The Most Haunted Places in Massachusetts

Ranked

1. 

   1. Stone's Public House Ashland · Haunted Dining / Bar · Family Comfort: Moderate

   HauntBound identified eight distinct published accounts at this operating restaurant and bar, across four kinds of published source. Three later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include disembodied voices and objects moving.

   8 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 2004-2021 · retold in 3 later publications

2. 

   2. Concord's Colonial Inn Concord · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: High

   Timothy Minot's 1716 home became an operating room for wounded soldiers after the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, with Room 24 serving as the treatment space where some men did not survive their care. Ralph Waldo Emerson lived in part of the property. The first paranormal report came in 1966, when a honeymooning couple left and wrote to the innkeeper describing flickering lights; guests since have reported floating lights and Colonial-era apparitions.

   4 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1966-2005 · retold in 4 later publications

3. 

   3. Hoosac Tunnel North Adams · Outdoor / Natural Site · Family Comfort: Moderate

   HauntBound identified five distinct published accounts at this outdoor site, across four kinds of published source. Four later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include a sensed presence and apparitions.

   5 original accounts · documented in 1900 · retold in 4 later publications

4. 

   4. USS Salem (United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum) Quincy · Museum / Historical Site · Family Comfort: Moderate

   HauntBound identified five distinct published accounts at this museum site, across three kinds of published source. Four later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and cold spots.

   5 original accounts · documented in 2019 · retold in 4 later publications

5. 

   5. Danvers State Hospital Danvers · Other Dark Tourism Site · Family Comfort: Moderate Private, not open to visitors

   Danvers State Hospital opened in 1878 as a Kirkbride Plan psychiatric facility and closed in 1992, standing empty for over a decade before most of the complex was demolished in 2006 for apartments, leaving only the administration building's brick facade. During its abandonment, investigators and urban explorers reported footsteps in empty corridors, doors closing unassisted, and figures glimpsed at upper windows. Since the redevelopment, reports have faded to occasional unexplained sounds around the retained facade.

   5 original accounts · retold in 3 later publications

6. 

   6. Dogtown Gloucester · Outdoor / Natural Site · Family Comfort: Moderate

   HauntBound identified six distinct published accounts at this outdoor site. Two later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and cold spots.

   6 original accounts · documented in 1984 · retold in 2 later publications

7. 7. Spider Gates Cemetery (Friends/Quaker Cemetery) Leicester · Cemetery / Burial Ground · Family Comfort: Low Private, not open to visitors

   HauntBound identified six distinct published accounts at this burial ground, across three kinds of published source. Four later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include disembodied voices.

   6 original accounts · retold in 4 later publications

8. 

   8. Hawthorne Hotel Salem · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: High

   HauntBound identified seven distinct published accounts at this working hotel, across three kinds of published source. Five later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and phantom smells.

   7 original accounts · retold in 5 later publications

9. 

   9. Joshua Ward House Salem · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: Moderate

   This 1784 Federal mansion was built for merchant Joshua Ward on the foundation of Sheriff George Corwin's home, where Corwin oversaw the 1692 pressing death of Giles Corey in the Salem witch trials. Washington stayed there in 1789, and the building now operates as a boutique hotel, The Merchant. Guests and staff report a female figure called the Lady in Black on the staircase, cold pockets in warm rooms, and unexplained scratches on overnight guests.

   5 original accounts · retold in 5 later publications

   Disputed by a historical authority The Salem Witch Museum's own history of the site states there is no evidence to substantiate the legend that Sheriff George Corwin tortured prisoners in the house, or that he or his victims haunt it, while noting the story persists as popular tradition.

10. 

    10. The Red Lion Inn Stockbridge · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: High

    Silas Pepoon opened this Stockbridge tavern in 1773, and Continental soldiers passed through during the Revolution. An 1896 fire destroyed the building; it reopened in 1897, and Jack and Jane Fitzpatrick bought it in 1968 to preserve it as the Red Lion Inn. Guests in Room 301 describe a man in a top hat who dissolves into white mist, and report sheets pulled from the bed and an unseen touch.

    4 original accounts · documented in 2023 · retold in 6 later publications

Superlatives