Spooky New Stops Join the Haunted History Trail

Belhurst Castle
Geneva, NY 

With a colorful past of love affairs, embezzled funds, even death, it’s no surprise that Belhurst Castle is filled with ghost stories. Guests and staff alike have reported unexplainable sights and sounds – such as showers turning on and off and a soft lullaby being sung in the middle of the night. Belhurst’s well-known ghost goes by the name of Isabella, a beautiful opera singer dressed in white often seen grieving her lost lover.

Spend the night in one of Belhurst’s three haunted hotels, dine at their on-site restaurants or get a spa treatment at Isabella Spa~Salon, named after the famous spirit that roams the grounds.

Fainting Goat Island Inn
Nichols, NY

From a child-sized chair moving on its own to seeing eyes stare at you from within the mirror, guests to Fainting Goat Island have witnessed strange experiences that would send a shiver down your spine. Ask the owners to hear the chilling story of the doll and knife found in the ceiling. Or the two female voices and sounds of a tea party heard in the Fainting Room. The former railroad hotel built in the late 1800s is also home to a few friendly non-spirits - a herd of fainting goats and a potbelly pig.

Spend the night or schedule a haunted tour or ghost hunt – call or email to arrange. Available year-round.

Genesee Falls Inn
Portageville, NY

If you sense a paranormal presence in this bed and breakfast, there are a few places you can start pointing fingers. Fire, suicide, even a drowning, has haunted this particular plot of land – not to mention its proximity to a nearby cemetery. Guests report hearing people walking up and down the hallways at night or doors shutting on their own. The building’s current owners have even witnessed a young child walking through the kitchen… and so much more.

Stay the night or simply stop by when you’re in the area. Paranormal investigations are also available, by appointment.

Graestone Manor
Gasport, NY

The original owners of Graestone Manor, the Root family, used to breed thoroughbred horses. Perhaps that’s why the sounds of their hooves and the draw of a carriage can still be heard to this day. And that’s just the beginning - enter sightings, seances, Ouija boards and even a basement vortex.

Take a private ghost tour or participate in a paranormal investigation to see it all for yourself.

Haunted Saratoga Ghost Tours
Saratoga, NY

Prepare to be enchanted, entertained, and perhaps a little spooked on a Haunted Saratoga Ghost Tour. You’ll seek out the spirits and hear the stories with the help of your tour guide, who will take you to meet Old Smoke of the Canfield Casino, or Angeline, known as the “Witch of Saratoga.” Hattie haunts her restaurant since her passing and may just pop by to say hi.

Tours are available May through October. Lasting 90-minutes, participants will take the town at a leisurely pace as they learn about Saratoga’s many infamous ghosts and haunted locations. Less than a mile total distance covered.

Old Dutch Church Cemetery
Kingston, NY 

Dating back to 1658, Old Dutch Church Cemetery has seen many groups of people, each with their own story – Dutch Settlers, Native Americans, African slaves and servants and British soldiers. It’s also the final resting place of many Revolutionary Kingstonians whose homes were burnt by the British in 1777.

Guided group tours are available by reservation and ghost hunting equipment is allowed – you may just spot some of the town’s infamous residents, as previous participants have witnessed.

Pine Grove Cemetery #2
Massena, NY

When the St. Lawrence-Power Project and Seaway were constructed in 1955, graves from nineteen cemeteries were moved to Pine Grove Cemetery #2. As a result, many tombstones were broken beyond repair and buried in a heap – especially those of the Barnhart family. Legends surround their new plot in Pine Grove #2, such as claw marks found on the inside of rotting caskets. Visitors to the cemetery have also reported seeing children running and playing throughout the graveyard.

Explore the mysterious cemetery on your own, dawn to dusk. Pay special attention to the rear of the cemetery, where the haunted Barnhart resides enclosed in iron fencing.

Private Haunted Huguenot Street Tours
New Paltz, NY

The seven historic homes of Huguenot Street each hide a paranormal past. Inside the Abraham Hasbrouck House, a family revealed the bones of a child buried in their basement. But who the bones belong to remain a mystery. This basement is also where visitors have registered spikes on EMF readers.

Take a private, guided group tour to learn about the history and hauntings of Haunted Huguenot Street.

Seymour Place
Batavia, NY

Seymour Place was built in 1831 as the Bank of Genesee. Now a home for art exhibits and workshops, your senses are in for a treat. More than the local talent, you might see, hear and smell the spirits of Seymour Place – a man dressed in 1960s clothing, the clearing of a throat or voice recording, even the distinct smell of cigar smoke in the air.

Take a 15-minute guided tour to learn about the spirits of Seymour Place, available during gallery hours. Group tours and investigations also available with advance reservation.

Spanky’s Diner
Massena, NY

Behind Spanky’s Diner sits Pine Grove Cemetery and the original site of the first hospital in Massena. Many say it is the spirits from these two spots that continue to haunt the diner – from a girl who drowned in the Grasse River to a former patient with a severe hip injury. Lights, radios and stoves turn themselves on, orbs appear with faces on them and staff feel as if someone walked past them when no one is around. One diner even had her shoelaces tied together as she ate! These are just some of the reasons why Spanky’s Diner is known as one of the most haunted places in St. Lawrence County.

Stop in for a meal or book a ghost hunt or guided tour of the diner’s haunted basement.

The 1890 House Museum
Cortland, NY

Footsteps in an otherwise empty building, shadows moving through rooms, doors opening and closing on their own and silhouettes of human figures in the windows – the 1890 House Museum has a long history of reported ghost activity. The unexplained knockings, wrappings and more are attributed to several historical figures who lived and died within the walls of Cortland’s Castle.

Investigate the historic house museum on your own, conduct a ghost hunt along with Knightime Paranormal or check out their robust haunted programming around Halloween.

The Sagamore Resort
Bolton Landing, NY

A woman in her early twenties named Lillian. Walter in his three-piece brown suit. A 30-year-old woman in a green gown from the 1930s. Most of the ghosts at The Sagamore Resort are guests who vacationed there in life and continue to vacation there even in death. One little boy was hit by a car in the 1950s while chasing golf balls. He continues to roam The Sagamore’s golf course, often playing pranks on the golfers.

You never know who you might meet when you spend the night at the haunted Sagamore Resort. Ghost tours are offered throughout the year and ghost hunting is allowed by appointment.

Tillman’s Historic Village Inn & Fair Haven Inn
Albion, NY

Ask Mark, the Village Inn’s owner, about the hauntings here and he’ll tell you stories firsthand. From a man in a cowboy hat to two little girls running through the halls – even stories of Mark’s own family watching over the building. Step inside and you’ll surely feel a presence here.

Dine in a haunted, award-winning restaurant and ask for booth A1… Or stay the night and you may meet an uninvited guest – especially in room 3.

Worcester Inn
Worcester, NY 

Built in the early 1800s, the Worcester Inn has borne witness to death and murder.  So, it’s no surprise that spirits and stories abound here – almost too many to recount in a single telling! Despite their tragic ends, the spirts of the hotel are happy, playful and take on many different forms – an orb, a bright flash of light, the pitter-patter of a child running down the hallway, an apparition that disappears into the wall.

Visit and spend the night in one of the inn’s 18 guest rooms. Number 307 in particular has been lovingly dubbed “the ghost room” due to the high volume of activity reported there. Or choose to dine in one of the inn’s two dining rooms and ask your server for a re-telling of their own personal stories and encounters.