Haunted Stanley Hotel - Estes Park, Colorado

The world famous Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado is well known for hosting many of the rich and famous who want to get away into the mountains for a while.  The hotel is also the inspiration for Stephen King's The Shining.  However, it is not the actual hotel in the movie which was filmed at Timberline Lodge, Mt. Hood, Oregon. Even though the inspiration was fictional, the Stanley hotel is very haunted!

The haunted Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado was the inspiration for Stephen King's The Shining and it is actually haunted by many ghosts.

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The Curse of Charles Island - Milford, Connecticut

Off the coast of Connecticut, there lies Charles Island which is the stuff that fairytales are made of. Native American curses, haunted by spirits, pirates, buried treasure, a pathway that only appears by day so you can walk to the island, but disappears at night, and not to leave out... ghosts!  Except it is not a fairytale, it is all very real.  

Charles Island off the coast of Connecticut has a history of curses, buried pirate treasure, and ghosts.  Photo: the Wikipedia Commons

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Mary's Ghost of the Golden North Hotel - Skagway, Alaska

Around the end of the 19th century, one of the first hotels known in the Alaskan wilderness was built in Skagway, Alaska.  A young gold prospector and his fiancé Mary came to the area looking for fortune.  He got Mary a room at the Golden North Hotel until he could find enough gold to establish a homestead of their very own.  That unfortunately, would never happen.

The ghost of Mary, a bride to be, haunts the Golden North Hotel where she died waiting for her fiancé to return from a prospecting trip.

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Haunted Piano of Mountain Brook, Alabama

Dr. William Jordan who lived just outside of Birmingham, Alabama, purchased a piano for his kids to play as they were growing up.  He had the desire to learn how to play himself, but never had the opportunity given his busy schedule.  However, in his later years, he managed to learn and churn out a couple of tunes.  There are some that say even though Dr. Jordan is long gone he can still be heard playing the piano on certain nights.

An old piano in the Old Brower Home in Mountain Brook, Alabama is said to play tunes on it's own in the middle of the night.

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The White Lady of Spring Canyon - Latuda, Utah

During the 1880s around Carbon County, Utah, the coal mining industry began to boom after the railroad opened up between Denver, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah.  This caused the explosion of many small mining communities springing up around the area, especially in the area that became known as Spring Canyon.  The towns have since withered away into ghost towns, but the spirit of one particular woman still walks the area known as Latuda.

The White Lady of Spring Canyon roams the area where the ghost towns of Latuda and Helper, Utah used to be.         Photo: © Photographer: Juice Team | Agency: Dreamstime.com

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Ghosts of Wilderness Park - Lincoln, Nebraska

There are two stories that revolve around a stretch of woods west of Lincoln, Nebraska known as Wilderness Park.  One regarding rail disaster in the late 1800s and the other regarding what people claimed to be a child murdering witch.

Wilderness Park in Lincoln, Nebraska is thought to have many spirits that haunt it's woods and trails.

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Spirit of Marie Lavaeu, Saint Louis Cemetery #1, New Orleans, Louisiana

Marie Lavaeu was a hair dresser in 19th century New Orleans.  However, she had a mysterious side that would become well renowned around the bayou. She was a Voodoo priestess on the side and some say she still walks the streets of her burial place.

The ghost of Voodoo Queen Marie Lavaeu is said to walk Saint Louis Cemetery #1 where she was buried in 1881.

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Abraham Lincoln's Ghost - The White House - Washington, D. C.

President Abraham Lincoln was such as charismatic person and was influential to many.  Many Southerners liked him as well because he wanted to be lenient towards them in post war reparations to help rebuild the Nation. Upon his death the whole Nation came to a halt and mourned his loss.  He was a very spiritual man and attended séances on a regular basis. Lincoln actually had a premonition that he would die shortly before it happened. It seems that his ties with the spirit world were great indeed as many have seen him wandering about The White House even to this day.

The spirit of former U. S. President Abraham Lincoln is said to haunt various rooms throughout The White House including the Oval Office and the Lincoln Bedroom.

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Ghosts of Thornewood Castle - Lakewood Area of Tacoma, Washington

Chester Thorne was one of the founders of Tacoma, Washington.  In 1907, as a gift for his bride, he purchased an English castle which was physically located in England, and had it dismantled and shipped brick by brick to the shores of American Lake where it was reassembled into what would become Thornewood Castle.  Chester put so much time, effort and devotion into his new mansion that some say he is still there.

Thornewood Castle under construction in 1910.  It would later be feature in the Stephen King film Rose Red. In real life, the ghost of the former owner of the stately mansion is said to walk the grounds to this day.

If you recognize this castle, it may be because it was the mansion featured in the movie based on the Stephen King thriller "Rose Red". It was also used in the prequel to the movie "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer".  Although the real hauntings of the castle are a bit different than that of the movie.

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Stone Lion Inn - Guthrie, Oklahoma

The Houghton home was built in 1906 by T. E. Houghton, a successful merchant who wanted to build a larger home for his expanding family.  They lived in the house for approximately two decades with their eleven children.  They had twelve children, however, one of the children, young eight year old Augusta, came down with the whooping cough and died when she was given an overdose of cough medicine which back in the day, contained opium.  Even after all these years, it is thought that she still roams this house.

The Stone Lion Inn in Guthrie, Oklahoma is said to be haunted by family of it's original owners, the Houghton family.

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Dead Man's Pond - Cottage Grove, Minnesota

In quiet little Hamlet Park of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, a tragedy would occur years ago that still ripples through to this day.  Many believe that a small, swampy pond located in the park is haunted and just waiting to claim the life of its next victim.  The algae covered pond is very shallow, but the underlying mud goes very deep.

There are lots of swampy algae covered ponds all over.  Some of them hold more dark secrets than others like the one in Hamlet Park of Cottage Grove, Minnesota.

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Storm Ship of the Hudson River - New York

From a time when a settlement at the mouth of the Hudson was known as New Amsterdam instead of New York, there have been tales of a strange sailing ship bearing no recognizable flag sailing into the Hudson River from Gravesend Bay, all the way up to the northern most reach of the Hudson Highlands.  With the majority of the sightings in the highlands themselves. It was believed that this ship brought a warning and death.

When the Storm Ship appears on the Hudson River, it is an omen of bad weather brought on by The Heer of Dunderberg according to Dutch legend.  Painting: Ship in a Storm by Ivan Aivazovsky  www.wikipaintings.org

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(this will take you to our sister site GhostShipsOfTheWorld.com)

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Phantom Trucker of Booger Mountain - between Barbourville and Corbin, Kentucky

This haunting originates back to the 1950s when the only road between Barbourville and Corbin, Kentucky was a narrow, winding, dangerous road over Gilliam Hill, known locally today as Booger (Bugger) Mountain because of some terrible things that happened there years ago.

A ghostly truck haunts "Booger" Mountain on the highway between Barbourville and Corbin, Kentucky.

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Devil's Tree -- Somerset County, New Jersey

In an open field in Somerset County, New Jersey, stands a centuries old tree that is has built up an ominous reputation over the years.  It began it's notorious history back in colonial times.  Legend has it that when slaves became unruly for some locals, they made examples out of them by hanging them from this tree.  Thus began a history that would tarnish this unworldly looking oak for all time.

Some decades later, folks tell of a man who went insane.  One dark night, he went about murdering his entire family.  Realizing what he had done, he went to the hanging tree and proceeded to hang himself from it.  During the post Civil War era, the Klu Klux Klan members were s no stranger to the hanging tree.  Their favorite activity?  Lynching a number of African Americans from a very large branch that stuck out of the side of the tree at the same time.  After this horrible era, and the KKK was on the decline, the lynchings pretty much came to an end.  However, the reputation of what would become known as The Devil's Tree had just begun.

The Devil's Tree along Mountain Road in Somerset County, New Jersey is thought to be haunted by former slaves and others who were killed there over the years.

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Phantom Monks of Benedictine College - Atchison, Kansas

In 1858, two monks arrived in Atchison, Kansas and set up a boarding school for boys on a rise overlooking the Missouri River.  They started off hosting just a half a dozen students.  Heavy wagon traffic, with settlers heading west, kept the town very busy and some chose to settle in Atchison.  Within a year or two, the boarding school grew into St. Benedict's College.  In the 1970s, the school combined with the Mount St. Scholastica College for women, resulting in Benedictine College.   Many students have come and gone through Benedictine, but the monks who originally founded the school, never left!  And, they have a few ghostly friends that hang out with them.

Phantom monks are thought to haunt Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas

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The Heer of Dunderberg - Hudson Valley Highlands, New York

From the time when the first Dutch settlers came to New Amsterdam and the Hudson Valley, there has been a certain mystic about a sixty-five mile stretch of the Hudson all the way from Gravesend Bay to Pollepel Island located at a wide spot in the river approximately six miles north of West Point.  They believed that the Heer of Dunderberg dwelled in the highlands and kept watch over the River.  He would call upon his Storm Ship manned by witches and goblins to wreak havoc on seafarers making their way up and down the Hudson River.

The Dunderberg or "Thunder Mountain" on the left is said to be the home of the "Heer of Dunderberg", the Storm King of the Hudson Highlands who wreaks havoc on sailors that travel these waters.

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(this will take you to our sister site where the article is listed InternationalGhostsAndHauntings.com)

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Goblins of Bannerman Castle - Pollepel Island, Hudson River, New York

About 50 miles north of New York City, there sits an island nestled close to the eastern shore of the Hudson River. For centuries, Native Americans feared the island believing it to be possessed by evil spirits.  They refused to visit the island after the sun went down.  If they were hunting or fishing there, they would leave and return when it was light. They knew something that European settlers would later learn the hard way. There would be a string of tragedies throughout the years that would solidify the island's reputation.

Bannerman Castle sits on Pollepel Island in the Hudson River, New York.  It is thought to be haunted by a malevolent spirit which caused a series of disasters over the ages, including the destruction of the castle. Photo: Wikipedia public commons

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Shadow Divers of Waimea Falls - North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii

In the spectacular Waimea Valley on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, there is a trail that takes you deep into the Waimea Valley where there is a water fall and a beautiful pool of water.  Water that has held a mystic over the ages and has claimed many lives.

Deep in the pool of Waimea Falls, is believed to be a temple that is home of a akua that claims the lives of divers as a sacrifice.

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Shackle Island, the Ghost Slaves of Patty Cannon - near Phillips Landing, Delaware

Notorious ferry boat master Martha "Patty" Cannon did more than transport people across the Naticoke River at Woodland Ferry in Delaware.  She and her band of hooligans captured, sold, and transported freed slaves back to plantations in the South.  One of the most notorious places she would keep her captured slave out of the public eye, was a secluded island on the Naticoke that became known as "Shackle Island".  For centuries, the island itself has been a ghost.  No one seemed to know where it was located, until recently.

Some have discovered ruins of a moss covered boat and believe that this marks the spot of the lost Shackle Island where the notorious slave smuggler Patty Cannon hid some of her victims.

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The Ghost of Patty Cannon - Woodland Ferry, Delaware

In the late 1700s at a place known as Woodland Ferry, located in Colonial Delaware, a woman by the name of Martha "Patty" Cannon ran a ferry that transported folks across the Nanticoke River.  Patty lived just north in the nearby town of Johnson's Corners.  Patty was not an ordinary woman, on many levels.  She was large and burly in appearance and stood over 6 feet tall.  Some say that she could best any man in a fight.  What was really scary about Patty Cannon though, was that she was just as nasty on the inside as she appeared on the outside and was a very murderous woman.

The skull of Patty Cannon is all that is left as a reminder of her brutal legacy.  It is kept in a hat box in a library office.

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The Ghosts of Mossy Glen - Edgewood, Iowa

Just north of the quiet little town of Edgewood, Iowa, there is a patch of forest in the middle of Iowa farmland that holds a few mysterious legends. These are tales of three folks who's lives touched this area in some way and for some their lives ended here. One was murdered there, one committed suicide there in the Stoney Hollow and leaves a curse to those unfortunate enough to cross her path, and it is believed that the other must have spent a great deal of time those woods before she was sentenced to death.  The spirit of all three still linger in the Mossy Glen.

The spirit of a woman who took her own life in the Stoney Hollow of Mossy Glen is said to curse those who she chooses by leaving a rose in their path. 
Photo credit: © Petarpaunchev | Dreamstime.com 

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The Ghost of Claudia Chambers, The Chambers Mansion - San Franciso, California

In 1887, silver tycoon Richard Chambers is said to have built a stately manor featuring two tower like features in the front facade.  Chambers made his mark on Utah gaining wealth from the silver mines, but it would be this new mansion in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco that would become well known all over the world, in a haunting way.

The Chambers Mansion (The Mansions Hotel) in San Francisco is said to be haunted by the spirit of Claudia Chambers who died in the home in the years before it was a hotel.  Photo credit: http://www.noehill.com/sf/landmarks/sf119.asp

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Phantom Miner of Slaughterhouse Gulch - Battle Lake, Wyoming

During the 19th century, the hills near the Wyoming/Colorado Border were bustling with mining activity.  Many made their way into the mountains near Battle Lake to work in the copper and coal mines to seek their fortunes. However, one miner who had been working in an area known as Slaughterhouse Gulch was not so fortunate.

The Ghost of Slaughterhouse Gulch wanders the trails in the mountains near Battle Lake, Wyoming.

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The Girl on Highway 365 - Woodson, Arkansas

On a stretch of road centered around Woodson, Arkansas, there come tales of drivers who come across a young girl hitching a ride to the town of Woodson, mostly around the month of June on rainy evenings. However, this no ordinary young lady as she is wearing a white gown that is stained with blood from her bruised and battered face with a cut on her forehead. 

The ghost of a girl wanders highway 365 near Woodson, Arkansas.  
Photo credit: © Aija Krodere | Dreamstime.com

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The Ghost of Lizzy Rowland - Edgewood Plantation - Charles City, VA

The American Civil War left very few areas of the Southern United States untouched by tragedy, loss and drama.  The Edgewood Plantation in Charles City, Virginia is no exception.  The third floor of the plantation house served as a lookout for the Confederate Army as it offered a great view of the area. It is rumored that the plantation may have served as a makeshift hospital during the war.  The lush gardens and landscape on the outside served as perfect cover for the devastation inside as wounded and dying soldiers occupied some of the rooms.  Some were lucky enough to leave, some were not. The grist mill on the property was used to grind grain to feed the soldiers encamped in the area.  

The Edgewood Plantation in Charles City, Virginia is said to be haunted by the ghost of Lizzy Rowland who wainted in vain for her lover during the Civil War.

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Ghosts of the Night Express Train - Hartford, Vermont

On the early morning of February 5, 1887, a Montreal bound Central Railroad train No. 50 known as the "Night Express" was speeding along attempting to make time because it was running late. At some point near Hartford, Vermont as it neared a large wooden railroad bridge, the last sleeper car on the train jumped the track, unknown to anyone on board as the express sped along through the night.  The Night Express crossed the Woodstock Bridge as it was known at the time, and a disaster was about to unfold.

The charred remains of the Woodstock Bridge right after the Night Express train crash of 1887.  Photo courtesy: www.northeast.railfan.net

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The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress - The Haunted Von Mindel Hotel - Schulenburg, Texas

Some fifteen years after the Von Minden Hotel was built, a bizarre story would unfold and leave the hotel in a paranormal state and is a favorite stop over for ghost hunters. Other incidents would occur the to solidify the Von Minden Hotel's status as one of the most haunted places in Texas if not the United States. 

The Von Minden Hotel in Schulenburg, Texas is said to be haunted by "the girl in the polka dot dress".

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Floating Coffins Of Rock Creek - Bullhead, South Dakota

Years ago in the quiet little village of Bullhead, South Dakota located on the rugged central plains, nature took it's toll.  The town was ravaged by the flood waters of Rock Creek which splits the town in two as well as the larger nearby river that it empties into. The flooding was so fierce that the coffins in the cemetery began to rise and wash away.  As the coffins were retrieved, many were found to be empty of the bodies that the once contained. It is believed that the remains of many of the cemetery inhabitants were lost, scattered and reburied in the soil surrounding the town.  It is because of this tragedy that many believe that the town of Bullhead is haunted.

Years ago, the flood waters of Rock Creek dislodged inhabitants of the local cemetery, scattering their remains across town.  The village of Bullhead, SD has not been the same since the floating coffins of Rock Creek.

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Dark Shadows Under the Door

Like a scene out of a horror movie, I found myself in a situation late last night that left me a little "iffy" about digging this whole "having a ghost in my house" thing. If you have been following any of the articles about my "personal" haunting, you know that there is definitely something strange going on in my house. There have been only what can be described as strange lights on the windows, smoky ball-like apparitions appearing in the windows and walls, a pet cage rattling on it's own, to something unseen brushing against my leg.  The unseen brush incident was last May of which I did not write about because it was just too bizarre and a bit spooky to me to admit that it actually happened. I will elaborate more on it later as it actually ties in with this latest incident.  Read the full story>>

This is an altered reproduction of the dark shadow seen moving under the door.  Knowing that there was no one or no pets in the room, would you open the door?

Witch of Winnsboro Courthouse

In the warm humid air of South Carolina in 1792, a plague of sorts shook the residents of Fairfield County.  Many folks were thought to be possessed and at the same time herds of cattle began to fall ill.  People began to suspect that a local band of Gifted Brethen were behind it all.  They were known to use hypnosis and entertain unorthodox customs.  Among them, was a well respected German immigrant named Mary Ingleman.  She as well as a few of her brethren friends were accused of witchery.

The Fairfield County Courthouse in Winnsboro, South Carolina is said to be haunted by the ghost of Mary Ingleman, known as the Witch of Winnsboro Courthouse.

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