1 Haunted Place to Visit in Each State | Mental Floss

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The Feaster can be found in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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It's a lavish hotel built over 120 years ago that looks like the perfect place for a fancy ball
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One attendee you might find at that ball is the original builder of the hotel, Charles Feaster
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who, if you do some quick math, has been dead for a minute now. He apparently haunts the corridors and hallways of the fancy hotel at night
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But if you're skeptical of rumors from anonymous guests, how about from the mouths of famous athletes
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There's a full roster of athletes who have passed through Milwaukee for various visiting games
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who have scary stories from their stays at The Feaster. We'll drop a link in the bio to a great
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ESPN article about it, but for just a taste, here's what baseballer Michael Young had to say
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about The Feaster. Oh, f*** that place. Listen, I'm not someone who spreads ghost stories
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so if I'm telling you this, it happened. Hi, I'm Erin McCarthy, editor-in-chief of Mental Floss
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and The Feaster is just one of 50 haunted locations you can actually visit that I'll be discussing
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today. From Alcatraz to some spooky movie theaters, we'll be covering one haunt from each of the 50
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And also, I want to hear your scary stories in the comments
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We've got a lot of unhallowed ground to cover, so let's get started
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Before we road trip down to Alabama, I wanted to give a little warning
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While you can visit all these places, some aren't as accessible as a fancy hotel
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Always make sure to be respectful of the sights, don't trespass, and never put yourself in
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a situation where you might get added to the haunt. Okay, mom rant over
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Let's get back to the spooky stuff. To get to one of the spookiest locations in Alabama
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drive down Ruffner Road in Irondale, turn on the dirt road, and travel through the isolated woods
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until you reach Bass Cemetery. According to some, the cemetery was named
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for Revolutionary War veteran Burl Bass, who was buried there after his death in 1831
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Civil War soldiers and enslaved people are also interred there. Bass Cemetery is neglected
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but that's not all that's eerie about it. Visitors are said to hear ghostly screams
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see strange orbs and apparitions, and experience general feelings of uneasiness. It's also supposedly a hotbed of occult activity. The Red Onion Saloon opened in the late 1890s in
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Skagway, Alaska. Not long after, a Tlingit and Taggish man named Keish, aka Skookum Jim Mason
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and his party found gold in Rabbit Creek in 1896, sparking the Klondike Gold Rush. Beginning in 1898
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it featured a 10-room bordello. After that, it hosted everything from a bakery to a laundry to
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a television station. Today, it's a restaurant and museum supposedly haunted by the ghost of a
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sex worker named Lydia, who apparently makes her presence known through the scent of perfume
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disembodied footsteps, cold spots, full-body apparitions, and apparently the damp soil of
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plants which the proprietors have not watered themselves. The saloon also offers tours
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led by ladies dressed in sex worker garb of the Gold Rush era, naturally, where you might even see
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Lydia herself. I really, really love a good ghost town, so I just put this next haunted location on
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my own bucket list. The Vulture Mine near Wickenburg, Arizona was once a super successful
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mine where both gold and silver were extracted to the tune of 340 ounces of gold and 260 ounces of
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silver. Vulture City was built up around it starting in 1863, and at one point some 5,000
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residents lived there. But things went downhill in 1942, when the War Production Department closed
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gold mines that weren't essential, and redirected those efforts towards winning World War II
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After that, the town was swiftly abandoned. But even if there are no living residents in Vulture
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City, it's said that some spirits still call the town home, including the ghosts of 18 miners
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supposedly hang for theft, and seven miners who died in a mine collapse in 1923, and whose bodies
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could not be removed. Several of the buildings in Vulture City have been restored to what they
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would have looked like when they were built. There are self-guided tours and spooky flashlight
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tours available. Just make sure you wear closed-toed shoes. Let's head to the Toothpick
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State for our next spooky location, which calls itself America's Most Haunted Hotel
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Located on a mountain above Eureka Springs, the Crescent Hotel and Spa cost nearly $300,000 to
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build and opened in May of 1886. A newspaper article published at the time called it America's
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Most Luxurious Resort Hotel that offers the visiting vacationer an opulence unmatched in
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convenience and service. A fancy gala attended by 400 of the town's movers and shakers marked
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the occasion. Over its long history, the Crescent was leased out to a local railroad and housed
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both a woman's college and a cancer clinic. The latter was run by a man named Norman Baker
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a snake oil salesman who made all kinds of claims about how he could cure cancer in non-invasive
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ways, apparently netting millions in today's dollars as cancer patients died in droves around
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him. The American Medical Association had him in their sights, though, and he was eventually
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charged with mail fraud. Though that didn't stop him from throwing himself a huge birthday
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party on the grounds. A newspaper article covering Baker's trial noted that he claimed he'd be able
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to make $1 million in the first year of his scheme in Eureka Springs and called the people he was
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fleecing suckers. Nice guy. He ended up going to prison for three years, which, in my opinion
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does not seem like nearly enough time. In 2019, workers discovered bottles from Baker's operation
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buried on the property. A few of them had what appeared to be human or animal tissue inside
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Bottles found in the dump can now be seen on one of the resort's ghost tours, where you might also
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encounter Michael, a stonecutter who died during construction of the hotel, and former hotel
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physician Dr. John Fremont Ellis, who apparently makes his presence known with the aroma of pipe
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smoke. I would not be a good cat lady if I didn't mention that the resort has been home to a
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resident feline since 1973, when an orange tabby named Morris supposedly waltzed into the lobby
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and stayed put for 21 years until his death. The hotel has been home to other cats since, but
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Morris hasn't gone anywhere. Not only is his gravestone on the property, but supposedly his
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ghost rubs up against the legs of guests hanging out in the lobby, and paranormal investigators
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have caught his warm purr on their recordings. Will he come if you go ssssss? This is a question
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and I need an answer to. Alcatraz Island has had many lives. The name comes from a Spanish explorer
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who named it La Isla de los Alcatrazes, after all the pelicans that roosted there. Or maybe he named
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a different island. Long story. At any rate, under the control of the U.S. government, the island was
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the site of a lighthouse, a military fort and prison, and, of course, an infamous federal prison
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Welcome to the rock. Which from 1934 to 1963 housed the worst of the worst, from mobsters like Al Capone
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to murderers like Robert Birdman of Alcatraz Stroud and kidnappers like George Machine Gun Kelly
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After it was closed down, the island was occupied by Native American activists for nearly two years
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Alcatraz opened to the public in 1973 and now regularly clocks a million visitors a year
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Tourists have reported hearing everything from the clanging of cell doors shutting to voices
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whistles, and screams. It's even said that on foggy nights, the old lighthouse that once sat
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on the island will reappear. The National Park Service runs no official ghost tours
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but if you're on the hunt for paranormal activity, you can book a night tour of the prison
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Pro tip, D-block is said to be the most haunted. You know a hotel has to be spooky if it inspired one of the greatest horror writers of all time
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Stephen King was on vacation in Colorado with his family in September 1974
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when they arrived at the Stanley and Estes Park, Colorado, just as the season was ending
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They checked into room 217 At that point the original grandeur of the hotel had faded King would later recall that it seemed the perfect maybe the archetypal setting for a ghost story That night I dreamed of my three son running through the corridors looking back over his shoulder eyes wide screaming
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He was being chased by a fire hose. I woke up with a tremendous jerk sweating all over within an inch of falling out of bed
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He came up with the bones of the book that same night. Built in 1909 near the future Rocky Mountain National Park by Stanley Motor Carriage Company
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co-founder Freeland Oscar Stanley, the Stanley Hotel features Georgian colonial revival-style architecture, a spa, a marketplace and restaurants, a hedge maze, and other outdoor activities
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And, oh yeah, spirits. The helpful ghost of a chambermaid is said to hang out in room 217. Guests apparently
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wake up with their room tidier than they had left it the night before. The ghostly laughter
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children can be heard in the halls, and the hotel's original owners apparently haven't left
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Flora Stanley's piano can be heard playing in the middle of the night. Mr. Stanley himself
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reportedly shows up in the background of billiard room photos. Naturally, the hotel offers ghost
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tours and a shining theatrical experience for guests. Visitors to Connecticut's Mystic Seaport
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can check out the local museum and climb aboard the last wooden whale ship in the world
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the Charles W. Morgan. The ship launched from New Bedford, Massachusetts on July 21
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1841 and undertook nearly 40 voyages in its 80-year career before settling in Mystic. So it's no wonder
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that the Morgan is said to be haunted. Several crew members on Steven Spielberg's 1997 movie
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Amistad, which filmed in Mystic, supposedly felt a presence on the ship. Some tourists reported
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seeing a man in 19th century clothing in the blubber room, and even one of the employees
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of the Maritime Museum recalled running into the spirit of the pipe-smoking shipkeeper
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Fort Delaware State Park on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River has picnic areas, wildlife
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costumed interpreters, a cannon that's fired off once daily, and, of course, ghosts
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Construction on the Pentagonal Fort was finished in 1859, and it quickly became a prison camp
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capable of housing nearly 13,000 Confederate soldiers at once. And supposedly, some of those
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ghosts still roam the grounds, looking for their chance to escape. Local paranormal groups have
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even captured pictures of shadowy figures in some areas of the fort. You can take the ferry out to
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the island from the end of April to almost the end of September, and there are nighttime ghost
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tours in the month of October. Brooksville, Florida's hottest haunted house is the May
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Stringer House. This painted Lady Victorian style home has everything. Footsteps, creepy dolls
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weird mists, sudden drops in temperature, the disembodied laughter and cries of children
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The house was built in 1855 by John L. May, who died just a few years later of tuberculosis. He
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was buried on the property. His widow, Marina, remarried to a Confederate soldier, and then
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died in childbirth in 1869. The child survived, but then died three years later. They were also
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buried on the property. The house was eventually sold to a doctor, who added more rooms and used
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it as his practice. It has since been restored to its Victorian-area glory and turned into a museum
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Marina's ghost is said to walk the halls, as is a spirit known as Mr. Nasty. One person who works
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there compared the Mae Stringer house to Grand Central Station for ghosts. The ghost hunting
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packages are offered to brave souls hoping to capture proof of the paranormal
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If you're heading to Savannah, Georgia, which is said to be one of America's most
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haunted cities, don't forget to pack a stuffed animal for little Gracie, the ghostly ambassador
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of Bonaventure Cemetery. Gracie Watson was the daughter of a luxury hotel manager and the sweetheart of late 19th
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century Savannah. She would frequently entertain guests with songs in the lobby of the hotel
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Sadly, Gracie's life was short. She died of pneumonia in 1889 when she was around six
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At some point, her grave, which was sculpted based on a photograph of her, became a shrine
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where people would leave gifts. It's said that Gracie's ghost can still be spotted playing in
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the town square and heard crying when the toys are removed from her grave. Gracie's grave isn't
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the only to bear a statue. The cemetery has a number of other stone figures whose faces supposedly
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change shape depending on how they feel about a visitor. That is some Doctor Who-esque s*** right
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there. Here's one that might sound familiar to those of you who watched our video on urban legends
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from all 50 states. We briefly mentioned a 1948 murder that took place on Nu'uanu Pali Road in
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the Morgans Corner neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. We won't go into the details, which are
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horrifying, but a 60-year-old widow named Teresa Wilder was killed by two prisoners who fled a work
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line. Shortly after, stories began surfacing that the area was haunted. The house where the crime
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occurred has long since been demolished, though a gated community apparently still uses the land
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which is a popular stop on ghost tours. It's said that visitors can hear disembodied screams
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believed to be the ghost of Teresa Wilder yelling for help. Boise, Idaho's Old Idaho Penitentiary was built in the 1870s and operated for 101 years
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until it was shut down in the 1970s. Members of Butch Cassidy's gang and many murderers, like Lady Bluebeard Lyda Southard
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who was convicted of killing her fourth husband but may have also dispatched three of her other
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husbands and her brother-in-law and one of her children, were housed there
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Some 129 people died, including 10 men who were executed. So it's no wonder that today the penitentiary is considered one of the state's most haunted
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locations. Numerous TV ghost hunting crews, including Ghost Adventures and Destination Fear, have investigated it. According to an FAQ on the prison's website, those crews
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captured strange, unexplainable images on their cameras. Others claim to hear voices or be
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physically touched, or sense a heaviness or strange feeling when visiting the site
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specifically in Siberia and the gallows room in the Maximum Security Cell House. The site is open seven days a week, except for holidays. Guided tours will cost
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a little extra. The scene of our next haunting isn't the grounds of serial killer H.H. Holmes
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murder hotel. That building was torn down in 1938, and there's now a post office there
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But a different hotel altogether. According to legend, the Congress Plaza Hotel is one of the
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Windy City's most haunted hotels. It went by auditorium annex when it opened in 1893 to house
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visitors coming into town for the World's Columbian Exposition, aka the World's Fair
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In the years after that, so many U.S. presidents stayed there, including Theodore and Franklin
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Roosevelt that the hotel was nicknamed the home of the presidents. It's also said to
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be home to a number of ghosts, among them a Spanish-American war veteran who died by
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suicide before his wedding, and a figure with a peg leg. And there are plenty more spine-tingling experiences. Unplugged kitchen appliances are said to turn
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on, pianos supposedly get played by ghostly hands, and visitors report hearing disembodied
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humming and whispers. Chicago ghost tour stops at the hotel, but you can of course try for
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the ultimate paranormal experience by staying there yourself. In a remote area of Morgan Monroe State Forest near Martinsville, Indiana is Steppe Cemetery
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The burial ground opened in the 1800s, and just 32 gravestones can be found there, though
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there may be more graves. Visitors to the site, which, according to urban legend, served as a ritual site for
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a Christian cult called the Crabbites, report hearing strange sounds in the graveyard and
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seeing the figure of a ghostly woman dressed in black, once a woman in white, who watched
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over the graves of her loved ones in life and continues to do so in death. Some even
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believe the whole forest is haunted. The house at 508 East 2nd Street in Villisca, Iowa was
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the site of one of the most horrific murders in Iowa history. Josiah B. Moore and his wife
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Sarah lived in the home with their four children, 11-year-old Herman, 10-year-old Catherine
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7-year-old Boyd, and 5-year-old Paul. On June 10, 1912, sisters Lena and Ina Mae Stillinger
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12 and 8 respectively were sleeping over when every single person in the household was killed in their bed by an axe intruder Though there were a few suspects including one Reverend George Kelly who was put on trial twice and ultimately acquitted no one was ever brought to justice
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for the crime. Today, the house, which looks much like it did the night of the murders
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is open to the public for tours. And if you're really brave, you can even stay overnight
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According to the house's official website, visitors on tours have experienced children's voices, falling lamps, moving ladders, and flying objects. If you're not up for visiting the site of
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notorious murders, there are plenty of YouTube videos of people who have done so that will let
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you live vicariously. During your next road trip, you might want to take a detour to Atchison, Kansas
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especially if you're in the mood for something spooky. Beyond being the birthplace of Amelia
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Earhart, the historic city was once a pit stop for travelers in the mid-1800s going west to find
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gold. As many as 1,600 wagons were said to travel through the city every day, and according to some
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locals, all that coming and going might be why Atchison turned into such a haunt for restless
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spirits. The city is said to be the most haunted one in Kansas. Plenty of paranormal tales abound
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around Atchison, including claims of haunted dorm rooms, parks, and even villas. But Sally House is
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perhaps the most well-known ghost story to come out of Atchison. Visitors to the old place on 508
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North 2nd Street report feelings of dread as they walk through the halls, as well as strange smells
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objects moving by themselves, and even mysterious marks and scratches that seem to appear out of
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nowhere. Eeriest of all, some believe the home is haunted by its namesake, Sally, who reportedly
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died inside while undergoing surgery for appendicitis. As the legend goes, the six-year-old
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girl wasn't fully under anesthesia when the doctor made the first incision. What could be worse than
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checking into a hospital? Never being able to leave it again, even after you're dead. Down in Louisville
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Kentucky, that's allegedly what happened to many of the patients at Waverly Hills
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a local sanatorium that has since gained a reputation for catering more to supernatural
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wards than human ones. From around 1910 to 1961, the two-story structure transformed into a five-story
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hospital where patients were regularly treated for tuberculosis. They were kept in quarantine
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but sadly that's not all they were subjected to. Brutal tales of patients having their lungs
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partially removed and then being forced to lay on iron beds for hours in the winter cold abound
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and as many as 50,000 people are said to have died on the property
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Once dead, their bodies were secretly disposed of via the Body Chute
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an over 500-foot tunnel that staffers also used to transport medical supplies
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in and out of the sanatorium. It's now considered one of the most haunted spots
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in the whole structure, along with room 502. And supposedly there's even a ghostly nurse
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who is still picking up overtime shifts. If you're a fan of the TV show American Horror Story
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the sinister tale of Madame Delphine Lalaurie might be a bit familiar to you already. But as it
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turns out, the real-life house of horror she created is a lot stranger in real life than it
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is in fiction. Before she was outed as a serial killer, the young Delphine was regarded as a
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society leader in her native New Orleans. Widowed twice before the age of 30, the socialite eventually
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remarried and moved into a mansion on 1140 Royal Street, right in the French Quarter
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The Lalaurie mansion became the site of lavish parties, and eventually, lots of murder and
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bloodshed. On April 10, 1834, a fire broke out inside, and when neighbors rushed to the site to
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help, they discovered something far more disturbing. According to a contemporary newspaper account
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they saw seven slaves, more or less horribly mutilated, suspended by the neck, with their
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limbs apparently stretched and torn from one extremity to the other. According to some accounts
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they also saw a 70-year-old enslaved woman chained to the kitchen stove by her ankle
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claiming she'd started the fire as a suicide attempt. A mob of angry locals reportedly gathered
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in response and destroyed what was left of the mansion. Madame Lalaurie was never formally
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charged with anything and fled to Paris, where she reportedly later died. Even though it was
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destroyed in 1834, the mansion was later rebuilt and is now a highlight of many New Orleans ghost
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tours. Bystanders claim to have seen strange apparitions in windows and around the property
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and have reported hearing tortured screams from inside and the sounds of heavy chains being dragged
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across the floorboards. There are lots of horrible places to bury a body, but the body that was
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rumored to be buried underneath the floorboards of the old Straw House near Newfield, Maine
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has an internment story that will probably raise that bar for you. Built back in the late 1700s
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the house is said to be haunted by the spirit of Hannah Straw, a young woman who reportedly died
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in the winter of 1826. The story goes that because the ground was frozen, her father, Gideon
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couldn't lay her to rest in a proper gravesite, so instead he opted to bury her underneath the
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kitchen floorboards. As one might imagine, that didn't sit well with Hannah or her eternal spirit
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She's rumored to prowl the grounds of the stately old house to this day, appearing in the kitchen
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window and walking up and down the halls. Several owners over the years claim to have seen her
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but as of this video, it doesn't seem like anyone's given her an actual funeral yet
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And maybe that's part of the problem. The single bloodiest day in American history occurred on
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September 17th, 1862, when Union and Confederate forces clashed over the fields along Antietam
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Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland. Approximately 23,000 men were killed, wounded, or went missing
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as a result of the battle. And one spot in particular, known as Bloody Lane, was said to
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have been especially horrific. About 5,500 men were either left wounded or lost their lives on
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the 800-yard sunken road. The pileup of bodies was said to be so bad that you couldn't take a
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step without touching a corpse. Because of that, it should come as no surprise that Bloody Lane
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along with the rest of the battlefield, is now known for its ghost sightings
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Visitors to the National Park have reported strange occurrences, like smelling gunpowder
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in the air and hearing voices singing and chanting in the distance, even when no one else is around
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The Old St. Paul Episcopal Church in Sharpsburg is part of the legend as well. It was used as a
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hospital for fallen confederate soldiers during the battle and it's said that the floorboards
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inside are still steeped with blood from that day supposedly after multiple attempts over the years
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to sand and refinish the floors the stains won't lift it's almost as if someone or something wants
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people to never forget the tragic violence of that day deep in the heart of central massachusetts
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there's a little woodland cemetery that might end up plunging you straight into the jaws of hell
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provided you can find it first. Located in Leicester, Spider Gates, as it's known to locals
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takes its name from the black wrought iron gates that lined its front entrance, and which many mistake for spider webs. The cemetery was founded by Quakers in the 1700s
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who, according to legend, believed the ground had special powers. But its reputation as the
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rumored eighth gateway to hell means you're probably not going to find it on any tourist
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maps anytime soon. In fact, you can't even reach it by car. You have to follow an old trail that's
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deep in the woods near Kettlebrook Reservoir, and which is lined by multiple Do Not Trespass
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signs. Rumors that the cemetery is a hotbed for satanic activity have swirled around for decades
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but that's only the beginning. In the early 1940s, a young man reportedly died by suicide
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after hanging himself from an oak tree near the entrance. Some visitors claim there's a rope still
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hanging from one of the tree's limbs. Others believe a demonic creature watches over the
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grounds, and you can hear it snarling from deep within the woods as you walk around
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There's also a patch of land in the middle of the cemetery where grass doesn't grow well
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Believed to be the site of the old Quaker meeting house, all that remains now are cement blocks to
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mark the old corners. This area is sometimes referred to as the altar, and while the lore
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tends to vary some believe those old cement blocks might be more than meets the eye And if you walk over them and then you try to pass through the cemetery central gate once more the devil will rise up from hell to drag your soul back down with him
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The Whitney Restaurant in Detroit has been many things over the years. A house
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a tuberculosis hospice, and now a fine dining restaurant. And many ghosts come with that
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history. The restaurant claims that as David Whitney was building it in the late 19th century
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his wife died during construction. David went and married her sister, who died in the house
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David died in the house too. While many places on this list offer haunted tours and the like
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the Whitney leans fully into their haunted reputation with the ghost bar. Good fun or
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bad taste? So hard to tell. Do you want some education while looking for ghosts? Of course you do. So you should head
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to Hibbing, Minnesota and the Greyhound Bus Museum. According to CBS News, since the museum
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is right next to a cemetery, it pretty quickly picked up a ghostly reputation, with bus windows
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opening and closing. Okay, so maybe it's not the most haunted place in the state, but where else
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can you hunt for ghosts while pondering America's mass transit system? Which might make it the most
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terrifying, actually. Headed down to Mississippi and in the mood for something spooky, you'll want
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to schedule a tour at Vicksburg's infamous McRaven House, which is often considered the
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most haunted location in the state. The mansion served as a confederate field hospital during the
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Civil War. But eerie occurrences actually started happening well before it served as a shelter for
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fallen soldiers. The home's first owner was Andrew Glass, who according to legend, but not necessarily
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historical reality, was a highwayman who reportedly made his fortune from robbing unsuspecting
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travelers on the nearby Natchez Trace. His death would end up being the first of many to occur
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inside the majestic estate. From a 15-year-old who died in the mid-1800s giving birth in one of
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the upstairs bedrooms to an entire family that was also wiped out on the grounds, the McRaven
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house is said to be crawling with ghosts. Not only that, but peculiar things are said to happen
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all the time there, from strange sounds to lights that flicker on and off at random
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It probably comes as no surprise that the Jesse James farm in Kearney, Missouri is said to be
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haunted. As the old stomping grounds of the outlaw Jesse James, the land itself has a storied history
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It was where James was raised, and later supposedly whipped as a teenager by Union
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militia members. Those same soldiers were said to have tortured his stepfather, too
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James was later buried in the side yard after his death at the hands of Robert Ford in 1882
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although his body was later moved to a proper cemetery. In the years since, visitors who tore
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the grounds have claimed to hear the sound of gunshots and horse hooves in the distance
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while others claim that on foggy mornings, you can hear disembodied voices whispering around the
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farm. Back in April 1959, a massive riot broke out at Montana State Prison and led to one of the
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bloodiest moments in the state's history. Over the course of 36 hours, violence swept the facility
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as inmates took full control, leading to multiple deaths and various injuries among guards and
25:17
inmates alike. After Deputy Warden Ted Roth was murdered in the melee, the state's National Guard
25:22
was deployed to help restore order inside the prison. And technically speaking, that's exactly
25:26
what they did. With a little help from a bazooka and a Tommy gun, the National Guard aimed directly
25:31
at cell block 1, fired away, and did so much damage to the prison that you can still see the
25:36
scars of it. Although they successfully quashed the riot, later that August, a major earthquake
25:41
caused further structural damage within the facility, which contributed to its eventual
25:45
closure in 1979. But according to some, the prison still houses some of its old inmates
25:50
just in spectral form. The ghost of Turkey Pete, a convicted murderer who spent 49 years inside
25:56
the prison before dying of natural causes in 1967, is said to still linger within cell number one
26:02
Others who have since toured the grounds have reported hearing strange noises and feeling like
26:06
they were being touched and followed around the old facility. Just outside of Nebraska City
26:10
there's a road less traveled on, but for a really good reason. Known officially as Road L, Seven Sisters Road is an old path where seven women were
26:18
allegedly murdered sometimes circa the late 1800s, or so the story goes
26:23
According to some accounts, the sisters were killed by their father. In other versions, it was their brother
26:28
Either way, an argument was said to have erupted between them, and all seven women were slain
26:33
Their bodies were then hung, one by one, from a tree on each of the seven hills that lined
26:37
the sprawling roadway. The angry spirits of the sisters are said to rove it still, and some travelers claim
26:42
that if you drive the road at night, you can hear strange howls in the distance
26:46
Others have even reported that their cars have stalled out, and their headlights have gotten remarkably dimmer, only returning to full power once they get off the road
26:54
This ghost tale from Good Springs, Nevada is one that's steeped in real-life tragedy
26:59
Back in 1942, legendary actor Clark Gable was said to have posted up at the historic
27:03
Pioneer Saloon while he waited for news about the fate of his wife, Carol Lombard, the Hollywood
27:08
starlet whose plane had gone missing around Mount Potisi, located right outside of town
27:12
Gable spent three days at the saloon, where the search party was headquartered. Reportedly
27:16
he posted up at the corner end of the bar and left cigar burns on the countertops after falling
27:21
asleep on top of them. Sadly, there were no survivors of the crash. However, some believe
27:26
Lombard's ghost still haunts the site to this day, in search of her lost love. To mark its
27:31
connection to Gable and the Lombard tragedy, the Pioneer Saloon created a memorial room for the
27:35
pair inside the bar, which contains memorabilia and even a piece of the plane. Some ghosts just
27:41
like to mess around a little bit. They'll move pictures and play with the lights just for the
27:45
hell of it. But others? They're looking to settle some scores. That's rumored to be the case with
27:50
Goody Cole, the only woman to ever be tried and convicted of witchcraft in the state of New
27:54
Hampshire, and who has since become known as the Ghost of Hampton. In her lifetime, Cole was
27:59
regarded as eccentric and vengeful by the local townspeople. After she passed away circa 1680
28:05
after being imprisoned for witchcraft, the locals allegedly drove a stake through her corpse
28:09
and then added a horseshoe around it to keep her spirit from attacking them from beyond the grave
28:13
Speaking of graves, Cole doesn't have a marked one. She was hastily buried somewhere in town
28:18
and the whereabouts are still unknown to this day, although the town erected a stone memorial
28:22
for her in 2013, just outside of the Tuck Museum. Unfortunately, that hasn't seemed to do much to
28:27
appease the angry specter of the state's only convicted witch. Her ghost is said to still wander
28:32
along Island Path Road and throughout parts of town with a stake jutting out from her chest
28:37
seeking vengeance against the town that wronged her so deeply. Past the pine trees and sandy roads that give New Jersey's desolate pine barons their name
28:46
there reportedly lies something much darker. If you ask around, folks will tell you it's the
28:50
Jersey Devil, a winged beast that supposedly has a forked tail, hooves, and the face of a horse
28:55
atop the body of a kangaroo. The legend of this Jersey cryptid dates back to the 1730s
29:01
when a local woman is said to have discovered she was pregnant with her 13th child
29:05
and reportedly exclaimed in frustration, Let this one be the devil! Sure enough, demon spawn is what she got
29:11
The creature is said to have attacked the rest of its family shortly after it was born, and then it flew up a chimney and took to the open sky
29:17
eventually settling in the Pine Barrens, where it still roams today. In the centuries since, locals have blamed the Jersey Devil for everything
29:24
from raiding chicken coops to destroying crops and generally creeping out as neighbors
29:28
If you do trek out to the Barrens, you might want to think twice before you start running
29:32
around in the woods with this devil. New Mexico State Penitentiary in Santa Fe was the site of one of the worst prison riots
29:39
the country has ever seen. 33 incarcerated people died, over 200 were injured, and seven officers were severely
29:45
beaten or sexually assaulted within the two-day period of February 2nd and 3rd, 1980
29:51
Even today, hatchet marks said to mark the site of a beheading are still visible in the
29:54
concrete floor. Since then, visitors have reported Seldor slamming shut of their own accord, a
29:59
demonic specter, and other phenomena. The prison is open for tours for patrons over the age of 16
30:05
although anyone under the age of 18 requires written permission from an adult
30:09
Any old Victorian house lends itself to an aura of spookiness, but this estate has the sinister
30:15
history to take it to the next level. German immigrant Balthazar Kreischer moved to Staten
30:19
Island in the mid-19th century, became a bricklayer, and eventually built a profitable brick factory
30:24
that his children would inherit. Alongside the factory, he built his son a wood-framed Victorian
30:28
mansion with verandas, chimneys, and a tower. Life was good for the Kreischers for a while
30:33
but this didn't last. In 1894, when family fortunes fell, Edward Kreischer, Balthasar's son
30:40
died by suicide. That's when the odd happenings began, according to locals. These included strange
30:45
lights, voices, and ghost sightings of the Kreischer family. The mysterious occurrences
30:49
don't end there. In 2005, the home was the site of another incident, a mafia hit carried out by
30:54
the property caretaker, who stabbed, drowned, dismembered, and finally incinerated his victim
30:59
in the estate's furnace. The mansion still opens for events every so often, including Halloween
31:04
parties and, surprisingly, yoga and wellness retreats. I guess all the spas were taken
31:09
The Biltmore Estate in Asheville is the largest privately owned house in North America
31:13
with an impressive 250 rooms. George Vanderbilt, an art collector and the estate's namesake
31:18
allegedly still haunts the area with his wife Edith, who can be heard calling his name down
31:23
the corridors. If you're interested in massive residential architectural feats, or you want a
31:27
good scare, you can book a tour. Going a bit out of order here, the Biltmore Estate isn't the only
31:32
place with the Biltmore name on this list. Well, actually it is, because a few years ago Rhode
31:37
Island's Biltmore Hotel changed its name. But back when it was the Biltmore, it was home to
31:41
massive parties and celebrations during the 1920s prohibition era. One notable partygoer supposedly
31:46
jumped out of a window on the 14th floor, and some visitors have reported seeing his ghost
31:51
falling to his death. George Armstrong Custer, a Union general in the American Civil War, died at
31:57
the Battle of the Little Bighorn, along with his nephew Henry, his brother-in-law James, and his
32:02
brothers Boston and Thomas. This was obviously a devastating loss to the whole Custer family
32:07
and particularly his widow Libby. Legend has that she's still waiting at their house
32:11
longing for her husband to return home. Their home, or at least a replica of it
32:15
is open for historical tours, and according to tour guides, the general's ghost sometimes appears
32:20
The Ridges used to be known as the Athens Lunatic Asylum, which opened in 1874. There
32:26
patients were experimented on with shock therapy and lobotomies. One patient named Margaret
32:30
Schilling disappeared in December of 1978 She had died during her disappearance and her decomposing body wasn discovered for over a month To this day there a stain on the floor where her body was found Oklahoma Constantine Theater is a hotel venue built in the 1880s
32:47
After paranormal investigators explored the building, they obtained 40 hours of audio
32:51
video, and electronic voice phenomena, or EVPs, from the stage. The ghost they were investigating
32:56
is likely to be Sappho Constantine Brown, the daughter of the theater's owner. It's not clear
33:01
why her spirit has decided to stick around the place, but we'd like to believe she's still
33:05
waiting for her chance at the stage. Nothing could be more relaxing than a trip to some hot springs
33:10
right? Originally, the Hot Lake Springs in La Grande, Oregon were the central attraction of
33:15
the Hot Lake Sanatorium. In the early 1900s, this was the place to go cure what ailed you
33:20
But when part of the building burned down in the 1930s, the 100-plus-room hotel was repurposed into
33:25
a nurse's school, an insane asylum, and even storage for the dead bodies of typhoid patients
33:30
Now it's called the Lodge at Hot Lake Springs, and amenities include a pub, a movie theater
33:35
and free access to spooky sounds on the third floor. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was home to the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War
33:42
with around 51,000 casualties. Now the ghosts of dead soldiers are said to haunt the area
33:48
Some people have reported bad smells akin to rotting bodies coming from seemingly nothing
33:53
while others have seen phantom soldiers lurking around areas that, at the time of the Civil War, were used as shelters
33:59
Ghost hunters frequent South Carolina's Sheep Island Road in search of a woman carrying a
34:03
lantern. Legend has it that the woman walked her husband home from work every night
34:07
and even after he died in a logging accident, she continued pacing down the road waiting for him
34:12
Eventually, she passed away too, but the light from her lantern remains visible in the distance
34:18
If we're talking about South Dakota, you know we have to talk about the town of Deadwood
34:22
the namesake of the HBO show that our other host, Justin, loves so dearly
34:26
In that show, Timothy Olyphant plays Seth Bullock, a real-life sheriff who got the town up and running
34:31
many years ago. In addition to policing the town, he also eventually established his own hotel
34:36
the Bullock Hotel. He supposedly died in room 211 in 1919, but apparently he never left
34:42
The hotel was restored and reopened for those passing through historic Deadwood
34:46
and there are still reports of people feeling the presence of Sheriff Bullock. Be careful if you want to stay at this ornate hotel. The sheriff might be watching. We say
34:54
might be because according to Spoilsport historian David A. Wolf, he died at home rather than
34:58
at the hotel. Maybe he's just checking in? The Sensaba Tunnel is a relatively small tunnel in Church Hill, Tennessee
35:06
It doesn't look particularly remarkable. It has its fair share of graffiti and wear and tear but a local urban legend makes this place much scarier than its appearance would suggest The tunnel was named after Edward Sensabaugh a man who owned the land in the 1920s
35:21
In some versions of the tale, he let a wanderer stay in his home one night, who ended up stealing
35:25
his baby and then drowned the baby in the tunnel. Yikes. In another, Edward himself killed his family
35:31
and put their bodies in the tunnel. Double yikes. And the last and most widely believed story has it
35:36
that the tunnel used to be a common meeting spot for rebellious teens looking to cause
35:41
some ruckus. Fed up with their shenanigans, Edward would hide at one end of the tunnel
35:45
and shriek to scare off the kids. To this day, people are scared to drive through the
35:49
tunnel. You might hear a baby's cries or hear the footsteps of a man approaching you
35:53
Or a cantankerous old man is just trying to frighten some local teens. Scooby-Doo style
35:58
The USS Lexington was launched in 1942 and played a part in multiple World War II battles
36:04
and raids. After it was retired, it ended up in Corpus Christi, Texas, where it became a landmark
36:08
and museum. Now anyone can tour the ship and learn about its fascinating history. And if you're lucky
36:14
or unlucky, depending on your taste, you might also feel a paranormal presence. The ship is
36:19
reportedly haunted and has been featured on Ghost Hunters and Ghost Lab. And the stories range from
36:24
shadowy figures roaming the ship to spectral touches as people walk through. The museum's
36:29
Executive Director Steve Banta even said, there are too many accounts that there has to be something
36:34
to it. Unsurprisingly, graveyards are known to be a little haunted. In Ogden, Utah, one cemetery in
36:40
particular has two notable haunted locales. One is the statue of a World War I soldier. The story
36:46
goes that if you walk around the statue three times, it will change positions or start following
36:51
you with its eyes. No thank you. The other is the tombstone belonging to Flo Grange. There are many
36:56
stories about how Flo died, but the most popular seems to be that, while waiting for her boyfriend
37:01
in the cemetery, she was struck by a car and died. Now, if you flash your headlights at her gravestone
37:06
three times, you will summon Flo's ghost. Man, this place is really obsessed with the number three, huh
37:12
Taking a road trip through picturesque Vermont? Make sure to stop in the small town of Stowe
37:17
Stowe is home to a small covered bridge known as Emily's Bridge, but it wasn't always called that
37:22
As the story goes, back in the 1800s, a young woman named Emily waited on the Goldbrook Bridge
37:27
for her love to arrive so they could elope and live happily ever after. He never came
37:32
Emily then took her own life by jumping from the bridge. Ever since, stories of an evil specter
37:37
haunting the bridge have permeated the town. Strange voices, sights, and even scratch marks
37:42
on passing cars have been reported. Just make sure to tell your insurance to send the bill to
37:46
the ghost who haunts the Emily Bridge There is a very tragic spot located in Radford Virginia A boys school that was turned into a mental hospital that was built atop the location of a bloody Civil War battle as well as several
37:58
colonial skirmishes with Native Americans. I thought the first rule of real estate was location
38:03
location, location. What eventually became known as the St. Albans Sanatorium was a horrifying
38:08
institution that abused and tortured their patients. And now it's a full-time paranormal
38:13
tour site. For just 20 bucks, you can spend a night up until one in the morning walking
38:18
through this mental hospital where many neurodivergent people died. Capitalism is weird
38:24
The Mount Baker Theater in Bellingham, Washington is reported to be haunted. By what, you might ask
38:30
Well, there are two stories. One involves a young woman named Judy, who projectionists over the
38:34
years have reported hearing or seeing late at night. But the theater itself offers a walking
38:39
ghost tour, which revolves around a ghost panther. Yes, you heard that right, a ghost panther
38:44
Let us know in the comments which is scarier, creepy ghost lady or ghostly predator cat
38:50
John Denver probably wasn't thinking about the Lake Shawnee Amusement Park when he sang of West
38:55
Virginia. Lake Shawnee was a small theme park in the woods of Princeton, West Virginia that opened
39:00
in 1926. It was built atop a grizzly site where multiple children had been murdered years before
39:05
To make any type of haunted, cursed theme park tropes worse, some number of children died on
39:10
the premises during its run. It closed in 1967. It was briefly opened again in the 80s, but quickly
39:17
shut down again. Today, it's an overgrown, rusty, defunct memorial of a terrible place that is
39:22
reported to be one of the most haunted spots in the country. So while you can technically go visit
39:27
this place, we do not recommend actually going inside. Just look at it from afar. To all the
39:32
90s movie rebel teens out there, do not go breaking into Lake Shawnee Amusement Park as an
39:37
act of defiance against your parents. You will find yourself in a B-horror movie
39:42
If the Wild West is more your speed, you can visit Wyoming's Occidental Hotel. It doesn't
39:47
outright advertise its potentially haunted halls, but it does proudly boast a long and storied
39:52
history of famous guests. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid apparently hid out there back when
39:57
it first opened. Other famous Occidental guests include Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jane, and my
40:02
guy, Theodore Roosevelt. But underneath the veil of its charming western digs, there are reports
40:07
of strange occurrences happening at the hotel. Employees have reported unexplainable creepy
40:12
events, and it's said that some may be caused by the ghost of a daughter of a sex worker from long
40:17
ago. So if you're cool with creepy western ghost children, it's worth a stay. Well, I hope you're
40:23
ready for one spooky road trip, because that's 50 haunted places to check out on your next USA tour
40:28
Thanks for watching Mental Floss on YouTube. We'll see you next time

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