So, I realized something while going over previous articles about haunted locations I want to visit before I become a ghost myself: I have, in the past, repeated entries. Accidentally, of course. And can you blame me? There are so many cool haunted locations out there, so it’s natural that I might get one or two mixed up or end up repeating them!
That being said, I think all the ones in this article are making their first appearances on this blog. So hopefully I don’t accidentally repeat any in future articles. And if I do, maybe it just means I really want to go there.
So, without further ado, let’s list ten more haunted locations I want to visit before I become a ghost myself.
Chateau de Brissac, France
A historic chateau built in the 11th century, this beautiful palace has seven stories and was once the tallest chateau in all of France. Today, it is still the tallest chateau in the Loire Valley, has been used as a film set for television shows, is also the site of a festival, and is available for day tours and overnight stays.
It’s also haunted by the Green Lady, who is supposedly the illegitimate daughter of King Charles VII. According to legend, her husband came home from hunting one evening and went to bed, but was then informed by his servant that his wife was having a meeting with a lover. Enraged, he murdered the couple, but soon after left the chateau because he kept hearing his wife and her lover moaning throughout the place (not sure what kind of moaning). Today, her lover’s spirit isn’t so much heard, but she is, and when she’s seen, she’s supposed to have holes for eyes and a nose, possibly a memento from when her husband murdered her.
Whatever the case, I’d like to see if I can meet this ghost while staying in a luxurious castle. Wouldn’t you?
Museum of Shadows, Omaha, Nebraska
Supposedly the most haunted museum in the world, the Museum of Shadows claims to have over three thousand haunted objects within its walls. Occupying two floors of a four-floor building, there are skulls, dolls and puppets, crosses, bones, and God only knows what else. It is available for tours and ghost hunts, and they have empty rooms available for Sit Challenges, where you sit in complete darkness for ten whole minutes and see if anything happens to you.
Guess who wants to do all three? ME!!!
Lumber Baron Inn, Denver, Colorado
Featured last year on the Netflix miniseries 28 Days Haunted, the Lumber Baron Inn is a beautiful Victorian era building that was built by Scottish lumber baron John Mouat (hence the name). Today, it’s a bed and breakfast that also offers tours and acts as an event space, but between Mouat and his family and today, the place had quite a few owners. At one point, it was a tenement building, and two young women were violently murdered while living there. It’s believed this incident caused the entire building to become haunted.
Anyone want to head out to Denver with me? Anyone? Bueller?
Kiyotaki Tunnel, Kyoto, Japan
Considered one of the most haunted locations in Japan (and considering the country has separate categories for violent ghosts depending on their reason for haunting, each with their own dangers to beware of, that’s saying something), the tunnel is around 500 yards long and used to be part of a railway line. Nowadays, it’s a one-way tunnel that’s rumored to be very haunted.
Some of the hauntings are rumored to be the spirits of laborers who died building the tunnel. Others may be those of people who have had accidents in the tunnel or who have taken advantage of the tunnel’s woodland location to commit suicide. These ghosts are rumored to wander the tunnel at night, scream loudly, and change traffic signals to cause accidents. One spirit of a woman in white is said to run out of the tunnel and jump onto car hoods like a crazy person (she sounds delightful).
If I ever get to Japan, I’ll add it to the list!
Ramada Plaza Laredo, Laredo, Texas
This one was told to me by my boss. Years before I met her, she was out at Laredo for work and was staying at this hotel. According to her, during the two nights she was staying there, the writing desk in her suite kept shaking every time she went to bed and turned out the lights. As if someone was either writing on it, or as if someone wanted to scare her out of the room. And it worked, because she got out of there and never went back.
Nowadays, the hotel is permanently closed and may not even be standing. However, my boss’s story was enough that if I’m ever out that way, I want to check it out and see if anything’s haunting the building. And I know someone who could go with me.
La Posada Hotel, Laredo, Texas
Speaking of Laredo, Texas, the La Posada Hotel is a beautiful old hotel that used to be a convent. Nowadays, it’s a hotel, but it’s said the nuns are still hanging about. They often manifest as hotel staff and try to trick the guests, but they oddly cannot speak. Cold spots, objects being thrown, and running footsteps in the ballroom are also reported.
Again, I know a certain someone in the area whom I could take with me. Whether she wanted to go or not!
House of Wills, Cleveland, Ohio
I heard about this one from my friend Jeff Ignatowski, whom you saw in my various videos from the ghost hunt at the Ohio State Reformatory (see that blog post here). Built in 1900 in what was then a heavily German and Jewish area, it was the home for a singing and dancing group, the Cleveland Hebrew Institute, and, most famously, a funeral home and a meeting place for the African American community. In fact, John Walter Wills, the man whom the house is named, was a founder of the Cleveland NAACP and remodeled some of the rooms in the house to be elaborate viewing rooms with Egyptian, dream, and cloud themes.
Today, the house is undergoing restoration after being closed down in 2005, and is open for architectural and ghost tours and ghost hunts. A rumor I heard said at some point, someone might have done magical or even dark rituals, which may have super-charged the hauntings there. Without anything to verify that, I’m treating that as just rumor, but I’d still be interested in checking out the house. And maybe dragging friends and family living in Cleveland with me.
Roads Hotel, Atlanta, Indiana
This location actually had a table at ParaPsyCon last month. Founded in the early 1900s, the hotel was owned by the Roads family for a number of years until being sold and becoming a speakeasy and brothel. After that, it was empty for a time, then went through several owners until being taken over by a charity in 2017. Throughout its history, death has been part of the house. The Roads’ youngest child Everett died there, as did a preacher who killed himself, and possibly one of the women of the night working at the brothel.
Today, the hotel is open for public and private investigations, and is said to have lots of whispers, shadows, and other spooky occurrences. It’s even been named Indiana’s most haunted house. Sounds like I need to check in one of these days.
South Carolina State Hospital, Columbia, South Carolina
You know that when you get a hospital for people with mental illness, hauntings are bound to pop up after a while. Founded in 1821, it was one of the first publicly funded mental institutions in the United States and at one point held over a thousand patients. However, staffing, funding and legal troubles, as well as a move away from public institutions and more communal therapy, eventually led to the hospital’s closure in the 1990s.
Nowadays, some of the buildings are still in use, and others have been sold off to private owners, but the buildings that remain are said to be quite haunted. In fact, some people consider the SCSH to be one of the state’s most haunted locations. Sounds like I should check in the next time I’m down that way.
The Whaley House, San Diego, California
This location has been a private home, a general store, a county courthouse, and even a theater. Now, it’s a museum and is also a heavily haunted location, known for footsteps and strange apparitions. It has been featured on numerous ghost hunting shows and even been the subject of one or two (really bad) horror movies.
During StokerCon this year, many people went to visit and tour the house due to its spooky reputation. As someone who couldn’t go to StokerCon this year (I am going next year, though), I was really jealous. Hopefully one day I can go, though. Maybe I’ll even stay overnight. That would be fun.
Tell me, my Followers of Fear: have you been to any of these locations? What did you experience? And do you have any you think I should add to the list? Let’s discuss.
Until next time (which should be very soon), good night and pleasant nightmares!
Rami Ungar The Writer 