The Most Haunted Places in New Hampshire

Ranked

1. 

   1. Three Chimneys Inn Durham · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: High

   Valentine Hill built the original homestead in 1649, and his son Nathaniel later expanded it into the three-story colonial that gives the inn its name. Local history holds that Hill's daughter Hannah drowned in the Oyster River behind the inn, though no record confirms her death. Staff attribute odd occurrences to her: drawers pulled out by one inch, deadbolts locking themselves, and a chef's sighting of a woman in vintage clothing behind the tavern bar.

   4 original accounts · documented across 3 decades, 1909-1997 · retold in 4 later publications

2. 2. Vale End Cemetery Wilton · Cemetery / Burial Ground · Family Comfort: Moderate

   Vale End Cemetery in Wilton holds the grave of Mary Ritter Spaulding, first wife of Captain Isaac Spaulding, who died in 1808 at 35 and shares a headstone with his second wife, also named Mary. The cemetery closes after dark and is patrolled for its reputation among ghost hunters. Witnesses describe a column of blue light rising over her grave on hazy evenings, though Wilton's historical society traces the 'Blue Lady' legend to the 1970s.

   3 original accounts · documented across 8 decades, 1808-2026 · retold in 3 later publications

3. 

   3. Omni Mount Washington Resort Bretton Woods · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: High

   Joseph Stickney opened the Mount Washington Hotel in 1902, and in July 1944 it hosted the Bretton Woods Conference, where delegates from forty-four nations created the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Stickney's widow, Carolyn, later a princess by marriage, summered in Room 314 until her death in 1936. Guests and staff report a woman in period dress at the vanity brushing her hair, and lights that switch on and off unprompted.

   6 original accounts · documented across 3 decades, 1936-2008 · retold in 4 later publications

4. 4. Pine Hill Cemetery (Blood Cemetery) Hollis · Cemetery / Burial Ground · Family Comfort: High

   Pine Hill Cemetery in Hollis, donated to the town in 1769, takes its popular name, Blood Cemetery, from the plot of Abel Blood, a philanthropist buried there in 1867 whose headstone carried a carved hand. Vandals later destroyed the original marker. Legend says a small figure flags down cars along Pine Hill Road before vanishing, and that the carved hand once pointed up by day and down after dark, though no record confirms either story.

   2 original accounts · documented across 6 decades, 1867-2012 · retold in 6 later publications

5. 5. Tilton Inn Tilton · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: Moderate

   HauntBound identified two distinct published accounts at this working hotel, across five kinds of published source. Two later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include disembodied voices and objects moving.

   2 original accounts · documented across 3 decades, 1875-2025 · retold in 2 later publications

6. 6. The Hotel Portsmouth (Sise Inn) Portsmouth · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: High

   John E. Sise built this Queen Anne mansion in 1881; his daughter Mabel later lived there with her husband, minister Alfred Gooding. It served as offices, a salon, apartments, and a reported halfway house before reopening as the Sise Inn in 1986 and the Hotel Portsmouth. Guests report ice from the hallway machine scattered on the floor of Room 204, its door locking itself, cold spots, and a rocking chair that moves on its own.

   2 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1950-1986 · retold in 4 later publications

7. 7. Gilson Road Cemetery Nashua · Cemetery / Burial Ground · Family Comfort: Moderate

   Gilson Road Cemetery in Nashua holds graves dating to the early 1800s, including that of Walter Gilson, who died in 1811 at age three and whose headstone has a round hole drilled through it. Paranormal researcher Fiona Broome has investigated the site since 2008. Visitors describe misty figures among the stones, a green glow over Joseph Gilson's grave, a woman in colonial dress, and legend says shouting a phrase from the road draws a response.

   2 original accounts · documented across 4 decades, 1980-2025 · retold in 3 later publications

8. 

   8. John Paul Jones House Portsmouth · Museum / Historical Site · Family Comfort: Moderate

   Gregory Purcell built this Georgian house in 1758; after his death his widow ran it as a boarding house, where John Paul Jones lodged in 1777 and again in 1781-82 while overseeing shipbuilding. The Portsmouth Historical Society has run it as a museum since 1920. Visitors describe a figure in period dress stepping from the attic and vanishing into a room, faces in the windows, moving objects, and an unexplained smell of pipe tobacco.

   2 original accounts · documented across 3 decades, 1920-2018 · retold in 1 later publication

9. 

   9. Star Island / Oceanic Hotel Rye · Haunted Hotel / Inn · Family Comfort: Moderate

   The Oceanic Hotel was built on Star Island in 1876, and the Star Island Corporation has run the hotel since 1915. A stone monument there is tied by tradition to a woman abandoned by a pirate, though no record places a pirate at the Isles of Shoals. Guests at Cottage E, where legend says a boy died falling down the stairs, report small hands on their backs; Ghost Hunters investigated both stories in 2009.

   3 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 2008-2022 · retold in 4 later publications

10. 

    10. Portsmouth Harbor Light New Castle · Museum / Historical Site · Family Comfort: High

    HauntBound identified two distinct published accounts at this museum site, across three kinds of published source. One later publication retells those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and disembodied voices.

    2 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1809-2008 · retold in 1 later publication

Superlatives