“And that, Ghosties, is how we welcome October. Let the games begin!”
October is here, the perfect month for booking a ghost tour and four regional tours were just named among the best in the nation by USA Today readers.
The publication released a list of the 10 best ghost tours in the U.S. on Wednesday, part of its 2025 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards, and Providence Ghost Tour in Providence, R.I. ranked No. 2, Black Cat Tours in Salem ranked No. 5, Seaside Shadows Haunted History Tours in Mystic, Conn. and Westerly R.I. ranked No. 6, and Bar Harbor Ghost Tours in Bar Harbor, Maine ranked No. 7. The No. 1 ghost tour is Mysteries of Hawaii in Honolulu.
USA Today wrote the following about Providence Ghost Tour, a woman-owned small business in Providence: “Providence Ghost Tour operates in the city’s East Side, and their tours highlight some of Providence’s most famous ghostly figures, while each guide leads the pack with a lantern in hand.”
“I am so grateful to every guide who represents my tour, who works so hard to craft their tale-telling skills, and to make guests feel fulfilled with their experience,” wrote owner Courtney Edge-Mattos, also known as “Ghost Mom,” on her business’s Facebook page after being named the second-best tour in the nation.
Those who book Black Cat Tours in Salem, “visit some of the city’s most haunted sites, learn about the tools used by early ghost hunters, and hear stories of how the town inspired the horror stories of H.P. Lovecraft, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allen Poe,” wrote USA Today. Salem just kicked off its month-long Haunted Happenings festival, which attracts more than 1 million visitors annually.
About Seaside Shadows Haunted History Tours, USA Today wrote, “While options span from downtown walking excursions to spirit-themed pub crawls, each individual tour is united through a common affinity for the paranormal world.”
Finally, those who book an excursion with Bar Harbor Ghost Tours, known by its distinctive blue lanterns, experience “an overview of Euro-American New England ghost stories and Indigenous Wabanaki spirit tales” and are allowed exclusive access to the 1932 Criterion Theatre.
Wrote Edge-Mattos on social media, “And that, Ghosties, is how we welcome October. Let the games begin!”
For the 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards lists, USA Today travel experts select 20 nominees in topics from food to lodging, destinations to things to do. Then the publication asks readers to cast votes to determine the top 10.
