Reviews for American Ghost Walks
132 reviews
Disappointed
I had researched the tour in advance, and was really excited about the reviews, and the guides that are written up on the website. The bus was neat, looked like an antique. While some of the stops were interesting, the narrative left us with mixed feelings. Some of the narrative presented wasn't accurate. The first stop was one of the most interesting (and supposedly active), but many other tours were there at the same time, so we couldn't quite get the experience that other groups did. It was interesting to see the sites, but it seemed a bit disorganized and the guide wasn't as knowledgeable as we were hoping one would be.
Haunted History of Chicago
I recently took the Classic Bus Tour with my husband, and ghost-fascinated parents who were visiting from out of town. This tour, which ran slightly over two hours, was filled with the haunted history of downtown, the South Loop, and Lincoln Park. The bus was new, air-conditioned and quite comfortable. We left the bus 5 times to briefly explore allegedly haunted locations (I did get some interesting and spooky pictures at the Hull). Our guide Dave, was very knowledgable although he did repeat himself and ramble a bit (I suspect he had more than a couple drinks on the Haunted Pub Crawl earlier that day). Overall, everyone in my party thought this tour was interesting and enjoyed themselves. It's definitely geared towards morbid history buffs, and not filled with theatrics or cheap scares. My only criticism is that the website needs to be updated and they need a better way to take reservations. The time advertised on the site was incorrect, and I was charged a higher price than the one listed.
Tales of Chicago's dark side
We didn't see any ghosts but heard tales of Chicago's dark side. Tour was about 90 minutes. We walked around certain areas like the river walk, theater district and old court house. If your into history you will love this tour. We got a deal on groupon.
Great Trip
This trip was great. Had a nice, beautiful, air conditioned bus. Tour guide was Adam. Super funny guy, lots of cheesy jokes, and filled with knowledge. You can tell he is passionate about his job. I don't want to give away exactly what we did, but I'll tell you I recommend it 100%. It's definitely worth the money.
Boring
This was a bus tour that was suppose to "scare us to death". Instead it bored us to tears. The guide was not good. He gave some bits of history, but nothing like I expected. I've taken 'haunted ghost' tours in other cites and totally enjoyed myself. The only enjoyable thing was being with friends and it was a pleasant night. I felt ripped off even though I only paid $9. per person as a Groupon.
President
Great tour!!!! Went with friends while at a conference and we had a blast!! Pictures revealed things we didn't see in person!! Guide and bus driver were great!! Recommend it!
A great way to see the spookier side of Chicago!
We've been on a lot of Ghost Tours, some good, some not so good. Ursula Bielski's Chicago Hauntings Tour was one of the best. From the website, we expected to be touring in an old school bus, but instead, we spent 2 1/2 hours in a luxury bus with comfortable seats and a bathroom! Our tour guide happened to be Ursula's ex, but that didn't stop him from doing a good job. And his familiarity with the City, as a native with family roots back several generations, and his experience as a firefighter, all contributed to his narrative, which kept us interested and entertained for the entire tour. By some accounts, ours was not the best weather-wise, since it rained gently through much of the tour, but for ghost touring, it actually seemed to add to the ambience. And while this was definitely a "tour" and not a "ghost hunt", they didn't object to us bringing along a K2 meter to check for EMF's, or our DVR to check for EVP's. We even had our own strange experience. Earlier in the day, we were sightseeing along the river, and experienced battery drain in one of our cameras. We joked that it was something paranormal. Then on the tour, we learned that where this occurred was near the spot of a tour boat tragedy on the river that took over 800 lives!
Like Ghosts? You'll LOVE This!!!
I have taken a few of what I consider is Chicago's Finest Ghosts Tours!! Each one is filed with traveling to some of the most haunted and legendary sites and cemeteries in Chicago and the suburbs. The tour guides tell the best stories and history of these places. If you are lucky enough to have Ursula Bielski (owner and ghost historian) as your guide, you are in for a phenomenal night!! Her personality and tales shine!! (She is also author of many books regarding our history of a very haunted Chicago!) All her guides are knowledgeable, friendly and eager to take you on varied top notch tours!! Absolutely fabulous experience!!!
My left thumb is more interesting
Okay. Lets just say that I am SHOCKED that this has gotten so many great reviews!!!! My 2nd floor apartment in Ukranian Village provides more of a haunting tour than this dumpy ride, so come on over! I had gone on the Weird Chicago Serial Killer tour with my dad and it was actually pretty entertaining and interesting full of Chicago facts, so I was excited for this tour. My personal experiences (or posible psychosis?) were part of the reason I went on this tour was to scratch my ghostly itch and connect with a ghooley booley. Maybe, just maybe, connect spiritually with a funky flaming Chicago tour guide - What a ghostly failure of epic proportions. And also it needs to be said that I fell asleep on the bus, twice. Like drooling sleep. What an exhilarating friday night. Maybe I am a tough sell because of my Chicago native-ness and my parents could have given a more thorough Chicago hauntings tour after four bottles of wine, but this was a friggen joke. They had us standing in alleys and in front of the Jane Adams school of social work (like, a college near an expressway) - I went inside to pee and grab a Mt.Dew - BOO! took a crap ton of pictures and the trick to scaring yourself is..... use a very cheap camera with slow speed and take pictures at night, facing pure darkness and you will catch water mist which look like Orbs. At least you can convince yourself and your facebook friends you had a ghoolish good time. The tour guide man was lame and it TRULY pains me to put down someone who clearly dreams of being an actor or depressed poet, but, in my opinion, they should probably grab a stranger off the Fullerton underpass and give em' a job because this tour needs something Scary!
Excellent tour
This is the best our in Chicago. We actually thought we had a bit of a haunted experience. The best part is, that the tour guides give you a brief of the haunted location and let you explore and experience the haunting. Their are no ghost characters or spooky animations or such. Very very interesting, definitely a thumbs up !!!!
Great guide= a great tour
Our guide does not seem to be listed on their website (a woman, not Ursula), and I unfortunately do not recall her name (9/12 guide) but she did a great job, and we thoroughly enjoyed the tour, despite the misty cold weather. She was both entertaining and informative, and unlike some bus tours, we had the opportunity to get off the bus and take photos at several locations. I own a ghost tour myself, and appreciate a guide who interacts well with people and knows how to tell a good story, and she definitely fit the bill. I WOULD recommend you tell people exactly where "at the Rock N Roll McDonalds" the bus will be, because since it was late, we thought perhaps we were at the wrong side.
Ghost tour
Kind of goofy. Almost lame. Went with an open mind. It really had the potential to be good. Maybe more ghost story! At the least some ghost stories. Maybe pay more attention to the people in the bus instead of the people we drove by I don't think I would do this tour again !
Great Tour... Full Of Dark Tales
For anyone who may wish to learn about the darker history of Chicago, and even hope to run into a ghost or two, then the Chicago Hauntings Tour is a great place to start! For about two and a half hours, you will ride about the city on the "Ghost Bus", stopping to actually disembark and explore at several locations. This tour was designed by Ursula Bielski, famous author and ghost hunter, so there should be no doubt in your mind that a fascinating evening is before you. Led by paranormal experts and tour guides, you will hear tales of murder,death, mayhem, and everything in between. And the best thing about this tour is that it is always evolving! Our guide made several split second alterations, based on traffic, weather, and the fact that he had just decided to "give us a real treat". You may end up outside of a mausoleum, standing on the street where John Dillinger took his last breath, or peering through the windows of a real haunted house. The only thing that you can know with utmost certainty is that you may want to sleep with the lights on!
Just okay if you have a few hours to kill
The tour took us around to area in Chicago where there have supposedly been ghost sightings. I must say the tour guide was very enthusiastic - he really knows his history and looks like he really likes his job. He was funny, especially when calling out to cars and other passersby on the street. We got out at a few locations to take pictures and listen to his stories. I have to say that the scariest part of the tour was the bus ride - the bus is an old, dilapidated school bus, painted black, and it stalled a few times in traffic. Not only that, the bus driver managed to do 2 u-turns on Clark Street - right in the middle of traffic! It was fun to kill a few hours, but that's about it. Also, the "schedule" page on their website says they start at 7, but the confirmation said 8, so make sure you double check the time before you go.
Never got on the bus!
Made a phone call to find out about the tour, the man I talked to was very rude. But my husband loves this stuff so I booked anyways. Got a confirmation email and in the email it stated exactly were the bus does its pick ups and it stated to be there 15 mins early. We got there at 7:30, waited til 8:45 and realized this bus wasn't coming. We waited with a few other couples who also left. Had to call my credit card company to cancel my card per I don't know who I gave it to. Horrible!
Historical, entertaining, and a great value!
A friend and I decided this would be a fun way to spend a wintry Chicago evening, and we were completely right. The tour guide was totally knowledgable, the sites were interesting (and creepy!), and the bus was a nice plus. I came away from the tour learning much more than I anticipated. Everything was timely and professional. If you've got a free evening or afternoon in Chicago, this is a fun and different way to spend it.
Not Spooky, more of a murder history tour
I have been on haunted tours in New Orleans and Florida keys, this Chicago tour left much to be desired. The tour guide was 10 min late. The bus was spooky looking, that's about as scary as it got. I did learn some interesting facts about murders and disasters in the city. The tour just didn't have the feel of a ghost tour and was boring.
Mostly not ghostly!
My husband and I took our teens on this tour. I was kind of disappointed, because I was looking for "hauntings". The guide took us to a couple of places where there have been "sightings", but for the most part the tour was only, "this is where this guy was shot, this is where these people were killed", etc. It was a lesson in Chicago murder history more than anything.
I fell asleep
This may be one of the worst tours I've ever been on. The truck smelled from the diesel fumes and they kept it idling even when stopped at locations while the narrator spoke. The fumes got so bad I fell asleep or passed out from the carbon monoxide. Maybe that's how they get you to hallucinate and see ghosts. They stopped at places that used to be there, they went to sites that were closed and told good ghost stories about bones rising from the earth at a local park. You want to see hauntings, go to the Haunted Mansion in Disney parks.
Is it a Ghost? Nope, it's cigarette smoke!
Good price. Great History lessons. Did I expect to see a ghost? No. But I expected to be able to listen to the tour guide without having to breathe in everyone's smoke. :-( The amount of smokers on this tour was crazy. Every single time we stepped off the bus, someone was lighting up and puffing away. It was so bad, that we ended up having to stand so far from the group that we couldn't hear half of what the guide was saying. How about a smoke-free tour? Same complaint about having to arrive early. We stood outside the bus door as the driver and the guide looked everywhere but at the customers. We DID leave on time though. Both gentlemen were cordial and funny and like I said, the history (that we heard on the bus) was interesting. Would I recommend it? If you smoke, have at it. You'll love the tour! If you don't smoke, bring a gas mask.