‘Tis the season for pumpkins, spooky decor, and crunchy leaves galore. Between soup season and getting to wear your favorite sweaters, fall is its own special time of the year. And the ultimate way to celebrate the cooler and darker days? By going on a haunted tour with your all-star team.

You might be wondering: “What the heck are haunted tours?” And before your imagination gets the best of you, we’re not talking about those haunted houses where someone in a costume tries to spook you. 

We’re sure those are fun too, no shade to them. But the haunted tours we’re talking about are legit haunted tours. 

Haunted tours are educational, diving into haunted history, ghost sightings, and spooky stories from the past. You and your coworkers might even get a visit from some specters or energies. 

Not sold just yet? Here are nine reasons why haunted tours absolutely should be part of your team’s fall.

1. You’ll actually learn history on a haunted tour

One of our favorite things about haunted tours is that there is straight-up history involved. It’s not just like reading a bed-time story. 

For example, on our Haunted Tour in San Francisco, we start on the edge of the Jackson Square Historic District — a little-known Gold Rush-era neighborhood with eerie, well-preserved Victorian architecture. Then, we hear about forgotten graves and ships buried underneath the neighborhood, and learn about the destruction of the Great Earthquake of 1906, and the residual hauntings that still plague the neighborhood.

Your team will come out of a haunted tour knowing way more about their town than they did before.

2. Haunted tours get everyone out of the office

While we personally know just how incredible virtual team building activities can be, we still are firm believers in the power of in-person team building. 

Haunted tours will get everyone together. Not only will they be learning about new places and laughing together, they’ll also maybe even get a little spooked – and not from an ambiguous email from a coworker that says “Can we talk?”  

Haunted tours get everyone out of the office for a fun, engaging and straight-up interesting activity. When’s the last time you all did something like that together?

3. You might even encounter some spirits

Hear us out for a second. Just about everyone asks if they can expect to actually “see” ghosts on a haunted tour. Let’s just say that on our haunted tours, we regularly stir up energies and interact with spirits. That’s because our tour ventures through some of the oldest and most haunted streets of San Francisco, where residual ghost impressions are felt, poltergeists heard, and after death after consciousnesses are witnessed.

We also use ghost hunting tools to attempt to contact spirits and invite apparitions. But do you always show up to every happy hour you’re invited to?

Also on our tours, we’ve had guests report strange sensations (dizziness, feeling pinched, tapped or grabbed), hear shrill sounds and voices, see apparitions, and document unexplainable images in photographs from the tour.

So whether or not you’ll see a ghost on your haunted tour is hard to say. It depends on where your tour goes, and what it consists of. For example, if we were ghosts, we’d probably steer clear of haunted houses (a little too obvious, no?)

4. You get to use real ghost hunting gear

Ghostbusters beware, because there are some new ghost hunters in town. On a haunted tour participants will usually get to use real ghost hunting gear and equipment. This might include EMF ghost meters, dowsing rods, an SBox Spirit Scanner (for electronic voice phenomena) and even infrared temperature detectors, which can be used to debunk false positives and find sources of “cold spots.”

Not sure what all of that means? We weren’t either, until we became experts in haunted tours. But don’t worry, by the end of the tour, your team will be absolute pros in using this ghost hunting gear.

5. Your team will get to face off in challenges

Haunted tours aren’t only about trying to find spirits and ghosts (although they tend to be the stars of the show). When haunted tours are run by an expert team building company, they also usually include awesome games. 

This means that your team will have an opportunity to go head-to-head in some friendly competition, which can get their creative juices flowing, spark some fire, and encourage genuine collaboration. 

On our haunted tours, participants might go on a scavenger hunt through the neighborhood, play “Assassin,” or be challenged to find some ghosts.

6. Haunted tours are generally accessible

Depending on where you live and what your haunted tour consists of, we’ve found that haunted tours are generally accessible for most people. They usually require brisk walking (there’s a lot to see) and maybe some moderate hills, but there isn’t any required physical activity beyond that. 

7. You’ll have expert guides

Did you know there were experts in haunted tours and haunted history? While it’s possible to become an independent ghost hunter and head out with some friends on your own, you might miss a lot of information. When you’re on a haunted tour, you’re in the hands of a true expert. They’ll share information about the neighborhood, architecture, people who lived there, and the ghostly history of spirit sightings and energies. 

8. Your team is probably sick of “those other” team building activities

Sure, who doesn’t love a good escape room or pub trivia quiz? These old standbys are faithful, yes, but definitely overplayed. If your team has done it before (especially if they’ve done it more than once) they might be tired of it. 

One thing we can almost guarantee they’re not tired of is a haunted tour. And when you actually tell them they’re going to do a real haunted tour, their ears are definitely going to perk up.

9. Your team will have a blast

Trust us on this one: teams absolutely love haunted tours. They’re unexpected, spooky, peculiar, rich with history, and get everyone laughing with games. By the end of it, your team will have had an awesome time together. And in our experience, happy and connected teams are also stronger teams, both out of the office and inside the office.

Sure, ghost hunting can be done on your own, but it’s much better with friends, and even more fun to do with your team. FInding a haunted tour near you is a great way to ensure your team has a blast while strengthening their relationships.

Located in the SF area? We run a haunted tour specifically for awesome teams, and not to brag, but it’s pretty incredible. Click here to find out more about our San Francisco haunted tour.