State file · NY
Haunted places in New York
What are the most haunted places in New York? The best-known are The Amityville Horror House, The Fox Sisters and the Hydesville Rappings, Morris-Jumel Mansion and Merchant’s House Museum.
New York may have done more than any other state to invent the modern ghost story. Washington Irving set his Headless Horseman in the Hudson Valley in 1820; in 1848 two sisters in a Wayne County farmhouse started the Spiritualist craze by claiming a spirit was rapping out messages; and in the 1970s a Long Island house became The Amityville Horror, the bestseller and film that defined the haunted house for a generation.
- 4 hauntings
- 12 recorded sightings
- 2 news stories
Haunted places in New York
The Amityville Horror House
A real 1974 family murder, then the Lutz family’s claims of a demonic haunting – a story that became a bestseller, a film franchise and a famous hoax. Hoax / debunked
The Fox Sisters and the Hydesville Rappings
In 1848 two sisters near Rochester said a spirit rapped out answers to their questions. The sensation launched Spiritualism, and ended in confession. Hoax / debunked
Morris-Jumel Mansion
Manhattan’s oldest surviving house, Washington’s 1776 headquarters and Eliza Jumel’s home, where a scolding lady on the balcony began a ghost story. Widely reported
Merchant’s House Museum
An 1832 rowhouse kept as the Tredwell family left it, where staff and visitors say Gertrude Tredwell, born and died in the house, still watches over it. Widely reportedThe ghost lore of New York
Behind the legends lies four centuries of real history: Dutch and English colonists, Revolutionary War campaigns fought across Manhattan and the Hudson Highlands, the merchant fortunes of the 19th century and the great institutions of the 20th. New York City alone keeps dozens of historic house museums, and two of them – the Morris-Jumel Mansion and the Merchant’s House – are among the most talked-about haunted houses in the country.
Ghost hunters can spend October in the Hudson Valley, where Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown stage elaborate Halloween events; in Manhattan, on candlelight tours of the old house museums; or in western New York, where the Spiritualist community of Lily Dale still holds summer services and readings. Many famous sites, Amityville among them, are private homes or closed institutions – visit the museums, and leave private property alone.
Ghost-hunting hotspots
- Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown
Washington Irving’s legend country, with the Old Dutch Church, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and big Halloween events in the Hudson Valley.
- Lily Dale
A Spiritualist community in Chautauqua County, founded in 1879, where mediums give readings each summer and the museum keeps Fox sisters relics.
- Greenwich Village and Lower Manhattan
Historic streets, taverns and churchyards that anchor most of New York City’s walking ghost tours.
- Hudson Valley mansions and battlefields
Colonial estates, Revolutionary War sites and riverside towns from Westchester to Albany with ghost stories of their own.
Timeline
- October 21, 1888Maggie’s confession The Fox Sisters and the Hydesville Rappings
At the Academy of Music, Maggie showed the audience how she cracked her toe joints to make the raps and called Spiritualism a fraud. She retracted the confession in November 1889.
- 1904Bones in the cellar The Fox Sisters and the Hydesville Rappings
When a cellar wall fell, bones were found and claimed as the peddler’s; a physician concluded they were mixed bones, including animal bones.
- 1933Gertrude dies in the house Merchant’s House Museum
Gertrude died at 93 in the front bedroom, the last of the family. The museum dates the spread of ghost reports from this time.
- May 11, 1936The museum opens Merchant’s House Museum
The house opened to the public with the family’s possessions intact; visitors soon began reporting Gertrude’s presence.
- September 21, 1955The cottage burns The Fox Sisters and the Hydesville Rappings
The Fox cottage, moved to Lily Dale decades earlier as a Spiritualist shrine, was destroyed by fire.
- November 13, 1974The DeFeo murders The Amityville Horror House
Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed his parents and four siblings at home. He was convicted on November 21, 1975, and sentenced to 25 years to life on each count.
- December 18, 1975The Lutz family moves in The Amityville Horror House
George and Kathy Lutz and three children moved into the house, reportedly bought at a low price because of its history.
- January 14, 1976The Lutzes leave The Amityville Horror House
After 28 days the family left, later saying they had been driven out by demonic forces. Newsday reported their story on February 14.
- September 13, 1977The Amityville Horror published The Amityville Horror House
Jay Anson’s book, based on the Lutzes’ taped recollections and sold as true, became a bestseller and was filmed in 1979.
- September 1979Lawsuits dismissed The Amityville Horror House
Judge Jack B. Weinstein threw out the Lutzes’ claims in litigation with Weber and others, a turning point in exposing the story; the same month Weber told People the book was a hoax.
- 2007Long-term investigation begins Merchant’s House Museum
Paranormal investigator Dan Sturges began studying the house, work that continues in the museum’s ghost programs.
- July 30, 2018Rethinking Eliza Morris-Jumel Mansion
Lapham’s Quarterly examined the haunting and the rumors about Eliza, quoting the museum’s events manager on the bias behind them.
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