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10 Spooky Haunted Houses and Places in the United States

Life and death are the two realities of life and in between the two exists a mysterious space that forces one to think about ghosts and spirits.

America is full of creepy ghost towns, abandoned buildings and haunted forests. Every state has a haunted spot.

In the United States, during the Great Depression, parents began arranging haunted houses.

It started as a way to keep their sons off the streets during the holiday that could become quite rowdy.

Over time, it was integrated into the culture of Halloween and popularized by Disney.

Take a tour of the most haunted places in the U.S., where lingering spirits roam through the halls of hotels, abandoned insane asylums and Broadway theatres. 

If you’re the kind of person for whom the best ghost movies get your adrenaline racing, you might get a thrill from visiting some haunted sites in real life.

Grab your friends and plan a road trip to the most haunted hotels in America, along with ghost-filled homes.

Visit eerie prisons and other scariest places across the country. A ghost tour can be an unforgettable outing.

Test your limits in these 10 spooky haunted houses and places in the United States.

1.  Bodie – California

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Bodie boomed in the 1870s and ’80s  gold rush. It was once home to 10,000 people. 

It’s now a State Historic Park, with some parts of the town preserved in a state of “arrested decay”—tables with place settings and shops eerily stocked with supplies.

 It’s not surprising that there are many reports of supernatural activity here, including ghost sightings and music playing from shuttered bars.

There is also a legend that any visitor who takes anything even a rock from Bodie will be cursed with bad luck and health problems upon leaving.

2. Waverly Hills Sanatorium- Louisville,  Kentucky

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This grim, bat-winged building is the archetype of the haunted hospital or insane asylum. The hospital treated victims of tuberculosis that was ravaging the country.

Certainly, the sanatorium was the scene of many deaths over the years.

Waverly Hills served as a geriatric hospital from the 1960s until the 1980s.

Slamming doors and strange noises are some of the manifestations in the deserted building.

Others reported hearing footsteps and the screams of patients from empty rooms.

Ghostly, shadowy forms follow visitors through the narrow corridors.

Phantom footsteps and voices reportedly echo along the “death tunnel,” or “body chute” — an underground tunnel.

3. The Whaley House Museum – San Diego, California

The living room at Whaley house Image by Jack Boucher from

James “Yankee Jim” Robinson was hung for the crime of grand larceny in 1852. 

A few years later, Thomas and Anna Whaley built a house on the spot where Robinson died and soon enough, Yankee Jim’s ghost showed up, haunting the site.

It’s said that his footsteps can be heard clumping around the house.

Yankee Jim isn’t the only spectre, though, both Mr. and Mrs. Whaley, a young girl and even the family dog have been known to make appearances from beyond the grave.

The house is so thoroughly spooky that, according to TIME, in the 1960s, the U.S. Commerce Department classified the Whaley House as haunted.

4. Maple Hill Cemetery – Huntsville, Alabama

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Oh, sure, the actual cemetery here is creepy and all, but it’s the playground that’ll really get you.

In 1985, somebody decided to open a playground adjacent to Huntsville’s oldest cemetery, presumably to give the children of mourning parents some respite.

Instead, it appears that the resident ghosts are the ones enjoying it most: people report seeing orbs of light going down the slide and unoccupied swings moving, accompanied by disembodied giggles.

In addition, locals believe victims of child murders in the ’60s were buried nearby and their spirits have eternal playdates with the cemetery’s residents.

5.  Salem – Massachusetts

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The tragic Salem Witch Trials of 1692, when hundreds of people were accused of witchcraft and 20 were executed, put the city on the map.

This storied town in Massachusetts draws ghost hunters from all over the globe.

Explore The Witch House (home to Judge Corwin, an investigator from the infamous trials).

Learn about the area’s sordid past by visiting local landmarks and museums pertaining to the infamous colonial hysteria.

Visit the Salem Witch Trials Memorial, a simple stone wall bearing the names of the wrongly condemned and killed.

6. White House – Washington, D.C.

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The White House is a hotbed for paranormal activity!

One of the most famous places in the entire country is also haunted!

The ghosts of  Winston Churchill (who reportedly stumbled into the ghost of Lincoln one night) to Ronald Reagan have been sighted.

Some of its other ghostly occupants supposedly include former presidents John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and John Tyler.

Guests, First Ladies, children and yes, even one president have been rumoured to hear bumps in the night and footsteps in the hallways.

There’s even a Demon Cat in the basement whose sighting foretells a national disaster.

7. The LaLaurie Mansion – New Orleans, Louisiana

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Madame Marie Delphine LaLaurie, a Louisiana socialite was known for hosting ritzy soirees in her lavish French Quarter mansion in New Orleans during the early 19th century.

Guests gorged on fine food and champagne, unaware of the grisly scenes that unfolded two stories above.

When local police responded to a kitchen fire in 1834, they discovered the bodies of several horribly mutilated enslaved people in the attic.

When the public learned of LaLaurie’s grotesque secret, a mob stormed the house, prompting her to flee to France.

Soon after LaLaurie disappeared from New Orleans, people claimed to hear the phantom screams of her victims spilling from the house in the dead of night.

8.  The Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast – Fall River, Massachusetts

Lizie’s parents bedroom image by Artemisboy (talk) from

Now a museum and a bed and breakfast, the Lizzie Borden house was the scene of the gruesome murders of Andrew and Abby Borden.

Lizzie, the Bordens’ daughter, was the prime suspect in the case.

 Lizzie was acquitted for lack of evidence.  The case remains unsolved as no one else was ever charged with the murders.

Today, guests can stay in the room where Abby was killed.

According to employees and visitors, the home is full of paranormal activity.

For example an apparition in Victorian clothing, sounds of weeping, doors opening and closing, footsteps and conversations in empty rooms.

9. Eastern State Penitentiary – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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The Eastern State Penitentiary was a tough prison.  It took solitary confinement to a new level.

Prisoners lived alone, exercised alone and ate alone.

The forms of punishment here were severe (chaining an inmate’s tongue to his wrists is one example).

One of the most haunted places in America welcomes thousands of visitors every year.

You can visit its museum and annual “Terror Behind the Walls” celebration, which features 15 haunted attractions within the prison walls for Halloween.

Reported paranormal happenings have included disembodied laughter, shadowy figures, and pacing footsteps.

10.  Queen Mary – Long Beach, CA

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Since its maiden voyage in 1939, the now-retired Queen Mary has seen its share of glitz, glam and horror.

It became a World War II troopship. Many sailors died on board.

The engine room door crushed one sailor while.  

Many believe that their spirits still haunt the ship. Winston Churchill even signed the D-Day Declaration on the ship during the War.

The restored Queen Mary is permanently docked in Long Beach, California.  Brave guests can spend the night, take a night tour, and experience the horrors for themselves.

It has played host to Hollywood starlets like Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor.

There are many skeptics who do not believe in ghosts, spirits or hauntings of any kind, but there are still a very large number of people who believe in such things and even claim to have experienced them firsthand.

Several places in the United States t have developed a  reputation for being frequented by spirits. They continue to attract countless visitors who hope to have a ghostly experience of their own.