Come Visit Northern Kentucky...If You Dare

Kentucky After Dark

Discover thrills and chills when you experience Kentucky After Dark in Northern Kentucky. Come visit the spookiest spots for a spine tingling good time. Use your Kentucky After Dark passport to guide you through an out of this world and beyond the veil experience.

USS Nightmare

The USS Nightmare, a ship, is on the water, moodily lit, with fog and a clouded sky.

Sure, you've been to haunted houses, but have you ever been on a haunted boat? The USS Nightmare has been in operation since 1993, but the boat itself has a much longer history. The USS Mitchell is a dredge boat that began on the Missouri river in the 1930s. It broke free of its moorings and wreaked havoc along the river and on several bridges before coming to a stop. As a haunt attraction, it boasts 30+ minutes of terror, one of the longest in the area, with two decks of horror. In addition to the standard ticket, there is an RIP Experience that's longer, more interactive, and explores additional areas of the ship. If that's not enough there's two nights of the Captain's Extreme Tour where the horror is amped up. Reports from the crew of this haunt say that even for a haunted attraction there are mysterious, unexplainable happenings and reports of shadowy figures. Is the USS Nightmare all smoke and mirrors, or is there truly something sinister in the fog? There's only one way to know for sure; welcome aboard and watch your step.

Ghosts of Covington Haunted History Tour

An eerie photo of a large building with columns on the front. It's flanked by trees.

If you prefer to keep your feet on dry land the Ghosts of Covington Haunted History tour may be more your speed. This walking tour offered by River City Tours will lead you through 2 hours of gruesome murders, ghostly hauntings, and other tales of terror. This walking tour is approximately 2 miles long and is wheelchair and stroller accessible. There is one section that has a bit of a steep incline which may be challenging for some. The tour is available as a driving tour, but must be arranged in advance by phone.

How to Get Your Kentucky After Dark Passport and Badge

A black booklet sits sideways and open. The text says Kentucky After Dark in red.

Your Kentucky After Dark Passport can be picked up at the BB Riverboats office:

BB Riverboats, 101 Riverboat Row, Newport, KY 41071
Mon - Thu 9:00am - 7:00pm
Fri 9:00am - 7:30pm
Sat 9:00am - 7:00pm
Sun 9:00am - 6:30pm

Or at Hotel Covington:

Hotel Covington, 638 Madison Ave, Covington, KY 41011
Front Desk Manned 24/7

USS Nightmare badges will be available at the USS Nightmare ticket window and Ghosts of Covington badges will be available on the tour.

More Strange and Unusual Experiences to have in Northern Kentucky

A red brick building at night with glowing lights around the exterior and over a courtyard.

Three Spirits Tavern in Bellevue, KY

Three Spirits Tavern is a cozy tavern with an impressive bourbon selection, delicious cocktails, and a comforting food menu. Their "Funken Old Fashioned," is served over a "black coal" (cocoa) King Cube of ice, and is Three Spirits' take on the classic cocktail as well as a tip of the hat to Nicholas Funken, the coal broker who built the 1880s home the bar is in today. You may get to tip your hat to Funken as well. Many report that the property is haunted by Nicholas, along with other spirits.

A display case with multiple shelves filled with various oddities.

HAIL Records & Oddities

HAIL Records & Oddities is a unique shop located in Mainstrasse Village in Covington filled with weird and unusual goodies and dark aesthetics. HAIL carries everything from taxidermy animals and bones, vintage medical equipment, crystal balls, tarot cards, metaphysical supplies, vintage religious artifacts, and of course, vinyl records. From soap to ram skulls and mummified cats to a rare Johnny Cash LP, HAIL has you covered.

Hierophany & Hedge

In the heart of Pike Street, in Covington's Madison District, lies a unique store unlike any you've seen before. Hierophany & Hedge stocks everything you’ll need for even the most sophisticated magic ritual – from bulk supplies of candles, incense, and crystals to exotic reagents like Pharaonic tomb sand, and a wide range of off-the-rack and made-to-measure talismans and wands. Don’t hesitate to ask if you don’t see just the right eye of newt on their shelves. They also stock a beautiful collection of Tarot decks and offer an extensive bookshop of arcane and eldritch tomes.

A person is observing a cemetery through an electronic device.

Paranormal Investigations of Big Bone Lick State Park

Join Big Bone State Park staff and the ESP Encounters of Supernatural Phenomena investigators for a night of Paranormal Investigation! Using a variety of investigative tools you will explore various areas throughout the park looking for signs from the other side.

A neon sign glows red in a store front window. The sign says "Haunted Tours"

American Legacy Haunted Tours

American Legacy Tours offers two haunted walking tours in Northern Kentucky. Newport is Haunted will enthrall you with tales of murder, decapitation, some of Newport's most infamous unsolved crimes, including the horrifying history of Bobby Mackey's wicked hauntings. The Covington Haunted & Historic Tour details the controversies, feuds, and spirits that still haunt Covington, Ky.

A foreboding building sits against a grey sky with spindly trees in front.

Spooky Secrets Walking Tour

Discover "spirited" spots in historic Covington on this 2-mile walking tour that will chill you to the bone. Learn about some of Covington's most gruesome history and ghostly encounters while you visit more than a dozen creepy local spots. You can add a signed copy of the book Secret Cincinnati by local author Kathryn Witt, which features several of the locations you will visit on your tour.