Pennsylvania is old. Old enough to have buried a lot of secrets, and some of them refuse to stay put. We have battlefields, prisons, mining towns, Moravian inns and enough local legends to keep a campfire going all night.
York, Reading and Bethlehem are all close to my heart, and I’ve always loved that every one of these towns has its stories. So for Halloween, here are eight of my favorite haunted places in the Commonwealth. Some come with real history behind them, while others are pure legend. All of them are worth a shiver.
1. The Hex Murder House
Stewartstown, York County
On November 28, 1928, a man named John Blymire and two teenage accomplices broke into the farmhouse of Nelson Rehmeyer. Both men practiced powwow, the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of folk healing and charms. Blymire convinced himself Rehmeyer had put a hex on him, and he wanted Rehmeyer’s book of spells to break it.
The night ended with Rehmeyer beaten to death. The killers set the house on fire to cover their tracks, but it didn’t burn down. Plenty of locals took that as a sign that something stronger than flame was protecting it. The trial that followed made headlines across the country as the “York Witch Trial.”
Legends say a figure lurks around the property and a black dog with red eyes roams the hollow. The house sits on private land, so if you go, admire it from the road.
2. Gravity Hill
Lewisberry, York County
Put your car in neutral at the right spot on Pleasant View Road and it appears to roll uphill. The legend says children died in a crash nearby, and their ghosts push cars to safety.
Science says it’s an optical illusion. I say try it anyway. It’s one of the few haunted spots where the whole family can stay in the car.
3. The Seven Gates of Hell
Hellam Township, York County
This is York County’s most famous urban legend. The story goes that an asylum once burned in the woods along Trout Run Road, and a series of gates were built around the site. By day you can see only one. At night, all seven appear. Walk through the last one, and you walk straight into hell.
There’s no record of the asylum, and the land is private, so don’t go hunting for gates. But as legends go, it is a good one.
4. Historic Hotel Bethlehem
Bethlehem, Lehigh Valley
This grand hotel stands on the site of the old Eagle Hotel, and it’s proud of its ghosts. Staff and guests have reported a barefoot woman in period clothing in the kitchen and dining room. She’s said to be Mrs. Brong, a landlady from the 1830s who scandalized stagecoach passengers by going without shoes or stockings.
Then there’s Room 932. Guests have reported lamps flashing, papers flying and, once, a figure asking a startled couple what they were doing in his room. It’s the hotel’s most requested room. Make of that what you will.
5. Hawk Mountain
Northern Berks County
Hawk Mountain is famous for its birds, but it has a darker history too. Settler families were killed here during the French and Indian War. Later, a tavern keeper named Matthias Schaumboch ran an inn on the mountain, and local lore says some of his guests never left. The records are sketchy, which only helps the legend.
Local ghost story writer Charles J. Adams III has described the mountain as having layers of spirit activity. On a foggy October morning, it’s easy to believe him.
6. The Old Jail Museum
Jim Thorpe, Carbon County
This one has a real Victorian connection. In the 1870s, the Molly Maguires were a secret society of Irish coal miners accused of violence against the mine bosses. On June 21, 1877, four men tied to the group were hanged here, in what was then called Mauch Chunk.
The legend centers on Cell 17. One of the condemned, Alexander Campbell, is said to have pressed his hand against the wall and sworn the mark would remain as proof of his innocence. The handprint is still there. People say it’s been washed, painted over, even plastered, and it keeps coming back.
If you want to learn more about the Molly Maguires, there is a good film about them, starring Sean Connery.
7. Eastern State Penitentiary
Philadelphia
When it opened in 1829, Eastern State was built on the idea that total solitary confinement would lead prisoners to reform. Instead, many of them broke. Its most famous resident was Al Capone, who served time here in 1929 and 1930 in a surprisingly comfortable cell.
Today the crumbling cellblocks are open for tours, and visitors report footsteps, whispers and shadowy figures in the corridors. Even in daylight, it’s one of the eeriest places one can walk through.
8. Gettysburg
Adams County
No list of haunted Pennsylvania is complete without it. Over three days in July 1863, tens of thousands of men were killed, wounded or captured in the fields around this small town. It would be stranger if it were not haunted.
The most famous spot is Devil’s Den, the jumble of boulders where sharpshooters fought. Visitors have long reported strange figures there, and camera trouble is part of the lore. In town, the ghost tours run nearly every night, and plenty of the old buildings come with a story.
WHY THESE STORIES STICK WITH ME
What I love about places like these is that the ghost story is usually the doorway, not the destination. You come for the handprint on the wall, and you leave knowing about the Molly Maguires. You come for Room 932, and you leave knowing about a barefoot landlady from 1833. Every haunting is really a mystery about who these people were and why they will not let go.
That’s the same thing that pulls me into writing mysteries. And if you want a book for the season with a title to match, my Garrison Chase novel Chasing Ghosts is waiting for you here. And Chase is back on November 7 in Chasing Daylight, the newest book in the series. You can preorder a signed copy here.
Now it’s your turn. What is the most haunted place you have ever been to? Tell me in the comments.
Want more stories like this? Join my newsletter and I’ll send you two free short stories, The First Chase and The Last Shift. Subscribers also get first looks at new books and reader-only deals before anyone else. Get your free stories here.