You’ve heard of ghost hunting, you’ve seen it on tv, and now you and a group of your friends want to try it out. But where should you go? Why not try the top 20 places to ghost hunt in the USA?
The USA is full of rich history; new settlements, murders, and mystery and they make for really interesting hauntings. While there are great locations everywhere to go ghost hunting, the following list provides some of the best experiences.
Maple Hill Cemetery – Alabama
Yes, the cemetery is haunted, but it’s the playground build beside the cemetery that is worth making a ghost hunting trip for. The playground was built to give the children of grieving parents something to do, and now the ghostly residents of the cemetery have found an interest in it.
The swings have been seen to move all by themselves on still nights, orbs can be seen going down the slide, and you can hear the disembodied giggles of children.
Hotel Monte Vista – Arizona
Hotel Monte Vista offers some of the weirder and more disturbing ghosts. There was a long-term boarder who died in the hotel. He used to hang raw meat from the chandelier, and unlucky (or lucky) hotel visitors can still see him hanging his raw meats.
There are ghosts of two women who were murdered when they were thrown from the third storey balcony, and now they have attempted to asphyxiate male guests who sleep in the hotel.
One of the spookiest sounds are the disturbing cries of an infant in the middle of the night.
Jerome – Arizona
Jerome, Arizona is a ghost town with an interesting history, but one of the most famous ghosts that people come to observe is Sammie Dean.
She was a very well-liked prostitute who was strangled by a customer. To this day she wanders the ghost town looking for her killer.
Crescent Hotel – Arkansas
In the 1930s, Norman Baker posed as a doctor and rebranded the Crescent Hotel into a fake cancer hospital. You can imagine how that worked out to make it end up on this list.
Dr. Baker is one of the ghosts who haunt Crescent Hotel, so at least his patients have some closure while haunting with him.
Be careful while visiting as many visitors claim they feel faint in the same spot; standing directly above the old morgue.
The Whaley House – California
Whaley House is haunted by two tortured souls. The first is the ghost of Violet Whaley who took her own life by jumping from the second-floor balcony.
The second is the ghost of Yankee Jim Robinson who died from hanging. Ghost hunters have been able to capture footsteps, voices, and complete apparitions here.
The Stanley Hotel – Colorado
If you’re familiar with Stephen King’s “The Shining”, you will want to visit the Stanley Hotel. It was the inspiration for the Overlook Hotel from the novel.
The hotel won’t disappoint. Many rooms are haunted by workers who perished in the hotel. If you want the best ghost hunting experience, try to reserve rooms 401, 407, 428, or Stephen King’s suite 217.
St. Augustine Lighthouse – Florida
This Florida lighthouse gets over 225,000 visitors each year. Lighthouses are a popular coast visit, but it’s the hauntings that bring people here.
There are several famous ghosts: the ghost of the lighthouse keeper who fell to his death while painting, and the ghosts of three young girls who drowned when the cart they were playing in broke and plummeted into the ocean.
Gribble House – Georgia
Gribble House was home to a triple murder in 1909. Three women were brutally murdered in the home they were renting by one of the woman’s estranged husband.
Although their past is tragic, their ghosts provide incredible ghost hunting experiences. There are vivid light anomalies, orbs, clear voices, and flashes of light.
The Haunted Bridge – Indiana
The Haunted Bridge in Avon, Indiana is a crumbling concrete railroad span. If you want to try your hand at ghost hunting here you are likely to hear the cries of a woman whose child was killed on the railroad tracks.
You may even see the ghost of the drunken worker who fell into the wet concrete and was entombed in the bridge.
If you don’t want to get out of your car, many drivers claim they feel chilled just by driving under the bridge.
Villisca Axe Murder House – Iowa
On June 10, 1912, Josiah B. Moore, his wife, four children, and two young girls who were spending the night were murdered in the family home by an unidentified man with an axe.
The house was restored in 1994 to its original condition with no indoor plumbing or electricity.
These details make the lamplight tours from April to November and overnight experiences a little extra spooky.
Atchinson – Kansas
This small town in Kansas is Amelia Earhart’s hometown, but it’s gotten most of its national fame from the haunted Sallie House. Named for the girl who died during a botched appendicitis surgery, she still haunts her house today.
The McInteer Villa is also haunted and people who have been in the building have said they’ve heard knocking on the walls and having their ghost hunting equipment go off like crazy.
The Sultan’s Place – Louisiana
The Sultan’s Place is a house of horrors from the 1800s. The Sultan, a wealthy man with many wives, watched as his family was hacked to pieces by an unknown criminal, and was then buried alive.
The Sultan’s angry spirit still haunts the place, and female visitors claim to have been groped by his ghost.
Mackinac Island – Michigan
Mackinac Island has been recommended by ghost hunters. It was the home to the indigenous Odawa people until British soldiers arrived. Now the entire island is haunted and provides “the best bang for your buck”. The most well-known ghost is Harvey.
He took his own life after he was rejected by the woman he loved.
The King’s Tavern – Mississippi
The King’s Tavern in Natchez, Mississippi is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the USA. Richard King had an affair with the hired maid, Madeline. When his wife found out, she murdered poor Madeline, and her ghost still haunts the tavern.
In the 1930s there were three mummified bodies found in the chimney. It’s believed that these men were murdered by the Harpe Brothers. The first serial killers in America.
Ohio State Reformatory – Ohio
Ohio State Reformatory was opened in 1896 and was closed by government order in 1990 for the brutality and inhumane living conditions.
While the history has led to numerous ghosts, there are a few with an interesting history, like the ghost of the inmate who was murdered by his cellmate and has his body hidden under a bunk.
There are now ghost hunting classes, and tours lead by a (living) former prisoner.
Eastern State Penitentiary – Pennsylvania
The Eastern State Penitentiary took solitary confinement to entirely new levels. Inmates were subjected to extreme isolation and punishments.
In 1829 the isolation changed due to overcrowding but the punishments worsened, and in 1970 the prison closed. Now there are thousands of visitors each year who go to the museum and the Halloween event: Terror Behind the Walls which has 6 haunted attractions within the prison.
Fort Miffin – Pennsylvania
Fort Miffin is the only Revolutionary War Battlefield in the USA that is still intact. There are plenty of ghosts here to observe on a ghost hunting expedition.
The most popular ghost is a woman who cries so loud that local police were called. There is also a faceless man, a tour guide, and oddly numerous dogs.
Dock Street Theatre – South Carolina
This theatre is one of the oldest in America. The most famous ghost here is Nettie Dickerson. She was a prostitute who was struck by lightning while standing on the balcony.
Her ghost is now seen running through the second floor while wearing a beautiful red gown.
Moundsville Penitentiary – West Virginia
Moundsville Penitentiary was one of the most violent correctional facilities in US history. It was open for over 100 years where criminals were killed in the electric chair, hanged, or murdered by other prisoners.
Moundsville Penitentiary closed in 1995, but the tortured spirits of these men can still be found wandering the prison during one of the haunted tours.
Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum – West Virginia
Formerly known as Weston State Hospital, this place was a mental illness asylum from 1864 to 1994. There were hundreds of deaths in this asylum, and even more deaths when the grounds served as a military post before becoming an asylum.
There are two different tours you can take here: the two-hour tour of the 4 main hotspots, or the 8-hour overnight experience led by experienced ghost-hunting guides.
This really is one spooky place. Check it out here
Wrapping It Up
As you can see there are incredible ghost hunting locations all across the USA, and this is such a shortlist of the locations available.
Wherever you chose to go, bring someone with you to share this spooky experience or people might not believe you when you tell them stories!
