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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oxford's Rowan Oak ranks among Mississippi's ten most haunted places

A new index ranks places by published accounts, not legend

September 30, 2026

With Halloween approaching, Rowan Oak in Oxford ranks among Mississippi's ten most haunted places in HauntBound's 2026 index. The index ranks 68 Mississippi sites by separate published accounts and how far back they go, not by fame or search popularity.

Rowan Oak ranks #3. William Faulkner bought the 1844 house in 1930 and lived there until his death in 1962, writing most of his major fiction inside it, including the outline for his 1954 novel A Fable, penciled directly on his study wall. Four separate published accounts describe activity there.

Rowan Oak's best-known ghost story, that the original owner's daughter leaped from a balcony and was buried under a magnolia tree, was Faulkner's own invention, told to family and later mistaken for local history; the museum's curator says no ghost appears in any institutional record. Visitors still describe a wandering presence on the grounds they take for Faulkner, and some report seeing a figure writing on the study wall, where his real penciled outline remains visible.

Statewide, King's Tavern in Natchez ranks #1, and McRaven House in Vicksburg, the state's most famous haunted site, ranks #2.

"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. The ranking shows each site's documented record.

Visiting:Rowan Oak, 916 Old Taylor Rd., Oxford, is a house museum open Tuesday through Sunday; admission is $5, cash only.

For media:The full ranking: https://hauntbound.com/most-haunted/mississippi/The fact sheet, with Oxford numbers and cleared images: https://hauntbound.com/press/fact-sheets/mississippi/Photo: Rowan Oak, on the fact sheet.Venue contact: rowanoak.comA short version follows.

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

Short version

SHORT VERSION

Oxford's Rowan Oak ranks among Mississippi's ten most haunted places

Rowan Oak in Oxford ranks #3 among Mississippi's ten most haunted places in HauntBound's 2026 index, which ranks sites by separate published accounts rather than fame. William Faulkner bought the house in 1930 and lived there until his death in 1962; its best-known ghost story, of a daughter who leaped from a balcony, was Faulkner's own invention. Visitors still describe a wandering presence on the grounds. Rowan Oak is a house museum open to the public.

Full ranking: https://hauntbound.com/most-haunted/mississippi/