We love a ghostly story, especially in the Halloween season. As we listen to the scary stories from the safety of our homes, spare a thought for those who have experienced the paranormal in the flesh. There are many spots across America and Asia where ghosts and ghouls are rumored to have been seen.

Strange noises, apparitions, and moving objects have been seen regularly. Many towns run tours to give visitors a taste of the chilling experiences that have been reported in their buildings. How true these are, we may not know. However, for those who have witnessed the eerie occurrences, they are very real indeed.

From abandoned villages to run down asylums and prisons, America and Asia are full of places that are rumored to be haunted by ghosts. There are some chilling tales of murders, suicides, and tortures taking place, leading to the tortured souls unable to rest in peace.

Graveyards and cemeteries hold stories of their dead rising to find answers to their eternal questions. There are even roads that are dangerous to cross because of the supernatural activity along the way. For a super spooky Halloween, many of these towns host special tours and themed activities to draw people in to experience the ghost sensation for themselves. They at least, are convinced of the verisimilitude of the tales.

23 USA: Bannack, Montana

via: hauntedhouses.com

Bannack has around 20 buildings with spooky credentials. There have been several ghostly sightings in the town, including the ghost of Dorothy Dunn who drowned in a local creek in 1916. She is seen regularly in the old Meade Hotel, where cold spots are felt in some rooms and the ghost of the old owner is said to roam.

The Bessette House is also said to be home to the ghosts of several children who died of numerous epidemics during the late nineteenth century, according to Haunted Houses.

22 USA: Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado

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This beautiful building was the inspiration for the Stephen King novel, The Shining after the novelist stayed in the hotel. Built in 1909, it is said to be the most haunted hotel in America, with the fourth floor having the most spirit presence.

The Concert Hall, where Houdini performed, is the most haunted place in the hotel, with guests reporting an eerie presence, and lights regularly dimming and brightening from ghostly influences, according to The Independent. There is also a piano that randomly plays itself and doors that bang shut on their own.

21 USA: Charleston, South Carolina

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Charleston has a rich history that is felt in many haunted places around the town. The Old City Jail is so haunted that visitors run out of it in terror, according to Traveler of Charleston. The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon have a similar effect, especially at night.

If you stay at the Battery House Carriage Inn, you may see the ghost of a headless man who presents himself to visitors. Take a trip to the town’s oldest building, the Powder Magazine if you dare, it is said to house many an old Charleston resident in ghost form.

20 USA: Salem, Massachusetts

via: theoccultmuseum.com

Salem is well known for its witch trials in the seventeenth century, and it remains one of the creepiest towns in the US. An accuser turn accused, Giles Corey, is said to haunt the cemetery and appears before sinister events take place in Salem, such as the Great Fire of 1914.

The house of Joshua Ward sits on land once owned by a sheriff who sentenced many to death in the witch trials. His body is buried beneath the house and he is said to haunt it along with several of his victims, reports Ranker.

19 USA: Savannah, Georgia

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The haunted buildings and cemeteries of Savannah have given it the reputation for being one of the most haunted cities in America. In the Hamilton-Turner Inn, you can hear the echoes of laughing children, feel the chill as billiard balls are heard knocking against each other and see a cigar smoking ghost on the roof.

At the Marshall House, faucets turn on by themselves and ghostly laughter can be heard in the corridors, according to Visit Savannah. Similar spooks await guests at 17 Hundred 90 Inn and Restaurant where pots bang in the kitchen and a ghost girl runs amok.

18 USA: Seattle, Washington

via: tripadvisor.com

There are numerous places in spooky Seattle if you want to experience the supernatural. The University Heights Center was the home to many orphaned children whose laughter can still be heard even when no live children are present.

At Hotel Andra, guests can be heard partying on upper floors, unless someone goes to investigate, then all suddenly goes silent. In room 1120 at the Mayflower Park Hotel, guests report the feeling that someone else is staying with them in the room, according to Seattle.curbed.

17 USA: Sleepy Hollow, NY

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This ‘spellbound region’ has remained a focus for those seeking the paranormal since the publication of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in 1819. The Horseman’s Hollow is the pinnacle of spookiness, where a headless horseman in ghost form is said to race through the area. Re-enactments of the eerie events of Sleepy Hollow can be seen each Halloween.

The braver visitors can take part in a night-time exploration of the Sleepy Hollow cemetery, according to Elliman. Visitors can also see The Legend of Sleepy Hollow acted out at the Old Dutch Church if they dare.

16 USA: Bodie, California

via: hauntedhouses.com

Bodie was a hub of the gold rush, and legend has it that ghosts roam the town today to protect it against pilferers. The abandoned town is a genuine ghost town with ghosts!

According to CSI Cop, at the JS Cain house, the ghost of a Chinese lady, formerly a maid, wanders an upper floor, making herself known to children. The Angel of Bodie is the ghost of a small child killed by a miner’s pick, who plays with live children who visit the cemetery where she is buried.

15 USA: Hart Island, NY

via: hartisland.net

Hart Island has a strange history. This haunted place has been home to a Civil War Camp, a women’s insane asylum and a tuberculosis sanitorium. From 1869 to the present day it has been a potter’s field, where the dead are buried who cannot afford a proper burial or who are unidentified.

The island has had few visitors in the modern day. Only those who can prove they have a relative buried among the 850,000 dead can visit and no photographs are allowed. It has the reputation as the most haunted place in New York.

14 USA: Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia

via: visitphilly.com

This former prison is now derelict and lies an abandoned shell, haunted by former inmates. Over 75,000 men and women served sentences in the stark building. It was not a conventional prison but was a place to inspire penitence and humility.

The regime was harsh with total solitary confinement and no interaction with guards or prisoners. This system of isolation sent men insane and their ghosts are said to wander the prison seeking solace from their mental torment. Today, the public can see the haunting edifice for themselves as it is open to visitors.

13 USA: The Winchester Mystery House, San Jose

via: thewrap.com

This house holds stories of torment, mystery, and ghosts. The original lady of the house, Sarah Winchester had a life tinged with tragedy. Her husband died of tuberculosis, her baby died at six weeks old, and she was told that this was as a result of the tainted money in her family.

However, Sarah was told by a medium that she needed to continue building the Winchester House or she would die, and construction carried on for 39 years. Sarah was an oddity, a reclusive, said to be crazy. Today, ghosts are believed to roam the enormous house, particularly in the old servants quarters, reveals Mental Floss.

12 USA: Lunatic Asylum, Weston, West Virginia

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The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was home to the mentally ill from 1800. The patients endured overcrowding, being shackled and physical abuse and it is claimed that many of them roam the corridors trying to find peace.

The Independent describes how the upper floors where the staff and inmates were held are the most haunted. Visitors report eerie occurrences such as objects moving on their own and the asylum has been featured on television experiments into the most haunted spots in America.

11 USA: Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, Illinois

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This 82-plot cemetery is reported to be the most haunted graveyard in the US. Legend has it that the lagoon at the back of the cemetery houses the grizzliest findings. During the 1920s and 1930s, mobsters used it to dump any undesirables who they wanted to get rid of or who owed them money.

The lane leading to the lagoon is where a lady in white wanders with a child in her arms, allegedly the ghost of a woman buried with her child in the cemetery.

10 USA: Clinton Road, West Milford, NJ

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This ten-mile stretch of road is reported to be the most haunted highway in America. It has been the setting of many ghostly sightings and it is certainly eerie at night, not helped by the wooded land either side of the road.

The woods were the home to Satanic rituals and druid ceremonies, and the road that runs between them has three super haunted hot spots. There are the iron smelter, Ghost Boy Bridge and the ruins of Cross Castle, which is rumored to be where witches and devil worshippers gathered.

9 USA: Waverly Hills Sanitorium, Louisville, Kentucky

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This sanitorium is yet another location vying to be the most haunted place in America. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it housed sufferers of tuberculosis, which killed thousands.

The treatment was harsh, and death was common, and many ex-patients are thought to still haunt the building. Visitors have reported the sight of a man in a white coat entering the kitchens, evoking the smell of cooking food when nothing was on the stove. Room 502 is a notorious spot, having been the location of many tragedies including two suicides committed by young women.

8 Asia: Old Changi Hospital, Singapore

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The hospital housed the Japanese secret police during the Second World War, and the victims of their reign are still walking the corridors according to paranormal experts. Many oddities have been reported in the hospital, including strange voices, a wandering woman and the feeling of hands being held when no one is there.

Many groups report that a member went missing during their trip. The members return with the same tale, that someone led them away to a deserted part of the hospital, told them it wasn’t safe and then disappeared.

7 Asia: Himuro Mansion, Tokyo

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The Himuro Mansion is the setting of a sad event. A whole family was murdered by the patriarch after a ritual they had been planning was thwarted. People who have visited the abandoned house say that blood splatters appear on the walls, and a ghostly woman sits in the house.

Explorers who have visited the area have been found murdered with rope burns on their wrists. No one lives to tell if the legend of Himuro Mansion is true, but the fact remains that it is feared and revered by those who believe in its haunting stories.

6 Asia: Bhangarh Fort, Rajasthan

via: wikipedia.org

The approach to the fort is eerie in itself. The nearby village is practically deserted, and they tell stories of the fort being cursed and destined to be forever inhabited by ghosts. Legend has it that if anyone tries to build a roof on the fort, it immediately falls down.

The fort is beautiful but derelict inside, with evidence of its former splendor casting eerie shadows over the surroundings. It has a haunting, quiet feel and to those that believe, it is the most haunted fort in India.

5 Asia: Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital, Korea

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The hospital, which Koreans believe is their most haunted building, housed some atrocities and hid some ugly facts. The conditions were desolate, and tales abound of ghostly sightings of mad doctors and insane inmates.

The tortured souls of many former patients are said to roam the area, desperate to tell their stories of ill-fated experiments and hushed up killings. It is said that visitors to the deserted sight ran out screaming, covered in bleeding scratches and reporting ghostly noises and movements inside.

4 Asia: Museum, Cambodia

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Cambodians are as a nation, firm believers in ghosts and no place is said to have more ghostly activity than the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. During the reign of the Khmer Rouge in the country, 20,000 prisoners were held in this former high school.

Much of the building has remained intact and as it was when it was discovered in 1979. Evidence of the torture and misery is everywhere, from the blood splattered walls to the evidence of instruments of torture used on prisoners. Ghosts of the poor souls are said to be evident all over the building.