Bone-Chilling Stories of the USA’s 10 Haunted Spots

The LaLaurie Mansion located in the French Quarter of New Orleans has a grim reputation. Its former owner, Madame Delphine MacCarthy Lalaurie, was a wealthy socialite in the early nineteenth century. The urban legend says that she treated her workers very badly.

One night, on April 10th, eighteen thirty-four, Madame Lalaurie’s house began to burn. Madame and her family managed to escape, but she abandoned her workers. They were locked inside the house. The locals, outraged by her negligence, gathered around the house, broke some of its walls, and eventually stole the remaining possessions.

After the fire, the Lalaurie family escaped to Paris. Another private mansion was built on this Louisiana land. But it’s said that the ghosts of those workers are still trapped inside the property. They tend to bother living people demanding justice. Today the house is private, but you can book a tour and hear this story in detail.

By the way, the mansion and its notorious owner played a big part in the “American Horror Story” franchise. Although they didn’t actually film the series in that particular house. American actress and director Kathy Bates played Madame LaLaurie and showcased the quirky character of this famous woman. So you can check it out --- if you’re not afraid.

Our next creepy destination was also shown in a movie franchise — “The Amityville Horror.” The media says this Dutch Colonial-style home is located in the village of Amityville in New York. George and Kathy Lutz bought this property in nineteen seventy-five for eighty thousand dollars. The low price was due to the tragedy that happened in the house one year before. One night a young man named Ronnie DeFeo who lived in the house took the lives of all his family members.

The Lutz family began to notice strange activities in the house such as phantom odors, unreasonably low temperatures, and loud sounds of unknown origin. According to the Lutz family, one day they called a preacher to clear the grim vibes, but he felt very bad during the ritual and his hands started bleeding.

The Lutzs fled the house in a rush. Their spooky story inspired “The Amityville Horror” — a book written by American author Jay Anson and several successful horror movies. Although the house was reconstructed it still exists. However, its address has been changed to confuse the trail and prevent crowds of tourists from gathering around it.

Do you recognize this seemingly cute house in Harrisville, Rhode Island? It’s known as one of the most haunted houses in America. The property earned its notorious reputation after multiple people lost their lives in this house over the years. In nineteen seventy, the Perrons family began to live here.

And, according to the legend, an invisible being lived along with them. At first, the entity was playful, but then it started getting more sinister. The family members experienced physical attacks and unexplainable illnesses. They invited the famous mystery hunters, Ed and Lorraine Warren, to research this case which later inspired a book and the movie “The Conjuring” released in two thousand thirteen.

In twenty-nineteen, the property was purchased by the Heinzens family who also investigated mysteries. They reported some weird stuff going on in the house too, and eventually developed a successful business on haunted tourism. They sold the property for nearly one and a half million dollars in twenty twenty-two.

Let’s move on to Tennessee! The urban legend tells a creepy story that started in eighteen-o-four. John Bell and his family moved to this peaceful-looking farm from North Carolina. At first, everything went well. But thirteen years later, the family began to experience bone-chilling events.

At first, they started seeing weird animal-like shadows around the farm. Soon these mysterious guests began to whisper and eventually talk out loud. Some mysterious entity began to wake the family up at night with loud noises and attacks. It particularly bothered their young daughter, Betsy Bell.

Invisible hands grabbed Betsy by the hair and hit her body. When she grew up and was about to get married, the entity did everything to break the engagement saying that Betsy wouldn’t be happy with her groom. Rumors about these scary events spread throughout the village. And the locals began to visit the farm, hoping to see it for themselves. They called the entity Bell Witch. Many years have passed, but the locals still believe that the phantom of the evil witch lives in these places and hides in a cave near the farm.

Ohio is one of the most notoriously haunted states in the USA. One of its legendary spots is the Mansfield Reformatory — a former prison that supposedly hosts the country’s most creepy entities. The prison is nearly one hundred and thirty years old. It was closed in nineteen ninety and soon gained fame, especially after becoming the filming location for “The Shawshank Redemption.”

And since we’re passing through Ohio let’s take a look at another spooky place. The Chippewa Lake Amusement Park used to attract many guests with its various rides, roller coasters, and iconic Ferris wheel. But in the nineteen seventies, one hundred years after opening, the park was forced to close. It happened due to poor maintenance and low attendance. The park has gone through multiple fires. So today it looks like a bunch of creepy ruins overgrown with shrubs and rust.

Mark Twain has been living in this charismatic house in Hartford, Connecticut, for about seventeen years. In this period he wrote both “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Today this property serves as a museum that showcases the author’s life.

But it’s also known for some mysterious phenomena. Multiple visitors reported hearing odd noises and seeing a phantom of a woman in white. The most haunted part of the house is the billiard room. Twain used to chill there a lot during his stay. And today some visitors claim they can smell tobacco smoke as they pass through.

Pennsylvania has lots of terrifying tales to offer. Despite its chic appearance, this fancy mansion has been empty for a while now. Its owner, Peter Widener, finished the construction after losing his beloved wife, Hannah, during a tragic yacht trip. It happened at the end of the nineteenth century. And eventually, Widener lost multiple relatives in this house.

He was wealthy enough to invest in the Titanic construction. Perhaps he was fascinated by the idea of an “unsinkable ship”. But unfortunately, both Peter’s oldest son and grandson lost their lives when the Titanic sank. Eventually, the mansion was abandoned. But it’s said that the phantoms of the Widener family are still there.

And speaking of the Titanic. Molly Brown was one of the survivors. She got famous for rowing a lifeboat for about seven hours before reaching a safe place. But Molly’s own mansion in Denver gained a spooky reputation. She owned the haunted property together with her husband who ran a mining business.

Over the years multiple people reported seeing phantoms of cats and human figures running down the staircase of the house. The witnesses of such visions insist that something spooky is definitely going on behind these walls. Today the mansion operates as a museum. So you can go and see it for yourself.

And how about meeting a creepy phantom while doing some casual shopping in Soho? The urban legend dates back to seventeen ninety-nine. A young lady, Gulielma Elmore Sands, tried to escape with her lover Levi Weeks. They were tenants at the same boardinghouse. Around two weeks later, her body was found at the bottom of a well in the building that today hosts a large retail store COS.

After the horrifying discovery, the police arrested Levi. Although he was acquitted, Sands’s phantom is said to haunt the building as a warning to other ladies. The creepiest thing is that the well is still there and shoppers can see it in the basement at the back of the men’s department.

Brace yourself and welcome to the famous haunted toy store in Sunnyvale, California. The legend says that the land under the property used to be a plantation owned by Martin Murphy. He hired a preacher, Johnny Johnson, who fell in love with Murphy’s daughter, Elizabeth. But she got engaged to a lawyer. Johnny’s heart was broken, and he lost his life in an accident while chopping wood.

Today Johnny’s phantom reportedly wanders around the Toys “R” Us store still chasing his beloved Elizabeth. Customers and employees report seeing objects moving on their own, hearing mysterious footsteps, and even Johnny’s whispers over the intercom system. Whoo!