For Condé Nast Traveler, by Caitlin Morton.
Take a coast-to-coast tour of America's most haunted locations, where lingering spirits roam through the halls of hotels, abandoned insane asylums, Broadway theaters, and more.
1. Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana
Built in 1796 by General David Bradford, Myrtles Plantation is considered to be one of America's most haunted sites. The house is rumored to be on top of an Indian burial ground (never a great start) and is home to at least 12 different ghosts. Legends and ghost stories abound, including the tale of a former slave named Chloe, who had her ear chopped off by her master after she was reportedly caught eavesdropping. She got her revenge by poisoning a birthday cake and killing two of the master's daughters, but was then hung by her fellow slaves. Chloe now wanders around the plantation, wearing a turban to conceal her severed ear.
2. Hotel Monte Vista, Flagstaff, Arizona
Flagstaff's Hotel Monte Vista has its fair share of paranormal guests who have truly overstayed their welcome: A long-term boarder who had a habit of hanging raw meat from the chandelier in Room 210. Two prostitutes who were thrown from the third floor, and now attempt to asphyxiate male guests in their sleep. An infant whose disturbing cries have sent staff members running upstairs from the basement. (Actor John Wayne once reportedly even had a paranormal encounter here.) Book your stay today?
3. Pine Barrens, New Jersey
The heavily forested Pine Barrens spans over one million acres and seven counties in New Jersey. The area thrived during the colonial era, host to sawmills, paper mills, and other industries. People eventually abandoned the mills and surrounding villages when coal was discovered to the west in Pennsylvania, leaving behind ghost towns — and, some say, a few supernatural wanderers. The most popular Pine Barrens resident is without a doubt the Jersey Devil. According to legend, the creature was born in 1735 to Deborah Leeds — her thirteenth child — with leathery wings, a goat’s head, and hooves. It flew up the Leeds’ chimney and into the Barrens, where it has reportedly been killing livestock — and creeping out South Jersey residents — ever since.
4. RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach, California
Aside from a brief stint as a war ship in World War II, the RMS Queen Mary served as a luxury ocean liner from 1936 to 1967. During that time, it was the site of at least one murder, a sailor being crushed to death by a door in the engine room, and children drowning in the pool. The city of Long Beach purchased the ship in 1967 and turned it into a hotel, and it still serves that purpose today—although the reported ghosts of the deceased passengers get to stay for free. (For an extra dose of spine-tingling experiences, see if you can visit the ship's engine room, which is considered by many to be a "hotbed" of paranormal activity.)
5. Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania
The battle of Gettysburg was one of the bloodiest in American history, with somewhere around 50,000 young men dying in the three-day conflict. Many of the soldiers never received a proper burial after their untimely deaths, and many believe the souls of these men now wander the field to look for their weapons and comrades.
See the rest of The Most Haunted Places in America on CNTraveler.com
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