Have you ever found yourself alone, but not really alone?

Maybe it’s an unexpected prick of fear that travels down your spine, a barely audible whisper caressing your ear, or a feeling of being observed that you just can’t seem to shake. Regardless of the empty room around you, your innate ability to sense the unseen is trying to tell you something. Are you listening?

Whether you believe in the paranormal or not, humankind has a longstanding desire to explain the unexplainable, shed light on the unobservable, and give voice to the voiceless. Whether or not ghosts actually exist is irrelevant. To quote a rather wise wizard as he explained it from the afterlife, “Of course this is happening inside your head, Harry, but why should that mean that it is not real?”

From hotels with sordid pasts to institutions that reflect the darker shades of what humanity has to offer, the Southeast—for all its beauty and vibrancy—is also a hotbed for alleged paranormal activity. For both skeptics and hardcore believers, these haunted locales just might offer a glimpse into the realm beyond the veil and provide answers to the ages-old question: Is there life after death?

Trapped in Time

In quaint Weston, West Virginia, the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (TALA) stands as a poignant reminder of how mental health treatment has evolved over the decades. Construction of the asylum was completed in 1881. Originally intended to house 250 individuals, the hospital eventually reached a peak of 2,400 patients in the 1950s. Overcrowding, physical deterioration, and changes in the treatment of mental illness eventually led to the facility’s closure in 1994.

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, Weston, West Virginia;
Credit: Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

Today, TALA remains open for the public to explore, learn, and perhaps even catch a glimpse of something supernatural. “I believe people are drawn to TALA out of curiosity,” says Michelle Graham, TALA’s filming and events manager. “There is a distinct adrenaline rush you get from seeking answers to the unknown.”

For those looking to delve into that unknown, TALA offers several daytime and overnight paranormal tours. Graham says the facility’s most comprehensive option is the private ghost hunt, during which guests can explore the building with an expert guide, unbound by time restraints on each floor or distractions from other groups.

TALA’s most well-known spirit is a young girl named Lily. Guests often bring her toys and candy. Also notorious for interacting with visitors are two male spirits on the fourth floor named Frank and Larry, who love to play cards and listen to jokes, Graham says.

“I am not necessarily a skeptic, but I would say I’m a guarded believer,” she adds. “I have had experiences that convinced me that there are still spirits residing in the halls of TALA. The most common reports are footsteps, doors closing and opening on their own, and disembodied voices. I have personally experienced all these phenomena and have seen two full-bodied apparitions during my time at TALA.”

Of course, visits to TALA aren’t only about the hauntings. Graham says the building’s gothic revival-style architecture and groundbreaking history make TALA a bucket list destination for people of all interests. The goal at TALA, she explains, is to make people think and walk away with a better understanding of mental health treatment history and how it has evolved over the years.

TALA is open for walk-in historic and daytime tours Tuesday through Sunday each week until Nov. 10. Reservations are required for paranormal tours. Discounts of 10% are offered for preregistered school tours, senior citizens, and veterans.

Also no longer in operation but open to the public is the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, which housed prisoners for 168 years before closing in 2004. Those interested in visiting the prison can experience short daytime ghost tours or overnight paranormal investigations, both public and private.

Missouri State Penitentiary, Jefferson City, Missouri;
Credit: Adobe/Michael Schlueter/Wirestock Creators

Private student ghost tours require participants to be at least 12. Overnight events require tourgoers to be 17 and up. Ghost tours of Missouri State include the historic housing units, the upper courtyard, and the gas chamber where 39 men and one woman were executed over the years.

Stay the Night

Dubbed “America’s Most Haunted Hotel” after appearing on 17 national and international paranormal television shows, the Crescent Hotel & Spa in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, has a twisted history unlike anything you’ve heard before.

The still-operating hotel was originally established in 1886 as a “hot spot” for the elites. After briefly serving as a college for women in the 1930s, ownership of the property transferred to Norman Baker in 1937. Baker transformed the hotel into the Baker Cancer Clinic, claiming to possess a miracle “cure” for the illness. After amassing considerable wealth thanks to his illegitimate practice, he was eventually arrested in 1940. The property was then reverted to a hotel.

In 2019, an archaeological dig uncovered hundreds of bottles of Baker’s “secret formula” for curing cancer and several jars containing medical specimens. This eerie collection can be viewed during the hotel’s nightly ghost tours—if you dare.

Along with the standard “Crescent Hotel Ghost Tour,” the hotel also offers a “Kids Ghost Tour,” “Expert & Expanded Ghost Tour,” “Midnight Investigation,” and “Basin Park Hotel Paranormal Investigation.” Notable spirits said to wander the property are Michael, Theodora, and “The Ghost in the Morgue.” Tours allow guests to learn the history of the property, explore the evolution of ghost hunting, and experiment with different ghost hunting equipment on-site.

Perhaps one of the most famous haunted destinations in the South, Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana, is steeped in history both tragic and significant. Surrounded by ancient oaks draped in Spanish moss, this quaint, picturesque hotel appears charming enough. But the 18th-century property was once worked by slaves, some of whom are said to have never left, including Myrtles’ most famous apparition, Chloe.

Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana;
Credit: Adobe/Dana

Guests to the plantation-turned-hotel may partake in guided or self-guided tours of the main house’s six downstairs rooms. “Evening Mystery Tours” and “Private Mystery Tours” also are available.

More to Explore

Not sure where to start your group’s ghostly adventure? Ghost City Tours might be able to help. Based in cities including Savannah, Georgia; New Orleans, Louisiana; Charleston, South Carolina; Key West and St. Augustine, Florida; and Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee, Ghost City Tours offers a wide range of haunted tour options tailored to each city. Haunted pub crawls, nighttime walking tours, cemetery tours, true-crime tours, and battlefield tours are only a few options available.

“When you go on a ghost tour with Ghost City, you can expect to hear the true history of our cities and our ghosts,” the company’s website says. “Too many tour companies, especially ghost tours companies, resort to making up outlandish tales that are complete fabrications. …We have spent the time researching the actual history behind our most haunted locations. This isn’t easy, but we believe in the importance of preserving history and have invested much time and money into doing so. What we’ve discovered is that the actual history is much more interesting and spooky than anything.”

So, do ghosts really exist, or is the paranormal just our way of making sense of the things we can’t understand? Maybe that prick of fear is paranoia, that strange whisper is just the wind, or that feeling of being watched is all in your head, but the resulting sense of curiosity—and maybe fear—is very real. At the end of the day, does the answer to that ultimate question really matter? We may never know for certain, but that doesn’t mean we can’t wonder.


By Madeline Fuerstenberg

Main Image: Crescent Hotel & Spa, Eureka Springs, Arkansas; Credit: Crescent Hotel & Spa