Halloween is just round the corner. What do you have in mind? Why not do something a bit different than the rest this Halloween? Instead of getting some cheap thrills at haunted mansions that look so obviously fake, why not get a taste of the real deal? Check out some of the spookiest hotels the world that claim to be haunted by real ghosts. Well, as real as anything can be after it is dead, that is!
Historic Farnsworth House Inn (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
When you have an entire town steeped in the violent history of the Civil War things start getting interesting. Add to that a 19th century building riddled with more than a hundred bullet hills turned into an inn, you can be sure its reputation is going to spread far and wide. This inn is among the most haunted lodgings in the country and spirit of dead soldiers who lost their lives in the Gettysburg battle are said to roam freely around the property. The inn conducts ghost tours that take you around the little town but begin from the Mourning Theater in the basement. Halloween could barely get more interesting than this.
Price: from $145/night
Historic Anchorage Hotel (Anchorage, Alaska)
This is the oldest hotel in Alaska and has been around since 1916. This place is a veritable hub of the deceased and departed and various spirits are said to make their presence felt here. Among the popular ones are a young girl who walks about on the second floor and the ghost of the first Police Chief of Anchorage, John J. “Black Jack” Sturgus. He comes back every year since 1921 on February 20 at 9:15 pm, which happens to be the exact date and time of his death.
Price: from $109/night
The Stanley Hotel (Estes Park, Colorado)
The Stanley Hotel inspired Stephen King to write The Shining. Though that is not the spooky element of this place we are talking about. The Stanley is said to be overrun by ghosts. If it isn’t a piano playing all by itself, it is uninvited occupants you can’t get out of a room. You get your usual stock of hair raising events and then some more.
Price: from $169/night
The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast (Fall River, Massachusetts)
Lizzie Borden, the original, cold-blooded, axe wielding, psycho babe that chopped her entire family in their Victorian home in 1892. This very same home has been converted into a part bed and breakfast and part museum. The jitters begin at the idea of sleeping within the same walls that were silent spectators to such a gruesome episode. Those with a penchant for the macabre will love it; and others with a faint heart can skip it.
Price: $175–225/night
Jekyll Island Club Hotel (Jekyll Island, Georgia)
This massive 1886 resort was once given the title of the “the richest, the most exclusive, the most inaccessible club in the world.” That is hardly the case now but, it does make for a comfortable place to stay in with an elegant Victorian feel about it. On occasion, you may be able to make the acquaintance of General Lloyd Aspinwall who was the first president of the club. The fact that he happens to be dead only adds to the charm of the meeting. Honeymooners keep an eye out for the “bellman” spirit dressed in a 1920s-style uniform. He is notorious for knocking on doors of newly married couples, not to scare them but to simply offer laundry services. This ghost has a thing for cleanliness, it seems.
Price: from $189/night
