Winston-Salem: Ghost Walking Tour in West End by Candlelight

4.92

(127 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing I noticed was the sound of our footsteps echoing off old brick as we started down the West End streets in Winston-Salem. Our guide, Sarah, held up this flickering candle lantern—honestly, it was more atmospheric than I expected—and right away she pointed out a house with shutters just slightly askew. She said people still see lights moving inside after midnight, which made me glance up (couldn’t help it). The air felt heavy, like rain might come but didn’t.

I liked how Sarah mixed in real history with the ghost stories—she knew names, dates, even little details about the families who lived here back when Winston-Salem was just starting out in the 1700s. At one stop, she told us about a tragedy that happened on this very corner (I caught myself shivering; maybe from her story or maybe just the breeze). There was this moment where everyone went quiet except for some distant laughter from a bar down the street. It’s funny how you start to imagine things lurking in every shadow when someone’s telling you about lingering spirits.

We covered a lot of ground in those 90 minutes—probably didn’t realize how much until my legs got tired near the end. I tried to pronounce one of the Moravian names from an old gravestone and completely butchered it; Sarah laughed and helped me out. The group felt easygoing—some folks were clearly skeptics, others leaned in close whenever she lowered her voice for a creepier bit. I still think about that one story she told near the iron gate, something about a woman waiting for her husband who never came home. It stuck with me longer than I expected.