New York State boasts some of the most haunted places in America, from bustling metropolitan centers such as Manhattan to remote, upstate locations like Saratoga Springs where ghost tours offer real haunted experiences. Visit Rolling Hills Asylum or take part in one of Saratoga Springs ghost walks for an authentic paranormal encounter!
An unnerving public pool built over an ancient mass grave site in Brooklyn is said to be haunted by spirits. Also, Greenwich Village’s 19th-century brownstone known as “House of Death” may harbor ghostly presences.
Hell Gate Bridge
No matter your spiritual beliefs, this location should make any list of haunted places. An abandoned asylum that once housed smallpox patients has since been turned into a general hospital, nursing school and then psychiatric clinic.
Hell Gate Bridge sits over a narrow tidal strait which has seen several shipwrecks, leaving their victims’ voices to still echo through its arches. Furthermore, reports of child molestation by homeless rapists who would blindfold kids before pulling them underneath it have also surfaced here.
Visitors have reported numerous strange experiences here, from hearing doors open and close on their own to experiencing sudden cold blasts of air. Some visitors have even claimed they saw Gertrude Tredwell lingering about in her worn brown dress while hearing piano tunes during the night!
The Dakota
No one in New York City shies away from telling tales of haunted parks and buildings; New Yorkers don’t hesitate to claim they have witnessed supernatural forces at work in Green-Wood Cemetery, Machpelah Cemetery and the city crypts are particularly famously haunted. Old movie theaters and restaurants may also house spirits lingering nearby.
The Dakota is famously associated with Roman Polanski’s 1968 horror classic Rosemary’s Baby and John Lennon’s murder; however, its history of paranormal activity includes guests and staff reporting strange noises, footsteps that they heard but couldn’t see, objects moving uncontrollably and other strange phenomena.
New York offers numerous haunted spots, from Kings Park Psychiatric Center on Long Island (opened 1885, closed 1996), to Zombie Road in Middleburgh – a mixed ghost town that looks like LEGO playset – while on the West Coast there’s a haunted house in Phoenix that features the ghost of a girl who was abducted, killed, and dismembered – so plenty of creepy spots for visitors in both states!
Dr. Best House & Medical Museum
Middleburgh’s Victorian home and office has been preserved from the turn of the century with medical equipment that will bring chills down your spine – like an electrostatic machine for curing just about everything, zinc-topped operating table, real human skull, zinc-topped operating table etc. Once home to two generations of doctors who used it as their office/home base.
Staff and visitors to Trish Bergan’s Operational Office have reported sightings of shadowy figures, hearing voices, doors opening and closing on their own and even hearing music coming from within the walls at night. She has heard these accounts from volunteers and guests over many years of operation management.
The house offers candlelight tours and private ghost investigations by appointment as well as motorcoach access. Memorial Day to Labor Day it is open to the public with fees charged upon entry; please visit its website for more details and visit its collection of Civil War, railroad, and telephone artifacts for more information. Its popularity with history buffs also makes this an invaluable destination!
Art House
New York offers many haunted spots to visit. Whether you want a scare or simply enjoy exploring macabre artifacts, these destinations are worth your time and money. Masks may be worn; however they are not required per state regulations.
This former movie palace adds some glamour and class to Brooklyn, but is also reported to be haunted. There have been reports of people being pulled off their chairs, footsteps in the hallways, and even an unexplainable presence reportedly seen here.
On this episode of Art House, Kansas City filmmaker Jill Gevargizian discusses her process in creating high-grade scripted horror podcast “The Elmwood Strain.” Additionally, we look at an eye-opening documentary about a woman kidnapped and tortured in Nigeria as well as visit McCarren Park Pool which is said to be riddled with paranormal activity–in fact it may even be considered unsafe for swimming! Probably for the best!
