A bus tour through Kansas City's haunted past
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The riders were listening intently with their bottles of pinot. Photo: Abbey Higginbotham/Axios
Kansas City's Ghosts & Gangsters tour takes riders into the city's shadowy past — where mobsters ruled, bullets flew, and some say the ghosts never left.
The big picture: Riders visit sites linked to some of Kansas City's darkest chapters.
- At Columbus Square Park from the 1890s to the 1920s, the Black Hand gang would threaten local merchants, once using nail-stuffed shotguns to terrorize shopkeepers.
- A visit to Union Station highlights the 1933 massacre that killed four people. Bullet holes are still visible on the building.
- At the Power & Light building, people claim to see phantom jumpers diving from the rooftop, but there's never any sign of a fall — no body, no broken glass, no trace at all.
What they're saying: "It's not about scaring you rigid. I want people to walk away loving the history of this town," tour guide Ryan Mitchell tells Axios.
- "I love ghost stories, I love gangsters, I love history, and I love Kansas City. So this was a perfect night," rider Michael Rebein says.
If you go: The 90-minute tour starts in the River Market and runs year-round on weekends, with tickets still available this Halloween.
- Tickets are $60 a person.
- Riders are encouraged to bring drinks of their choice, just not glass; water is provided.
- Expect to hop off the bus for story stops.
Fun fact: KC has more than one way to explore its haunted history, including US Ghost Adventures' Wraiths & Whiskey tour, which focuses on research-based hauntings and local legends.
💭 Abbey thought bubble: I expected jump scares, but instead learned that this city's past is wild enough without any ghosts.
The bottom line: The tour makes KC's past feel alive again — part ghost story, part crash course in how the city got its grit.