Haunted Places: 14 Real Locations, Their Legends and the Facts

Haunted Prisons and Hospitals

Places built to hold people against their will, or to watch them die of disease, collect more ghost stories than anywhere else.

Eastern State Penitentiary (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) This prison ran from 1829 to 1971 and was built around solitary confinement: the idea was that isolation would push prisoners toward spiritual reflection. Its crumbling cellblocks opened to the public for history tours in 1994, and paranormal shows including Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures have filmed there. Every autumn the site runs “Halloween Nights”, formerly “Terror Behind the Walls”, a haunted attraction that began as a fundraiser in 1991. A colony of cats moved in after the prison closed. ↳ Eastern State Penitentiary

Alcatraz (San Francisco Bay, California) Alcatraz was a federal prison from 1934 until it closed on March 21, 1963; strong currents and cold water made escape nearly impossible. Today it is one of San Francisco’s biggest attractions, and it is often listed among the most allegedly haunted spots in California. The legends are older than the prison: in Miwok mythology, evil spirits were said to inhabit the island. ↳ Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary

Waverly Hills Sanatorium (Louisville, Kentucky) Waverly Hills opened in 1910 to treat tuberculosis, the “White Plague”, and a five-story building followed in 1926. It closed in 1961 once antibiotics made it unnecessary. The best-known legend is its 500-foot tunnel, built for steam and supplies; stories say it was also used to move bodies out of sight of living patients. Today the building is marketed as a haunted hospital, with tours and a Halloween attraction that funds restoration. ↳ Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (Weston, West Virginia) This psychiatric hospital took patients from 1864 until 1994. Nobody has an official count of the patients who died there; research to establish one is ongoing. Since 2008 it has been open for historic tours, paranormal tours and overnight ghost hunts, and it has appeared on Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures and Paranormal Lockdown. ↳ Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

Haunted Hotels and Houses You Can Stay In

Several of the most famous haunted places in America take overnight guests, and their most haunted rooms are usually the first to be booked.

The Stanley Hotel (Estes Park, Colorado) In 1974 Stephen King and his wife spent one night here, in room 217, and King said he left with the idea for The Shining. The Stanley became the model for the Overlook Hotel, and its haunted reputation grew mainly after the book and film; its early history was peaceful. Guests tell stories of a former staff member, Elizabeth Wilson, who still tidies room 217, and of the founder, F.O. Stanley, who died in 1940. ↳ The Stanley Hotel

Hotel del Coronado and room 502 (Coronado, California) In November 1892 a young woman named Kate Morgan checked in alone under a false name and was found dead five days later from a gunshot wound. The coroner ruled it self-inflicted; skeptics have questioned that. Locals say she still haunts the hotel, room 502 is its most requested room, and the hotel has run ghost tours. ↳ Hotel del Coronado

RMS Queen Mary (Long Beach, California) The Cunard liner crossed the Atlantic from 1936 to 1967 and is now a hotel and museum. Haunting claims began after she was permanently docked in California, and Time listed her among its top 10 haunted places in 2008. Legends include a girl seen at the old second-class pool. The investigator Joe Nickell puts the stories down to pareidolia and daydreaming during repetitive work. ↳ RMS Queen Mary

Lizzie Borden House (Fall River, Massachusetts) Andrew and Abby Borden were killed in this house in 1892. Lizzie Borden was tried for the murders and acquitted, and the case is still officially unsolved. The house has been a bed and breakfast since 1996, and the room where Abby was found is the most requested. Tours mention ghostly activity; Joe Nickell argues the reported effects are explained by the ideomotor effect and personal feelings. ↳ Lizzie Borden House

Lemp Mansion (St. Louis, Missouri) The Lemp family ran one of America’s biggest breweries before Prohibition, and the house is known for three suicides in the Lemp family, including William Lemp in 1904 and Charles Lemp in 1949. It is now a restaurant with overnight lodging, said to be haunted by the Lemps, and was investigated on Ghost Hunters in 2010. ↳ Lemp Mansion

The Myrtles Plantation (St. Francisville, Louisiana) Built in 1796, the Myrtles has been promoted as “one of America’s most haunted houses” and offers evening mystery tours. Its best-known ghost stories, about two enslaved women named Chloe and Cleo, have drawn criticism: the historian Tiya Miles describes them as stories of violence against Black women that echo old stereotypes. ↳ Myrtles Plantation

Haunted Places Outside the United States

The Tower of London (England) Founded in 1066, the Tower is home to some of the oldest ghost stories in Britain. Anne Boleyn, beheaded in 1536, is said to haunt the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, where she is buried, and to walk the White Tower carrying her head under her arm. Other reported ghosts include Lady Jane Grey and the Princes in the Tower. ↳ Tower of London

The Edinburgh Vaults (Scotland) These chambers inside the arches of South Bridge, finished in 1788, held taverns and workshops, then became a haunt of the poor and of illegal gambling and distilling. Rumor says bodysnatchers stored corpses there, but there is no evidence that Burke and Hare used them. Today the vaults are mainly used for ghost tours. ↳ Edinburgh Vaults

Poveglia (Venetian Lagoon, Italy) Poveglia was a quarantine station from 1776 and later a psychiatric hospital that closed in 1968. Online it is often called the most haunted island in the world, supposedly holding over 100,000 plague victims. The Italian skeptics group CICAP says the haunting and mass-grave claims were created by a 2009 TV episode, and a Venetian historian put the number of plague deaths on the island closer to 20. ↳ Poveglia

Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery (near Chicago, Illinois) This small cemetery became famous with ghost hunters in the 1970s for floating lights, phantom cars and apparitions. A local historian wrote that these tales have been told and retold by generations of young people, but few have any basis in fact. It is also a lesson in what vandalism does to a haunted place. ↳ Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery

Visiting Haunted Places This Fall

October is the busiest month for haunted places. Eastern State Penitentiary runs Halloween Nights each autumn, Waverly Hills hosts a Halloween attraction, and the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum runs paranormal tours from March to November. Tours, prices and age limits change from year to year, so check the official site of each place before you travel. Respect private property: several famous haunted places, including cemeteries, have been damaged by trespassers.

Why Some Places Feel Haunted

Most haunted places share a pattern: a building that once held suffering, a death that was never fully explained, and decades of retelling. Investigators often point to ordinary causes, like drafts, old wiring, the ideomotor effect behind table-tipping, or pareidolia, the habit of seeing faces in noise. None of that makes the history less real. Read more true oddities in creepy facts that sound fake and weird history facts, or the classic fiction these places inspired in famous ghost stories.

How We Chose These Haunted Places

We included only real, named places with a documented history, and for each one we separate the legend from the record. Where investigators or historians found a natural explanation or an invented story, we say so. We left out anonymous internet legends and places with no documented history. If you spot an error or know a source we should add, tell us through the contact page. Want a fictional haunted house? Read The House That Breathes.

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