The Top Haunted Houses in the U.S. by State
A lot of people love a good haunted house — at least the kind you pay for and expect to be haunted. Seasonal houses of horror are a blast, with fake blood dripping down walls; people paid to dress as demons, serial killers, and more to terrorize visitors; and manmade frights galore around every darkened corner. But nothing — and I mean nothing — beats a real-life haunted house. So where are the top haunted houses in the United States?
With the Halloween season upon us, I undertook a most spooky assignment: recommending real haunted houses that you can actually visit in almost every state.
Alabama: The Gaines Ridge Dinner Club
The Gaines Ridge Dinner Club in Camden, Alabama, offers fine dining, catering services, and, apparently, ghosts of diners past. The club’s official site notes that the house was built in the 1820s, was once owned by Rev. Ebeneezer Hearn, and “like most old houses, Gaines Ridge has its share of ghosts,” such as “the woman who screams and calls out, and has been seen floating past windows.”
Apparently, you can also hear an incessantly crying baby, smell pipe smoke, and see “the reflected image of a tall, gaunt man, dressed in black, with a long beard. (Old Ebeneezer Hearn, himself?).”
Alaska: The Bakery at the Silverbow Inn
Locals and visitors alike love to experience the many splendors of the Silverbow Inn in downtown Juneau, Alaska. Among them are a rooftop hot tub and the bakery, the latter established in 1898 by an Austrian named Gus Messerschmidt. It’s the oldest bakery in Alaska. Although Mr. Messerschmidt passed away in 1938, customers swear they’ve seen his spirit — a welcoming presence — pretty regularly during the bakery’s early morning hours.
Arizona: Rosson House
The Rosson House in Phoenix, Arizona, looks exactly like you’d expect a haunted house to look — Gothic and creepy. Built in 1895 and now a museum, visitors report ghost sightings, a presence watching you, quickly moving shadows, strange sounds (including footsteps and laughter), etc. But here’s the spooky part: The paranormal elements seemingly stem from the 1985 murder of a property caretaker, and that caretaker’s spirit likes to prank the current caretakers by locking doors from the inside and moving items around the museum.
Arkansas: Peel Mansion
Another Gothic mansion, albeit far less creepy from the outside than Rosson House, Peel Mansion in Bentonville, Arkansas, boasts three ghosts: a father and his daughter, as well as a young girl who died briefly but recovered from her illness, yet still somehow haunts the premises. The place is a museum and botanical garden these days, but some visitors insist they’ve heard piano playing, footsteps, and glimpsed apparitions.
California: The Whaley House
San Diego’s Whaley House Museum bills itself as “America’s Most Haunted House,” even going so far as to add a registered symbol! The story suggests that Thomas Whaley built his home on the property where Yankee Jim Robinson was executed. Soon, Whaley’s 18-month-old son died … but never left. And so it is that visitors to this day hear baby footsteps, giggling, and/or crying, while other Robinson spirits make their presence felt, according to the Whaley House’s official site, “Mists, lights turning on and off by themselves, and crystals in the parlor room’s lamp swinging without any prompt.”
Colorado: The Stanley Hotel
Stephen King stayed at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park once and came away inspired to write The Shining. Ghosts take a liking to the billiard room and bar, and especially Room 217. And don’t forget that weird children’s laughter.
Connecticut: The Noah Webster House
Looking for the definition of a haunted house (pun intended)? The Noah Webster House is the birthplace of Noah Webster, creator of Webster’s Dictionary. Staff and visitors have reportedly seen floating orbs, heard voices, and spotted a spectral figure whisk by a second-floor window. Local lore in West Hartford suggests that it’s Webster’s mother, who died in the house.
Delaware: Woodburn
The Woodburn has been the official residence of the Governor of Delaware since the state purchased it in 1965. It has experienced hauntings dating back to 1815, with owners who never left and a girl in a gingham dress and bonnet who holds a candle while traversing the grounds by the reflecting pool. The Woodburn is open to the public, but requires advance reservations.
Illinois: McPike Mansion
If you’ve watched any of the major shows about real haunted houses, you’ve likely seen a segment devoted to McPike Mansion in Alton, Illinois. And I get it, as ghosts aplenty purportedly roam the premises — among them are owner and abolitionist Henry McPike and his wife, Eleanor; a chain-smoking former owner; a young girl; and various children.
Visitors relate tales of strange noises, apparitions, objects inexplicably moving around, and images showing up in photos that went unseen in the moment. Visitors are welcome to walk the grounds of the McPike Mansion — but the mansion itself is not open to visitors.
Iowa: Villisca Ax Murder House
The Villisca Ax Murder House in Villisca, Iowa, calls itself exactly that. In 1912, six members of the Moore family and two sibling guests perished in a brutal — and unsolved — bludgeoning attack while they slept in the farmhouse. Now, visitors, who can take a tour or even stay overnight, experience everything from flying pages of sheet music and creaking doors to cold spots and the presence of an invisible boy.
Kansas: Sallie House
A doctor in Atchison, Kansas, attempted to save the life of 6-year-old Sallie, performing an emergency appendectomy in his office before the anesthesia could kick in. Sallie died, but legend says her screams live on, as does her wrath, particularly when it comes to men.
According to the official Atchison Sallie House website, events witnessed at the Sallie House include “video and investigative equipment that stops working, batteries that are full immediately and completely draining, experience moving objects, unexplained scratches or bruising on their bodies during/after visits, physical touches, mysterious coldness, (and) trained guide dogs refuse to enter the nursery.” The house offers overnight stays and daytime tours.
Kentucky: Liberty Hall
Liberty Hall is a gorgeous 18th-century Georgian estate in Frankfort. It has four acres of gardens and grounds and is famous for its Gray Lady, a friendly ghost who may be the spirit of Mrs. Varick, who died there — and whose final resting place is lost. Visitors and employees have reported waking up to folded blankets, the presence of a woman throughout the house, doors that close themselves, and more. Two other ghosts — that of a male soldier from the War of 1812 and a female Spanish opera star — also haunt the premises, legend says. Guided tours are available.
Maine: Seguin Island Light Station
You have to travel via boat to reach Seguin Island Light Station in Phippsburg, and we recommend becoming a member to gain access to a mooring. A recent blog entry on the Friends of Seguin Island website puts it in context: “There’s the keeper whose wife drove him mad by playing the same song on the piano ad infinitum, until he took an axe to the instrument and then her. Passing sailors claim they hear piano music playing across the water on still nights. It’s open year-round.
“There’s the young girl who was buried on the island and can be heard laughing and calling out to visitors, or running up the lighthouse steps. There’s a former keeper who is so vexed when current residents move furniture that he returns it to the original position.” Spooky.
Maryland: Dr. Samuel A. Mudd House Museum
Dr. Mudd set the leg of John Wilkes Booth the morning after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, earning himself a spot in the history books. But it’s apparently the spirit of Booth that lives on at Dr. Mudd’s home and office in Waldorf, Maryland. Does Booth revisit the “Booth Room”? The occasional human impression on the tucked bed suggests he does.
And then there are the mysterious voices, as well as the spectral presence of Mrs. Mudd, legend says. It’s a museum, so you can visit, and the Museum is even offering “Victorian Halloween” events this year.
Massachusetts: Lizzie Borden House
The infamous house in Fall River where Lizzie Borden purportedly murdered her father and stepmother currently operates as a museum and bed and breakfast. Visitors and staff routinely share stories and videos about unnerving supernatural goings-on, from ghostly punches in the back and children’s laughter to sightings of shadowy figures and a levitating photograph. You can book a tour or stay overnight.
Michigan: Felt Mansion
Once the home of inventor and millionaire Dorr E. Felt, legend says Felt Mansion is haunted by Felt’s wife, Agnes, who died in 1928, mere weeks after settling into the luxurious estate. To this day, shadowy figures roam the premises, particularly Agnes’ bedroom, and ghost hunters have reported blasts of cold air, doors opening and closing, and more. Also, the mansion is open for all sorts of events — from weddings to corporate retreats.
Minnesota: Palmer House Hotel
The Palmer House Hotel in Sauk Centre is modern and historic and haunted, which makes sense — as it was built upon the ashes of a brothel called Sauk Centre House. The Palmer House reports no one died during the fire, but a boy died of the flu in the early 1900s. You can, of course, stay overnight at the hotel.
Mississippi: McRaven House
Locals and visitors concur that McRaven House is Vicksburg ranks as the most haunted locale in Mississippi. Built in 1797, it served as a Civil War field hospital. Soldiers died there, murders occurred there, and the original owner (the infamous highwayman Andrew Glass) died there, and thus apparitions, disembodied voices, and whiffs of cigar smoke are common occurrences.
Missouri: Lemp Mansion
Lemp Mansion in St. Louis offers an inn and restaurant … and a very morbid history. After the death of beer maven Frederick Lemp, several members of his family committed suicide, with one also killing his dog. In the years since, people have cited disappearing tools, mysterious sounds, blink-and-you-miss-them apparitions, kicking on doors, etc. Today, the mansion offers ghost tours.
Montana: Dude Rancher Lodge
A ghostly good experience awaits just two miles away from Billings Airport in Montana. Dude Rancher Lodge boasts the possibility of encountering the ghost of Annabel Goan, the original owner, who has haunted the place since her death at the hotel in 1983. According to the lodge’s site, “There have been reports of lights turning on and off on their own, televisions turning on while housekeepers are cleaning rooms, knocking on the doors with no one on the other side, the sound of children running in the halls with no children being present, and a mysterious female voice was even caught on audio-tape in the basement of the hotel by the Montana Paranormal Research Society!” If you want the most haunted experience, stay in rooms 223, 224, and 226.
Nebraska: Bailey House Museum
Located in Brownville, the Bailey House Museum, open for visitors, and on the National Register of Historic Places, is the Gothic (natch) former estate of Benson Bailey, a Civil War captain for the Union. Per the official site, a jealous neighbor purportedly poisoned Captain Bailey’s wife and, three years later, Captain Bailey himself.
There are various theories as to whodunit and why, but visitors and staff note such paranormal activities as doors throughout the house that open and close, unexplained piano playing, blinking lights, and, of course, occasional visits by Captain Bailey.
New Hampshire: The Tilton Inn
Still standing despite three fires since it opened in 1875, The Tilton Inn in Tilton, which features a restaurant and hotel, has generated numerous ghost sightings. The most familiar of the spirits still there is that of Laura, a 12-year-old girl killed in one of the fires. She died in the still-existent Sanborn room and apparently has the run not just of that room, but the entire place, which has led to clinking glasses, displaced items, and apparitions in which visitors catch glimpses of Laura and sometimes interact with her. According to all sources, she’s a happy spirit.
New York: Merchant’s House Museum
This popular spot’s site explains that “The Tredwell family lived in this house for nearly 100 years. Some say they never left.” More specifically, Gwen Tredwell spent all 93 years of her life and has stuck around for a near-century, as she died in 1933. Since Merchant’s House Museum opened to the public following her death, “strange and inexplicable happenings have been reported — sounds, sightings, smells — by staff, volunteers, visitors, neighbors, even passersby.”
North Carolina: The Biltmore Estate
If you built a home as massive (178,926 square feet) and stunning as The Biltmore Estate, you’d probably never want to leave. Well, George Washington Vanderbilt and his wife, Edith, clearly feel that way, as they haunt what is now a popular Biltmore hotel in Asheville. Edith has reportedly been heard calling for George and he’s turned up in the library.
Supposedly a guest who died in the pool lurks around, as does a — get this — headless cat. Visitors have heard footsteps and party talk and laughs, and also have eyed George’s mistress.
North Dakota: Custer House
If you rebuild it, they will come. In 1989, the Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation rebuilt Lt. Col. George Custer’s home in Mandan based on his blueprints. Since then, George and his wife Libby have apparently basically moved back in, surrounded by many of their original photos and furniture, and joined at times by deceased soldiers. Cue the requisite apparitions, flickering lights, strange sensations, voices, and wailing. Tours are available.
Oklahoma: Stone Lion Inn Bed & Breakfast
Forever eight years old, Irene Houghton happily haunts the old Stone Lion Inn mansion-turned-B&B, which is open to visitors, in Guthrie. Irene reportedly died when a nurse gave her too much opium-laced cough syrup. According to visitors, Irene likes to pat their faces and squeeze their toes. There are other spirits there too, and they open and close doors, play pranks, and, yes, scare some folks.
Oregon: Heceta Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast
Originally called the Heceta Head Lightstation, this is an utterly stunning lighthouse and surrounding property open for weddings, parties, and just getting away from it all. Located in Florence, legend also says it’s home to Rue, the wife of an innkeeper whose daughter died there. Rue apparently is still searching for her daughter. Visitors and renters report seeing the apparition of an elderly woman, rearranged furniture, made beds that suddenly seem used, etc.
Pennsylvania: Farnsworth House Inn
It’s a B&B these days, but during the Civil War this house figured prominently in the Battle of Gettysburg, as it was used as a makeshift hospital to treat soldiers from both sides. Visitors have heard screeching noises, experienced cold spots, heard latch jiggling, sensed evil, and encountered a boy who likes to untie people’s shoes.
Rhode Island: Governor Sprague Mansion
The 28-room Sprague Mansion in Cranston currently houses the local historical society, which doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the place’s paranormal connections. (In fact, on October 25, they had a ghost party!) Those include a doll’s painted eyes moving, cold gusts, ghosts walking the stairs, glowing orbs, and, thanks to a séance, a former butler who (via an Ouija board) said, according to legend, “My land!” and “Tell my story.”
South Carolina: The Pelican Inn
Now a popular B&B on Pawleys Island, this 1840s home is purportedly haunted by its late owner, a Confederate soldier, a woman in a glue gingham dress, and two dogs (one died trying to save a drowning boy, and the other died of loneliness after his canine friend’s demise). Visitors have reported hearing barking dogs, seeing a Civil War soldier in uniform, and encountering his wife and smelling her perfume. And then there’s the Gray Man, who warns of impending bad weather.
South Dakota: Adams House
Located in Deadwood and now a museum that’s open to the public, Adams House is an eye-poppingly stunning Queen Anne-style home built in 1892. W.E. Adams, who bought the house in 1920 and later died there, supposedly haunts it. Manifestations have included trails of cigar smoke, a self-rocking rocking chair, and more.
Tennessee: The Hermitage
President Andrew Jackson and his wife, Rachel, lived on the Hermitage estate and are both buried here. Rachel predeceased America’s seventh President, and he was known to visit her grave, speaking to her as he smoked cigars. To this day, visitors claim to smell cigar smoke and hear voices. Also, the ghosts of soldiers who died on the property purportedly haunt the property’s trees. And there’s a mysterious whistler. Tours of the grounds and manions are available.
Texas: Haunted Hill House
There are almost too many haunted destinations in Texas to choose from, but the Haunted Hill House, a 3800-square-foot Victorian mansion in Mineral Wells, tops the list. According to the destination’s website, “The walls do talk in this 128-year-old home.” Visitors say they have been grabbed by the ankles, shushed by spirits, experienced chills, and even scratched. You can book a tour or even a group overnight.
Vermont: The Dutton House
The multipurpose Dutton House was built in 1781-82, and roughly a dozen people have died there over the years. It’s now part of the Shelburne Museum, and staff and visitors alike have reported seeing a bearded old man (who usually tries to hide), a friendly woman, and a young girl walking around the premises, as well as hearing footsteps, a girl sobbing, and more.
Virginia: Captain Timothy Hill House
Back in the early 19th century, Captain Timothy Hill reportedly wanted better for his daughter Jennie than her childhood friend, Tom, who wished to marry her. Spurned by Captain Hill, Tom wounded Jennie’s mother and killed Jennie, and then took his own life. And so Jennie has spent two centuries roaming around her family’s small house, which has been restored and relocated from its original location on Chincoteague Island. The Captain Timothy Hill House is now a privately owned museum that’s free to visit; check out their site for days/hours.
Washington: Walker-Ames House
Enter the Walker-Ames House in Port Gamble at your own risk (which you can do during guided tours). Visitors have said they got ill while checking out the Victorian home, seen doors slam shut, watched lights flicker, been touched by spirits, had their hair pulled, and glimpsed a trio of kids in an upstairs window and an old lady ceaselessly searching (for what, no one knows). Walker-Ames House has been unoccupied since 1995, but tour opportunities are available for all levels of ghost hunters.
Wisconsin: Summerwind
The ruins of Summerwind, also known as Lamont Mansion, can be found in West Bay Lake, in Vilas County. Robert Patterson Lamont bought the original home in 1916 and quickly set about having it remodeled for his family. Soon after, Lamont came across a specter and fled the premises with his wife and kids. The next owners encountered a spirit as well, one that drove them batty over time. Finally, in 1988, a lightning strike sparked a fire that burned Summerwind to the ground. Visitors to the ruins, which you can explore on your own, say it’s still haunted.
Wyoming: Irma Hotel
The legendary Buffalo Bill Cody built a hotel in Cody in 1902 and named it the Irma Hotel in honor of his daughter. It remains a cool step back in time for guests, with its cherrywood bar, great buffet meals, Wild West-themed activities, and ghostly inhabitants, including Irma, a cavalry soldier, and possibly Buffalo Bill himself. You can’t pick which room to stay in, but 20, 35, and 37 are reportedly the most haunted.
There’s a macabre element to all of these locales, and visits can be entertaining, but be warned that the histories of many purportedly haunted houses are steeped in murder and family tragedy, and some venues handle it more sensitively than others.
Further Reading
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