13 most haunted places in New York State

With Halloween looming near, many visitors are looking for things to do in New York that celebrate this spooky holiday. In this state, many ghost sightings have been reported by both ghost hunters and those who weren’t looking for the supernatural. Pay a visit to some of these most haunted spots in New York during your next haunted trip in America.

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© Flickr

1 | The Dakota, NYC

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The Dakota, c. 1890, one of the earliest apartment buildings on Central Park West in New York City

John Lennon was killed outside of this NYC apartment building, but it is not his ghost that has been reported by both residents and guests. Instead, images of a young boy and girl walking together are the ghostly sightings that take place at The Dakota time and time again.

Location: 1 West 72nd Street New York, NY 10023

2 | Goodleburg Cemetery, South Wales, New York

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Goodleburg Cemetery, South Wales

Goodleburg Cemetery was an active cemetery from 1811 to 1927, and is still open to visitors between 8 AM and dusk. Local legend holds that its namesake, Dr. Goodleburg, performed illegal operations and buried the women and children who did not survive in this graveyard. The cemetery was also the site of a death in 2003 when a ghost hunter was struck by a car late at night.

Visitors have reported seeing the spirit of a lady in white, supposedly one of Goodleburg’s patients, roaming the land. There have been coloured orbs which appear in photographs taken at night and some have heard the disembodied sounds and whispers within the cemetery area. A pond in the back of the cemetery has been known to experience strong winds followed by a child’s cry.

Location: South Wales, NY 14139, United States

3 | Jumel Mansion, NYC

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Jumel Mansion

Several ghosts are spotted here, but the most often scene is that of Eliza Jumel. Rumour had it that Eliza was having an affair with former Vice President Aaron Burr. When her husband, Stephen, died under mysterious circumstances she married Burr. They divorced a few years later and Eliza lived out her days alone in the mansion. Some say she can’t move on because she had something to do with Stephen’s untimely death, and so she roams the rooms of the mansion in search of peace.

Location: 65 Jumel Terrace New York, NY 10032

4 | Belasco Theater, NYC

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Belasco Theater, NYC

David Belasco built this theatre in 1907, and some say he’s never left. The ghost of a man, who may be Belasco, has been reported on stage, backstage and in the audience. Maybe he loves the theatre he built or maybe he doesn’t want to leave his companion, the Blue Lady, who is also seen by both workers and visitors.

Location: 111 West 44th Street New York, NY 10036

5 | The Merchant’s House, NYC

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The Merchant’s House, NYC

Once the family home of the Tredwell family, this house is now a National Historic Landmark and a NY Museum that provides a fascinating look at daily life in the mid-1800s. The home is filled with furniture and other items that belonged to the Tredwells. Some say it is also occupied by the ghost of Gertrude Tredwell, a spinster who lived in this house for her entire life.

Location: 29 East 4th Street New York, NY 10003

6 | Rolling Hills Asylum

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Rolling Hills Asylum © Flickr/jingerelle

The Rolling Hills Asylum ― a long-abandoned asylum, with its decaying walls ― in East Bethany, New York, has become one of the state’s most popular ‘dark tourism’ attractions, with its corridors still strewn with hospital beds, children’s toys and old medical equipment. The creepy interior has been used as a filming location for numerous TV shows and movies and the notorious Shadow People Hallway is said to be one of the creepiest places in the whole country. The Rolling Hills Asylum company offers ghost tours and even gives visitors the chance to rent paranormal investigation kits.

Location: 11001 Bethany Center Rd, East Bethany, NY 14054, United States

7 | Hotel Chelsea, NYC

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Hotel Chelsea

There are plenty of famous guests and ghosts at New York’s Hotel Chelsea, including Dylan Thomas, who died of pneumonia while staying here in 1953, and Sid Vicious whose girlfriend was stabbed to death here in 1978. Other celebrity ghosts who have been seen at the Chelsea Hotel, including Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Tennessee Williams, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Guests have reported ghost sightings throughout the iconic hotel, especially in room 205, where writer Dylan Thomas became ill before he died.

Location: 222 West 23rd Street, Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, NY 10011, United States

8 | The Amityville Horror House

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The Amityville Horror House

The Amityville Horror house became notorious as the location of a ‘real-life’ haunting when the story was made into a cult-classic in 1979. During the time, many terrifying, real-life events took place in this otherwise picturesque Colonial-style house. On November 13, 1974, a young man named Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his parents and four siblings in the house. When the Lutz family bought the house after the murders, they reported witnessing all sorts of unexplainable phenomena consistent with hauntings, such as ominous visions, loud noises and strange odours. The events prompted the family to move out after just one month of residence.

Amityville Horror House Photo
In 1976, a professional photographer Gene Campbell set up a camera on the second floor landing of 112 Ocean Drive, Amityville, NY – the location of the DeFeo Family Murders two years earlier. Many rolls of film were exposed, all showing nothing out of the ordinary, except for this one frame.

Here’s a famous ghost picture from the Infamous Amityville horror house. The story goes that the photo was taken by a professional photographer Gene Campbell in 1976 during an investigation helmed by two well-known demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens said no one was home during the time of the photo. Believers speculate the boy is the ghost of a murdered DeFeo child, John Mathew DeFeo, or a demon in disguise. Critics have suggested the “boy” is actually a member of the Warrens’ Investigation team, Paul Bartz.

Location: 112 Ocean Drive, Amityville, Long Island, NY

9 | The Empire State Building

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The Empire State Building

New York’s most famous skyline symbol, the Empire State Building is an architectural wonder and one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. But it has a dark side too, many believe this building to be extremely haunted. Over the years there have been dozens of people who have fallen from its viewing platforms, not to mention the five builders who died during its construction ― the bodies of some of which were said to be buried in the foundations leaving their ghosts unable to escape! Of course, the Empire State Building is still well worth a visit ― even for those who don’t believe in ghosts.

Another notable case is the “Most Beautiful Suicide of Evelyn McHale” who, on May 1, 1947, jumped off the 86th-floor Observation Deck of the Empire State Building. It is said that her ghost still haunts the historic building. It’s also an extremely busy tourist attraction, so ghost hunters might find it difficult to spot a ghost in the crowd!

Location: 20 W 34th St, New York, NY 10001, United States

10 | Evergreen Cemetery, Wynantskill, NY

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Evergreen Cemetery, Wynantskill. Early Cemetery named Ever Green Cemetery. First burial on August 11, 1876. Final resting place of many area early settlers removed from private plots town of North Greenbush.

Evergreen Cemetery is said to be haunted by the ghost of “Lady in Black Grab.” She is said to appear near the headstones at the top of the hill, and will look back at you if you see her. The moment you turn your head and look back, however, she will vanish into thin air!

Location: Wynantskill, Rensselaer County, New York 12198, US

11 | The House Of Death, New York

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House of Death, New York

The city that never sleeps is probably just too afraid of the House of Death to close its eyes—the famous brownstone off of Fifth Avenue that is reportedly terrorized by a whopping total of 22 ghosts. The most famous is writer Mark Twain, who lived here from 1900 to 1901. The most heartbreaking is the six-year-old girl beaten to death by her father, criminal prosecutor Joel Steinberg, in 1987. In addition to sightings of Twain and the young girl, residents say they have seen visions of a lady in white and a gray cat.

Location: 14 West 10th Street, NYC, NY 1011

12 | New Amsterdam Theatre, NYC

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New Amsterdam Theatre, 42nd St., New York, 1905

Olive Thomas’ story reads like the plot of a Broadway musical: She came to Manhattan at the age of 16, quickly won the title of “The Most Beautiful Girl in New York City,” and became a member of the legendary Ziegfeld Follies. She died in 1920 at the age of 25 after swallowing mercury pills, but it wasn’t long before her spectre was spotted backstage at the New Amsterdam, in full Follies regalia and carrying a blue pill bottle. She’s since been spotted many times at the theatre, almost exclusively by men. Theatre employees still bid good morning and good night to her portraits hanging backstage.

Location: 214 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036, United States

13 | Forest Park Cemetery, Troy

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Forest Park Cemetery, Troy | Troy County Club Rd & Pinewoods Ave on the way to Brunswick

Forest Park Cemetery, known locally as Pinewoods Cemetery, was first incorporated in 1897, though there is evidence that it has been in use since at least the mid-1800s. The cemetery is said to be highly active with paranormal activity, and bears a mausoleum without any filled tombs. There is also a statue of an angel which has lost its head and is said to bleed from its neck.

During the early morning of November 11, 1916, a troubled young man by the name of Harold Hubbard Horne committed suicide in Forest Park Cemetery. The Buffalo native was a student and veteran who had family troubles. Few visitors have claimed to see the spirit of Harold walking around the graves, especially when driving by at night. If you look through the front gates ― nicknamed the ‘gates of hell’ ― and call out the name Harold three times he will appear to say hello.

Some say that he will only appear to those going through extreme mental anxiety, as he promotes warm and comforting thoughts to those in need. While many ghosts cause a chill in the air, the spirit of Harold brings warm and positive energy to those who visit him.

Location: 387 Pinewoods Ave, Troy, NY 12180, United States

Bonus:

Oakland Cemetery, Yonkers
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Oakland Cemetery © OaklandCemeteryNY

Oakland Cemetery, established around 1783 to bury Revolutionary War soldiers, was originally called St. John’s Burial Grounds. The name was changed to Oakland Cemetery in 1875. Rampant vandalism has led to the rumours of its being haunted. Three ghostly women, coming from the hill towards the cemetery’s center, are said to chase prospective wrongdoers away. A photograph was taken of three apparitions here in 2006.

Location: 2 Saw Mill River Rd, Yonkers, NY 10701, United States

Cherry Hill Estate, Albany
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Cherry Hill Estate, Albany

Cherry Hill Estate, in southern Albany, is a late 18th-century farm manor house that was the site of an 1827 murder that resulted in Albany’s last public hanging after a controversial trial. An unidentified ghost has allegedly been seen on the property.

Location: South Pearl Street, New York State Route 32, Albany, New York 12202, US

Il Buco Restaurant, NYC
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Il Buco Restaurant, NYC © NY.Eater

Rumour has it that Edgar Allen Poe’s ghost hangs out at this fabulous Italian New York Restaurant. Some say that it was here that Poe got the inspiration for his tale The Cask of Amontillado. While that may or may not be true, many sightings have been reported.

Location: 47 Bond Street New York, NY 10012