Haunted Houses & Ghost Tours in Los Angeles, CA

The history

Los Angeles built its haunted reputation on real ground — sometimes literally. Griffith Park's first zoo, the Griffith Park Zoo, opened in 1912 on a former ostrich farm and struggled for half a century: it opened with only 15 animals in tiny cages, nearly closed three years in after its sewage leaked into the nearby river, improved somewhat in the 1930s, and by the mid-1960s held more than 2,000 animals before the zoo relocated a few miles away. The old enclosures were never demolished; bars were removed, picnic tables were added, and the abandoned cages remain a walkable relic inside the park today.

Hollywood supplies the other half of the city's haunted geography. The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, named after President Theodore Roosevelt, hosted stars including Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin, according to LA Ghosts' tour page. The Hollywood Sign was erected in 1923 as a temporary advertisement for a housing development and was only meant to last a year or two. The Cecil Hotel, the Biltmore Hotel and Hollywood Forever Cemetery round out the landmarks that the city's ghost tours return to again and again — real buildings with documented pasts, around which the stories have gathered.

The legend

Local legend holds that Griffith Park itself is cursed. As the story is told, the landowner Don Antonio Feliz was tricked on his deathbed in 1863 into signing away his property to a local politician; his niece, Doña Petronilla, is said to have cursed the land and its new owner, vowing misfortune on anyone who tried to profit from it. The politician died soon after — which, depending on whether you are superstitious, is either proof or coincidence. The curse is folklore, not documented fact, and it is presented that way here.

Hollywood's legends are similarly attributed rather than asserted. The Hollywood Roosevelt is rumoured to be haunted by Marilyn Monroe, whose spirit is said to still wander its halls. At the Hollywood Sign, sightings of the ghost of aspiring actress Peg Entwistle — who leaped to her death from the sign in 1932 — are reported by visitors and locals, per LA Ghosts. A ghostly prankster is said to haunt the private rooms of the TCL Chinese Theatre. These are the tales tour guides tell; none of them is offered here as established fact.

Haunted today

Hountix lists 8 places in Los Angeles, CA. Seasonal attractions keep their own open dates, so check each business's own site before you go.

• DELUSION — haunted house, 940 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
• Grave Line Tours — ghost tour, 6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028
• Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel — haunted place, 7000 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028
• Hollywood Tower — haunted place, 6138 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles, CA
• LA Ghosts - Terrors of Tinseltown Tour — ghost tour, 537 S Broadway #200, Los Angeles, CA 90013
• Millennium Biltmore Hotel — haunted place, 506 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90071
• Pantages Theatre — haunted place, 6233 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028
• The Haunt Ghost Tours — ghost tour, 807 N Bunker Hill Ave. #307, Los Angeles, CA 90012

LA Ghosts — Terrors of Tinseltown Tour

LA Ghosts describes its Terrors of Tinseltown Tour, in its own words, as a walk through "the haunted landmarks in the home of the Hollywood film industry," promising the sinister secrets behind the glitz and the tragic tales of those who chased their dreams and awoke to nightmares. The tour meets outside the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, runs approximately one hour, and — per the operator's own page — is held nightly, rain or shine.

The stories on the route are Hollywood's standards, and the operator presents them as reports, not facts. The Hollywood Roosevelt, named after President Theodore Roosevelt, hosted Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin; the tour says some of its A-listers "never checked out," and the hotel is rumoured to be haunted by Monroe herself, her spirit said to still wander the halls. At the TCL Chinese Theatre, a ghostly prankster is said to haunt the private rooms, and the ghost of a TV host murdered in an armed robbery is said to roam the forecourt. The Hollywood Sign stop carries the story of Peg Entwistle, the aspiring actress who leaped to her death in 1932 and whose ghost is said to be sighted there still.

One detail on the operator's page is worth keeping straight: the sign was erected in 1923 as a marketing stunt for a suburban housing development and was only meant to last a year or two — documented history that needs no ghost to be interesting. LA Ghosts also says the tour is designed to be family-friendly, "just short of terrifying." That combination — real landmarks, attributed legends, an hour on foot — is the product. Visitors should treat every haunting on the route as folklore attached to genuine Hollywood history, which is how the operator itself frames it.

Sources

• Islands — "One Of Los Angeles' Most Popular Parks Has A Creepy Abandoned Zoo For A Unique Historic Hike" — https://www.islands.com/1897371/los-angeles-griffith-park-zoo-abandoned-california-historic-hike/ (fetched 2026-10-22)
• LA Ghosts — Los Angeles Ghost Tour — https://laghosttour.com/los-angeles-ghost-tour/ (fetched 2026-10-22)
• LA Ghosts — https://laghosttour.com/
• American Ghost Walks — Los Angeles Ghost Bus Tour — https://www.americanghostwalks.com/california/los-angeles/los-angeles-hauntings-ghost-bus-tour