12 Most Haunted Houses in America

While there’s no shortage of kitschy haunted house attractions across the country, some people want to experience real ghosts around Halloween. Lucky for all you thrill seekers out there, the United States is 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.

If you’re one of those travelers who longs for adventures filled with ghost stories and goosebumps, consider adding one of the most haunted houses in America to your travel list — some of them even let guests spend the night.

The Whaley House Museum, California

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 to haunt the site. It’s said that his footsteps can be heard stomping 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 San Diego house is so thoroughly spooky, the U.S. Commerce Department officially classified it as haunted in the 1960s. See the Whaley House Museum for yourself via a tour with Ghosts and Gravestones, which now also offers night tours of the house for those really looking for a thrill.

House of Death, New York

New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood 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 six-year-old girl who was killed by her adoptive father. This is New York City, however, so the house has a celebrity pedigree, too. Author Mark Twain stayed in the house back in 1900, and his spirit reportedly returns for the occasional visit.

The home’s haunted history is documented in author Jan Bryant Bartell’s “Spindrift: Spray from a Psychic Sea,” which recounts her experiences living in the House of Death’s top-floor apartment. The building still contains 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 like the ones provided by New York Ghosts, which swings by on its city-wide tour.

Winchester Mystery House, California

This rambling Victorian mansion sits on a busy street in San Jose, California, and according to legend, it’s haunted by the ghosts of everyone ever killed by a Winchester rifle. That’s undoubtedly a lot of spirits. In order to appease them, the house’s owner, Sarah Winchester, the heir to the Winchester rifle fortune (and the founder’s widow), kept adding on rooms to the house to make more space for the dead.

She didn’t simply add rooms, though. She created a labyrinth filled with halls that lead to dead ends, cut-off staircases, sloping floors, and a rabbit warren of chambers. According to an article by ABC News, the house has “10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 47 fireplaces, 40 staircases, 13 bathrooms, and nine kitchens.”

The home has hosted tours for those willing to walk among the Winchester ghosts ever since Sarah passed away in 1992. If you’re looking for a less spooky reason behind the house’s mysterious design, the podcast “99% Invisible” posited the theory that she simply loved architecture and had more and more rooms added without tearing others down first.

Villisca Ax Murder House, Iowa

The small Iowa town of Villisca (population of around 1,118) doesn’t have much to offer tourists — except for a night of terror at the Villisca Ax Murder House. Back in 1912, the white wooden house was the site of a horrifying crime that left an entire family, including four children and their two young friends, dead by an ax-wielding murderer.

There were several suspects, including an Iowa state senator, but no one was ever charged with the bloody crime. More than a century later, the ghosts of the victims are said to remain in the house, yearning for justice. Visitors eager for a taste of the supernatural can book tours of the site, while the bravest can spend the night and see what goes bump.

Lizzie Borden House, Massachusetts

Back in 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were found dead — killed by an ax-wielding psychopath. The police’s No. 1 suspect was Andrew’s daughter, Lizzie. Though she stood trial for the crimes and was ultimately acquitted, Lizzie spent the rest of her life under the shadow of guilt.

She is now said to haunt the Fall River, Massachusetts, home where her father and stepmother were murdered, and her ghost can be heard laughing at the top of the stairs. The house now serves as a museum and bed-and-breakfast (outfitted with ghost cams), where stalwart guests can spend the night listening for Lizzie’s ghost, those of her murdered parents, or the echoes of the maid’s screams after she found the Bordens dead in their beds.

The home is open for in-person tours, and anyone who can’t make the journey can try one of its equally spooky virtual tour options via “Ghostflix.”

Bell Witch Cave, Tennessee

In the early 1800s, John Bell bought a tract of farmland along Tennessee’s Red River near a mysterious landmark now known as the Bell Witch Cave. He and his family thrived on the farm until they started to see strange looking animals around the property, most notably a dog with a rabbit’s head.

From that point on, the family was ambushed by unseen forces, largely targeted at John and his daughter, Betsy. They experienced physical attacks, heard unexplained noises, and even spoke with the “entity” — in at least one account, the spirit identified herself as the Bells’ former neighbor, Kate Batts, who was exacting revenge from beyond the grave for some unknown slight.

The entity is rumored to have prevented Betsy’s marriage to a local boy and is believed to have killed John. According to one Bell Witch website, the haunting is backed by plenty of evidence, including “eyewitness accounts, affidavits, and manuscripts penned by those who experienced the haunting first hand.”

Feeling gutsy? Check out the Bell Witch Cave and John Bell Cabin in person — tours of the site in Adams, Tennessee, are available Wednesday through Sunday from May to October — and see if you encounter anything strange yourself.

The White House, Washington, D.C.

The White House may be home to the U.S. president, but it’s also rumored to house many illustrious ghosts within its storied walls. President Ronald Reagan allegedly entertained dinner party guests with stories about 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 and son. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reportedly encountered Lincoln’s ghost as well, while he was stepping out of the bathtub.

The White House Historical Association claims that President William Henry Harrison (the first president to die in the White House) continues to keep up residence. The spirit of President Andrew Jackson has also been spotted loitering in his former bedroom. It’s not just former presidents who haunt the halls of the highest office in the U.S., however — Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison, is said to visit the gardens she helped plant, and Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams, is known to do her laundry in the East Room.

The White House is open for public tours, free of charge, though you must follow the procedure for requesting a visit through your state’s senator or representative and undergo multiple security checks to enter. Alternatively, you can always view the outside from Lafayette Square or the Ellipse.

The Sallie House, Kansas

If you’re into ghost-hunting shows, you probably already know about this famous haunted house. The unassuming home in Atchison, Kansas, is rumored to be the dark lair for a demon who takes on the form of a little girl, stemming from a family’s bizarre experiences there.

In the early ’90s, new renters Debra and Tony Pickman claimed they saw strange occurrences in the house, including flickering lights, apparitions, possessions, unexplained voices, and strange scratches, marks, and burns on their bodies. These occurrences seem to have been the work of the ghost of a young girl named Sallie. Former renters Bobby and Colleen Humbard, along with their daughter, Heather, also claimed to have seen or heard Sallie — whom Heather said was her imaginary friend.

Apparently, Sallie isn’t just some harmless ghost. Theories around her malevolent presence in the house, as well as some evidence of satanic rituals in the basement, suggest that she is, in fact, a demon disguised as a young girl.

The house offers both self-guided tours and special overnight visits.

Franklin Castle, Ohio

This imposing Victorian home is considered to be the most haunted house in Ohio, and it’s easy to see why — it was, after all, built in the 1800s by Hannes Tiedemann, who was known around Cleveland for being cruel and abusive. When a string of mysterious deaths in Tiedemann’s family happened in the house, those rumors crystallized.

Among the many people who suddenly lost their lives in the house was Emma, Tiedemann’s daughter, who died because of complications with diabetes. Then, his mother and three more of his children died. Tiedemann’s wife, Louise, also passed away, apparently due to liver failure, but rumors swirled that Tiedemann was actually responsible. It’s also said that he murdered other members of his family, including his niece, a possible illegitimate daughter, and his mistress. Tiedemann moved away from the house shortly after his wife’s death.

Since the tragedies, the house has passed from owner to owner, including one who was a member of the German Socialist Party and remained there for 55 years, which led to rumors of the house being a den for Nazi spies. More recent investigations have found troubling evidence of foul play, including human bones within the walls.

Franklin Castle is a private residence, so you can’t tour it, but some ghost tours pass by the home to tell its spooky story. You can also catch the house on an episode of Travel Channel’s “Ghost Adventures.”

Biltmore, North Carolina

George Washington Vanderbilt II built this stately Asheville vacation home in the 1800s. Since then, it has gained a reputation for being one of the most haunted places in North Carolina as well as the entire country. While nothing completely nefarious has happened on the estate, its former owners do seem to remain very active in the afterlife. Once Vanderbilt died in 1914, his estate passed on to his children, who decided to open it to the public. That’s when the paranormal activity apparently began.

Visitors have claimed to hear a woman’s voice, possibly Vanderbilt’s wife, Edith, calling his name, and some say they’ve spotted ghostly apparitions. The mansion also features a number of hidden doors and passageways, adding to its overall spook factor.

Today, anyone can tour the estate either on their own or with a guide. There are also winery tours and places to stay nearby if you’re hoping to get a nice, long trip out of it.

The Conjuring House, Rhode Island

The Conjuring House, formerly known as the Old Arnold Estate, has been famous for its paranormal activity since it was built in 1736. Most notably, in the 1970s, the owners’ family began hearing unexplained voices and footsteps, and seeing strange lights and apparitions. Their daughter, Andrea Perron, later wrote a three-volume manuscript entitled “House of Darkness: House of Light,” which inspired the movie, “The Conjuring.”

Eerie occurrences at the site in Burrillville, Rhode Island, include extraterrestrial orbs and lights, the sounds of ghostly children playing, and phantom animals roaming the pet cemetery, among others. Inside the house, Abigail, a friendly ghost of another era, cautions people to leave the basement whenever there’s a bad spirit nearby. Another spirit, Mathew, seems just as interested in today’s guests and their strange new technology as they are in him (he died in 1888).

Visitors can take a guided tour that covers the property’s intriguing history and dispels misconceptions about what happened in the film versus in real life. Another tour includes an intro to ghost hunting, with a focus on the technology that’s used to communicate with spirits. If you’re feeling brave, join a five-hour paranormal investigation held inside the house (or outside within the grounds), or spend the night checking things out with an “experienced investigator.” Outdoor enthusiasts can also opt for a ghostly glamping session (seasonally from June through October).

The House of the Seven Gables, Massachusetts

In Salem, The House of the Seven Gables is one of the city’s oldest homes, built in 1668 and immortalized by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1851 novel of the same name. It’s also one of the most haunted.

Formerly known as the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, the site is reportedly occupied by the spirit of a man who has been seen climbing a secret staircase inside the house and by a young boy who still plays in the attic. Another ghost reputed to be there is that of Susannah Ingersoll, Hawthorne’s cousin.

While daytime tours of the mansion and grounds tend to focus more on the site’s literary history, it’s a stop on many Salem ghost tours if you want to hear more about its resident spirits.