Top 10 haunted houses in the US: from historic buildings with celebrity ghosts to spooky crime scenes and eerie mansions

To the great joy of all lovers of the paranormal today, they have a huge selection of places to visit to experience the exhilarating experience of encountering ghosts. There are plenty of such houses in the United States that have interesting and sometimes quite creepy ghost stories associated with them. Some of them are quite famous and have an insanely frightening reputation. In the best of them, which have a truly terrifying atmosphere, today you can visit with a tour, spend the night and even participate in a paranormal hunt. If you are an adventurer filled with real goosebump-inducing supernatural phenomena, then these haunted houses in the US are worth adding to your travel itinerary.

Whaley House Museum, California

In 1852, James "Yankee Jim" Robinson, convicted of grand larceny, was hanged, and a few years later, married couple Thomas and Anna Whaley built a house on the site of the execution. It became one of the most famous haunted houses in the United States, as soon after its construction, eyewitnesses began to assure that Yankee Jim's ghost was appearing in it and the sounds of footsteps could be heard.

But this is far from the only haunting in the house. Eyewitnesses assured that they heard the crying and giggling of a baby, apparently belonging to Thomas Jr. - the son of the Whaley couple, who died of scarlet fever at the age of 18 months. They also felt a chill and saw the outline of a figure on the second floor, where the couple's daughter Violet, a young girl who had committed suicide in the house, spent most of her time. The couple themselves also appeared: the smell of Anna's perfume wafted through the rooms, and Thomas Sr. stood at the top of the stairs dressed in a cylinder and coat. Other paranormal phenomena include unexplained lights turning on and off, fog, swinging lamps, and curtains moving when all windows are closed.

This San Diego home has such an intimidating atmosphere that it was officially classified as haunted by the U.S. Department of Commerce in the 1960s. See the house for yourself on the Ghosts and Tombstones tour, which includes nighttime tours of the house for thrill-seekers.

Death House, New York

Real estate in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City has high appeal, but that's not the case for the beautiful brownstone home on West 10th Street known as Death House. The townhouse has gained an unfortunate fame as one of the creepiest haunted houses in the United States because of the haunted ghosts of 22 people who have lived or died within its walls. Among them is a 6-year-old girl who was murdered by her foster father.

Some of the local ghosts belong to famous personalities, such as writer Mark Twain, who stayed here in 1900. Subsequent guests have claimed to have seen his appearance wandering up and down the stairs, sitting on the windowsill and hearing disembodied footsteps. The ghosts of a woman in a white dress, a young girl and a gray cat have also been seen here.

Writer and actress Jan Bryant Bartell described her experience living in the top-floor apartment in her book "Spinning Stream: The Splash of the Psychic Sea", describing an incomprehensible series of deaths involving people and animals living there. The book was well received by readers, but Bartell herself died shortly after its completion under mysterious circumstances.

The house still has private apartments, so you won't be able to look around inside, but this street is a stop on the popular haunted house tours of New York City. US.

Mysterious Winchester House, California

According to legend, this Victorian mansion, located on a busy street in San Jose, California, is haunted by the ghosts of every person who has ever been killed by Winchester rifles. So we should assume their list is an impressive one. Because of this, homeowner and widow of gun magnate Sarah Winchester kept adding additional rooms to the house to give the souls of the dead more space and to appease them.

The result was not just an abundance of rooms, but one of the strangest haunted houses in the United States - a real labyrinth with corridors leading to dead ends, sloping floors, cut staircases and a string of rooms. ABC News in their article even made a calculation of the internal contents of the house: 10 thousand windows, 2 thousand doors, 40 staircases, 13 bathrooms, 47 fireplaces and 9 kitchens.

Sarah Winchester passed away in 1992, and since then, the house has hosted tours for those who wish to visit this chimerical maze and meet the Winchester ghosts.

Murder House in Villisca, Iowa

The town of Williska, Iowa is quite tiny (its population is just over a thousand), but it has become famous for one of the most terrifying haunted houses in the United States.

The white wooden building, known as the Axe Murder House, was the site of a gruesome tragedy in 1912, when an unknown person used an axe to murder an entire family with extreme brutality. One of the wealthiest families in Moore Township died, including four of their children and two girlfriends of their 9-year-old daughter Katharine, who had stayed overnight. All were killed in their sleep, and only one of the girls appears to have woken up, but she also failed to escape.

The perpetrator did not take any valuables. Police have identified several suspects, including a local pastor, but no one has been charged with the bloody crime. The murder remains unsolved, and that is what has caused the haunting of the place, whose souls have not found peace and are hungry for justice.

This small rural gothic estate can be visited on a guided tour, and fans of the supernatural can even stay here overnight.

Lizzie Borden House, Massachusetts

In 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were found dead in a house in Fall River, Massachusetts. They had been murdered with an axe, and Andrew's daughter, Billie Borden, was the prime suspect. She was tried before a jury and eventually acquitted despite much circumstantial evidence, but for the rest of her life the shadow of guilt hung over her. Lizzie bought a house nearby with an inheritance from her father and lived there until her death, never starting a family of her own.

But her ghost, according to legend, remained to live in the house where her father and stepmother were murdered, and eyewitnesses claim that her laughter can still be heard here. It is now one of the most famous haunted houses in the United States. It acts as a museum and hotel equipped with cameras to capture ghosts, and fans of the extreme and the supernatural can spend the night here trying to hear Lizzie's laughter, the screams of her murdered parents and the maid who found their bodies dead in their beds. The house can be visited on an in-person tour or you can try a less creepy option with a Ghostflix virtual tour.

Bell's Witch Cave, Tennessee

In the early 1800s, farmer John Bell purchased a tract along the Red River in Tennessee for farmland. It was located near a mysterious local landmark now known as Bell's Witch Cave. Business on the farm flourished until the occupants began to notice strange animals on the property, such as a dog with the head of a rabbit.

From then on, the family, and especially John and his daughter Betsy, began experiencing unexplained physical attacks, hearing unexplained sounds, and having conversations with some sort of "entity." According to one account, the "entity" introduced itself as the family's former neighbor, Kate Batts, who was determined to avenge their unknown insult even from beyond the grave. It was this "entity" that, according to legend, prevented Betsy from marrying and caused John's death. The presence of ghosts here is backed up by many eyewitness accounts and affidavits from those who have experienced meeting them firsthand.

Today, daredevils traveling to some of the scariest haunted houses in the United States can visit the Bell Witch Cave and John Bell House in Adams, Tennessee on a guided tour from May through September.

The White House, Washington, D.C.

The US President's residence may not be what you'd expect to see in this top of the most mysterious haunted houses, but in fact, these legendary walls are home to many famous ghosts. That being said, they have been witnessed by equally famous personalities. For example, President Ronald Reagan told dinner party guests that his dog barks at invisible visitors, and his daughter Maureen saw a ghostly figure in the Lincoln bedroom window - possibly the president himself. Lincoln's ghost is also said to have been encountered by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill when he left the bathroom.

It is claimed that the ghost of President William Henry Harrison, who was the first to die in the White House, continues to live in the residence. The ghost of President Andrew Jackson has also been seen in his former bedroom. But not only former presidents visit this place: the ghost of President James Madison's wife Dolly has been seen in the gardens, and the ghost of President John Adams' wife Abigail has been seen in the East Room.

The White House can be visited during free public tours, but entry requires a visit request process and several security checks.

Sully's House, Kansas

Fans of the ghost hunting show will surely recognize this seemingly modest house in Atchison, Kansas. It looks quite ordinary on the outside, but its simple facade hides a bad reputation worthy of the most terrifying paranormal houses in the United States.

In the early 90's, Debra and Tony Pickman, who rented the house, claimed that there were strange phenomena: flickering lights, unexplained voices, ghosts, and on their bodies they found inexplicably appeared scratches, burns and marks. They attributed these incidents to the spirit of the girl Sally. She was also seen and heard by other tenants, such as Bobby and Colin Humbard and their daughter Heather. The latter claimed that Sally was her imaginary friend.

Theories about the origin of the paranormal phenomena here were that Sally was far from being a harmless ghost, but was actually a demon masquerading as a little girl. In favor of this is allegedly some evidence of satanic rituals conducted in the basement. The house can be visited on a tour or special overnight visits.

Franklin Castle, Ohio

This imposing Victorian mansion in Ohio, built in the 1800s by Hannes Tiedemann, is considered one of the most haunted houses in the United States. It gained this fame due to Tiedemann's notoriously violent behavior in Cleveland. And after a string of mysterious deaths in his family, the rumors took a more concrete form.

Among the large number of people who died suddenly in the house was Tiedemann's daughter Emma. She died due to complications caused by diabetes. She was followed by Tiedemann's mother and 3 more of his children. Then spouse Louise passed away, most likely due to liver failure. But rumors of Tiedemann's involvement in these deaths could not be stopped. According to them, he also killed other family members, such as his niece, as well as his mistress and possible illegitimate daughter. After his wife's death, Tiedemann moved away and the house passed from owner to owner. One of them was a member of the German Socialist Party and lived here for 55 years, which added to the mansion's grim reputation with rumors of a den of Nazi spies.

You can't visit Franklin Castle, as it is a private residence. But you can see the outside and learn about its spooky history on some of the tours of famous haunted houses in the US. It's also the subject of an episode of Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures.

Biltmore, North Carolina

The stately country house in Asheville was built in the 1800s by George Washington Vanderbilt II. Over its history, it has become famous as one of the most haunted houses in the United States, although the estate is not associated with any spooky or gory events. It seems that its former inhabitants intend to "lead a social life" even while in the afterlife. The estate was opened to the public in 1911 by Vanderbilt's children after his death, and this appears to have been the impetus for the paranormal phenomena.

Visitors have reported hearing a woman's voice here, possibly belonging to Vanderbilt's wife Edith, calling her husband by name. Others have seen some strange ghostly figures. The presence of hidden doors and passageways adds to the mystical aura of this house.

Today you can visit the estate on your own or with a guide. And if you do encounter a ghost, you can calm your nerves by checking out the wineries nearby.