There are real haunted places everywhere in the world and some of them are just downright creepy. Usually, these are scenes where murders and tragic deaths took place, and somehow the traumatic departure from life has left spirits bound to the place. In fact, when in Louisiana, which coincidentally is included in this short list of
things to do, you could tour
haunted plantations in New Orleans.
Here are some of those scary, ghost-occupied locations.
The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California
The Winchester Mystery House is 160-room Victorian mansion located in San Jose, California. This was built by Sarah Winchester of the family that manufactured Winchester rifles. After losing both her husband and her daughter to an illness, Sarah was informed by her spiritual adviser that her family would be haunted by the lost souls of people who had been shot to death with the Winchester rifle, and she was to appease them by building a house where their spirits could stay. From the beginning of its construction, this house was destined to be one of those real haunted places where ghosts will linger. Sarah was engrossed in the project until the day she died - one that had taken 38 years by then.
The Moundsville Penitentiary in Moundsville, West Virginia
This penitentiary opened in 1866 where it initially housed about 500 inmates with the first executions taking place in 1899. Sixty years later this population would increase to nearly 2,500 and the number of executions would number 94. Apart from those put to death as punishment for crimes committed, a number of prisoners also died in the penitentiary from sickness or natural causes.
Visitors to the penitentiary report seeing several ghosts around the building's halls, including the ghost of a maintenance man who was stabbed by inmates for reporting about activities of inmates. Tours to this haunted place are usually conducted after sunset, adding to the pervading scary ambiance.
The Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky
This sanatorium first opened in 1910, due to the need to open a facility for people who had fallen ill with tuberculosis after an outbreak of the disease. In 1943, however, the discovery of streptomycin brought down the population of TB patients who needed long term care and isolation. By 1961 the sanatorium was shut down, and then reopened in 1962 as a nursing home for elderly patients with mobility problems or dementia. In 1982, it was closed again, amid accusations of patient neglect. One of the practical but rather macabre features of the place is a tunnel leading from the hospital to the edge of the hill where the hospital was located. With deaths occurring nearly daily, this tunnel provided a discreet way to bring bodies to a waiting hearse without demoralizing other patients.
It is said that 63,000 deaths occurred in the sanatorium, reason enough for Waverly Hills Sanatorium to become one of the real haunted places in the country. In particular, Room 502 is supposed to be the residence of a nurse who committed suicide in the room after finding out that not only was she pregnant by the owner but infected with TB herself.
Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana, near Baton Rouge
New Orleans tours won't be complete without a visit to this plantation. This antebellum plantation house in
New Orleans was built in 1796 by General David Bradford. It is said that two of Bradford's grandchildren were poisoned by Chloe, a family slave who was punished by being thrown into the river while weighted down with stones. Those two children and the slave are three of the 10 gruesome deaths rumored to have occurred in the plantation house. Today the house is reported to be home to 12 ghosts. After countless changes in ownership, the house was bought in the 1970s by James and Frances Kermeen Myers who turned it into a bed and breakfast place. Frances Kermeen later wrote a book about Myrtles Plantation House as a haunted house.
