Mississippi

University of Mississippi Medical Center

Jackson

This state loves scary legends—the devil roaming Delta crossroads, ghosts haunting the mansions in Natchez—but a very real site of horror resides here in Jackson. Back in 2014, construction workers developing a parking lot came across a mass grave of about 7,000 former Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum residents from the turn of the 20th century. The asylum closed more than 80 years ago, but it wasn’t uncommon in those days to bury deceased patients together in unmarked graves. Estimating that the cost for outside contractors to remove and rebury the remains would cost an extra $21 million or so, officials decided to let them rest in peace until they can exhume the bodies through university channels and build a historical center where the parking lot would have stood. Until then, it’s one hell of a frightening place to pay your respects to the anonymous thousands of dead. —Andrew Paul, writer

New York

United States Military Academy

West Point

If the Tudor-style architecture and all-around dismal creepiness of this campus don't give you the heebie-jeebies, then the school’s reported ghost sightings surely will. Back in 1972, cadets claimed to have seen a ghost in an antiquated school uniform roaming around Room 4714 —a room no longer in use. Other ghost stories have made their way into the school’s colloquial chatter, most notably the ghost of former superintendent Colonel Thayer’s Irish maid, Molly, who haunts the basement of Quarters 100, tousling the bedcovers in an otherwise orderly room, and borrowing and moving guests’ possessions. —AS

North Carolina

The Biltmore Estate

Asheville

The largest private residence in the entire country is, of course, housing some ghosties up in those 135,280 square feet. The former vacation home of George Washington Vanderbilt II is now considered one of the most haunted places in North Carolina. George himself has been spotted chilling in the library, and his late wife Edith wanders around calling out his name. There’s also a headless orange cat roaming the gardens, echoes of laughter and splashing water in the empty pool, and disembodied voices heard throughout the 250 rooms. A day pass to visit the grounds starts at $40, with overnight options available. —KP

Ohio

Ohio State Reformatory

Mansfield

Ohio has its fair share of creepy places, but this massive stone castle is basically hell disguised as Hogwarts. The majestically spired campus housed over 200,000 inmates during its history from 1896-1990. A tour through here on a normal day is grim, but during scare season it transforms into the biggest prison-based haunted attraction in America: Escape From Blood Prison. The cells and hallways are filled with undead inmates and faucets dripping blood, turning the already creepy reformatory into a bona fide nightmare through Halloween, after which it returns to a regular old haunted prison. —MM

South Carolina

Baynard Ruins

Union

The South is crawling with ghosts, especially on former plantations—hoards of evil racist overseers, rightfully damned to roam the grounds for eternity. But unlike the historically preserved plantations offering tours around the region (an entirely different bag of worms), the Baynard Plantation is in ruins. The dilapidation itself is enough to get your stomach in knots, even before the creepiest part: Apparently, if you stick around at night, a freaky funeral procession for namesake William Baynard will pass by. Maybe you'll hear it. Maybe you'll see it or feel it. Either way, this place isn't known for its (living) repeat visitors. —AK

Texas

Yorktown Memorial Hospital

Yorktown

Old beds, gurneys, mirrors, chairs, and other medical equipment are still inside this decrepit abandoned hospital, where more than 2,000 patients died before it shuttered in 1988. Today, visitors have described inexplicable apparitions, whispers, shadowy figures in the hallways, wheelchairs rolling unpushed, and a particularly terrifying talking doll in the nursery that asks, “Do you love me?” The owner allows for regular tours and paranormal investigations, so go ahead, see for yourself. —Keller Powell, former Thrillist editorial director

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