Haunted mansions, abandoned prisons, and ghost towns are creepy places to visit all year round, but nothing matches their appeal more during Halloween, especially in the US. Spending Halloween strolling the neighborhood for candies and treats is fun; adding a trip to your All Hallow’s Eve plan will definitely make things more memorable! Start a new tradition by visiting these spooky places to visit for Halloween.
1.  Salem, Massachusetts
When it comes to the spookiest destinations to visit during Halloween, the city of Salem in Massachusetts is one of the places that often comes to mind. It’s well-known for its tragic history of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, condemning more than 200 people of witchcraft and putting 25 people to death. Due to its past, many supernatural occurrences happened in numerous places in Salem, especially those related to the infamous witch trials in the 1600s.
When visiting Salem, one of the haunted places visitors should note is the Witch House. The Witch House is the only remaining house directly connected to the Witch Trials. It was the residence of Judge Jonathan Corwin and his family, the magistrate of the Salem Witch Trials. From the stories and records, his family fell victim to the Corwin Curse after the events in the early 1690s, where eight of Corwin’s relatives died prematurely.
In addition, there is also the Howard Street Cemetery. Due to the injustice and hysteria that clouded the Salem Witch Trials, more than 20 innocent villagers, including one 81-year-old Giles Corey, died from being pressed to death with weights.
Giles Corey, who died from the long and brutal punishment, was supposedly executed where Howard Street Cemetery stands today. His cruel death sparked rumors, and people said his ghost continues haunting the grounds.
2.  The Ghost Town of Cahawba, Alabama
Cahawba, or Cahaba, is a small abandoned town in Dallas County and served as Alabama’s first permanent capital from 1820 to 1826. Today, Old Cahawba is now the state’s most famous ghost town.
Cahawba’s residents deserted the town sometime after the Civil War due to depleted resources and money. The ghost town is now operated as Old Cahawba Archaeological Park and is visited by many for its history. But despite its popularity for all things archaeological, many explorers reported creepy sightings, strange sounds, and haunted experiences.
One of Cahawba’s haunting features is its slave burial grounds that old residents created in 1819. Explorers can reach the area via a trail, but as most bodies don’t have headstones, hikers could be walking over gravesites without knowing.
Another notable haunting in Cahawba is Pegue’s Ghost. Many people reported a strange floating orb in the garden maze of Colonel Pegue’s house, one of the town’s high-ranking officers, who died from his wounds in the war.
3.  RMS Queen Mary, California
Haunted places aren’t limited to towns, swanky old estates, forests, or prisons. They could be a luxury ocean liner, too. The RMS Queen Mary, docked in Long Beach, California, is a popular example.
In its lifetime, The Queen Mary witnessed one too many parties and far too many killings. Reports and stories aboard the fancy ship noted a sailor’s death by the engine room door, several children’s deaths in the pool, and other hauntings from its brief stint in the Second World War.
Today, many people who check in to the Queen Mary confirm hearing screams of children during late nights and paranormal activities in the ship’s engine room.
4.  LaLaurie Mansion, Louisiana
Any fan of the American Horror Story show knows about LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans, Louisiana. But more than its popularity from the notable Hollywood TV series, its reputation as a haunted place with a spooky past holds more weight.
Owned by the famous NoLa socialite, Madam LaLaurie, in the 1800s, the mansion was the center for lavish parties. No one had any suspicions about the owner or her activities behind closed doors until the police responded to a kitchen fire in 1834. From that incident, the authorities discovered how Madam LaLaurie kept enslaved people in her attic and brutally abused them.
For the past two centuries, after Madam LaLaurie ran away to France after a mob of locals chased her out, many people reported paranormal sightings and activities inside the house.
5.  The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, West Virginia
Asylums, in general, are well-known for being creepy and haunted. But the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum has more frightening qualities due to its history. Created in the 1860s, it could only house 250 patients suffering from mental disorders and addiction, but the asylum became crowded in the 1950s and housed more than 2,000 patients.
Besides the recorded overcrowding problem, residents in the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum also experienced inhumane treatment plans, from ice-pick-performed lobotomies, seclusion cells, cold-water baths, and electric shock therapy.
The asylum only closed in 1994. From that point, many visitors reported disturbing paranormal activities, sightings, and experiences.
6.  Eastern State Penitentiary, Pennsylvania
Like asylums, prisons are another common haunted area with disturbing pasts. Eastern State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania checks that list, from its other name alone, Hell on Earth. The castle-like prison opened in 1829 as an experiment to reform criminals through solitary confinement and became the model for prison design worldwide.
The prison closed in 1971 after over a century and a half of use and is now one of the United States’ most haunted sites. People reported full-bodied apparitions of inmates with sacks over their heads and other paranormal activities.
7.  The Myrtles Plantation, Louisiana
Old mansions are beautiful historical sites and, for the most part, haunted. The Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana is the most haunted house in America, and for good reason. Owned and built by lawyer-turned-planter General David Bradford in 1796 on top of an Indian burial ground, the mansion houses over a dozen ghosts with tragic and brutal deaths.
The Myrtles Plantation’s history is full of tragedy and death, mostly from murder, hanging, poisoning, and yellow fever. The most famous haunting reported is by the vengeful ghost of a slave, Chloe, who died from hanging after killing her master’s wife and two daughters with a poisoned birthday cake. They then threw her body into the Mississippi River after.
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