Haunted History Tours, New Orleans

I have taken numerous satisfactory tours with this company in years past, but never again. When you get stuck with a guide who is openly guzzling beer the entire time he's dragging his group around at warp speeds so he can get himself to the next bar stop for yet another beer, you know you've been had. About the only time he displayed any responsibility was with his repititious head counts to ensure that no attendees escaped. He made sure that we were well informed of his personal life and ex-wife, but not very forthcoming about alleged vampire legends which is what we thought we paid for. Next time, call Lord Chaz.. He has a flare for the dramatic, is very entertaining and best of all, he appears to be sober.

Fantastic tour! I'm from New Orleans but went on the tour with family who was visiting from out of town. I was expecting a bland, boring tour with over-embellished history lessons and stories to play into the stereotypes about the city (sadly, this is all too common). However, I was pleasantly surprised and even learned a few things myself. It was well worth the money spent, we had a great afternoon, and I would absolutely do it again and ask for Ernie (it does seem that the guide makes a difference for the tour).

Cemetery Tour- Guide Randy ***** LOVED this tour! Randy (Randolph?) is so knowledgable and a natural story teller. I have been on tours before where the guide sounds rehersed and forced but this was definitely not the case with Randy. I felt that he genuinly had a passion and interest in what he was doing and that made for a very engaging tour. He covered history, people, architecture, you name it! If you have a chance to go on this tour I would HIGHLY recommend it! Ghost Tour- Guide: Jennifer***** I am so glad I was able to squeeze in this tour during my stay in New Orleans. I am also very glad that I went on it near the end of the trip because I actually had trouble sleeping the following night just thinking about the ghost stories! hahaha. Jennifer is great guide and extremely knowledgable about New Orleans history. Her interpretations of the ghost stories also had an amazing flow to them. Very impressed! Both tours where certainly worth the money and I would recommend them both!

We were only in New Orleans a couple of days and went on 2 Haunted History Tours. The afternoon Cemetery Tour was very interesting and Midge was a terrific guide. He was full of information and entertaining to listen to. I only wished we had a little more "on our own" time in the cemetery. The Friday evening Voodoo tour was also informative. Our guide was knowledgeable, but not what I would decribe as entertaining. She answered our questions, but with our little knowledge of voodoo, it was a little difficult to understand the information. Overall, we felt the tours were worthwhile and educational.

It was a great atmosphere and very organized for the amount of people/groups they deal with. I went on the Haunted History tour and it was very entertaining, just make sure you go on the one at night. You'll get much more out of it. Be sure to purchase your tickets in full in advance so you can avoid the ridiculously long ling that forms out front. Also, try to ask for the tour guide "Andrew". He has a British accent and knows his stuff. Definitely glad we got him compared to some of the dull tour guides we passed along the way. Great experience overall, and definitely will be going back for other tours.

After reading some of the reviews I agree, it must depend on the tour guide. We took both the Haunted History Tour and the Scandolous Cocktail Tour. The Haunted History Tour was horrible. The Scandolous Cocktail Tour was better, but not excellent. On the Haunted History Tour we had Midiam as well and felt he was horrible. It was so bad that I left early, before it ended. I felt he was a community college Theatre Arts (major) flunky and needed to self promote. He told us that history buffs are like geeks who sit around all night and discuss history; it was the only thing scary about the tour -- that thought. His accounts were gory, not scary and his delivery was the only thing that was dead. His "show" was awkward both for the audience and for him as he reminded me of the one that didn't get the part. He described how people died of yellow fever, how bloated people get when they do pass and how he witnessed this after Hurricane Katrina, as he searched for bodies but only found a bloated cow -- and I paid $20 to hear that. Now that is a crime the Scandoulous Cocktail tour guide can had to his story. Midiam the mobster.

I was fortunate to take The Garden Tour and Ghost Walk Tour this week on my first trip to New Orleans. The Garden Tour was during the beginnings of Tropical Storm Lee. I was the only one on the tour and instead of turning me away, Carla took me on a "Date". It was the best tour I have been on EVER!! She was so insiteful and animated with her stories and knowledge. I expected the tour to be just a "tour" but Carla makes it an adventure. With her personal experience and views added to this amazing town, this made for an outrageously good time! Later that evening, my husband and I ventured out into the rain again, with umbrella in hand, and met Ernie for the Nightime Ghost tour. What an experience! He was so enjoyable to listen to and I must say, made the stories unfold before your eyes. Even scared off some of the others on the tour! It was great!! The staff is absolutely wonderful! We are planning on the Cemetary Tour for the morning if we don't float away in the storm.

My family likes ghost tours - they're a good way to see a bit of the city while keeping the kids entertained. But I suppose we didn't get the best guide, as my kids were yawning at the lackluster stories. We had better luck the next day with a cheap tour we downloaded on an iPod.

Haunted New Orleans with Jonathan. This was excellent. I'm a skeptic who doesn't believe a hoot in ghosts, but I truly enjoyed Jonathan's knowledgable historical narravative. He was fun to listen to and I learned quite a bit about NOLA and the French Quarter. Well worth the $20. Voodoo Tour with Charles. This was terrible. The guide was DRUNK. He couldn't string a coherent story together. He repeated himself. He slurred and stammered. He contradicted himself. (Are there 50 million worldwide practitioners of voodoo or 250 million? More people practice Voodoo than Judaism. Huh?!) Anyway... our inebriate guide just made everyone uncomfortable. A total waste of money.

We took three different tours (Cemetery, French Quarter & Voodoo tours) and had the the good fortune of having Ernie as our guide on all three. We had a great experience and learned a lot about the history of the French Quarter and New Orleans in general. Even Bob, who lived in New Orleans for 19 years, learned new things. It was worth every penny we spent and we highly recommend these tours for everyone. Thank you Ernie for a great time. We'll see you next time we visit. Bob, Melanie and Chris (from Wyoming)