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Halloween, also known as All Hallows’ Eve, is thought to have originated from Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival where people would light bonfires and dress up in costume to ward off lost ghosts. Today nearly 120 million Americans dress up and celebrate Halloween. Every year, new frightening trends such as fancy performances and high-tech haunted houses appear on the Halloween scene, but we'll bring you back to the true meaning, to the boundaries between life and death. These ten truly terrifying haunted places come with warning: Go only if you are ready for a real scare.
The battlefield of the most famous battle of the Civil War is also known as one of the most haunted places in Pennsylvania. Paranormal teams from all over the world attempt to contact the dead here. You might have the chance to catch a glimpse of the little girl in a white dress at Slaughter Pen or watch the shadows at play in the Tillie House at 3:02 a.m. This place is not only haunted by humans—if you stay at the Farnsworth Inn, you may see ghost cats. Candlelit tours and ghost hunting walks are offered year round, but the memorial Illumination event (pictured) happens every November. https://destinationgettysburg.com/
This 1910 sanitarium originally opened in Louisville, Kentucky, as a two-story hospital for tuberculosis patients. Deaths occurred about every other day, and in over 50 years about 8,200 people died there. Legend has it that an unmarried nurse hanged herself in Room 502 after discovering she was carrying the child of the owner of the sanitarium. Both daytime and nighttime tours plumb the ghoulishness. therealwaverlyhills.com
Long before the island became a notorious prison (it housed Al Capone, among other baddies), Native Americans spoke of spirits located there. The hallways of Alcatraz are said to be filled with ghosts who clank chains and moan. www.nps.gov/alca
Experience a friendlier side to the afterlife in Estes Park, Colorado. Visitors claim that things move on their own and lights mysteriously flicker, but room 217 is said to be haunted by the former Chief Housekeeper, Ms. Wilson. Since the 1950s, guests staying in that room report having their belongings put away and unpacked—housekeeping services from beyond the grave. www.stanleyhotel.com
This gothic building, a West Virginia landmark, is considered one of the most haunted prisons in America. It is known as a place where prisoners were tortured and killed for over a century. Tours grant you time in the presence of the retired electric chair. www.wvpentours.com
This active lighthouse was built in 1824 as the first lighthouse in Florida. In the 1870s, two little girls, the daughters of the superintendent of construction, drowned in an accident. Over the years, workers and visitors say they have heard their voices and seen their shadows roaming around the grounds. The lighthouse is open full-time to the public. www.staugustinelighthouse.com
Locals say that Myrtles is home to at least a dozen active ghosts. Perhaps that's not surprising—the plantation was built over an acient Tunica Indian burial ground. But the spirits who reside here may have other origins: From 1796 until the 1970s, curiously, many of its residents died young and under odd circumstances. In the 1970s, the Myrtles bought the house and transformed it into a bed and breakfast; it’s a favorite among ghost hunting travelers. www.myrtlesplantation.com
An estimated 250,000 people travel annually to the town of Salem, infamous even today for its 17th-century "witch trials." Nearly two dozen people were killed after being convicted of witchcraft. October is a month-long celebration of feasts, parties, and haunted tours. You can see reenactments of the trials at Essex St. Pedestrian Mall (www.CryInnocentSalem.com), go on a haunted harbor cruise (www.MahiCruises.com)and hear original ghost stories in the dark of the night (WitchHouse.info).
The 11-acre National Historical Landmark in Fairmont, Pennsylvania, was built in 1829 as the largest, most expensive prison in America. To save the souls of the inmates, hallways were designed to have the feel of a church with small skylights in each cell representing the “Eye of God.” The first record of paranormal activity was in 1940, and today the building is transformed annually into a haunted Halloween even known as “The Terror Behind the Walls.” www.easternstate.org