Get spooked this season at the 14 most haunted places in America

09.09.2024 - 21:27 / lonelyplanet.com

Sep 9, 2024 • 5 min read

Halloween is often celebrated with festive pumpkin festivals and costume parties. Some people take it to the next level, embracing the true spirit of the holiday by connecting with the supernatural all year round.

If you seek out the eeriest, most unsettling places, we bet you’ll love this roundup of the most haunted places in the US.

The Whitney restaurant, one of Detroit’s most upscale dining destinations, is also one of its most haunted spots. It is known for many strange encounters throughout its famed dinner service. If you’re lucky enough to snag a reservation, look out for tableware known to move, eerie footsteps heard on the restaurant’s grand staircase. Watch out for the shadows of David and Flora, the mansion’s original owners.

If you’re on the hunt for a hotel with amenities that tap into another dimension, the Marshall House in Savannah should be at the top of your list. The inn occupies a building dating back to 1851 – and is notorious for being haunted. With a previous history as a hospital for Union soldiers and then yellow-fever patients, the Marshall’s rooms and hallways are known for many paranormal occurrences. Guests often report strange encounters throughout the building, the sound of ghostly children running through hallways and sink faucets that mysteriously turn on. 

The inspiration for Stephen King’s The Shining, The Stanley Hotel is alluring. Guests check in to spend the night among the spirits roaming its halls. Visitors often report the presence of ghosts of service workers past. Plenty of creaky wood gives a thrill to those searching for hair-raising encounters. 

The hotel’s high elevation (7,522 ft) puts you in thin air, making it harder to breathe, and to scream. For those who are brave enough to stay overnight, this is at one of the most haunted hotels in America.

The oldest city settled by Europeans in the USA, St Augustine dates back to 1585 – so you better believe there are spirits that linger throughout the area. Start with a tour of the Huguenot Cemetery, a hallowed ground since 1821, where many victims of yellow fever were laid to rest. The cemetery is estimated to hold 436 bodies, a number capped in 1884 when it reached capacity – and ghost sightings are reported at all times of the day and night. Be on the lookout for the cemetery’s most famous ghost: the spirit of Judge John B Stickney, a beloved St Augustine denizen who died of yellow fever in 1882. 

In operation as a jail from 1829 through 1971, the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia now operates as one of the region’s most renowned haunted-house experiences. Tours of the building highlight the many famed criminals who once were confined within its thick walls, including Al Capone and