8 of the Most Haunted Sights You Need to Visit This Halloween

Halloween is right around the corner, and naturally, many of us will celebrate the evening’s festivities with elaborate costume parties or taking the kids out trick or treating.

But while some of us will engage in age-old fun that includes the more superficial side of the holiday, others will be living out Halloween at its finest, attending ghost hunts and haunted houses. With the country rich in history and full of stories that pique intrigue, it is also plentiful with legends, myths and stories that will haunt you to the very core.

Between kids writing on the wall or the pets leaving surprises around the house, nothing really scares you — or does it? Perfect for Halloween (and road trips), we explore eight haunted sights you need to visit now — we dare you!

Belmont Mansion 

Address: 1900 Belmont Blvd., Nashville, Tennessee

In addition to roaming the mansion, reports state the full-bodied ghost of Adelicia Hayes haunts the Belmont campus grounds. After losing her husband seven years into her first marriage, Hayes’s four children died before the age of 12. Years later she remarried but that too was short-lived as her second husband was killed in the Civil War and their twin daughters passed from scarlet fever. Months later, Hayes died and was buried in Nashville. Many report she sets off motion detectors in Belmont and its buildings at night as she wears her 1800s style antebellum gown, floating around. Museum guides have even heard her speak softly, asking to rearrange furniture. Psychics believe she won’t rest until she finds her children.

Waverly Hills Sanatorium 

Address: 4400 Paralee Ln., Louisville, Kentucky

This former tuberculosis hospital is one of the most haunted places, with nearly 8,000 deaths on-site, guests have claimed to experience strange lights, phantasms, and shadows moving around corridors and rooms, in addition to doors slamming and floating heads. With the “White Plague” increasing each day, doctors used the sanitarium’s chute to dispose of bodies in an effort to stabilize patient morale, where staff would then transfer them to the nearby cemetery. Today, voices are heard along the eerie passageways, as well as sightings of fast moving shadows along the chute.

Myrtles Plantation 

Address: 7747 US-61, St. Francisville, Louisiana

Handprints in mirrors, footsteps, vanishing objects, phantom smells, and gunfire — there are scores of tourists and paranormal investigators that swear to the hauntings at Myrtles. Home to former slaves, owners and their children, several spirits haunt the grounds of this late-18th century plantation. Purportedly built atop Indian graves (think Poltergeist), guests and staff have counted 12 restless spirits and witnessed the grand piano playing by itself, repeating one haunting chord.

West Baden Springs Hotel 

Address: 8670 IN-56, French Lick, Indiana

Regarded as the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” this French Lick hotel is one of the most historical hotels in America. Built at the dawn of the 20th, the hotel is supposedly haunted by former owner, Thomas Taggert. Guests and staff report the entire sixth floor is haunted with footsteps, disembodied voices, and slamming doors. While some claim to have seen Taggert himself roaming the halls, the hotel’s most famous guest is a deceased bellhop in uniform, photobombing precious moments and selfies — totally Instagram that!

Congress Plaza Hotel 

Address: 520 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois

Built in 1893, the Congress is Chicago’s most haunted. Guests and staff have seen apparitions on numerous floors and heard disembodied voices in rooms and hallways. Several tourists have mentioned a temperature drop despite efficient heating. The most haunted is Room 441, where guests have reportedly seen a woman manifesting as a shadow at the foot of the bed, kicking guests to stay awake. No room has seen more calls to security or hotel staff than this one.

Winchester Mystery House 

Address: 525 S. Winchester Blvd., San Jose, California 

Noted as one of the most famous haunted houses, the home is a mystifying labyrinth constructed from unearthly fear and paranoia by its eccentric owner, Sarah Winchester. Widow of gun magnate, William Winchester, Sarah grew depressed after the sudden death of her husband and child, and became obsessed with the idea that spirits (men who died at the hand of Winchester rifles) were haunting her. To appease them, Sarah consumed her lavish inheritance in order to confuse and discourage spirits by building a maze in the house over the course of a whopping 38 years. Guests and staff have reported moving shadows, disembodied voices, footsteps and a lone baby crying. Sarah Winchester’s bedroom is seemingly the most haunted with Sarah even communicating with guests.

Loretta Lynn Plantation House 

Address: 44 Hurricane Mills Rd., Hurricane Mills, Tennessee

Located west of Nashville, Loretta Lynn’s home has garnered a reputation for the paranormal. Bought around 1960, the iconic “Queen of Country” and her husband inhabited the former plantation unaware of its dark history. From Civil War soldiers walking the grounds and camping nearby, to a woman in white moaning over the loss of her child, there has been plenty of unexplained phenomena.

Stanley Hotel 

Address: 333 E. Wonderview Ave., Estes Park, Colorado

Red rum, anyone? Built in 1909 by Freelan Stanley, this hotel is arguably one of America’s most haunted and inspired Stephen King’s The Shining. Staff and guests recount hearing parties in the empty ballroom, children running and laughing, disembodied voices and phantom footsteps, as well as “Mrs. Stanley” playing the piano in the hotel’s music room. Here is to guessing that she does not take requests. Some have reported terrifying accounts of unseen hands yanking at clothes, along with numerous guests awakening to find their blankets taken from the bed while they slept and neatly folded.

What are some of your favorite haunted places to visit in the U.S.? Let us know in the comments below.