Lizzie Borden House misses Massachusetts's haunted top ten in new evidence-ranked index

Massachusetts's most famous haunted site, Lizzie Borden House, does not make the top ten in HauntBound's 2026 index of the state's most haunted places, which ranks sites by published evidence rather than reputation. Stone's Public House in Ashland ranks #1. Essex County holds four of the top ten.

The top five:

1. Stone's Public House, Ashland
2. Concord's Colonial Inn, Concord
3. Hoosac Tunnel, North Adams
4. USS Salem (United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum), Quincy
5. Danvers State Hospital, Danvers (exterior viewing only)

Stone's Public House in Ashland has the most distinct published accounts of any Massachusetts site, eight. The oldest documented site is Cole's Hill in Plymouth, dating to 1620. Nantasket Beach in Hull is the index's most family-friendly pick in the state. Apparitions are the most commonly reported phenomenon, on record at 82 sites.

"We rank by evidence, not legend: independent published accounts, documented history, and how far back the reports go. We don't claim ghosts are real, or that they aren't. We document where the reports concentrate, and we show our work," said Ben Fineman, editor of HauntBound.

HauntBound ranks each state's places by the documented record of reported haunting phenomena: the quantity, independence, persistence and documentary quality of published reports. A story retold many times counts for less than independent accounts, and a source that only establishes a building's history never counts as evidence of a haunting. The index does not try to determine whether paranormal phenomena are real. The 2026 index reflects sources identified and classified as of September 15, 2026.

For media:The full ranking: https://hauntbound.com/most-haunted/massachusetts/The fact sheet, with city-by-city numbers and cleared images: https://hauntbound.com/press/fact-sheets/massachusetts/Interviews by email and city-by-city data on request.

HauntBound (hauntbound.com) is a family-friendly field guide to more than 6,000 documented haunted and historic places across the United States, ranked by published evidence rather than legend. No venue pays to be listed or ranked.

Media contact: Ben Fineman, Editor, HauntBound, editor@hauntbound.com

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