- inthegreatwide
- Apr 24
- 14 min read
Terrors of Tinseltown Haunted Hollywood Walking Tour
Whether you’re visiting LA for the first time or you’ve called Los Angeles home for years, you’ll learn something new and spooky on the Terrors of Tinseltown haunted walking tour in Hollywood.
CONTENTS
Where does the Terrors of Tinseltown Haunted Walking Tour Start?
The Terrors of Tinseltown Haunted Walking Tour starts in front of the El Capitan Theatre, located at 6838 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028. You should be able to recognize the tour guide by their U.S. Ghost Adventures t-shirt. This is in the heart of Hollywood, near the intersection of Hollywood & Highland, across from what is now called Ovation Hollywood, a shopping center with restaurants and retail shops.
How to Get to the Terrors of Tinseltown Ghost Tour
With the walking tour being in the area around Hollywood & Highland, there are a ton of people milling about at all hours of the day and night. It’s an extremely popular spot for tourists - you can think of it like the Times Square of Los Angeles. With that in mind, parking can be a nightmare or really, really expensive. The walking tour suggests using Park.me to find parking in the area. The most affordable parking is at Ovation Hollywood, with rates of $6/hour and a $20/day max.
To avoid paying a ton for parking though, we recommend taking the Los Angeles Metro to Hollywood & Highland. The B Line Metro Subway has a stop right by the Ovation Hollywood mall, across the street from the El Capitan. It only costs $1.75 for a one-way trip on the Metro and transfers are free for up to two hours, heading in the same direction of travel, so we find it easier and more affordable than trying to find parking. Metro also has a cap of $5 per day on a Metro card, so if you use it more than that, you ride for free, including buses.
Regardless of how you get to the start of the Terrors of Tinseltown Tour, make sure to arrive at least 15 minutes early, to ensure you find your guide and can start the tour on time.
Haunted Locations You’ll Visit in Hollywood
When visiting each haunted location, you do not actually go inside. Instead, you’ll be on the sidewalk in front of the location or across the street. The locations we visited were:
El Capitan Theatre
TCL Chinese Theatre
The Roosevelt Hotel
The Magic Castle
Hollywood VIP Hotel
Hollywood sign viewing platform inside Ovation Hollywood
Hollywood First National Building
The actual distance we walked was close to 0.7 miles, rather than the 1 mile they claimed in the tour description. The tour lasts for approximately 1 hour and we ended back at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland.
Tickets and Pricing for the Terrors of Tinseltown Ghost Tour in Hollywood
The Terrors of Tinseltown tour runs 1-2 times every night, departing at 7 or 8pm. You could theoretically buy tickets the day-of, but there’s obviously no guarantee they won’t sell out, especially during peak tourist season, around school holidays, and spooky season (because everyone wants to do this kind of stuff in October), so we recommend buying your tickets in advance if you can for those busy seasons.
Tickets can be secured through the US Ghost Adventures website and cost $28.60 for adults (13-years-old and up) and $18.60 for children under 13. Children under 6 are free and all of these costs include the booking fee.
If you need to reschedule, be aware that there will be a $10 rebooking fee, so make sure you can make your scheduled time. More info in the fine print section below.
The tour groups can be anywhere in size from a handful of people to 20+, so keep that in mind when you're choosing your tour date if you can. Smaller groups are always better, in our opinion. Scheduling a private tour is also an option.
There are a number of add-ons you can purchase for the tour, if you want to enhance your haunted walking tour experience:
Rent an EMF Activity Meter for $7.70. The EMF Activity Meter detects electromagnetic frequencies that are given off by ghosts and spirits.
Bonus extended tour for $7.70. You can experience four more stops in a short loop with this extended tour that starts after the regular tour. Specific locations are not listed.
Gratuity Bonus Pool for $2.20. If you’re feeling extra generous, this optional fee goes to help support the company and its staff, but is not a substitute for an in-person tip that should go to your personal tour guide.
Ghost Plush for $7.70. It’s a cute, stuffed version of the LA Ghosts mascot for you to take home.
(To be transparent, we were gifted this tour in exchange for our honest review.)
Fine Print Breakdown
We know reading through the fine print is not fun and often confusing, so here’s the basic, important information you need to know…
Tours will happen rain or shine (it doesn’t rain as often in Los Angeles, but when it does, it can be a lot in one go, so be prepared).
If you need to reschedule, you’ll be charged $10. It’s unclear if that is per person or per reservation.
If you need to reschedule within 12 hours of your tour departure time, you will be charged a 40% rebooking fee.
However, the fine print also states “If a tour is scheduled to depart within the next 6 days, we will not change a traveler's departure date and will not offer a refund.” So there’s some contradictory info in there.
If you need to completely cancel your reservation, here’s their refund policy:
Cancelling 22+ days in advance = 90% refund
Cancelling 7-21 days in advance = 50% refund
Cancelling within 6 days of your tour = NO refund
Cancellation requests must be made through a form on their website. Email, voicemail, or verbal cancellations won’t be honored.
No refunds will be given for guests who arrive late or cannot find the meeting location.
Sales are final on all private tour reservations.
No smoking is allowed during the tour.
Disruptive / intoxicated guests may be removed from the tour without a refund, so be respectful and don’t talk over the tour guide!
The tour company is not responsible for any “accidents” on the tour.
Pets are allowed on the tour as long as they can be well-behaved and are not disruptive.
All of that makes sense, but here’s the line that bothers us in their fine print…
“Company reserves the right to reschedule guests on a case by case basis. Rebooking fee will apply.”
…so the company can choose to reschedule my reservation and then they charge ME a rebooking fee? Nope. Not gonna happen. Surely this never happens, but the fact that this is in their fine print is bothersome.
On a happier note: at the end of your tour, if you thought the guide did a good job, make sure to tip them. They’ll accept cash, but the tour guide may also hand you a card with their name and Venmo information on it. For a tour like this in California, you should expect to tip 10% of the tour cost per person.
Our Experience on the Terrors of Tinseltown Ghost Tour in Hollywood
We took the Metro B Line to Hollywood and Highland and ended up arriving about 30 minutes before the start of the tour, which meant we were about 15 minutes early. It was nice to get there a little early, and we would suggest it especially if you’ve never been to this area before. Take a few minutes to look through the courtyard of Ovation Hollywood to see the Hollywood sign, take in the Walk of Fame if you haven’t before, take some photos of the area before it gets dark, and then head over to the sidewalk in front of El Capitan.
We found our guide, Brian, by his US Ghost Adventures shirt. He had texted us earlier in the day to confirm we were still coming for the tour, so we approached him and introduced ourselves. Although there was supposed to be another person joining us on the tour, they called to cancel last-minute (he later told us that happens frequently with single ticket buyers), so we ended up inadvertently getting a private tour!
The tour started with a basic history of the El Capitan Theatre and stories of happenings and hauntings there, none of which we’d heard before. Neither of us have actually been inside the El Cap (as Brian told us Hollywood locals call it), but the stories definitely made us want to go see a movie at the theater, which is now owned by Disney. Brian told us of a projectionist who filed a complaint with a new manager that didn’t actually exist, and who later died a seemingly violent death in the theater that couldn’t be explained. When the theater changed owners and underwent renovations later on, a few members of the construction crew went missing, only to be found several days later inside the theater with no recollection of what happened to them. Brian even included a story of his own personal paranormal experience inside the theater, which we thought added an excellent, more pragmatic feeling to the tour.
While we stood in front of the El Capitan, Brian pulled out an EMF detector and explained to us that it would light all the way up to red when there was high spirit activity, and it was indeed a blinking red while standing outside the theater. While an argument could be made that it was detecting man-made electricity from the theatre, for the sake of the tour, we chose to just go along with it. I can imagine if we were part of a larger tour group and there was someone we didn’t know in the group who doesn’t believe in the paranormal trying to call out stuff like that, it could be a serious hindrance to others enjoying the tour. By all means, ask questions, but don’t be rude about it.
Fun Fact: EMF stands for “electromagnetic field”, so an EMF meter measures electromagnetic radiation in its surroundings, whether from man-made sources like electrical wires and power lines or from paranormal activity. EMF detectors are frequently used by ghost hunters.
He handed the EMF detector over to us and said to keep an eye on it while we walked around. We aren’t sure if the tour guides will always carry one even if no one has paid to rent it for the tour, but we appreciated the gesture since neither of us had ever used an EMF meter before. While crossing the street to get to our second location, it calmed down to a blinking green.
Our second stop was at the TCL Chinese Theatre, aka Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, where dozens of handprints and footprints of celebrities from yesteryear and the modern day adorn the cement under your own feet in the courtyard. Since the courtyard was open that day (which no guarantees can be made for because of frequent events at the theater), Brian took us over to stand around Marilyn Monroe’s square and told us a little bit about the history of the theater. He said there are bars inside the theater where patrons once went during intermissions that are now sealed off - not even theater management has access to them - but noises can still be heard coming from them.
There was another story of an actor who was mugged and killed on his way walking home from the theater one night who may still hang around the courtyard because he spent so much time at the theater. We checked the EMF meter, but it barely registered anything. At the end of Brian’s stories, he gave us a few minutes to explore the other foot and hand prints in the cement, and we saw the signatures of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint from their young Harry Potter days, plus Fred Astaire, Sophia Loren, George Clooney, Gene Kelly, Dick Van Dyke, and many more. Brian told us that many of the actors include inscriptions “to Sid” with their signatures in the cement, referring to Sid Grauman, the original owner of the theater who has long since passed.
Even as locals, we had never taken the time to go into the courtyard of the Chinese Theatre to see the cemented hand prints, so that was kind of a cool moment for us. The theater hosted 3 Academy Awards in the 1940s and has hosted practically countless movie and TV show premieres since its opening in 1927, including titles like The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Star Wars (1977), and the 2nd season of The Last of Us (2025). Because the theater remains so busy with special events to this day, I can imagine it being difficult to take this walking tour while a premiere is happening due to crowds and the street being blocked off. Getting to see the courtyard or even be on the sidewalk in front of the Chinese Theatre is definitely not guaranteed.
Moving on down Hollywood Blvd, our next stop was across the street from The Roosevelt Hotel. Brian told us a story about a little girl looking for her mom in the halls of the hotel, which turned into something straight out of a horror movie. This tour is advertised as being family friendly, but we wouldn’t recommend it for kids under maybe 13 unless they’re already really into ghosts and the horror genre, because some of the stories are rather gruesome.
On the lighter side of the stories we heard throughout the evening was that of Marilyn Monroe haunting a specific suite in The Roosevelt Hotel that she had lived in for three years, so much so that a specific beloved mirror of hers had to be moved out of the room because guests kept seeing Marilyn’s ghost in it (with reactions varying from excitement to terror). Brian told us the mirror now hangs unmarked in a hall in the hotel, and anyone can go in to see it. We made a mental note for later 😉
We then moved away from Hollywood Blvd, up Orange Drive, before stopping to take in the beauty of the lit up Magic Castle. By this point, it was dusk and the light was fading quickly. Brian informed us of the origins of the Castle and told us a great story about a magician who was set to perform one night who went mad in his dressing room. We’ve visited the Castle a number of times and told Brian about the fire that happened on Halloween a few years ago, with people attributing it to Harry Houdini, who famously told his wife that he would contact her on Halloween if the afterlife was real. Fortunately, the Castle didn’t burn down, and it remains one of the most exclusive hangout spots in Los Angeles to this day.
Walking along Franklin Ave, we took a right onto Orchid Ave, a small block of older row houses that have been turned into apartments and hotels. Our point of interest was the Hollywood VIP Hotel, which we stayed across the street from even though it was a quiet night. Brian warned us that previous self-identified mediums on this tour have felt uneasy energy from the building, so he told us to let him know if we were uncomfortable. It’s an unassuming building but it definitely gave off a weird vibe. Without giving away too much, let’s just say that the hotel has constantly changed owners ever since one of them died inside.
Brian told us that the current owners of the hotel don’t like people to know about the building’s morbid history, and that is why we stayed across the street. We watched guests filter in and out of the small hotel and wondered if they knew. At this point, we were able to banter with Brian like he was a friend showing us around, rather than it being a paid tour.
By this point, night had fallen, and we went up to a viewing platform inside the mall of Ovation Hollywood to see the Hollywood sign… or, we would have seen the sign if it wasn’t already dark. Contrary to popular belief, the Hollywood sign has never been lit up at night, which is why it’s a good idea to get to the tour early so you can see the sign before the sun sets. It wasn’t a big deal for us personally because we’ve seen the sign a thousand times as locals, but that could end up being a huge bummer as tourists.
Brian gave a great history of the sign, including its original intention and restoration thereafter, before telling us the story of an unfortunate actor who reacted a bit too dramatically to rejection by jumping off the sign to her death. Supposedly, she still haunts hiking trails in Griffith Park today.
We then headed back down to Highland Ave and made one final stop across the street from the Hollywood First National Bank building. This was our favorite stop of the tour, as it’s an unassuming building with prime real estate that sits empty due to its dark past. The windows on the bottom floor are painted black so you can’t see inside, and there’s a chain and padlock on the front doors, but every once in a while, someone will see a man with half a face peering out the windows near the top floor. Brian told us his story and that no one is allowed inside anymore. The building has been vacant since 2008 despite its prime real estate location on Hollywood Blvd, but it is protected under the National Register of Historic Places, along with several other buildings along Hollywood Blvd.
When you watch the Oscars, they will usually start with a shot of the Hollywood First National Bank building before zooming over to the red carpet in front of the Dolby Theatre. Brian told us that when there are big events happening on Hollywood Blvd, police often use the roof as a vantage point, but have to scale the outside of the building to get up there because they’re not allowed inside.
Now that we had reached the end of our tour, Brian handed us a card that had his name, some QR codes for leaving a review, plus his Venmo contact to be able to give him a tip, which we did, along with some cash. We parted ways with our tour guide and then went back down to The Roosevelt Hotel. The interior of the hotel is glamorous and lovely, with an open lounge seating area and cocktail bar for whomever wants to enjoy a beverage, although it’s mostly frequented by hotel guests. Despite it being a relatively quiet night on Hollywood Blvd, the lounge was lively inside. We easily found a set of stairs leading up from the lounge that had a simple mirror hanging on the landing… Marilyn Monroe’s mirror! There’s no label or indication of the mirror’s significance, and with its simple frame, most hotel guests walk right past it not knowing who it once belonged to.
If you want to make a whole night out of this tour, there are a ton of things to do in the area before and after, with bars, shops, and restaurants packed into almost every inch of Hollywood & Highland. It’s not our favorite part of Los Angeles because it is SO touristy, but this tour gave us a new appreciation for the incredible history behind this city we call home.
Our Verdict
Brian asked us where we were from and was surprised when he heard we’d both lived in Los Angeles for a number of years, leading us to believe that it’s mostly tourists that take these walking tours. That being said, we appreciated the historical aspects of the stories, learning more about the city we’ve lived in for so long.
If you’re someone who scoffs at the idea of ghosts and the supernatural, this tour is NOT for you. If your mind is made up that it’s not real, then this tour is not going to change your mind, so please don’t be that person who shows up (or brings someone) who is going to bring the experience down for everyone else.
They say this tour is family friendly, but some of the stories are graphic so we don’t recommend this tour for young kids unless they’re already really into this sort of thing. It’s also possible that, with it being just the two of us, he amped up some of the scarier aspects of the stories, but we would hate to think that tour guides have to tame it down because there are kids present. That wouldn’t really be fair to the other participants.
As for the ultimate question: “Do we think this tour is worth $29 per person?” … our answer is yes… for the right people. We are hesitant to pay for walking tours because so much information is easily accessible online for free, but a lot of the stories and historical information we heard on this tour are not readily available with a quick Google search.
Ideally, the best way to do this haunted walking tour in Hollywood would be to make it a group activity with friends. Afterwards, you can all hit up a nearby bar or restaurant and talk about the great stories that you’ve heard! For tourists, this ghost tour offers great insight into lesser-known stories of some of the most popular attractions, so it would be a good fit for history buffs, those interested in Old Hollywood, and fanatics of everything spooky or paranormal.
Quick Reference Guide
What | |
Where | Starts at the El Capitan Theatre, located at 6838 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028 |
How to Get There | Los Angeles Metro Transit is the best way to get there so you don’t have to overpay for parking |
Time Commitment | Tour lasts 1 hour and is less than 1 mile of walking |
Cost | Adults (13-years-old and up) are $28.60/person, children under 13 are $18.60/person, and children under 6 are free. All costs include the booking fee. |
Reservation Info | Tours run nightly. Book through the US Ghost Adventures website in advance if you can, especially in October. |
Our Verdict | Recommended for tourists and locals alike who are interested in a unique Hollywood experience, but beware that the stories may be too gruesome for kids. |
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