Twain's House of Death and Emma Lazarus's House, After Dark
An after-dark hour of Greenwich Village ghost stories on foot, easy to slot into Halloween week and sold all year.
This is a shared walking tour that keeps to Greenwich Village for one hour after dark. The listing promises eight locations on a walk of about a mile, among them Mark Twain's House of Death and the Emma Lazarus House, and the group finishes back at the Arch where it started.
Nothing about it is Halloween-only: the calendar sells the 8:00 PM walk every night of the week, year-round. Halloween 2026 lands on a Saturday. As of October 15, 2026, the booking calendar still showed the 8:00 PM departure for October 31.
Both versions book through the listing below: the standard hour, or the Extended Tour, which adds about 30 minutes and four more haunted locations across Washington Square at a slightly higher price.
Greenwich Village Group Haunted Ghost Tour, in NYCOne hour, about a mile on foot · Eight haunted locations · Meets and ends at the Washington Square Archwww.viator.comNamed Stops, and Where the Hangman's Elm Falls
The listing names three of the eight locations: Mark Twain's House of Death, the Emma Lazarus House and the Hangman's Elm. The operator's own booking page says the standard hour may include Washington Square Park, the House of Death, the Emma Lazarus House and the Jefferson Market Library, and it lists the Hangman's Elm with the Brown Building and Fire Station No. 2 as Extended Tour stops. If the Hangman's Elm is the stop you came for, book the Extended Tour.
The plan splits the hour into about ten minutes in Washington Square Park, where the guides tell you where the bodies are buried, roughly forty minutes through the Village streets, and a closing ten minutes on the city after dark. The walk stays outdoors; the operator's FAQ says it does not go inside the buildings. Two reviewers, in 2024 and 2025, noted that their walk ran past the hour.
Two travelers who took the standard hour wrote that they wished they had booked the longer version, and a 2023 reviewer recommended the extended walk for its end point alone.
History Comes With the Ghost Stories
Reviews from 2023 to 2025 keep describing the same balance: guides who know the neighborhood's past and fold the hauntings into it. A family wrote in 2025 that their kids were into it from the start, and an earlier reviewer found it not very gory and suited to kids about 12 and up.
A handful of reviewers wanted more fright and less history. Two October reviews describe crowds: in 2022 one traveler counted more than 30 people even after the group was split between two guides, and in 2025 another found the guide hard to hear in a big group. The listing says groups do not typically exceed 20. The operator's FAQ says group size varies with the time of year and demand, and its own booking system takes up to 35 people on one departure. If you cannot hear, the operator's advice is to tell the guide or move closer, so stand near the front at each stop on a busy autumn night.
Finding the Guide Under the Arch
The meeting point is under the Washington Square Arch on the Washington Square North side, and the listing asks for arrival 15 minutes before the start. It says to look for a guide holding a lantern. Travelers in 2024 and 2026 reported guides without one and found the search hard in a crowded park. In two earlier reviews, a phone call is what brought guide and traveler together. The operator's FAQ adds that guides do not wait for late or no-show parties. Keep the booking confirmation within reach and use the full 15 minutes on a Halloween week evening.
Start Times, Access and Who Can Book
The listing gives an 8:00 PM start from April to October and 7:00 PM from November to March. The operator's own tour page says the walk runs nightly at 8 PM, and as of October 15, 2026 the booking calendar showed only an 8:00 PM slot, November and December included. Plan on 8:00 PM year-round; the 7:00 PM winter start no longer matches either schedule.
Every ticket is priced the same, children included, and bookings need an adult. One booking takes up to 20 travelers, and bookings close three hours before the start.
The listing ticks wheelchair and stroller access and, in the same list, asks for at least a moderate level of fitness and advises against the tour for travelers with spinal injuries or poor cardiovascular health. The operator's own FAQ answers the access question the other way: most of the tour is not stroller or wheelchair accessible. A 2025 reviewer described the route as easy, with no hills and no stairs. The booking form has a special requirements field for anything the guide should know in advance.
📍 Meet under the Washington Square Arch at Washington Square North, New York, NY 10012, 15 minutes before the start. The walk ends back at the Arch.
- Cancel at least 24 hours ahead for a full refund; later cancellations are not refunded.
- The operator runs the walk rain or shine; the listing still lets it call off a night for bad weather or too few travelers, and reviewers have walked it in the rain.
- Photos are welcome, but the operator's FAQ does not allow video, and there is no drinking on the tour.
- Tips, food and drinks are extra, and there is no hotel pickup.
The last story leaves you back under the Arch, in the middle of the Village on a Halloween week night.