Spooky places to visit this Fall
Did you know that you can actually take ghost tours, listen to the stories of haunted locations, and even go ghost hunting across the United States?
America is filled with haunted destinations. Haunted hotels, abandoned asylums, bars that were known pirate hangouts to spots made famous by cameos in horror flicks.
Here, our picks for places perfect for a visit (even year-round). Here’s where you can go to truly embrace the Halloween spirit this year and remain safe. No costumes required.
Sleepy Hollow
New York
Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York. Known internationally through "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", an 1820 short tale about the local area and its infamous specter, the Headless Horseman, written by Washington Irving, who lived in Tarrytown and is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Owing to this story, as well as the village's roots in early American history and folklore, Sleepy Hollow is considered by some to be one of the "most haunted places in the world"
Disclaimer: If you happen to hear the sound of hooves, you might want to pick up your step.
Yuma Territorial Prison
Arizona
Looking to spook yourself before Halloween? Visit this Arizona prison
The Yuma Territorial Prison is a former prison located in Yuma, Arizona, United States. Yuma Territorial Prison is the best place in Arizona to scare yourself because it is easily one of the creepiest, most haunted spots in Arizona. Not one to shy from a rep of locking people into hot, dark places, Arizona has designated this a state historical park. Guides report feeling chills when they pass Cell 14, where an inmate doing time for “crimes against nature” killed himself. In the so-called dark cell, prisoners in pitch-black solitary went mad chained to ring-bolts in the walls.
Whaley House
San Diego, California
Few houses in San Diego are as historically important as the Whaley House. Built in 1856, the Whaley House was once home to the Whaley family, as well as a granary and San Diego’s first commercial theater, various businesses including Thomas Whaley's own general store, a ballroom, a billiard hall, school, and polling place. Today it is a California must-see for ghost seekers. The ghost sightings at the Whaley House go way back—Thomas Whaley and his youngest daughter Lillian were said to have frequently heard the steps of "Yankee Jim," who was a man executed on the property before the house was built. After the last member of the Whaley family died and the home was turned into a museum, three members of the Whaley family remained behind and frequently appear to guides and visitors.
According to the Travel Channel's America's Most Haunted, the house is the number one most haunted house in the United States.
Elizabethtown
New Mexico
Named after the daughter of its founder, this all-but-abandoned former town tucked into the northeastern corner of the state boasted more than 7,000 residents at its height of its Gold Rush prosperity in 1870. But the excitement was tempered by the reign of Charles Kennedy, described as New Mexico's first serial killer, who may have killed up to 14 weary travelers after luring them in with the promise of food and accommodations at his inn. The woes of “E-Town,” as it was known, continued with the collapse of the mining industry, and, in 1903, a fire. Today, all that's left is a small museum, a general store, some ruins of buildings, and a cemetery, all morose reminders of bygone eras.
The Stanley Hotel
Estes Park, Colorado
The Stanley earned a reputation as a paranormal nerve center in 1940, when the apparition of Mr. Stanley reportedly had appeared to guests checking in at the reception desk, and claims hold that the phantom of the late Flora Stanley, a pianist, sometimes can be heard tickling the ivories in the empty music room.
Storied novelist Stephen King was inspired to write the book that the movie was later based on after a one-night stay here. He slept in room 217, where the ghost of a housekeeper who was electrocuted there in 1911 supposedly lurks. The deceased founders of the hotel, Freeman and Flora Stanley, are also said to prowl the grounds, running operations as per usual and frequently appearing to guests and staff.
