Insider's Guide to Halloween in Savannah

Are you planning a trip to experience Halloween in Savannah? I loveeee spooky season, so I’m going to do my best to give you the inside scoop.

After all, Savannah is one of the top Halloween destinations in the US, and the city is regularly dubbed one of the “Most Haunted Cities in America.” (Jamie Lee Curtis even filmed a scene from “Halloween Ends” near my house!)

As always, I’ve included plenty of Halloween photos to help get you into the spooky spirit.

Note: This guide contains affiliate links to my trusted travel partners.

Halloween in Savannah – The Pros & Cons

I’ll give you a quick rundown of the top pros and cons of Halloween in the city…

The Pros

There are at least a couple dozen ghost tours in Savannah on any given night of the week, so you can always find one to join.
The bars in the “entertainment zones” host contests and bar crawls, and those are really fun places to show off your wildest costumes.
Wag-O-Ween is a cute way to get in the spirit with your pet, while also raising funds for a good cause.
The team behind Graveface Museum consistently hosts a variety of frightening activities to celebrate all things Halloween.
Savannah just looks spooky. Period. It has a fantastic Halloween vibe!

The Cons

The downtown area (lookin’ at you, Savannah Historic District) is the land of absentee Airbnb hosts, which means many homeowners that once went all out for Halloween no longer do so.
The Historic District lost much of its sense of community with the departure of its full-time residents, so most locals head to neighborhoods further south for trick-or-treating.
The consistently understaffed police department make it feel a bit iffy to be out roaming the streets late at night — although that certainly helps add to the spook factor.

OK, let’s get to the main areas of Savannah where you can find Halloween decorations and activities!

Trick-or-Treat on River Street

Trick-or-Treat on River Street is a fun event held by the businesses along the waterfront.

This year (2024) it’s scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 26th, from 2 – 5 p.m.

It’s a great place to take the kids trick-or-treating so they can show off their costumes while collecting candy from participating businesses on River Street.

A couple strolls past Savannah's Candy Kitchen while admiring the Halloween decor along the sidewalk

Tray full of chocolate-dipped treats covered in colorful candies at Savannah Candy Kitchen on River Street

Halloween decoration of an old hag leaning over with a metal bowl as if she's tempting a small child to reach in and grab some candy

Close-up of a Halloween decoration of an old man inside a casket. His face is wrinkled and his nose is comically large. He has a scowl on his face

Halloween decoration of a grumpy old man in a casket that's propped against a wall in a candy shop on River Street in Savannah

Marble table with fresh pralines and serving utensils at River Street Sweets in Savannah

White oval sign with a red border. Black lettering spells out, "Savannah Georgia since 1973 River Street Sweets ®" and a red banner beneath the oval spells out "World Famous Pralines, Salt Water Taffy, Homemade Fudge"

Savannah’s Candy Kitchen and River Street Sweets are two of the most popular stops along the route.

Make sure you try their fresh pralines, since those are their top sellers.

They taste best when they’re served warm and straight off the marble slab.

Classic Haunts in the Historic District

The Historic District is where most first-time visitors tend to stay in Savannah.

However, as mentioned above, the decorations in the area have gotten somewhat slim in recent years.

Because of that, if you visit and stick only to the Historic District, you’ll see some beautiful homes — but it’s not where you’ll find the most spooktacular decor.

Folks in the Historic District lean more towards classic decorations than they do elaborate Halloween displays.

Expect to see plenty of pumpkins and fall scenery, plus a handful of skeletons scattered about.

A few homes go above and beyond with the spooky decor, so I’ll post some favorites below!

Related Reading: Savannah Georgia in October: Events and Things To Do

A curved staircase in Savannah's Historic District is decorated with an alternating black or orange ceramic pumpkin on each step. A wall in the background is covered in green ivy and is aglow with tiny string-light pumpkins

The staircase to an elegant home on Jones Street in Savannah, Georgia, is decorated for Halloween with orange and red garlands, pumpkins, and a skeleton dressed in a Phantom of the Opera costume

Close-up of the staircase to an elegant home on Jones Street in Savannah, Georgia. It's decorated for Halloween with orange and red garlands, pumpkins, and a skeleton dressed in a Phantom of the Opera costume

The dapper skeleton above is one of my favorites in the Historic District.

You’ll find him guarding the porch of a beautiful home on Jones Street.

The home below is located near Forsyth Park, and the homeowners add skeletons to both the upper and lower porches.

Gray steps leading to a white front porch on a home decorated for Halloween in Savannah. Stacked black jack-o-lanterns with yellow glowing eyes line each side of the porch. There are Halloween wreaths on the doors and skeletons on the porch

Evening scene of the front porch of a home with skeletons seated in chairs as if they're relaxing after a hard day's work. Black jack-o-lanterns with glowing yellow grins line the staircase

Two skeletons lean against the railing of a front porch in Savannah, each with a glass of red wine in hand

If you look closely you’ll see that the skeletons seem to be enjoying a glass of wine or two.

The number of skeletons seems to grow each year — I think they were up to 15 at last count!

Row homes decorated for Halloween in Savannah with giant spiderwebs and huge fuzzy spiders climbing across the brick facade, windows, and up the front stairs

Elegant row house decorated for Halloween in Savannah, GA, with spiderwebs covering the bricks and giant spiders climbing the stairs

I had to post the home below, mainly because that cast-iron sunflower door is so eye-catching.

A stately brick home features a red front door and decorative outer doors made of wrought-iron sunflowers. The home is decorated for Halloween with a skeleton peering out from behind the sunflowers as if to say, "set me free"

A skeleton peeks out from a wrought-iron gate that has been carved to resemble black sunflowers

A skeleton is caught trying to scale the wall of a stately brick home at the corner of Habersham and E Charlton in Savannah's Historic District

A beautiful home in Savannah decorated for Halloween with wreaths on the front door and two windows, plus wooden candy corn stakes sticking out of the fall planters beneath the windows

Row homes decorated for Halloween in Savannah with fall wreaths on the windows colorful potted plants with fall accents in front of the doors

The home above is located in the northeast section of the Historic District, and it’s an example of some of the more-classic seasonal decor you’ll find the area.

On the flip side, the home below is located on E Broughton Street, and the homeowners go all out to celebrate Halloween!

Many of the decorations are mechanical (the werewolf and Wednesday Adams, for example), so they move and make sounds as you walk past!

Two mummified ghosts with angel wings perch atop a jasmine-covered wall in Savannah's Historic District as part of an elaborate Halloween yard display

A motorized wolfman Halloween decoration in the yard of a home in downtown Savannah. Its eyes light up green and it makes a growling movement towards anyone walking past

A scary, bodiless head dangles from a tree while a skeleton peers out from a branch behind it. It's a small portion of an elaborate Halloween display in Savannah

A motorized Halloween decoration shows Wednesday Adams with glowing red eyes swinging on a swing and making scary faces at passersby on Broughton Street in Savannah

A home on Broughton Street in Savannah with elaborate Halloween decorations. There's a scary clown above the door, a wolfman, a headless monster, skeletons climbing a rope ladder up to the second and third stories of the home, and a mechanized girl on a swing who is dressed like Wednesday Adams

If you’re looking for a party scene, you’ll find that in the “entertainment zones” within the Historic District.

Those areas include City Market, River Street, and the Plant Riverside District.

If you’re a true-crime fanatic, make sure you visit Graveface Museum.

It’s located between River Street and Factors Walk, and it offers a fantastic Halloween vibe!

Spooky Scenes from the Starland District

The Starland District is home to some of Savannah’s most creative personalities, so it’s no surprise the area is full of fun decor.

My favorite house is always the Rainbow House aka: Lovelane Designs. (It also happens to be a FANTASTIC place to order Halloween costumes for your kids; their dragon wings are amazing!)

The owners go all out with their funky skeleton decor…

Side view of a house painted with pastel-hued rainbow stripes and a skeleton climbing up the side of the home in celebration of Halloween in Savannah

A home painted in pastel rainbow stripes of green, blue, purple, pink, and peach features four skeletons climbing the wall as cheeky Halloween decorations in Savannah, Georgia

This colorful rainbow house is decorated for Halloween in the artsy Starland District in Savannah, GA

A skeleton scales the side of a home painted in pastel-rainbow hues of green, blue, lavender, pink, and peach

A skeleton scales the wall of a house painted in pale hues of pink, purple, and blue in Savannah, Georgia

I need to take more photos around the Starland District this year, but I’m always drawn to the best Halloween neighborhood in the area instead…

No Contest: Ardsley Park Wins Halloween!

As far as I’m concerned, Ardsley Park is THE neighborhood that wins Halloween in Savannah every year.

It’s located south of the Historic, Victorian, and Starland districts. If you check out a map of Savannah, the Ardsley Park area begins directly south of Victory Drive.

The homeowners in the neighborhood come up with really creative decorations — like the spooky circus theme pictured below — and many hand out “the good candy” (aka: lots of chocolate).

The area has more of a neighborhood feel to it than the downtown area, which — let’s be honest — is starting to feel overwhelmingly like Disneyland with all the haunted trolleys and hearses hauling tourists around.

Ardsley Park is the closest area to the Historic District where kids regularly go from door-to-door trick or treating and families really get into the Halloween spirit!

Check out some of my favorite halloween decor in AP from recent years…

A ringmaster holds his skeletal hand up as if commanding his creepy crew to scare the neighborhood children. A black cauldron with smoke from dry ice sits on a table in the foreground

Twinkle lights illuminate a spooky circus scene in the front yard of a home decorated for Halloween in Savannah

Roaches crawl across red and white striped popcorn containers atop a spidery tablecloth

A figure in baggy tan pants and a red plaid shirt rests on a stool with a wolf mask covering his face and tufts of fur peeking out from beneath his clothing. A nearby cardboard sign has the words "wolf boy" written in crude black lettering

The front yard of a home in Ardsley Park is decorated for Halloween with skeletons scaling a moss-covered wall, Chucky dolls in positioned in planters along the sidewalks, and zombies peeking out from headstones partially buried in the lawn

Purple lighting illuminates a creepy doll with red eyes and jagged teeth. The doll is holding a severed hand to its mouth, as if about to take a bite

A creepy head and torso with missing limbs hangs from a tree in Ardsley Park, illuminated by purple lighting

Spooky purple lights illuminate a doll surrounded by dead branches and Spanish moss

The front porch of a stately brick home is decorated for Halloween in Savannah with yellow mums, pumpkins, a scarecrow, giant spiders, and additional spooky creatures

A coven of witches dressed in white hold hands and form a partial circle around headstones in the front yard of a stately brick home in Ardsley Park, Savannah

A skeleton with a smiling pumpkin for a head head lounges in azalea bushes in front of a stately brick home in Savannah's Ardsley Park neighborhood

A giant skull with red eyes and smoke coming from the mouth sits on the porch of an Ardsley Park home

A graveyard of Halloween decorations for the Ben D'Cayen family sits in the yard of a home in Savannah's Ardsley Park neighborhood

Gravestones for Shirley and Ben D'Cayen decorate a home in the yard of an Ardsley Park home

A creepy skeleton with jagged teeth and dark eye sockets holds a fishing net and glares towards the street as a skeleton climbs the wall of a stately brick home in the background

A winged demon with glowing red eyes decorates the yard of a stately brick home in Ardsley Park for Halloween in Savannah

16 colorful pumpkins lit by twinkle lights on the stairs of a home in Ardsley Park with

Two-story green home with a white front porch and an American flag on display. The yard is decorated with zombie children attending a Halloween-themed circus

Close-up of a Halloween decoration of a small child wearing a dirty brown dress. She is riding a rocking horse and her dark hair is disheveled and hanging in her eyes, which are glowing bright red.

Halloween scene in Savannah of a zombie girl with red eyes who is rocking back and forth on a rocking horse. Another small child zombie can be seen in the background, and the home's front door is decorated with a ghost and a creepy ghoul dressed in black

A creepy Halloween clown with red hair sits atop a see-saw while two zombie children rock back and forth on it

I hope my little summary of Halloween in Savannah has been helpful. If you want to read more about the spooky season, these posts might be helpful:

Pro Tip: If you’re planning to do a ghost tour, don’t forget to purchase your tickets well in advance. I recommend this spooky theatre tour or a nighttime walking tour.

What day is trick-or-treating in Savannah?

Trick-or-treating in the neighborhoods always takes place on October 31st in Savannah. Consider us heathens if you want, but we trick-or-treat ON Halloween — even if it falls on a Sunday.

Erin authored the Savannah First-Timer's Guide and loves helping first-time visitors plan their trips. She lives in the artsy Starland District and enjoys exploring Savannah's hidden gems, as well as the surrounding Lowcountry.

Savannah First-Timer's Guide

Insider’s Guide to Halloween in Savannah