Zak, Aaron, Billy, and Jay. These are the guys from all corners of the United States that make up the critically-acclaimed Travel Channel hit, Ghost Adventures. The premise of the show, now in its seventeenth season, is the four guys travel around the globe and go on lockdown from dusk until dawn at various places rumored to be haunted. They meet with other people that have first-hand accounts of paranormal activity and use their own devices to record any accounts they have on the premises. Often splitting up to make the most of their time, all any of them can do in their solitude is hope whatever they encounter will let them make it to the next day.
Serious fans already know all there is to know about the episodes they see each week, but we uncovered some behind the scenes info about thirty of the top locations visited, including some lockdowns that really shook the crew. These will have you shaking with fright and wanting to research more (from the comfort of your hopefully-not-so-haunted home).
Keep reading (and keep the lights on) for a closer look at some of the best episodes. From locations that were so complex they had to be visited twice to physical altercations with an unseen power and requests for special access not available to anyone else, we've got the spine-tingling accounts you can't get enough of.
30 A Plagued Penitentiary In West Virginia
A movie starring Christian Bale, Out of the Furnace, chronicles the history of the some of the most infamous men that ever set foot in Moundsville Penitentiary in West Virginia. According to Fandom, the prison was considered by the Justice Department to be one of the most violent until it was closed in the 1990s.
Off the big screen, this violent past coupled with the looming gothic architecture made Moundsville the perfect place for the Ghost Adventures crew to spend time. According to the Travel Channel, the guys were not alone during their lockdown at Moundsville.
29 An Unsettling Factory In Alabama
Once home to a factory producing the world's largest amount of steel, the Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama of today is home to a museum dedicated to the Industrial Revolution.
In Season One, the Ghost Adventures crew set out to learn more about the tormented lives of the people that perished while working on the dangerous machines to produce the steel or while feeding the blazing hot furnace in the dead of night. According to Fright Furnace, there are more than one-hundred unexplained incidents documented with the Birmingham police.
28 A Shuddering Shelter In Florida
Just off the ocean on West Palm Beach sits the Riddle House, explored by Ghost Adventures in the first season of the show. According to the Travel Channel, the home was constructed initially in the early 1900s as a funeral parlor and residence for caretakers of the neighboring cemetery. It served many purposes over the years to follow and narrowly escaped demolition by the city. However, during its revival in the 1980s, work stopped abruptly when contractors cited paranormal activity and refused to return.
27 A Tombstone Theater In Arizona
No story about the Wild West would be complete without the mention of Tombstone, Arizona, the mining town filled with outlaws. However, even more famous to some than the O.K. Corral is the Bird Cage Theater.
According to Roadside America, the theater was the only building to survive the horrific fires of the 1880s and with its preservation came a constant reminder of the town's haunted past. The Ghost Adventures crew made Bird Cage one of their first stops in Season Two to meet the legends firsthand.
26 An Ominous Observatory In California
The Griffith Observatory in Griffith Park is one of Los Angeles' most iconic landmarks. Perched atop the Hollywood Hills with pristine city views, visitors and locals alike flock there for the perfect picture.
However, the park has a troubled past and is said to be afflicted by a curse, according to the Washington Post. A number of murder mysteries have occurred there, including one a few years ago that was never solved.
So who is behind these mysterious deaths and disappearances? City and park officials say there is nothing to be afraid of in terms of ghosts, but the Ghost Adventures crew decided to have a look for themselves.
25 A Haunted Hotel In California
According to Go Calaveras, visitors to Hotel Leger in Mokelumne Hill, California can pick up a "ghost kit" from the front desk and try to conjure up spirits on their own. However, some things are just better left to the professionals.
In a review by the Travel Channel, the hotel is described as one of the state's oldest still in operation. Drawn less by the historic charm and more by the reports of furniture moving on its own, the Ghost Adventures crew packed their bags for a frightening stay in room #7.
24 An 'Enchanted' Forest In Oregon
Deep in the heart of Oregon sits a family-owned theme park on twenty acres of land. People come from all over to behold the spectacle that is a fairy tale off the beaten path. According to NPR, the most popular ways to pass a day at the park are on the log ride and roller coaster.
However, the Ghost Adventures crew was interested in a thrill of a different type. According to the Travel Channel, the Enchanted Forest sits on an old battlefield and those that perished don't allow guests to explore in peace.
23 An Out Of The Ordinary Orphanage In Montana
When you picture Montana, you might think of pastures filled with sheep and cows, towering mountain ranges, and a never-ending sky. All of that is true, but digging deeper there's more to be uncovered (and not all of it is good).
According to Only In Your State, an orphanage operating out of Twin Bridges was known to offer harsh punishments to the children living within its walls. During the Great Depression, nearly four-hundred children considered the orphanage home, but not all of them made it out alive.
Ghost Adventures tried to make contact with some of these children in Season Twelve.
22 A Scary Saloon In Nevada
In the late 1800s, The Old Washoe Club in Virginia City, Nevada was comprised of members that made up a sort of who's who list among America's elite. According to the Old Washoe Club website, members included Generals Sherman and Grant, as well as dozens of railroad tycoons, actors, and other millionaires.
Documenting an extreme presence during their first visit, the Ghost Adventures crew made a return trip to the club to complete some unfinished business that left them in tears.
21 A Spooked House In California
Built rather unassumingly on the corners of Scott and Fulton Streets in San Francisco sits the William Westerfeld House. Known to locals as an iconic, landmarked building, the Westerfeld House was actually home to many satanic rituals performed by its renters throughout the years. According to Hoodline, a lion cub was also used during the rituals and left its claw marks inside the house.
The Ghost Adventures crew couldn't pass up an opportunity to lockdown inside the home for a peek at any occult after effects.
20 A Landmark Lighthouse With A Spooky Past In New York
A place called Execution Rocks is maybe not where you want to be, but the Ghost Adventures crew found themselves there during Season Two of the show. According to the Travel Channel, British soldiers took advantage of the rocky island in the Long Island Sound to torture prisoners during the Revolutionary War. Later, before the lighthouse was installed, ships were frequently damaged by the rocks that jutted out into the water without warning.
While the Ghost Adventures crew was interested in this history, they were particularly curious about the twenty or so spirits lingering from a serial killing spree in the 1920s.
19 A Nerve-Racking Nightclub In Kentucky
Some of the locations visited by the Ghost Adventures crew were just so interesting that they had to go more than once. This was the case with Bobby Mackey's Music World in Wilder, Kentucky.
Mackey, a retired country singer, opened the dive bar without any knowledge of the ground's past, according to an article posted to Medium - a past which included a slaughterhouse and mobster affiliations - until strange things began to happen.
While they only intended to observe the sounds and images others had reported, the crew became part of the story when they were attacked by a force and followed home, according to the Travel Channel.
18 A Cursed Castle In California
Driving down the Interstate toward Ione, California, your line of sight will be met with a Romanesque Revival castle. Once home to a reform school for boys, and constructed largely in part by inmates at nearby San Quentin Prison, Preston Castle is now protected by a Foundation looking to restore it. According to Atlas Obscura, boys shipped to Preston included Merle Haggard and Neal Cassidy.
Of course, with restoration comes a price. The Ghost Adventures crew was contacted to investigate mysterious sightings and slamming doors.
17 A Questionable Brewery In Georgia
It turns out that if you want to grab a pint with your buds at Moon River in Savannah, you might have to share the space with another kind of spirit.
Now a brewery, the site of Moon River was once a hotel and post office. Legend goes that many feuds, some more violent than others, occurred here, specifically in the brewery's billiard room.
Though reviews on Trip Advisor don't make mention of any ghostly apparitions, employees have noted broken bottles and being shoved according to the Travel Channel.
16 A Menacing Motel In England
On a winding road in England's Wotton-Under-Edge sits the Ancient Ram Inn. Though historic in its own right, the real story lies beneath the inn.
According to the Travel Channel, the inn was constructed on a burial ground (proven with the discovery of human remains) and has connections to Stonehenge via an energy field. Until the Ghost Adventures crew came to visit, the innkeeper had been the only person to spend a night in the inn for decades, all others too afraid of what they might encounter.
15 An Isolated Island With An Alarming Story In Italy
Many of the locations visited on Ghost Adventures are fully accessible or at least somewhat accessible to the public. However, that wasn't the case with Poveglia Island as it is completely off-limits, according to the Travel Channel.
The Ghost Adventures crew gained special access to the island and weren't surprised by what they found, considering it was once used to quarantine plague victims and later as an asylum for those with mental illness.
That episode was a nail-biter for fans as they wondered if the crew would be stuck on the island as so many had before.
14 A Freaky Fort In Arkansas
In the 1940s, Fort Chaffee was commissioned off a dirt road in Arkansas as a response to impending war and the need to train soldiers for their duties. It also served as a POW camp in WW2.
Now Fort Chaffee sits mainly abandoned aside from occasional training exercises conducted by the state's National Guard. But is it actually abandoned? According to the Travel Channel, hundreds perished on Fort Chaffee's grounds and paranormal activity is abundant.
13 A Ghostly Guesthouse In Colorado
If you've ever seen the cult-classic film, The Shining, then you're familiar with the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado (while it wasn't filmed there, it looks an awful lot like the Overlook Hotel in the movie). You may not, however, be familiar with the stories about what happened in room 217.
The Ghost Adventures crew flew to Colorado to find out if there was any truth to the inspiration behind one of Stephen King's most famous works.
Hint: there is.
12 A Possessed Pub In Washington
When they traveled to Seattle, Zak and the team tried to lighten the mood by visiting some of the local tourist attractions (obviously the gum wall). However, the true reason they were there was to investigate a haunting at Kells Irish Pub.
Patrons and employees have reported that the pub, which was once a mortuary, is inhabited by hundreds if not thousands of spirits. According to the Daily Mail, whispers and creaking floorboards can be heard late at night and mirrors have been known to shatter out of nowhere.
11 A Hair-Raising Clinic In Texas
Not much goes on in the quiet town of Yorktown, Texas outside of high school football and worship services on Sunday, according to Texas Hill Country. However, anyone that has ever stepped foot in the abandoned Yorktown Memorial Hospital, formerly a drug and alcohol treatment facility, will tell you otherwise.
In Season Four, the Ghost Adventures crew stayed in the hospital after reports of dolls seemingly coming to life and visions of people walking around the dark hallways were made to authorities.