Atlas Obscura’s Guide to America’s Most Haunted Cemeteries
Many U.S. cemeteries are not peaceful resting places but instead are sites of supernatural activity. These locations offer a unique blend of history and the eerie, attracting those interested in folklore and the paranormal. Colonial Park Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia, is a former burial ground now a park where spirits are said to appear as mists or lights. The Harvard Shaker Lollipop Graveyard in Massachusetts is marked by whimsical cast-iron stakes and is rumored to be built atop a Native American burial site. Dean Hill Cemetery in Massachusetts is associated with Revolutionary War veterans and reported sightings of shadowy figures and a woman in white.Wildwood Cemetery in Pennsylvania is divided into "good" and "haunted" sides, with legends of a banshee and a fireman who feared being buried alive. Frenier Cemetery in Louisiana holds victims of a 1915 hurricane, including a rumored voodoo priestess whose presence is still felt. Georgiana Cemetery in Florida is believed to be haunted by a murder victim whose case was never solved. The Old Tonopah Cemetery in Nevada, located next to the Clown Motel, is where miners and plague victims are buried, with reports of spectral figures.Alice Flagg's Grave in South Carolina is a site where visitors leave tokens and perform rituals, with her ghost said to wander her resting place and family home. Greenwood Cemetery in Washington features the "thousand steps" staircase, rumored to reveal visions of the dead to those who climb it. The Dead Children's Playground in Alabama, adjacent to a large cemetery, has seen unexplained phenomena like moving swings and orb lights. The Unitarian Church Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina, with its wild garden design, is reportedly frequented by a "Lady in White" and a heartbroken ghost searching for her husband. St. Omer Cemetery in Illinois contains the grave of Caroline Barnes, who was allegedly executed for witchcraft, with unusual occurrences surrounding her plot.