Brave or Avoid
- AI Engineering Building
- 13th Floor Haunted House Houston
- Creepy Hollow Haunted House
- Driskell Hotel
- ETX Zombie Hunt
- Granbury Opera House
- Haunted Mayfield Manor
- Hendley Market and Building
- The Hotel Galvez
- Houston Scream Fest
- Houston Terror Dome
- La Carafe Bar (Houston)
- Phobia Haunted House
- Purgatory Scream Park
- REDRUM Haunted House
- Rice Lofts
- The Haunted Trails
- USS Lexington Museum (Corpus Christi)
- Yorktown Memorial Hospital
Get ready to unlock the doors to the unknown as we embark on a spine-tingling journey through the most haunted houses in Houston. Are you a thrill-seeker hunting for ghostly counters or just curious about the eerie tales that linger behind these historic walls?
From chilling legends to hair-raising mysteries, we’ve curated a list that’s bound to send shivers down your spine. So, grab your lantern and summon your courage, because we’re about to delve into the shadows of Houston’s most haunted houses.
Whether you dare to enter or prefer to keep those goosebumps at bay, this guide will walk you through all of the spooky spots including staged haunted houses designed to scare you and actual haunted spots according to local legends!
AI Engineering Building
Address: 423 Spence St, College Station, TX 77840, United States
Phone Number: +1 979-845-4161
Pricing: Free
Hours:
- Monday to Friday – 8 am to 5 pm
The Texas A&M University which was founded in 1876 is the first location in the Texas University System, so the university is a treasure trove of history.
The location where the campus is at used to be a bustling commercial center with different shops and stores. What is now the AI Engineering Building on campus grounds used to be the Animal Industries Building.
In 1959, it was reported that a worker in the building was carving up meat at the basement when he cut himself, severed his femoral artery, and bled to death. Students often explore the building and the basement and say they can hear his scream.
| Pro Tip: Since the campus is open to the public, you can explore the area after you check out the building. It’s best to go very early in the morning so that the environment is still quiet and eerie without the normal hum of student activity. |
13th Floor Haunted House Houston
Address: 7075 Farm to Market 1960 Rd W Ste 20, Houston, TX 77069, United States
Phone Number: +1 281-816-5054
Pricing: $24.99 – $29.99 per person
Hours:
- Friday – 7 pm to 10 pm
- Saturday – 6:30 pm to 10 pm
Known as one of Houston’s most fear-inducing haunted houses, the 13th Floor is 25,000 square feet of horror all in 1 building. They feature a host of attractions that change every so often from thriller-inspired rooms to supernatural scares.
One of our favorite attractions that has withstood the test of time is their Chop House where you walk through an abandoned meat processing plant and avoid getting caught by the resident maniac in a mascot’s costume.
They also have ax throwing and mini horror-themed escape games that you can try with friends who don’t exactly want to be chased around the dark, but still want that adrenaline rush.
| Pro Tip: The haunted house facilities of 13th Floor Haunted House Huston are all indoors, even their waiting area. But, since the lines can get very long sometimes, make sure to bring umbrellas or fans to keep yourself dry and cool while waiting. |
Creepy Hollow Haunted House
Address: 12872 Valley Vista Dr, Rosharon, TX 77583, United States
Phone Number: +1 800-357-3323
Pricing: $40 per person
Hours:
- Friday and Saturday – 7:30 pm to 12 pm
A unanimous favorite among haunted house enthusiasts, Creepy Hollow lives up to its reputation as Texas’ most terrifying haunted attraction. This horror experience has earned great reviews with even some adults unable to complete the journey.
They also offer an additional $10 speed pass option for those who want to skip the line, which is worth it if you want to go through more than 1 attraction.
For those into sci-fi horror, their 288 Scare Factory and Pitch Black houses take you on an industrial themed escape tour from zombies created with science, while their swamp themed zombie attraction offers a more rustic horror zombie vibe.
| Pro Tip: If you’re really into maximizing the fear level but you don’t like strangers dressed as killers touching you, the Creepy Hollow Haunted House offers you a No Touch Pass. For an extra $10, they’ll give you a special wristband as a sign to the actors inside. |
Driskell Hotel
Address: 604 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701, United States
Phone Number: +1 512-439-1234
Pricing: $185 a room per night
Hours:
- Everyday – 24/7
Nestled on Austin’s 6th Street, the Driskell Hotel is known for being a historic landmark in the state of Texas. With a history of more than a hundred years after its establishment in 1886, the hotel has its fair share of legends and stories among the locals.
According to some guests’ testimonies, Jesse Driskell, the man who had the hotel built but lost it to gambling and drinking, still visits the property to this day.
Other sightings inside the hotel include the spirit of a young woman who had decided to end it all after her husband left her at the altar. The painting of a young girl on the fifth floor of the hotel is also said to
| Pro Tip: Check out the painting of a young girl on the fifth floor of the hotel. People say that the painting is unnerving during day time, but completely creepy at night especially since there are rumors that the painting is a tribute to an actual girl who died in the hotel. |
ETX Zombie Hunt
Address: 2211 Hwy 271, Gilmer , TX 75644, United States
Phone Number: +1 903-680-9125
Pricing: $25 with a paintball gun and ammunition; $10 for every extra round of ammo
Hours:
- Friday to Saturday – 8 pm to 11 pm
Taking haunted experiences up a notch, the ETX Zombie Hunt offers a unique twist. Instead of being defenseless participants in the haunted house where you run and scream the whole time, in this experience, they don’t leave you unprepared.
Armed with your own paintball gun and ammunition, you’re tasked to fight off zombies getting closer and closer to you at the location. This immersive encounter gave us an adrenaline rush like no other!
They even take you to the spot on custom-made military trucks and trailers to really drive home the feel of the post-apocalyptic theme.
| Pro Tip: Make sure you wear long sleeves and pants to protect yourself from stray paintballs that might hit you by accident. Wearing shoes and accessories that you don’t mind getting dirty or stained is also advisable! |
Granbury Opera House
Address: 133 E Pearl St, Granbury, TX 76048, United States
Phone Number: +1 817-579-0952
Pricing: $30 – $40 for a ticket to a show
Hours:
- Monday to Thursday – 12 pm to 5 pm
- Friday – 12 pm to 7:30 pm
- Saturday – 10 am to 7:30 pm
- Sunday – 12 pm to 2 pm
Beyond the quaint facade of Granbury lies a host of must-visits for supernatural believers. The town has a lot of places you can visit for a chance at a real life encounter with things beyond the norm.
Among the spots here, the Granbury Opera House is the most infamous. A relic of the past, this still holds performances, but also a secret. Fanatics of the supernatural insist that the John Wilkes Booth inside the opera house holds an unexplainable energy.
As you sit there in the booth, you can feel a sense of unease, like you don’t belong there. Some first time audience members also tell of a feeling of being watched coming only to glance at the said booth and seeing no one there.
| Pro Tip: Granbury has more than one spooky spot to visit. While you’re there, make time to drop by the Nutt House Hotel and the Oil Jail Museum which are also known as hotspots in the paranormal communities. |
Haunted Mayfield Manor
Address: 2313 Harborside Dr, Galveston, TX 77550, United States
Phone Number: +1 409-762-6677
Pricing: $10
Hours:
- Sunday and Monday – 10 am to 7 pm
- Tuesday and Thursday – 1 pm to 7 pm
- Friday and Saturday – 10 am to 9 pm
Most haunted houses are only open during Halloween season, so if you’re looking for the thrill of getting scared year round, the Haunted Mayfield Manor in Galveston is a great place to go.
They have 12 different rooms all designed with their own themes and motifs, and 12 different ways of scaring you. The most iconic one is the 19th century room inspired by real life physician Horace Mayfield who performed experiments on unwilling victims.
These involuntary psychiatric patients haunt the house and its guests along with the host himself who wants to add more people to his list. The fact that there were rumors that the doctor used the basement as a morgue adds to the creep factor.
| Pro Tip: The team behind the Mayfield Manor has also introduced a line of escape rooms that are in theme with the horror aspect of the haunted house. You can gather a group of 6 and try to figure out the mystery of the room without getting distracted by the jumpscares. |
Hendley Market and Building
Address: 2010 The Strand, Galveston, TX 77550, United States
Phone Number: +1 409-762-2610
Pricing: Free
Hours:
- Thursday to Sunday – 11 am to 5 pm
Hendley Market and Building, an unassuming relic and the oldest surviving and operational commerce building in the Strand Historic District was once a lookout for Confederate soldiers and a quarantine location for yellow fever outbreaks.
The supernatural aspects of the building are rumored to be from the 1900s when it was used as a staging area and morgue for bodies that were discovered during the Galveston hurricane that killed thousands.
Today, visitors to the building often say that they can see apparitions of soldiers or people who look like they’re from a bygone era.
| Pro Tip: Try to spot the other spirits that avid believers and ghost hunting fans collectively say they see like the Lady in White near the back of the building, the Little Boy who runs up and down the stairs, and the Injured Teenager who’s believed to have been a factory worker. |
The Hotel Galvez
Address: 2024 Seawall Blvd, Galveston, TX 77550, United States
Phone Number: +1 409-765-7721
Pricing: $150 to $200 per night
The Hotel Galvez in Galveston which was established in 1911 stands as a sentinel to Galveston’s past. But beyond its regal facade lies a century’s worth of tales that transcends time.
The most famous story is of Audra who was said to always stay in Room 501. Her husband-to-be was a seafarer and was lost at sea on one of his voyages. As a means to reunite with her beloved, he reportedly hung herself in her favorite room.
Today, people who are interested in the macabre visit from near and far to try and stay in the same room to check and see if the stories of her spirit lingering are true.
| Pro Tip: Look out for the sounds and sightings of children as it’s also rumored that the grounds where the hotel now stands was the site of the mass death of famed Sister Katherine and the orphans she was trying to save during the 1900 Galveston Storm, where the winds and floodwater caused their deaths. |
Houston Scream Fest
Address: 1500 Elton St, Houston, TX 77034, United States
Phone Number: +1 346-315-5401
Pricing: $40 per person
Hours:
- Friday and Saturday – 8 pm to 11 pm
Houston Scream Fest is one of the city’s biggest haunted extravaganzas. They go beyond traditional scares. The festival hosts a medley of entertainment like live concerts featuring rock and metal bands, horror classic screenings, and carnival games
Houston Scream Fest identifies itself as a haunted amusement park, but its bread and butter are still the horror houses that made it famous. With 10 of these going on simultaneously, you’ll have to pick and choose which to go to during your visit.
Our favorites are the Sanitarium where deranged asylum patients and captives lurk in every corner to grab you, the medieval-themed Castle of Doom, and The Texas Chainsaw Maze.
| Pro Tip: Houston Scream Fest has fun Zombie themed shooting games you should try, plus since the ammo you’ll use is just paintballs, even the kids can give killing zombies a go! |
Houston Terror Dome
Address: 16030 E Freeway Service Rd, Channelview, TX 77530, United States
Phone Number: 1 281-864-9686
Pricing: $25 to $35
Hours:
- Thursday and Sunday – 7 pm to 10 pm
- Friday and Saturday – 8 pm to 12 pm
If you’re looking to have your courage tested, the Houston Terror Dome’s new revamped haunts promise an intense horror experience with all newly decorated rooms, updated effects, and more characters.
While only open to those over 12, caution is still advised for those who are going. We didn’t expect the level of intensity of the scares from the realistic looking props inside the haunted house to the detailed costumes of the scarers.
Watch out for the actors waiting for you after the exit for one final scare. If you need a drink to calm down your nerves, they have a bar on site for that too!
| Pro Tip: The VIP fast passes for $40 are definitely worth getting if you don’t want to wait in line the majority of the night. We also suggest going right when they open because the actors inside still have a lot of energy to scare you! |
La Carafe Bar (Houston)
Address: 813 Congress St, Houston, TX 77002, United States
Phone Number: +1 713-229-9399
Pricing: $
Hours:
- Everyday – 2 pm to 2 am
Stepping into the La Carafe Wine Bar, a living testament to Houston’s past is like stepping back in time. This century-old establishment, nestled within the city’s heart, carries the weight of its history.
Dating back to 1847 and rebuilt after a fire in 1860, the bar has witnessed a myriad of rebirths. From bakery to drug store, its journey culminated in becoming La Carafe in the 1960s.
Locals in the area often say they hear unexplained sounds and see lights that aren’t supposed to be on. There are even tales of a ghost bartender named “Carl” who some visitors swear they gave their orders to only to turn and have him disappear.
| Pro Tip: Since the Wine Bar closes pretty late, the atmosphere in the area is still very lively even in the early hours of the morning. If you really want to increase the chances of a spooky encounter, try going at 3 am and peek at the windows on the 2nd floor where passersby have reported seeing a silhouette of a woman. |
Phobia Haunted House
Address: 5250 S Sam Houston Pkwy E, Houston, TX 77048, United States
Phone Number: +1 713-526-3323
Pricing: $15 per house
Hours:
- Friday and Saturday – 6 pm to 11 pm
Phobia Haunted House, a timeless Houston favorite, consistently updates their scares with all-new locations and a fresh wave of terrors. They offer a wide variety of scares depending on what floats your boat (or sinks it).
The Dawn of the Machine explores the possibility of robots taking over the world with actors dressed like sinister machines. If clowns are you poison, the Clown Mania room is designed to be very trippy to disorient you when they jump out and scare you.
For a psychological thriller experience, their Dark Institute explores the broken psyche and hallucinations of a deranged doctor.
| Pro Tip: The pricing for the tickets at the Phobia Haunted House depends on how many rooms you want to try. For one room, you pay $15 and the more rooms you try the cheaper each room comes out to be. If you’re really into horror, we suggest getting entrance to 5 rooms for $40, that comes out to just $8 for a whole haunted experience! |
Purgatory Scream Park
Address: 1965a Northpark Dr, Kingwood, TX 77339, United States
Phone Number: +1 346-799-8606
Pricing: $30
Hours:
- Friday and Saturday – 7 pm to 10 pm
The Purgatory Scream Park holds the top spot on Google’s list for a reason. Formerly named The Kingwood Asylum, this attraction stands out for its cinema-quality sets and infamous social media characters.
Beyond the original asylum, multiple hair-raising attractions all accessible with a single ticket are spread out over 27,000 square feet of haunted attractions. The whole walkthrough will take around 30 to 40 minutes.
Some of the social media famous characters are Kill Count, Lester the Jester, and Dredzo. Try spotting them in the chaos while you’re there and snapping a shot with them!
| Pro Tip: Since there are a lot of things to do at the Purgatory Scream Park, we recommend splurging for the VIP ticket which is just $10 more than the normal ticket and it grants you immediate access to all locations without needing to line up! |
REDRUM Haunted House
Address: 1800 E Hwy 90 Alt, Richmond, TX 77406, United States
Phone Number: +1 281-762-0034
Pricing: $20 to $60
Hours:
The REDRUM Haunted House offers a unique fusion of live music and a horror house experience. What makes this fear park unique are the live theater performances with darker themes like murder mysteries.
But what people really come here for are the 4 haunted houses. From the immersive experience at the Cinegore where you experience what it feels like to be a character in a horror movie to the disorienting world of Twisted, a Circus themed scare house.
But our favorite one has to be the Dead Asylum. There’s just something extra creepy about actual people as the villains that make the scare more realistic.
| Pro Tip: When you buy tickets online, on the day of your visit you need to head to the booth to show your e-ticket and claim your wristband. The booth closes 1 hour before parking closes so make sure you get there beforehand to not lose your slot! |
Rice Lofts
Address: 909 Texas St, Houston, TX 77002, United States
Phone Number: +1 713-766-5516
Hours:
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday – 10 am to 6 pm
- Tuesday and Thursday – 9 am to 6 pm
- Saturday – 10 am to 5 pm
- Sunday- 1 pm to 5 pm
Rice Lofts, formerly known as the Rice Hotel, was where John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie Kennedy stayed the night before his fatal assassination in 1963. It’s said that his spirit visits the grounds sometimes to re-experience the calm before the tragic event.
In 1977 it was closed down and remained unoccupied for over 20 years which just contributed even more to the local legends that surrounded the building.
In its vacancy, homeless people used it as temporary shelter and told stories of how they would see orbs of light when the building had no electricity. And the sounds of music playing from the abandoned ballroom.
| Pro Tip: Today, the building has been repurposed as a luxury apartment so only residents can go to the higher floors, but the public can still enter the first floor for inquiries. According to locals, the bathrooms located near the back still have an eerie feel to it. |
The Haunted Trails
Address: 1415 Almeda Genoa Rd, Houston, TX 77047, United States
Phone Number: +1 346-306-2822
Pricing: $28
Hours: October
- Friday and Saturday – 7:30 pm to 12 am
- Sunday and Thursday – 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm
- Halloween Night – 7:30 pm to 11 pm
If you’ve grown tired and bored of traditional haunted houses, the Haunted Trails offers a unique experience with the same spooks and shrieks, except everything is set outdoors in the dark.
Instead of having narrow hallways where you can feel some semblance of safety, in this experience you’re left in wide open space as creatures and characters come from all directions to scare you.
Instead, you drive through the whole experience slowly inside dark and abandoned woods. They ask you to roll your windows down and keep your headlights dimmed for maximum spook factor.
| Pro Tip: There are paid actors scattered throughout the location and they do not follow a script so each experience is unique and will differ from car to car. Make sure you turn off your radio to really set the scene and hear the special sound effects they play that they claim have psychological impacts on the listeners. |
USS Lexington Museum (Corpus Christi)
Address: 2914 N Shoreline Blvd, Corpus Christi, TX 78402, United States
Phone Number: +1 361-888-4873
Pricing: $18.95
Hours:
- Everyday – 9 am to 6 pm
The USS Lexington Museum, a World War II carrier that earned the moniker “The Blue Ghost” was witness to intense combat and a lot of tragic deaths during its 21 months of service, so the ship’s history is closely intertwined with supernatural reports.
The ship acts as a naval aviation museum and educational institution with displays and historical documents and photographs. But if you’re looking for something more exciting, the ship also has activities like the reenactment of Pearl Harbor.
They even have a horror themed escape room and a flight simulator on board. As you make your way around, visitors say they catch glimpses of men in uniform strolling around.
| Pro Tip: If you want to thoroughly explore the whole ship, get there early as the whole self-guided walkthrough can last anywhere from 3 to 4 hours or longer if you stay longer in some areas. |
Yorktown Memorial Hospital
Address: 728 W Main St, Yorktown, TX 78164, United States
Phone Number: +1 210-748-4475
Pricing: $20
Hours:
- Monday to Saturday – 11 am to 6 pm
When you think of haunted places, a hospital is usually one of the first settings that come to mind. The Yorktown Memorial Hospital in South Texas is one of the most infamously haunted places in the state.
The now abandoned Yorktown Memorial Hospital I used to be a rehabilitation center for substance abuse. The caretaker says that after it was abandoned in the 80s, some of the patients seem to have stayed.
The grim history is said to be the source of all the apparitions and spectral sightings inside the building. There’s reportedly organ music that you hear at night and mysterious red eyes that look back at you in the dark.
| Pro Tip: You can go on a ghost tour inside the hospital by booking a schedule with unofficial ghost tour companies. One of our favorites takes you into all the rooms to explore not only the past but all the spooky things that come with it. |
