I love ghosts and creepy legends. I love them so much that I take a ghost tour of every city I visit.
I’ve heard legends of witches and vampires in New Orleans, tales of haunted bars in Seattle, stories of intrigues in Chicago, and stayed in a haunted hotel in San Antonio.
All the morbid history made me wonder – what are the most haunted places in the United States?
The Most Haunted Places in the United States
Unfortunately, hauntings are tough to determine. Scientists scoff at the idea of ghosts, so we can’t exactly find research papers ranking paranormal activity in these areas.
Instead, we must rely on legends, folklore, and stories of people who’ve visited.
Here, we uncover some of the most haunted places in the United States. I’ve been to a few -which would you dare to explore?
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Waverly Hills Sanatorium
Waverly Hills Sanatorium is so haunted that Sam & Dean went there to collect spirits for their ghost bomb. Sure, that was fiction, but the real Waverly Hills has the same reputation.
The facility was constructed in the early 1900s as a hospital to battle the tuberculosis outbreak ravaging Louisville, KY. Hundreds of patients lost their lives inside its walls.
Waverly Hills closed in 1961, after advances in antibiotics helped eradicate the disease, and then stood abandoned for nearly a half-century.
But not everyone left. Visitors report slamming doors, ghostly children, shadow people, and a mysterious man in white.
Today, the site is open as a tourist attraction for visitors interested in history, architecture, and all things paranormal. Perhaps you’ll spot a ghost at America’s most haunted hospital.
House of the Seven Gables
The town that featured one of America’s biggest atrocities is also home to one of its most haunted places.
The House of the Seven Gables (also known as the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion) in Salem, MA, is one of America’s oldest and spookiest structures. The home inspired Nathanial Hawthrone’s novel of the same name, and despite the owner’s insistence otherwise, legend has it that the grounds are haunted.
Stories abound of hauntings, ranging from a man sulking in the secret stairwell to a little boy laughing in the attack. Some tales even say Hawthorne’s cousin, Susan Ingersoll, still lurks in her old home.
Amityville House
On November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFoe killed his parents and younger siblings in the sleepy small town of Amityville, NY. He was convicted of second-degree murder for the horrific crimes and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
About a year later, the Lutz family moved in. They only lasted 28 days. George and Kathy Lutz reported a wide range of paranormal happenings, from levitating beds to green slime oozing from the walls. George claimed he woke up at 3:15 am every night – the same time Defoe allegedly killed his victims.
The Lutz’s story spawned the novel and subsequent movies, but today, the same house stands as just a house, without many reported incidents. Some sources say the Lutz family made it all up for a big payday, but that doesn’t stop ghost hunters from scoping it out.
The Amityville house is currently a private residence, so please don’t bother the occupants.
Bachelor’s Grove
In a small suburb just south of Chicago lies an abandoned cemetery renowned for its hauntings. People see floating orbs, a weeping woman sitting on a grave, a ghostly house in the distance, and a wide range of other supernatural activity.
Since I grew up in Chicago’s South suburbs, Bachelor’s Grove was the first haunted location on my radar. Everyone in my family had strange tales from their visits.
The cemetery does have a creepy feeling, and I found the remains of an ancient foundation in the nearby woods, which lends credence to the spectral cabin.
Today, the township owns the cemetery and restricts access to those who have a relative buried there (though those are few and far between, as the last residents arrived in the 1960s). It’s a meeting place for rowdy teenagers, who frequently haunt the grounds, and who the town tries to keep away.
Bonaventure Cemetery
Photo Spirit via Shutterstock.com.
If you must visit a haunted cemetery, choose Bonaventure in Savannah instead. The gorgeous grounds celebrate the dearly departed with elegant oaks covered in Spanish moss and magnificent mausoleums, reminding us that our deceased loved ones need homes, too.
When I lived in Savannah, I had the opportunity to visit Bonaventure, and although I didn’t see any evidence of ghosts (I went during the day), I can see why it ranks as one of the most haunted places in the United States.
The creepy gardens were the setting for the book and subsequent film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which features the haunted bird girl statue.
But the cemetery is also famous for its party of the dead. In the 18th century, Bonaventure plantation hosted one of the biggest fall revelries in the city. On one ill-fated night, a fire broke out, burning up the home, but that didn’t stop the party. Some claim that you can still hear the clanking glass of toasts and the raucous laughter of guests on fall nights.
Eastern State Penitentiary
Eastern State Penitentiary is one of the creepiest places I’ve ever visited. The old prison-turned-tourist-attraction is renowned for its horrors, but that was never the intention.
When built, the prison was meant to change the way we treat criminals. The original idea was to create a jail with better resources to help rehabilitate people so they could go on with their lives after serving their sentences.
But the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Crime skyrocketed, and overcrowding turned the “nice” prison into a house of horrors. Inmates were tortured and mistreated, neglected and underfed. Suicide and disease ran rampant.
Guests hear screaming, wailing, whimpers, and footsteps while wandering the desolate halls, while some even report seeing faces in the walls.
While I didn’t experience any paranormal activity while I was there, the air felt heavy, like it was trying to express the atrocities that took place within the crumbling walls.
Today, the prison stands as a warning against the human rights violations common in prisons. It’s a must see if you’re in Philadelphia.
The Crescent Hotel
The Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, AR, bills itself as the most haunted hotel in America. It leans into its haunted reputation by offering nightly ghost tours, so guests can glimpse its spiritual residents themselves.
The Crescent Hotel is best known for its stint as a fraudulent cancer hospital. In 1937, mad scientist Norman Baker opened the Baker Cancer Clinic on the grounds, despite his lack of medical knowledge. His snake oil cancer cures helped him amass a fortune, but did nothing for the patients who desperately needed help.
In 2019, the hotel’s chief gardener accidentally found Baker’s dump site, which only added to the paranormal intrigue of the hotel.
The most famous residents include Theodora and Michael. Theodora may have been a hospital worker. She died in room 419, and is known for organizing things and overzealously tucking guests in at night. Michael likes to hang out in room 219, but he fell to his death while working as a construction worker building the hotel.
Resurrection Cemetery
An urban legend featuring a woman in white wandering the highway comes to life at Resurrection Cemetery in Chicago. Well, at least that’s what we believed as kids.
The infamous hitchhiker roams Archer Blvd, asking for a ride, but disappears as soon as she gets into the car. Locals call her Resurrection Mary, after the cemetery where we all assume she’s buried.
For one of America’s biggest cemeteries (and one of Chicago’s oldest), it’s relatively quiet. Although Resurrection Mary is one of Chicago’s most famous ghosts, she’s one of the only ones known to haunt the massive grounds.
St. Augustine Light House
St. Augustine Light House ranks as one of the most haunted places in the United States, but luckily for visitors, the ghosts are more friendly than malicious.
According to legend, three young girls drowned while playing in a cart at the lighthouse in 1873. But the girls didn’t let their tragic accident stop them from enjoying their games. Visitors hear giggling in the lighthouse tower and mischievous pranks, like having their shoelaces tied to the staircase. A paranormal investigator even enjoyed a game of hide & go seek with the girls.
The Whaley House
Thomas Whaley didn’t let the public execution deter him from building his dream home on a prime location. He built the Whaley House in the very spot where horse thief Yankee Jim Robinson paid for his crimes.
Maybe he should have. His young son died of scarlet fever shortly after the family moved in. Violet, his daughter, shot herself and died in the parlor in 1885. The mother, Anna, and another brother, Frank, both died of natural causes in the 1900s.
Some call the Whaley House the most haunted house in America. Baby Thomas is one of the most famous ghostly residents, as visitors hear a child’s footsteps and cries throughout the home. Others feel Anna’s presence on the stairwells and report weird mists and flashing lights throughout the property.
Today, the Whaley House serves as a museum, both for the history of San Diego and for the paranormal activity that takes place inside.
Gettysburg
It’s no surprise that the site of America’s bloodiest battle would rank as one of its most haunted places.
Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania is now a national park dedicated to preserving Civil War history. However, guests often get more than a history tour. The entire area bursts with supernatural activity, remnants from the battle’s horrors.
Visitors still hear the gunfire and smell the cannon smoke (often reported as smelling like cigars). In the Devils’ Den area on the battlefield, guests hear drummers and feel a presence pulling them. Some even report talking to a friendly soldier, who conveniently disappears if they attempt to take a photo.
The areas around Gettysburg are notoriously haunted as well. Sachs Bridge is infamous for the hanging of three deserters, while the Gettysburg hotel is home to a Civil War nurse who still attempts to find and save wounded soldiers.
The Emily Morgan Hotel
Remember the Alamo by staying at the haunted hotel right next door. The Emily Morgan Hotel was built on the site of Texas’s most famous battle, where over 600 people lost their lives.
Strange happenings abound in the hotel, with guests and staff reporting moving objects, flashing lights, and middle-of-the-night phone calls.
Most of the hauntings relate to its time as a hospital, which was rumored to house patients with serious psychological disorders. When I visited the top floor, I could still smell the lingering antiseptic. Some guests even report hearing hospital carts outside their doors.
Cahawba
Alabama’s old Cahawba is a literal ghost town. Well, technically, it’s an “Archeological Park,” as the city served as Alabama’s capital from 1819-1826. Most of the town was destroyed by a flood in 1865, and eventually, most of the houses and structures were removed.
The first tales of haunting came a few years before the flood, in 1862. A young couple strolling through the cedars encountered an odd apparition, a moving orb of light which seemed to dance in the evening sky. The apparition came to be known as “Pegues’ ghost” as it appeared near the home of Colonel Pegues, who died in battle just a year before.
Today, visitors can roam the old streets and abandoned structures. They might even spot Pegues ghost for themselves!
Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia, was supposed to be a sanctuary for the mentally ill. The massive structure was designed for about 250 patients, with ample ventilation for fresh air and windows for bright, natural sunlight, all of which would benefit the patients.
Unfortunately, much like with Eastern State Penitentiary, the needs soon outpaced the space available. By the 1960s, the facility housed more than 10X the number of people it was designed for.
The overcrowding led to neglect and inhumane conditions. Residents turned on each other, setting fires and even murdering one another. By the 1990s, patients lived in squalor, and the hospital ultimately closed down.
Today, the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum opens its doors as a haunted house around Halloween, but the owners claim none of the scares are based on real events. You can decide for yourself.
The Winchester Mystery House
Is the Winchester House really haunted, or was it built by someone in the throes of deep trauma?
In 1886, the widow Sara Lockwood Pardee Winchester moved from the East Coast to San Jose, CA, and bought a quaint little farmhouse. She immediately began renovations on the 8-room house, and didn’t stop until she passed away in 1922.
Some legends say voices told her she needed to keep building to avoid tragedy, but what more could befall someone who already lost her husband and child?
Whether haunted or not, the house is a sight to behold. It features stairways and doors to nowhere, 10,000 windows, and 2,000 doors.
Sara also had a weird obsession with the number 13 (an unlucky number for some). After we visited, my friends and I stopped for coffee, the only time our bill ever amounted to exactly $13.
LaLaurie Mansion
New Orleans is renowned for its nefarious history, and the city itself constantly ranks as one of the most haunted places in the United States.
But the most haunted place in New Orleans is the LaLaurie Mansion, or the New Orleans Murder House.
In the 1830s, the home witnessed the very worst of humanity. Delphine LaLaurie, the mistress of the house, imprisoned and tortured enslaved people. She used the attack as a torture chamber, gouging out people’s eyes, hanging them from stakes, and breaking their limbs. The horrific crimes were exposed after the cook, herself a slave and chained to the stove day and night, set a fire, hoping for the sweet relief of death.
In the four short years Delphine owned the mansion, she killed 12 people.
Though the mansion’s current owner restricts access, every New Orleans ghost tour stops at the corner and tells the tale of Delphine’s horrors. You can feel the negative energy associated with the place just by standing outside.
Moon River Brewing Company
Savannah’s Moon River Brewing Company got its start as the city hotel in the 1820s. It then served as a hospital during the Yellow Fever outbreaks, which claimed countless lives, many of whom were children.
It transformed into a restaurant/Brewery around the turn of the millennium, when patrons and workers discovered that many past residents never left.
A ghost known as Toby lurks in the basement. Visitors feel cold spots, see apparitions, and on rare occasions, see him silently moving in the shadows. The upper floors are home to a notorious lady in white, who floats as an apparition through walls and ceilings.
Ghosts also stalk the main dining area. Guests get locked in bathroom stalls, and some women even reported feeling strange hands on their legs while dining!
The Queen Mary
The Titanic’s sister ship, the Queen Mary, is permanently docked in Long Beach, CA. Though she no longer sails the seven seas, she’s open to the public as a hotel and conference center.
According to records, 49 people lost their lives on the ship. The most well-known ghost is the girl who drowned in the hotel’s pool. People still hear her voice giggling and calling out for her parents. People also claim to see the ghost of John Henry, a worker whose remains were found in the boiler room.
But the paranormal activity seems to happen all over the ship. There are hundreds of reports from believers and skeptics alike. Guests report seeing apparitions, feeling touched or grabbed, hearing voices, hot and cold spots, and items moving on their own.
Would you dare book a room on a haunted ship?
Hull House
Chicago’s Hull House doesn’t have a terrifying history like many of the other haunted places featured here. Millicent Hull died of an illness there in the 1860s, and there was one murder nearby (a woman was shot outside by her fiancé).
Despite the lack of nefarious happenings, the house ranks as one of the most haunted places in the United States. When Jane Addams bought the house in 1889, she transformed it into a settlement house to provide services to the poor, but it was already haunted.
Addams, herself a skeptic, even dubbed the main bedroom “the haunted bedroom.” She claimed a woman in white hovered over the bed as she slept.
Though Addams is long gone, the woman in white remains. Some think it’s Millicent’s ghost. But that’s not the only creepy thing about Hull House. People claim a portal to the spirit world exists on its grounds, and that the mansion housed a devil baby in the early 1900s.
Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast
The scene of a crime that shocked the nation is now a bed & breakfast. In 1892, Lizzie Borden allegedly hacked her father and stepmother to death with an axe. Lizzie was acquitted, and the murders were never solved.
In 1996, the Lizzie Borden house was transformed into a bed & breakfast. Ghost hunting guests, obsessed with the macabre history, love staying in the rooms where the murders took place. They report all sorts of strange happenings on the property, from weird noses to spectral cats. Some even claim Lizzie herself haunts the mansion, though she moved away after the murders and died elsewhere.
Book your stay at the Lizzie Borden House!
McPike Mansion
Outside of Chicago, Illinois is a flyover state, but ghost hunters would be wise to venture south to the unassuming town of Alton, home to one of the most haunted places in the United States.
McPike Mansion looks like a stereotypical haunted house, with its gothic architecture, red brick façade, and unwelcoming columns framing the front door. It lives up to the stereotype.
According to legend, two ghosts call McPike Mansion home: a former owner, Paul Laichnger, and a servant, Sarah Wells. Visitors report flickering lights and erratic electronics, and also smell lingering hints of Wells’s lilac perfume.
Not Haunted
We’d be remiss if we didn’t include the most famous haunted place in America that’s not actually haunted.
The Stanely Hotel
Though Colorado’s Stanley Hotel often tops the list of most haunted places in the United States, there’s no evidence of any paranormal activity there.
However, because it served as the backdrop for Stephen King’s The Shining, it has a special place in our morbid hearts. People who love horror culture should add the hotel to their bucket lists, even if it’s not haunted in the traditional sense.
The Most Haunted City in the United States
How do you decide which city in the US is most haunted?
A ghost tour in Savannah had the answer. According to the tour guide, Savannah ranks as the most haunted city because it regularly tops the list of cities with the most 911 calls for paranormal activity.
Of course, a tour guide in Savannah would find a reason to rank the city #1, but I thought it made a great story.
Book your Savannah ghost tour and discover the haunted history for yourself with US ghost adventures.
What’s Your Favorite Haunt?
Did your favorite haunted place score a spot on the list? Which ones did we miss?
Though we prefer places we can actually visit (we will get to all these someday!), we also love paranormal stories from places off limits like Bachelor’s Grove and the Amityville house.
Share your thoughts in the comments!