Walking the Darker Side of Galveston

From devastating storms to infamous crimes, the island’s history is rich with stories that draw visitors from around the world—stories that have made Galveston one of the top five most haunted cities in America. And no one tells those stories better than Historic Galveston Ghost Tours and their pro guide, Tyler, recently named Best Tour Guide in Galveston and one of the Best Tour Guides in Texas by Texas Monthly.

Tyler didn’t come to the job as a believer. A Pittsburgh native who moved to the island over 20 years ago, he began guiding tours about five years back, driven by a love for history. But it wasn’t long before Galveston convinced him that the dead sometimes linger. His turning point came during an after-hours trip to the “Demon House,” also known as the Normandy Inn. While retrieving a forgotten wallet from the boarded-up building, something unseen grabbed his ear and yanked his head back. “I literally looked down the stairs to run—there was nothing there,” he recalls. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

Today, Tyler leads a variety of 90-minute walking tours through Galveston’s most storied districts. The Historic Galveston Ghost Tour, set in the elegant yet eerie Silk Stocking District, blends Victorian architecture with tales of tragedy, murder, and restless spirits. You’ll pass the home of serial killer Robert Durst, the former residence of Lucy Hinterloop—Galveston’s first female pianist to play Carnegie Hall—and sites forever marked by the 1900 Great Storm, the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history, which claimed between 13,000 and 15,000 lives in a single night.

For those craving something even grittier, the Red Light District Tour pulls back the curtain on “The Line,” where prostitution flourished for over 70 years. Meanwhile, the Old City Cemetery Tour guides guests through the oldest and largest burial ground on the island, beginning with its first grave in the 1860s. Tyler’s Ghost on the Strand walk explores one of the most haunted streets in America, where buildings that survived the Great Storm still echo with loss.

There’s even a Dark of the Moon combo tour, weaving together the Strand’s hauntings with the vice-soaked history of the Red Light District, and a Haunted Pub Crawl for those who like their scares served with spirits of a different kind. And for visitors who prefer history without the ghosts, Tyler and his team offer daytime walking history tours that are every bit as engaging—minus the paranormal.

Whether it’s thrill-seekers hoping for a scare, history buffs wanting a deeper look into the island’s past, or skeptics dragged along by ghost-loving friends, Tyler brings them all in. His personal mission? To turn even the most reluctant guest into someone laughing, learning, and maybe—just maybe—looking over their shoulder by the tour’s end.