Very few people are willing to brave terrifying and haunted overnight stays. Whether it’s the psychological nightmare of McKamey Manor or the ghost-infested hull of the Queen Mary, we’ve found the top ten bone-chilling places to spend the night. But are you daring enough to take on the challenge?
Ghosts, specters, dark history, and mental terrors await you in these eerie locations. The ghosts of Confederate soldiers pace the haunted campsite at Antietam Creek. Ghastly parties fill the Stanley Hotel with disembodied music. A clown poltergeist terrorizes guests at The Clown Motel — and these are just a few of the frightening overnight experiences you can have in the United States. And if you’re ready to test your mettle, the destination of your next family vacation may be waiting in the words below…
McKamey Manor: A Psychologically Terrifying Overnight Stay
Not all of these spine-chilling locations will affect readers equally — except for McKamey Manor. This haunted house once offered a $20,000 payout to anyone capable of making it through the entire night, and no one ever has.
Formerly of San Diego, with locations in Nashville, Tennessee, and Huntsville, Alabama, McKamey Manor has built a reputation for its extreme horror and downright disturbing enterprise. Participants go through a grueling process of physicals, drug tests, and mental health screenings. Then, they must sign a 40-page waiver to gain access to their most terrifying nightmares.
According to the manor’s owner, Russ McKamey, he tailors his terrors to each individual participant and uses hypnosis to intensify their fears.
Contestants have suggested that McKamey’s methods are nothing less than torture. Some have called the police, alleging abuse of one kind or another. Others have attempted to sue McKamey for their treatment within the manor. None, however, have succeeded.
McKamey Manor keeps meticulous video evidence of each contestant. Often, the reported torture turns out to be nothing more than a trick of the mind. That said, some visitors claim their experiences included such extremes as waterboarding. So not only is this one of the most terrifying places to spend the night — it may also be the most traumatic.
Sallie House: The Most Haunted Overnight Stay
Some call the Sallie House in Atchison, Kansas, the most haunted house in the United States. This terrifying location has inspired documentaries and books and has become a staple of paranormal culture.
Sallie House’s legend says it was a doctor’s private practice in the 1800s and is now haunted by a young girl who died during a surgical procedure. The apparition, driven by skewed memories of her operation, attacks men who cross her threshold.
In Sallie’s spectral eyes, she had been tortured to death by a male doctor. To her credit, any procedure would’ve felt like torture in an era when anesthesia was far from at its height.
Some iterations of the myth say it’s not the patient who haunts the Sallie House, but the doctor. In this story, he was the son of the original homeowner. From here, the tale diverges in one of two ways: Either the doctor was an evil man in life, or an evil force inside the home turned the doctor’s spirit dark.
Witnesses claim to have seen nearly all kinds of ghastly phenomena — from dogs refusing to set foot on the property to blatant spiritual attacks. Paranormal investigators have found plenty of alleged evidence as well, such as Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) and Electromagnetic Field (EMF) readings. And if you want an overnight stay at this spooky haunt, it comes at a reasonable price.
Antietam Creek Campsite: A Haunted Outdoor Experience
Antietam Creek Campsite offers a double feature: You can spend time in the great outdoors of Washington County, Maryland, and you can experience a haunted overnight stay. The campsites at Antietam Creek come with fire pits, drinkable water, picnic areas, and ghosts of the Civil War.
The campground is roughly ten minutes from the Antietam Battlefield site. Over 20,000 soldiers were killed or wounded here in volleys of gunfire during the Civil War. Several other haunted locations are in this area as well.
The Union and Confederate armies alike buried countless dead near Burnside’s Bridge in unmarked graves. Confederate soldiers were piled in heaps on Bloody Lane. St. Paul Episcopal Church doubled as a Confederate hospital, where the wounded expired in scores. And paranormal experts believe each of these locations is as haunted as the next.
Visitors at Antietam claim to hear spectral soldiers crying out at night as they relive their mortal wounds. Lights flicker in the church’s tower for anyone with a keen eye. The beat of war drums sounds from Burnside’s Bridge, investigators see glowing orbs soar through the night, and the apparitions of soldiers march down Bloody Lane. If you’re lucky, you can catch a glimpse of them for yourself.
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The Queen Mary: Stay Overnight On a Haunted Ship
The Queen Mary was a giant British ocean liner that ran as a transatlantic passenger vessel before WWII. During the war, the vessel was conscripted into the British Royal Navy to assist the war effort. As a warship, the Queen Mary could carry nearly 17,000 people at a time, making it the largest ship on the water during WWII. Now, the ocean liner is one of the most haunted overnight stays in the United States.
Before retiring, this monstrous ship found itself at the wrong end of another Royal Navy vessel. The Queen Mary, having navigation issues, plowed directly through the middle of the other ship. The Queen Mary survived, but it tore the other vessel in two.
Now, according to paranormal enthusiasts, the lives the Queen Mary took echo through her steel hull.
You can find this warship docked in Long Beach, California, where it has become a tourist attraction and an onboard hotel. Visitors claim to see ghost children frolicking in the pool and down the halls. Some believe an engineer who died on the vessel spends his afterlife within the Queen Mary as well.
Numerous phenomena can be witnessed firsthand on the ship’s tours. If you want a more immersive experience, you can always book a room at the haunted Queen Mary Hotel.
The Cecil Hotel: Move into a Haunted Hotel
The Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles — renamed Stay on Main in 2011 and then again as Cecil Hotel Apartments in 2021 — is a terrifying overnight stay in more ways than one. Some believe the hotel is haunted. However, it’s the Cecil’s history of unfortunate deaths that is truly unsettling.
According to former hotel manager Amy Price, there were over 80 deaths at the Cecil Hotel in the time she worked there. Many were due to natural causes as several of the hotel’s visitors were older residents. The more notable deaths, on the other hand, were the product of drug overdoses, suicides, or even murder.
Serial killers were drawn to the Cecil Hotel like iron shavings to a magnet. This nightmare inn hosted the “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez in the mid-’80s while he was actively on his killing spree. He probably never killed anyone on the hotel’s grounds, but he likely crawled into bed at the Cecil after prowling the streets of Los Angeles.
More incidents at the Cecil Hotel
The list of untimely deaths at the Cecil Hotel started shortly after it was established and has since turned it into a horrifying place to spend the night. The first death occurred in 1927 by suicide — the latest in 2013, and it was a heart-wrenching discovery.
Hotel cameras caught 21-year-old Elisa Lam acting in a way some interpret as paranoid on February 1, according to the BBC. After several complaints of low water pressure, hotel maintenance discovered Lam’s body in a water tank on the roof. Authorities labeled her death accidental, but not everyone is convinced.
The discovery of Elisa Lam’s body and the Cecil’s deeply disturbing history inspired the TV show American Horror Story: Hotel. Lam’s death is only the latest in a continuous series of tragic events at the hotel, leading many to believe the building is cursed.
With the most recent owners converting the hotel into apartments, you can’t stay at this terrifying place by checking in for the night. Instead, you’ll need a year-long lease. However, if you’re brave enough, you could spend every night at the Cecil — for the price of your monthly rent.
The Stanley Hotel: A Haunted Overnight Stay that Inspired Stephen King
Stephen King made The Stanley Hotel one of the most famous hotels in the world. This beautiful and supposedly haunted hotel served as his inspiration for The Shining. Even if no spirits wander The Stanley’s halls, horror fans should still find an overnight stay thrilling.
Staff and visitors of the hotel claim to have witnessed several paranormal phenomena firsthand. Room 217, where King formed the outline for his masterful work, is allegedly haunted by a worker who died in the 1910s. The spirit, however, isn’t harmful as one would expect. Rather, she’s a helpful entity who’ll even fold your laundry.
Additionally, the spirit of the former owner’s wife enjoys entertaining guests with her musical stylings on the hotel’s piano. Her husband, on the other hand, sits at the hotel bar to share drinks with his guests. Out of all the spirits you could spend your time with, the ghosts of The Stanley Hotel might be the most friendly.
Regardless, this is a haunted overnight stay that should be on every paranormal enthusiast’s list.
The Clown Motel: The Creepiest Overnight Stay
The Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada, is one of – if not the – scariest overnight stays in the U.S. Even if you aren’t afraid of clowns, this place will probably creep you out. Included in the decor are the thousands of clown dolls with wandering eyes.
The motel is plastered with clowns from roof to foundation. Giant clown paintings and signs mark the outer walls, while the inner rooms resemble circus themes and horror movie sets.
If the clowns aren’t enough to send chills down your spine, The Clown Motel is supposedly haunted by a poltergeist. This spirit enjoys terrorizing visitors with disembodied laughter, but that’s not all. The spirit is fond of projecting ghost clown apparitions, or, as Ghost Adventures discovered, causing clown dolls to move on their own.
Pennhurst Asylum: An Overnight Haunted Asylum Tour
Pennhurst Asylum, formerly Pennhurst State School and Hospital, has a sordid past. Opening in 1908 in Spring City, Pennsylvania, the asylum accommodated the unwanted victims of an ignorant society — people with disabilities.
Around 50% of the facility’s patients died due to poor conditions. Abuse was rampant, and it went on for almost 80 years before the patients were moved out. The doors closed in 1987, and several members of the staff were charged with criminal abuse.
Supernatural aficionados believe that the traumatic lives and deaths of the facility’s patients permanently tied them to the asylum. As such, Pennhurst’s reputation has prompted numerous ghost hunts over the years.
The asylum has even begun hosting seasonal haunted houses and camping experiences. This outing blends the facility’s haunted history with somewhat extreme fictional horror, making it an especially terrifying overnight stay.
Campers, as their website explains, “may be handled, moved, bound, hooded and chained.” They go so far as to require closed-toed shoes as a safety precaution. Unfortunately, the website provides no recommendations for protection against Pennhurst’s restless spirits.
Villisca Ax Murder House: An Overnight Stay at a Murder House
In 1912, authorities discovered the bodies of eight murder victims in a small house in the tiny Iowa town of Villisca. An unknown killer, armed with an ax, mercilessly hacked two adults and six children to death in their beds. Afterward, the killer left eerie details around the home.
The mysterious murderer covered the mirrors in the house with clothing. He also left food and a bowl of blood-tinged water on the kitchen table. Despite the clues these details may have presented, no one has confirmed the Villisca Ax Murderer’s identity.
These days, the murder house serves as a dark tourist attraction. Paranormal enthusiasts believe the spirits of the murdered family still haunt the residence, and the house’s owners agree. They even offer walkthrough tours of the home and allow visitors to experience haunted overnight stays for themselves.
Previous investigations have revealed a diverse range of paranormal activity, including scratching sounds, glowing orbs, and other visual disturbances.
Read more about the Villisca Ax Murders here!
Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum: A Terrifying Asylum Haunt
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia, began treating patients with mental illness in the middle of the 19th century. By the mid-20th century, it was operating at ten times its original capacity. The halls were crammed, and the residents lived like canned sardines. This, in turn, led to sanitary issues and physical abuse.
The facility no longer operates as a mental hospital. Instead, it focuses on providing the public with walkthroughs that highlight the asylum’s dark history. They also allow overnight paranormal investigations, if you’re adventurous enough to enjoy a haunted overnight stay.
Investigators claim to have witnessed flashlights turning on and off by themselves, electronic voice phenomena (EVP), and more. Workers at Trans-Allegheny tell stories of the spirit of a patient killed by a peer and the ghost of a young girl born at the asylum.
You can experience phenomena like this for yourself at many of the terrifying and haunted overnight stays on this list. All you have to do is make the reservations.
Check out more haunted places to spend the night!
