Decatur, Illinois
At 100 years old, it should come as no surprise that the Lincoln Square Theater has some skeletons in its closet...metaphorically speaking. "One-Armed Red" allegedly fell from the metal grid above the stage, his arm becoming stuck in a girder. His ghost now frequently haunts the stage area. For an even spookier experience, buy tickets to the horror films shown on Friday Horror Nights.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Even if you don't believe in the paranormal, there's no denying that Eastern State Penitentiary has a haunting history. Over the years, upwards of 1,200 of its prisoners died, most of those from disease. As far back as 1940, officers and guards were already reporting odd noises and inmates who seemed to disappear around corners. For a more manufactured haunting, try visiting Terror Behind the Walls.
Adams, Tennessee
The Bell Witch is one of the Southeast's most historic poltergeists whose early 1800s haunting of a rural family is still being recounted today. The witch tormented the family for years by scratching on walls, pinching people, and throwing objects around. After they moved she sought refuge in the nearby Bell Witch Cave where visitors can now take a candlelight tour during evenings.
Skagway, Alaska
Now a restaurant and bar downstairs, the Red Onion Saloon was originally a brothel that found frequent service during the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1800s. The "Madam's Room" on the second floor contains a female spirit who continues to haunt the location. Visitors can smell her perfume, walk through her cold presence, and hear the pounding of her feet as she stomps down the hall in her heels.
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah has been called the most haunted city in the nation (though New Orleans may disagree), and it's places like the Moon River Brewery that show why. Still an operating brewery, the building originally served as a hospital for hundreds of people during a yellow fever outbreak. Ghost City Tours offers spooky excursions of this historic building that are sure to make your hair stand on end.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Fort Mifflin is as old as the United States and remains one of the few intact Revolutionary War battle sites that can be visited today. The center of the paranormal activity on Mud Island can be found in the casemate that housed prisoners. Visitors on ghost tours have described experiences of chest pain, instances of rocks being thrown at them, and extreme changes in temperature.
West Hills, New York
The spectral stomping ground has a paranormal history dating back to when the American Indians encountered colonials and apparently warned them to stay away from the area. Stories abound of cars becoming stalled along the road or being mysteriously moved when placed into neutral. Find out if the urban legends are true on your next road trip.
Painesville, Ohio
The Lake County History Center is a museum to all things Ohio, but if visitors aggravate the ghost of this former home's matron, they'll be in for a rude awakening. Visitors often hear footsteps on the stairs, and some have even been stopped in their tracks, unable to climb any further for no apparent reason. That's to say nothing of the shadowy figures that dart between rooms.
St. Francisville, Louisiana
Legend has it that this bed and breakfast is built on top of a Tunica Indian cemetery, but that hasn't stopped visitors from spending the night it its haunted rooms. Chloe, the ghost of a slave girl, can be seen on multilple occasions walking the grounds. A young girl in antebellum clothing also likes to find her way into your photographs.
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
The Crescent Hotel has seen many tenets over its 130 years. Originally built as a hotel, it was later converted into a women's college and also health resort during the late 1930s. It was during this troubled period that owner Norman G. Baker welcomed patients to undergo his health "discoveries." His cures for cancer were lies, and the ghosts of patients still haunt the building to this day. Now that the Crescent is a resort again, that makes for one uneasy night of sleeping.
Louisville, Kentucky
During the early 1900s, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium served as a tuberculosis hospital with enough room for around 400 patients. Abandoned since 1981, tours are now offered (including overnight stays) of its haunted halls. The nurse's station in room 502 may be most notorious. Urban legend has it that the head nurse offed herself in the room while other subsequent nurses leaped to their deaths from the window.
Villisca, Iowa
Nearly 100 years ago, neighbors awoke to find the Moore family (both parents, their six children, and two friends of the children who were guests) brutally murdered by the use of an ax. Day tours and overnight stays of the house are offered, but after a ghost hunter went to the hospital for stabbing himself while alone inside the house, you can count on us checking out before sunset.
Weston, West Virginia
Operated as a psychiatric hospital until 1994, the Trans-Allegheny Asylum is now used only for tours by those hoping to catch a glimpse of the spirits of past patients. Apparition sightings and unexplained voices are the norm here. Visitors have even experienced being pushed up against the walls.
