Moon River Brewing Company – Haunted Brewery & Restaurant in Savannah, Georgia

Moon River Brewing Company isn’t just Savannah’s oldest hotel building—it’s also considered the most violently haunted location in a city packed with restless spirits. Built in 1821 as the City Hotel, this historic building has witnessed murders, suicides, and countless tragedies over two centuries, and the angry spirits trapped within its walls have physically attacked visitors, making it one of the few haunted locations where the paranormal activity has actually sent people to the hospital.

Historical Background

Year Built: 1821

Original Purpose: Luxury hotel called the City Hotel, catering to Savannah’s elite and wealthy travelers

Significant Events: The building served as a makeshift hospital during both a devastating yellow fever epidemic and the Civil War, with countless patients dying in agony within its rooms. In 1832, a brutal murder occurred when a guest killed a rival in a duel-turned-brawl, and the victim’s blood allegedly seeped so deeply into the floorboards that it could never be completely removed—some say you can still see the stain on certain nights when the moonlight hits it just right.

Paranormal Activity Summary

Physical attacks are disturbingly common at Moon River, with visitors reporting being pushed, scratched, slapped, and even choked by invisible hands—one employee was knocked down an entire flight of stairs by an unseen force. Bottles fly off shelves with tremendous force, glasses shatter spontaneously, and heavy furniture moves across rooms on its own, leading many paranormal experts to classify this as one of the most aggressive hauntings in America.

The apparition of a woman in a long white dress is seen so frequently on the upper floors that staff members have nicknamed her “The Lady in White,” and she seems particularly drawn to male visitors who resemble someone from her past. Cold spots appear without warning throughout the building, often accompanied by the overwhelming smell of decay, blood, or tobacco smoke from centuries past.

Ghost Stories & Reports

The most notorious spirit is Toby, an angry entity believed to be a former worker who died in the building and now terrorizes anyone who ventures into the basement alone—he’s reportedly pushed people down stairs, thrown objects at investigators, and left scratch marks on visitors’ backs and arms. The Lady in White is thought to be a woman who either died during the yellow fever epidemic or took her own life after losing her lover, and she’s been seen gliding through walls and staring longingly out of upper-floor windows.

Children’s spirits haunt the third floor, their giggling voices and running footsteps heard constantly despite the area being closed to the public for safety reasons. A male entity in the billiard room becomes aggressive when people touch the pool table, allegedly the site of a violent confrontation that ended in death—visitors report feeling sudden rage wash over them in this room, followed by an overwhelming urge to flee.

James Stark, a former guest who allegedly killed himself in the building, is believed to haunt Room 204, where guests report seeing a sad-faced man sitting on the bed before he fades away. Confederate and Union soldiers have been spotted throughout the building, still fighting their eternal war, and some visitors report hearing gunshots and screams that seem to come from another time period entirely.

Most Haunted Spot Inside

The basement is hands-down the most dangerous paranormal hotspot in the building, where Toby’s aggressive spirit has caused numerous injuries and sent multiple investigators fleeing in terror. Even hardened paranormal researchers refuse to enter the basement alone, and several ghost hunting teams have captured video footage of objects flying across the room and team members being physically pushed by invisible forces.

Can You Visit?

Open to the Public? Yes—it operates as a functioning brewery, restaurant, and bar

Entry Fee: Free to enter (you just need to purchase food or drinks); Ghost tours cost approximately $15-$25 per person

Tour Availability: Moon River offers regular ghost tours including “Haunted Pub Tours” and special overnight paranormal investigations for serious ghost hunters—tours typically run multiple times per week in the evenings. Private paranormal investigations can be booked for groups willing to spend the night exploring with professional equipment.

Photography Allowed? Yes

Visiting Hours: Restaurant and bar open daily from 11:00 AM to midnight (hours may vary); paranormal tours typically run from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM

Best Time to Visit

Paranormal activity is consistently high year-round, but the most violent encounters seem to occur during overnight investigations between midnight and 4:00 AM. Fall and winter months reportedly bring increased activity, with October being particularly intense as the building seems to “wake up” during Halloween season when the veil between worlds is thinnest.

First-Hand Accounts & Eyewitness Reports

In 2015, a bartender named Sarah was physically pushed down the basement stairs by an invisible force, suffering a broken wrist and numerous bruises—security footage showed her suddenly lurching forward as if shoved, with no one else present. A tourist from Ohio posted viral photos in 2018 showing three distinct scratch marks that appeared on his back during a basement tour, marks that weren’t there when he entered and burned intensely for hours afterward.

Ghost hunter and television personality Adam Berry reported during a 2017 investigation that he was slapped across the face so hard by an unseen entity that it left a visible handprint on his cheek, captured on camera by his crew. Multiple employees have quit after experiencing terrifying encounters, including one server who watched an entire tray of glasses levitate off the bar and smash against the wall in the middle of a busy shift.

Paranormal Investigations & Findings

Moon River has been featured on numerous paranormal television shows including “Ghost Adventures,” “Ghost Hunters,” “Kindred Spirits,” and “Most Haunted,” with every investigation team documenting significant aggressive activity. During the “Ghost Adventures” investigation, Zak Bagans and his crew captured footage of a brick flying across the basement and nearly hitting a team member, along with recording EVPs of a male voice saying “get out” and “mine.”

Investigators have recorded dozens of Class A EVPs (clear, easily understood electronic voice phenomena) throughout the building, including conversations between multiple spirits discussing people in the room. Thermal imaging cameras have captured full-bodied apparitions moving through walls, and EMF detectors spike dramatically in areas where violent encounters occurred, suggesting the spirits are drawing energy from electromagnetic fields to manifest physically.

One investigation team captured video evidence of a shadow figure physically grabbing an investigator’s arm, visible on the infrared camera as a dark mass wrapping around the person’s limb. Kinect SLS cameras (which detect humanoid shapes) consistently show figures standing throughout the building that aren’t visible to the naked eye, particularly in the basement and upper floors.

Safety Warnings & Legal Restrictions

Visitors are strongly warned not to provoke or antagonize the spirits, as this has resulted in physical attacks requiring medical attention—several people have been sent to the emergency room after aggressive encounters in the basement. The third floor is permanently closed to the public due to structural concerns and extreme paranormal activity, and trespassing in this area is strictly prohibited and dangerous.

Moon River staff recommend that pregnant women, people with heart conditions, and anyone with severe anxiety avoid paranormal tours, as the intensity of encounters has caused panic attacks and medical emergencies. The building management takes the paranormal activity seriously and requires all tour participants to sign liability waivers acknowledging the risks of physical interaction with aggressive entities.

Cursed or Haunted Objects

An antique pool table in the billiard room is believed to be a focal point for paranormal activity, allegedly the site of a violent confrontation where a man was beaten to death—touching this table often provokes immediate aggressive responses from the spirits. The original wooden bar has been a witness to countless fights, deaths, and tragedies over two centuries, and psychics claim it has absorbed so much negative energy that it actively attracts malevolent entities.

In the basement, there’s an area where workers discovered human bones during renovations, bones that were never properly identified or given a burial—many believe this desecration is why the basement spirit Toby is so violently protective of his territory. Several investigators have brought objects into the building only to have them go missing and reappear in impossible locations, suggesting the spirits are intelligent enough to manipulate physical items and hide them from the living.