Brave enough for 4 haunted pub nights, Britain? 52% of you say yes as ghosts rattle pints and doors

A pint by the fire, a cold draught at your neck, and the uneasy sense someone else wants the stool.

Across the country, pub-goers are leaning into the shivers of the season. New polling from pub brand Chef & Brewer suggests ghost stories are not empty bar talk but a reason to visit, with many drinkers actively seeking a scare with their supper.

Where pints meet poltergeists

The research says more than half of people are more inclined to go for a drink if the place is rumoured to be haunted. Haunted houses may get the headlines in October, but haunted taprooms are where Brits are actually turning up. The same study points to Bristol and Manchester as the cities with the boldest bragging rights for sightings, while Londoners top the league for those most likely to bolt when things start to creak.

52% of people say they’re more likely to visit a bar if it’s reputedly haunted, and over a third claim they’ve already had a strange encounter in a pub.

Chef & Brewer has assembled a “Most Haunted” list from its historic estate, positioning the seasonal chill alongside roast dinners and well-kept cask ales. The brand frames it as a celebration of each pub’s character and folklore, rather than a gimmick. The numbers suggest there’s an appetite: 34% would go specifically for a haunted experience, and 27% say they’d head in to hear a good ghost yarn.

City hotspots and sceptics’ nerves

Belief divides the room. Around 30% of respondents say they believe in ghosts. Confronted by an apparition at last orders, 39% would stay to see what unfolds, while 21% admit they’d clock out immediately. In the capital, 36% say they’d run for it. There’s bravado, there’s dread, and there’s the irresistible draw of a story that might just be true.

A pub is the perfect stage: low lights, old beams, odd drafts, and an audience ready to listen. That’s where legends stick.

Inside the pubs that keep locals talking

Four venues on the list come with thick histories, eccentric reports and a reputation that stretches beyond their postcodes. None claims theatrics. All trade on the facts of their past and what regulars swear they’ve seen.

The Ring O’Bells, Daresbury, Cheshire

Once a Civil War-era Royalist refuge and, later, the village courthouse, this rural inn pairs hefty heritage with persistent tales. Staff and visitors alike speak of a Cavalier-shaped shadow sliding by the bar and a dapper 1930s gentleman who appears to be waiting for his round. A snug known locally for strange happenings keeps drawing the curious. Sudden pockets of cold air are part of the lore, as are footsteps in rooms left empty moments before.

• Era: Civil War links and courthouse past
• Reported presences: a shadowy Cavalier; a 1930s regular
• Why locals talk: a snug with frequent “oddities” and temperature shifts

The Dog & Partridge, Tutbury, Staffordshire

Sitting in the long shadow of Tutbury Castle—where Mary, Queen of Scots, was held—the inn dates back centuries and retains its uneven floors, timber frames and hush after midnight. Guests tell of waking to find a pale, elderly woman perched at the bed’s foot, while others have spotted a trilby-wearing gentleman at the stairwell. The village has a reputation for uncanny sightings, and regulars treat the pub’s quieter corners with a respectful glance.

• Era: 15th century fabric
• Reported presences: an elderly woman; a man in a trilby
• Why locals talk: bedrooms where visitors wake to company

The Boot & Slipper, Amersham, Buckinghamshire

In a town with a sombre Reformation history, this market-side pub is linked to a cluster of accounts centred on its cellar. Staff describe the sensation of being brushed by someone unseen while changing barrels. The mood in the lower rooms can shift abruptly, according to those who spend time down there, with a sense of someone looming just out of the torch beam. The building’s age and the town’s darker past do the rest.

• Era: Tudor lanes and early modern tales
• Reported presences: a cellar “someone” who never speaks
• Why locals talk: routine staff experiences below stairs

The Hutt, Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire

Linked by legend to Newstead Abbey via secret tunnels, this roadside inn is said to host a restless monk. Stories tell of brothers who used the underground routes to visit for ale; one, the tale goes, didn’t make it back. Patrons mention pint glasses gliding without help and doors with a mind of their own. The bar stays lively, yet a hush often falls when a glass slides an inch on its own.

• Era: monastic folklore and Byron country
• Reported presences: a “left-behind” monk
• Why locals talk: moving glassware and sudden door shifts

The haunted shortlist at a glance

Why the chill sells

Pubs collect stories the way their beams collect soot. Wars, trials, royal intrigue, religious rifts and village scandals have all passed through these rooms. When a brand ties that heritage to a seasonal moment, it taps more than gimmickry. The data shows people want atmosphere with their ale. For some, that means leaning into a brush with the uncanny; for others, it’s the excuse needed for a night somewhere different.

34% say they would visit a haunted pub for the experience, and 27% would go simply to hear a cracking ghost story.

Chef & Brewer says its aim is to showcase history and local lore, not to stage a fright night. The approach nods to what pubs do best: host a community and pass on tales that make a place feel alive, or, in this case, not quite at rest.

Planning your own haunted pub night

If you’re tempted to test your nerve between the pumps and the pews, go in with a plan that keeps the night enjoyable for everyone.

• Book a table or a room: busy autumn evenings fill quickly in talked-about venues.
• Ask staff where the stories began: the folklore often links to specific rooms or objects.
• Mind your manners: no loud séances at peak hours, and always respect other guests’ space.
• Keep notes: if something odd happens, record the time, place and conditions. It makes a better story later.
• Set expectations: unusual drafts and old floorboards explain plenty; the fun is in not knowing which creak will be which.

What the numbers do and don’t say

Polls tell us who’s willing to seek a scare, who bolts, and where sightings cluster. They don’t prove, or disprove, the supernatural. What they do capture is a cultural habit: people like stories, especially ones rooted in real buildings, with dates, names and textures you can see and touch. That’s why haunted pubs have staying power. You’ll come for the steak and a pint. You might leave with a tale about a glass that nudged your hand back to the bar, as if the walls themselves were pouring another round.

Spirits don’t just fill glasses in these rooms; the tales seep from the stonework and refuse to settle.