Would we classify Birmingham as a scary place? Not particularly, but there are plenty of scary haunted places around the city that give us the creeps. Ghost stories abound in Birmingham – from the black-eyed child of Cannock Chase to the former manager of Alexandra Theatre – but we spend most days of the year trying to avoid a haunting. When it comes to Halloween, however, we cannot get enough of spectres, ghouls, poltergeists, phantoms, or whatever you want to call those who call to us from beyond the grave. If you’re like us, then you’ll definitely want to go hunting on one of these ghost tours around Birmingham.
1. Birmingham Ghost Tour: Haunted City Center Exploration Game
Want to discover Birmingham’s ghosts at your own pace? This Birmingham Ghost Tour lets you slow right down when the frightening becomes too much to bear. Using only your phone, embark on a quest around the city and help save the captive souls of workers who died building Birmingham. By solving clues, you can unlock new stories as you discover the ghosts of the Cathedral of St. Paul, the Town Hall, the Hall of Memory, the Birmingham City Centre, and more.
Each clue will lead you from one place to another, giving you exact directions, so you won’t need a map or a guide. When you solve the clue, the chilling story of that place is unlocked. It should only take about 1.5 hours, but there’s no need to rush and spook yourself out! The only question is: Do you dare go on these ghost tours around Birmingham? To get your tickets head here.
2. Aston After Dark: Ghost Tour
The 17th-century building, Aston Hall, is one of Birmingham’s oldest buildings. It’s one of its most haunted, inhabited by a spirit named the White Lady. Believed to be Mary Ashford, she was locked in her room here when she tried to elope with her lover, rather than marry the suitor he had chosen. Mary died after 16 years of imprisonment and her spirit is now said to be seen as a shimmering figure on the upper floors.
She’s not the only ghost that resides here either and you can meet them all at that Aston After Dark: Ghost Tour. Next taking place on November 24 & 25, 2023, the one-hour tour takes you around one of Britain’s most haunted buildings after dark. Expect plenty of scares, and a few laughs, as you learn all about Aston Hall’s intriguing past.
3. Birmingham’s Dark Side Tour
Described as a “ghoulish walking tour of the dark side of Birmingham’s history”, you’ll walk away from this atmospheric evening feeling chilled to the bone. Exploring the grimier elements of 19th-century Birmingham, you’ll learn about graveyards, murders, a hanging, body snatching, a curse, a restless corpse and the mystery of Birmingham’s own ‘sublime vampire’.
The tour begins in the Jewellery Quarter and ends in Victoria Square, lasting an hour and 45 minutes. Birmingham’s Dark Side Tour doesn’t rely on actors to jump out at you for an extra fear factor – the stories it tells are terrifying enough. But you are advised to bring a torch…
4. The Black Eyed Children Interactive Ghost Walk Cannock
Haunting Nights’ lead this terrifying trip to Cannock Chase. Home to hundreds of reported hauntings and mysterious sightings, this is a ghost-hunting experience like no other. Most famously, the area has produced sightings of a black-eyed child. Multiple sightings describe a young girl crying, but when those who see her catch up to the eerie figure, she turns around to show her coal-black eye sockets and runs away. But others have claimed to see Bigfoots and UFOs, as well as other ghostly figures and noises of hammering, chanting and singing. These creepy ghost tours near Birmingham look into all the paranormal stories connected to Cannock Chase.
5. Steelhouse Lane Police Station and Prison
Haunted Happenings runs ghost tours all over the country, but in Birmingham, their main focus is Steelhouse Lane Police Station and Prison. Built to hold up to 50 of Birmingham’s most hardened criminals, this infamous lock-up has a harrowing history dating back to Victorian times. You’ll walk the dark landings, hear the sounds of the tormented souls and take part in vigils, seances and paranormal experiments. Can you last the whole night?
6. Christmas at the Commandery Ghost Hunt
Looking ahead to Christmas, Fright Nights Worcestershire is heading to the Commandery – filled with numerous ghosts like the Duke of Hamilton who haunts the Solar room, or the ghostly monk seen walking across the Minstrel’s Gallery. This is your chance to spend the night at this 1,000-year-old building, using ghost-hunting equipment and undertaking ghost-hunting vigils. Want something sooner? Fright Nights Worcestershire also has private ghost hunts for groups of over 20 people.