San Francisco ghost hunt. The city's real hauntings, on foot

Spooky rather than frightening. It is built from San Francisco's real hauntings and dark history, told at the places they happened, so the atmosphere does the work. There are no actors, no jump scares and nothing gory. It plays best after dark, which is the point.

Yes, from around eight. The stories are ghostly rather than graphic, nobody leaps out, and children usually find the clues faster than the adults do. Younger ones can walk along happily even if some of the puzzles go over their heads. You set the pace throughout.

Yes. It unlocks the second you pay and there is no slot to reserve. Buy at seven, walk to the first stop, and you will be reading the first ghost story within half an hour. If tonight falls through it stays in your account for whenever you want it.

It covers the same ground as one: real local hauntings and history at 12 real places in San Francisco. The difference is that nobody guides you. Your phone tells the stories, sets the puzzles and shows the way, so you go at your own pace and start whenever you like.

It runs 2.7 km across 12 stops, which is a comfortable evening's walk with time to solve each one. There is no timer and no closing time. Most groups take an hour and a half or so, longer if they stop for a drink, and you can pause and resume whenever.

Nothing is booked, so you simply go another evening. It does not expire. If the weather turns halfway through, pause it, get inside, and carry on from the same stop another night. If you have not started yet, take a full refund instead.

The Fellowship covers up to 5 phones for $29.99, which is $6.00 each. That is a fraction of a haunted house or a guided ghost tour in San Francisco, and everyone gets the stories and puzzles on their own screen rather than straining to hear a guide.

The first stop is at Point 1 LBC · 3301-3601 Lyon St, and the route finishes at Point 12 · 3510 Baker St, 2.7 km and 12 stops later. The exact spot, with a photo, appears in the app the moment you unlock it, so you can check it is somewhere you fancy walking to first.

A haunted house is one building, a timed ticket and someone in a mask trying to startle you. This is San Francisco itself, outdoors, on foot, at whatever hour you choose, and the stories are things that were actually said to have happened on those streets.

Yes, the free Questo app on iOS or Android, about a two-minute download. Buy on this page, open the app, and it is waiting in your account. Get it at home on Wi-Fi if you can; the route itself runs fine on ordinary mobile data.

Yes, and the person you send it to picks their own night, in San Francisco or in any other city it runs in. It does not expire, so it works as a birthday present, a Halloween present or a thing to do with visiting friends. They will need the free Questo app to play.