These Haunted Houses From All Over the United States
For some travelers, fall means leaf peeping, apple cider, and pumpkin pie. But there are a few of us out there who are looking for something to really get our hearts racing. While kitschy, haunted house attractions are fairly common in the U.S., some people want to experience real ghosts and ghouls around Halloween. Lucky for those thrill seekers, the U.S. is chock full of historical homes with interesting and spooky stories attached to them, and it’s not too hard to find real haunted houses if you know where to look.
Anyone who is a fan of ghost hunting or paranormal investigation shows can tell you where you might run into some of the country’s scariest real life ghosts. Famous homes like the Whaley House, the Winchester Mystery House, and Lizzie Borden’s Fall River home all have well known reputations for scaring visitors out of their wits. Let find out These Haunted Houses From All Over the United States below.
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These Haunted Houses From All Over the United States
Famous Whaley House in San Diego, California Old Town
Back in 1852, James Yankee Jim Robinson was hung by his neck for the crime of grand larceny. 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 specter, 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.
House of Death: New York City, New York
The red building in the center is 14 West 10th Street in Greenwich Village, where Mark Twain lived in 1900 to 1901, in New York. New York’s Greenwich Village has some of the most desirable real estate in the world save for one brownstone on West 10th Street. Known as The House of Death, the townhouse is said to be haunted by the ghosts of 22 people who lived or died within its walls, including that of a 6 years old girl who was beaten to death by her adopted father. That is once of These Haunted Houses From All Over the United States.
Being New York City, however, the house has a celebrity pedigree, too. It’s said that author Mark Twain stayed in the house back in 1900 and returns for the occasional visit. The house’s haunted history is documented in author Jan Bryant Bartell’s Spindrift: Spray from a Psychic Sea, which recounts her experiences living in the building’s top floor apartment. The building houses private apartments, so you won’t be able to tour the interior, but this street is a popular stop on New York City ghost tours.
Winchester Mystery House: San Jose, California
The Winchester Mystery House is a well known mansion in Northern California. According to legend, the rambling Victorian mansion that sits on a busy street in San Jose, California, is haunted by the ghosts of everyone killed by a Winchester rifle. That’s undoubtedly a lot of spirits, and in order to appease them, the house’s owner, Sarah Winchester, the heir to the Winchester rifle fortune and the founder’s widow, added room after room to the house to add more space for the dead.
Winchester didn’t simply add rooms, though, she created a labyrinth filled with halls that lead nowhere, cut off staircases, sloping floors, and a rabbit warren of chambers. According to ABC News, the house has 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 47 fireplaces, 40 staircases, 13 bathrooms, and nine kitchens. Since Winchester died in 1922, the home has hosted tours for those willing to walk among the Winchester ghosts.
The White House: Washington, D.C.
The White House, Washington DC, at night. The White House may be home to the president, but it is also rumored to house many illustrious ghosts within its storied walls. President Ronald Reagan reportedly entertained dinner party guests with stories of his dog barking at invisible specters and his daughter, Maureen, waking to a transparent figure looking out the window of the Lincoln Bedroom. It may have been President Lincoln himself, returning to his former home in the hopes of reuniting with his wife or son.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reportedly encountered Lincoln’s ghost too, while he was stepping out of the bathtub. Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd, held seances in the White House, according to Mental Floss, in hopes of contacting their son, Willie, who died of typhoid, presumably from contaminated water pumped into the White House. They never contacted their son, but they did claim to get in touch with President Andrew Jackson, who was loitering in his former bedroom. These Haunted Houses From All Over the United States.
