13 Chillingly Haunted Spots in San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio, Texas just may be the most haunted city in Texas. From battles to outlaws to skyrocketing murder rates, the city has a bloody past. Hunt up some ghosts at these scary haunted spots in San Antonio.

Are you brave enough to explore the most haunted places in San Antonio?

From haunted hotels to eerie historic sites, San Antonio has plenty of great spots for ghost hunting.

Get ready go on a haunted journey into San Antonio’s past and discover the ghostly secrets it has to offer.

The Most Creepy Haunted Spots in San Antonio, Texas

Throughout San Antonio, there are stories of apparitions, spooky sounds, and eerie sensations. If you’re brave enough, check out these 13 haunted spots in San Antonio to uncover the city’s dark history.

1. The Alamo

The Alamo is one of the most haunted spots in San Antonio. And why wouldn’t it be? The Battle of the Alamo left somewhere between 182–257 Texians dead and 400–600 Mexican casualties.

It didn’t take long for the restless spirits of the Alamo to appear. Just days after the battle, General Santa Ana ordered the church be burned down; but the men sent to burn the church were stopped by ghostly apparitions carrying flaming weapons. In 1871, when the Alamo was again set to be demolished, people again reported seeing ghostly guards outside the church.

Today, you might see other famous Alamo ghosts: the little boy in the window of the gift shop; the Mexican soldier along the outer walls; a father and child up on the roof of the Alamo; and even more ghostly guards protecting the church.

While you may think the Alamo looks rather small today, the Alamo Compound stretched over much of what is now Alamo Plaza. And during the Battle of the Alamo, the battlefield stretched even further out. It’s no surprise then that many of Downtown San Antonio’s ghosts are often thought to be Alamo soldiers. You’ll hear more of their stories in the upcoming haunted San Antonio spots.

2. Menger Hotel

The Menger Hotel has recorded 32 different spirits haunting its walls. The hotel is located just down the street from the Alamo and essentially sits on a battleground.

In 1898, Teddy Roosevelt recruited his Rough Riders from the hotel’s Menger Bar, and he is said to now haunt the bar still searching for recruits. Sallie White, a hotel maid who was brutally murdered by her husband, also often haunts the hotel and can be seen straightening up guests’ rooms.

Another apparition is that of Captain Richard King, once the owner of one of the largest ranches in the world, who was ill and chose to spend the last month of his life in his personal suite at the hotel. Guests may find him entering his old room, the King Ranch Room, through the wall where the door used to be before the hotel was remodeled.

Other ghostly sightings include: a woman in an old fashioned blue dress and wire-framed glasses knitting in the hotel’s original lobby; a man in a buckskin jacket and grey pants; and some “helpful” kitchen ghosts who like to transport utensils themselves.

Are you brave enough to stay at the haunted Menger Hotel? You can book your room at the Menger Hotel here.

3. Hotel Gibbs

Hotel Gibbs (formerly Hotel Indigo) takes up residence in San Antonio’s first high rise building — the old Gibbs Building. It also sits on what is considered the bloodiest area of the Battle of the Alamo.

It’s ghost sightings began during the building’s construction when workers uncovered two cannons used during the Battle of the Alamo. As soon as the cannons were removed from the building and placed in museums across the city, the ghosts came out to play.

One account tells of seeing figures pushing a cannon across the street toward the hotel and then disappearing without a trace. Hotel Gibbs certainly has plenty of Alamo soldiers roaming about.

The ghosts even take advantage of the hotel’s historic elevators, which are no longer in operation. Guests have seen the doors closing on women in vintage dresses or caught a glimpse of the elevator operator inside.

Want to stay at the haunted Hotel Gibbs? You can book your room at the Hotel Gibbs here.

4. Emily Morgan Hotel

Named the 3rd Most Haunted Hotel in the World by USA Today, the beautiful neo-Gothic Emily Morgan Hotel was San Antonio’s first skyscraper. It was also built as the city’s first Medical Arts Building. And as the hotel is just across the street from the Alamo, it will come as no surprise when you learn this land was also part of the battlefield. I’m sure you can already guess where the ghosts in this hotel come from!

The most haunted floors of the Emily Morgan Hotel are the 7th, 9th, 14th, and basement floors. These floors acted as the psychiatric ward, surgery level, waiting area, and morgue respectively.

But really, all the floors are haunted! Guests have reported feeling the sensation of something cool brushing up against them; the lingering heavy scent of medicine; opening their doors to the hallway to see a hospital scene; bathroom doors opening and shutting on their own; and bathroom faucets being turned on and over flowing in the middle of the night.

Even the elevators have a life of their own and may go up and down without a rider, skip past requested floors, or even trap people inside. They might just even take guests down to the basement, a restricted floor and the old morgue, where employees have reported the stench of burning human flesh.

Would you be able to stay at the haunted Emily Morgan Hotel? I don’t think I’d last a second! But you can book your room at the Emily Morgan Hotel here.

5. Sheraton Gunter Hotel

The Sheraton Gunter Hotel has almost always been a hotel since the 1837. But it really gained notoriety in 1965 as the place of one of San Antonio’s most gruesome murders.

Though the Sheraton Gunter Hotel is a few blocks from the Alamo, you’ll still find plenty of soldiers haunting its halls. You might also get a glimpse of two 1920s flappers (or prostitutes, depending on who you ask) who haunt opposite sections of the hotel and tend to argue with each other. And in room 414, you might catch the spirit of blues artist Robert Johnson who held a recording session in this room.

There’s also Room 636. In February 1965, Walter Emerick check into the hotel under a false name for some partying and the company of a tall woman. Two days later, a housekeeper was bringing some things to the room when she found Emerick standing at the foot of the bed holding a bloody bundle, the room covered in blood. Emerick ran out of the room and disappeared. Despite the blood, there was no body left in the room.

A few days later Emerick, using another false name, checked into the St. Anthony Hotel nearby and requested Room 636. He became angry when that room was unavailable, but settled for Room 536. When the staff, by now suspicious of the man’s behavior, called the police to his room, Emerick shot himself before they could enter. The police have never found the woman’s body or identified her.

The Sheraton Gunter Hotel has since split the original Room 636 into two guest rooms, but that hasn’t stopped the hauntings. Guests report seeing the murder endlessly repeating or the mystery woman standing in the room, arms outstretched.

Are you brave enough to stay at the haunted Sheraton Gunter Hotel? You can book your room at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel here.

6. Majestic Theatre

Across the street from the Sheraton Gunter Hotel is another haunted spot in San Antonio: the Majestic Theatre. This beautiful theatre with Baroque and Mediterranean design opened in 1929 and is the second largest theatre in the U.S.

The Majestic Theatre is home to a particular ghost who likes to hang out by the stage. Staff believe this to be the ghost of magic performer Zoroastro still putting on a show for his audience.

The theatre is also supposed to be haunted by a passed patron. She is usually seen up on the second level, always in the same box seat.

7. Aztec Theatre

The Aztec Theatre was built in 1926, and it wasn’t long before trouble took the stage. In 1932, thirty projection operators went on strike, and the theatre fired the workers. Just a couple days later, a sulfur bomb exploded in the lobby of the Aztec, burning 6 people.

As the years went by, the theatre changed hands many times, leading people to believe the theatre cursed.

One of the spirits at the Aztec Theatre is a phantom projection operator located. He typically plays tricks on whoever is in the projection booth. However, since the renovations at the theatre changing the venue from a movie house to a live performance theatre, the ghost sightings and the hauntings have diminshed. Maybe the phantom operator can finally be laid to rest.

8. La Villita Historic Arts Village

By day, La Villita Historic Arts Village is a quaint place for a stroll. But after night fall, San Antonio’s oldest neighborhood becomes a hotbed for paranormal activity.

Inside the Chamade Jewelry Store, objects will move on their own, disembodied voices argue, and the temperature drops suddenly. Some people have also encountered an apparition of a woman in an apron. In the River Art Gallery, you may see a Woman in White.

A little girl haunts La Villita House. Some believe this little girl is the granddaughter of the former owner of the house.

9. San Fernando Cathedral

In the Main Plaza sits San Fernando Cathedral. In 1749, the Apache dug a hole in front of the cathedral and tossed their weapons in, showing that they were no longer going to fight against the developing city of San Antonio. This is where the phrase “burying the hatchet” is said to come from.

If you’re lucky, you may see the apparition of a white stallion galloping in front of the church, the ghost of the Apache’s peace offering.

The remains of James Bowie, William Travis, and Davie Crockett lay in a sarcophagus in the front entrance. And in the early days of the church, the parish buried its people within the cathedral walls. This is probably why ghostly shadows cling to the walls and faces, gaping mouths and sunken eyes, appear in the exterior walls of the church.

10. The Old Council House

Across the Main Plaza from San Fernando Cathedral, at the corner of Main Plaza and Market Street, is an abandoned bookshop. This building is the old Council House and the site of the Council House Fight of 1840.

This is where the Texans and the Comanche met to negotiate a peace treaty, but on the stipulation that the Comanche brought back all their captives. The Comanche brought one captive girl, badly disfigured by torture. So the Texans fired on the Comanche, killing 35 and losing 7 men of their own.

Though the building is empty, people have reported hearing screams and gunshots coming from inside. They also report hearing the chanting of Indian war calls.

11. Spanish Governor’s Palace

The 18th century Spanish Governor’s Palace is today a museum of Spanish colonial history and one of San Antonio’s most visited museums. It is also a hotbed of ghostly activity and one of the most haunted spots in San Antonio.

People have reported seeing spirits here since the early 1900s. When you visit, you may notice translucent spectors of Native Americans and Spanish Colonials standing by the outer walls.

But the most haunted part of the Spanish Governor’s Palace is the hanging tree. Called the “Tree of Sorrows”, at least thirty-five were hanged here for their crimes. Visitors have seen their spirits hanging from the tree, swaying in the wind.

There are also plenty of children haunting the old palace. A little girl appears in one of the bedrooms. Another little girl who is believed to have fallen down the well still haunts the surrounding area. And yet another girl was murdered by robbers and thrown down the well. Some have heard gurgling from inside the well and witnessed the water bubbling up.

12. Huebner-Onion Homestead

Now we venture out of Downtown San Antonio, and outside the 410 Loop, to the Huebner-Onion Homestead. The home once belonged to jeweler Joseph Huebner before being converted into a stagecoach inn.

After Huebner’s death, the property stood vacant until Judge John Onion, Sr., and his family bought the home. By then, it seems, Huebner was already haunting the place. Onion reported hearing the steps creek though no one was on them. Machinery would turn on and off on its own, plates would shatter, and the family would hear sounds of piano keys.

The most common occurrence was the clacking of horse hooves coming across the yard.

13. Comanche Lookout Hill

Comanche Lookhout Hill sits just inside the 1604 Loop. As the fourth highest point in Bexar County, this served as a great lookout point for both the Apache and later the Comanche. The Comanche especially used this hill to ambush Spanish settlers coming into San Antonio.

In 1923, a man named Edward H. Coppock set to building himself a European-style castle on this hill. The Great Depression hit, and all he had completed was a single tower.

The spirits of the Comanche and of Coppock both haunt Comanche Lookout Hill. At dusk, you may hear chanting and war cries coming from deep within the trees, while shadows cross pathways and disappear into the woods. The Comanche seem to still be trying to protect their hill.

As for Coppock, you might spot his ghost wheel barrowing stone to and from the hill, desperately trying to finish his dream home. He too protects his hill, looking out from the top floor of his castle at any trespassers approaching his tower.

Top San Antonio Ghost Tours

The best way to see even more of San Antonio’s haunted spots is to take a ghost tour! There are all kinds of tours to choose from: walking tours, driving tours, pub crawls, and even Segway tours!

Check out these top-rated San Antonio ghost tours for a scary good time:

• Haunted Dinner Tour — Enjoy a meal at a haunted restaurant, and then head out on a walking tour of haunted spots on Alamo Plaza and Old San Antonio.
• The Madames and Mayhem Ghost Tour — Learn about the ghosts of San Antonio’s Red Light District on this adult-only walking tour.
• The Haunted Ghost Bus Tour in San Antonio — Go on a chilling exploration of the city’s most haunted sites from the comfort of an air-conditioned bus.
• San Antonio Segway Ghost Tour — Roll through San Antonio on a nighttime Segway ghost tour for spine-tingling tales of haunts.
• Death Warmed Over: San Antonio Haunted Pub Crawl — Visit the city’s most haunted pubs and restaurants as you relive the sordid tales of San Antonio’s past.
• San Antonio Ghost Walking Tour — Enjoy a night full of haunts on this 2 hour walking tour led by professional paranormal investigators.
• Self-Guided San Antonio Ghost Walking Tour — Go it alone on this self-guided walking tour with a professionally narrated, GPS-navigated audio guide of San Antonio’s famous haunted sights.

Top Haunted Hotels in San Antonio

San Antonio has way more than just 13 haunted sites, and a lot of them happen to be hotels. This is great if you’re the type of person who loves staying in haunted hotels (I’m too scared to even try). Book a stay at one of the top haunted hotels, inns, and B&Bs in San Antonio listed below!

1. Drury Plaza Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk
2. The Menger Hotel
3. The Sheraton Gunter Hotel
4. The Bullis House Inn
5. Hotel Gibbs
6. Holiday Inn Express Riverwalk at the Old Bexar County Jail
7. Drury Inn & Suites San Antonio Riverwalk
8. The Emily Morgan Hotel
9. The Crockett Hotel
10. The St. Anthony Hotel

Or if you want a likely not-haunted place to stay, check out the recommendations below.

Haunted San Antonio Map

Create your own tour of San Antonio’s haunted sights! I’ve put together this map of all the haunted spots listed in this blog post to help you get started.

You can click the star icon at the top of the map to save it to your favorites and open the locations in your own Google Maps app.

Haunted San Antonio FAQ

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Ready to visit San Antonio, Texas? Plan your trip with these tips.

• Book your flight: Find the cheapest flights using Skyscanner, my favorite flight search engine.
• Find accommodation: You can find top hotels in San Antonio using Hotels.com.
• Get packing: Make sure you’ve packed everything you need with my packing list resources.
• Explore San Antonio in a New Way: Enjoy a Mystery Picnic in San Antonio to discover more of the city.
• Save on Attractions: Save up to 55% on admission to top San Antonio attractions using the Go City San Antonio pass.

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Cheers!

Paige

Have you visited any of these creepy haunted spots in San Antonio, Texas? Let me know in the comments!