Photo: 360Cities.net / Alamy Stock Photo
What’s the best way to get in the Halloween spirit? Hanging out with the undead, of course!
Care to carouse with centuries-old witches or explore the location of rumored ghost sightings? We’ve curated a list of the top ten haunted houses across the country, from New York to California, all of which can be toured or even booked for an overnight stay.
Winchester Mansion
Winchester Mystery House
Location:San Jose, California
Why It’s Spooky:TheWinchester Mansionis the work of Sarah Lockwood Pardee, who, after the death of her husband, firearms mogul William Winchester, in 1881 began making all sorts of renovations to the two-story farmhouse for reasons still unknown. She added 40 staircases, 2,000 doors and all sorts of nods to the number 13. Construction started in 1886 and stopped after her death in 1922, leaving the house unfinished to this day. According to Winchester Mystery House historianJanan Boehme, Sarah’s obsessive construction could stem from “trying to disconcert bad spirits she didn’t want to have in her house” or simply being the work of a “really bad architect.” Its spooky history and architectural oddities even inspired the movieWinchesterstarring Helen Mirren.
Who Haunts It:Visitors have claimed to feel Sarah’s presence in the house, especially psychics who say they can “sense” her, according to Boehme. “Generally, it’s kind of good energies, though often sad,” she adds. Some say the “wheelbarrow ghost,” a figure dressed in overalls pushing a wheelbarrow, haunts the basement and is believed to be one of Sarah’s loyal employees.Book a tourto see for yourself!
TheConjuringHouse
The Conjuring House
Location:Harrisville, Rhode Island
Why It’s Spooky:For horror movie enthusiasts, seeing “based on a true story” at the beginning of a film is an absolute dream. That’s probably why fans loveThe Conjuringfranchise, as the house that inspired the movie is an actual place in Rhode Island that can even bebooked for an overnight stay. The farmhouse was built in 1736 and is known for its haunted happenings — most notably when paranormal experts, Ed and Lorraine Warren, performed a séance for the house’s inhabitants, the Perron family, during the 1970s, after they had several harrowing supposed encounters there. PEOPLE’s own Julie Jordanspent a night on the chilling propertyand confirmed she sensed some paranormal activity there. She experienced tables moving on their own, balls of light flashing in the corner of her eye, and loud creaks in the living room during her stay.
The Hobo Hill House
Location:Jefferson City, Missouri
Who Haunts It:The Clarks would often see a tall man wearing a suit and top hat out of the corner of their eyes, and hear strange voices whisper “Hi” whenever they entered the house. After seven spooky months on the property, the couple decided to vacate the house and turn it into anAirbnbfor paranormal fanatics to rent at $325 a night.
The Witch House
Paolo Picciotto/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty
Location:Salem, Massachusetts
Who Haunts It:While it’s still unclear whether the accused witches or the Corwin family themselves are still hanging around the property, countless visitors have reportedly felt the presence of unseen spirits and heard disembodied voices during their visit.
Villisca Ax Murder House
360Cities.net / Alamy Stock Photo
Location:Villisca, Iowa
Why It’s Spooky:Villisca, an Iowa town of just 1,108 people, proves that not all small towns are boring. The sleepy spot actually holds a chilling history dating back to 1912, when two adults, Josiah and Sarah Moore, and six children were brutally murdered in what is now known as theVillisca Ax Murder House. While the murderer was never caught, there are four people that historians have suspected — with Frank F. Jones, an Iowa State Senator at the time and Josiah’s former employer, being at the top of the list.
Who Haunts It:The ghosts of the Moore family are said to haunt the property. Visitors have claimed to have felt the presence of Josiah and Sarah, along with their four children and two friends who were murdered in their beds. Horror enthusiasts canbook an overnight stayat the white farmhouse to see for themselves.
John Bell’s Cabin and the Bell Witch Cave
Historic Bell Witch Cave
Location:Adams, Tennessee
Why It’s Spooky:Just 40 minutes outside of Nashville lies the creepy farm where John Bell and his family once lived, including an eerie on-site cave that’s been the site of much paranormal activity. The haunting dates back to the early 1800s, after Bell purchased the plot of land on the Red River. He started seeing oddly shaped animals and hearing whispers from phantom entities. His youngest daughter, Betsy, received the worst of the haunting, as she allegedly felt an unseen force pulling her hair and slapping her. She was even said to wake up with hand prints all over her face and body.
Who Haunts It:The spirit supposedly responsible is known as the Bell Witch. Though her identity has never been confirmed, some believe that an “eccentric” late neighbor named Kate Batts was behind the haunting, according to the home’sofficial website. The legend became known as “America’s Greatest Ghost Story,” and even caught the attention of then-Major General Andrew Jackson, who traveled to Adams to see the witch for himself. Fans of the paranormal canbook a tourof the Bell family’s farm and see artifacts from when they lived.
The Grove House
The Grove
Location:Jefferson, Texas
Who Haunts It:Former resident Patrick Hopkins, who tried to convert the home into a restaurant, claims to have witnessed a woman he’d never seen before walk down the stairs and go into the powder room. After she didn’t come out for a while, he went to check on her and found the room empty. A similar occurrence happened while prepping for a dinner theater, when one of the light technicians felt a presence behind her and turned to see a woman dressed in all white. She followed the mysterious woman around the corner of the house only to see she had vanished.
The Campbell House
CAMPBELL HOUSE
Location:Spokane, Washington
Why It’s Haunted:Rumor has it that Amasa B. Campbell and Grace Fox, who moved into the newly-builtCampbell Housein 1898, witnessed three of their children murdered and one kidnapped on the property. But, in her bookGhosts and Legends of Spokane,Deborah Cuyle debunks the theory, pointing out the lack of news coverage of the incident, especially since Amasa was a prominent investor at the time. The couple’s only confirmed child was Helen Campbell, who died in 1964. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t believe it’s haunted.
Burn Brae Mansion
Location:Glen Spey, New York
Why It’s Spooky:Now operating as a charming bed and breakfast, theBurn Brae Mansionwas once home to Margaret Ross MacKenzie Elkin and her husband Charles Elkin. The couple built the house in 1907 on her father’s $3.5 million estate, after he acquired great wealth as president of the Singer Sewing Machine company. Now under the current ownership of Mike and Pat Fraysse, the bed and breakfast allegedly guarantees a spooky stay and even offersprivate paranormal investigationsfor groups.
Who Haunts It:Along with hearing disembodied children’s voices and witnessing doors open and close on their own, guests have spotted all kinds of ghostly figures. Some have seen apparitions of a woman in all white, a man dressed in old-fashioned clothing and another man wearing more modern clothing. Eerie sounds of an organ playing have also been reported, despite the fact that there is not an organ on the property.
The Hermitage
Location:Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey
Who haunts it:With over 250 years of occupants on the property, it’s no surprise that visitors have encountered an excess of paranormal activity. Ghostly presences are so strong that the house has even attracted local mediumCraig McManuswho hostsghost tours and gatheringsevery year on Halloween. During these tours, people have reportedly seen a woman in the upstairs window and heard disembodied voices. McManus claims to help visitors connect with spirits from the Victorian era all the way back to the Revolutionary War. While the Halloween tours are currently sold out for this year, those who are brave enough to try and spot some ghosts during the day can take a regular tour of the house on weekends.
source: people.com
