Paranormal Road Trip: Destination New York City

Come on boys and ghouls!  It's time to hop on Route 666 for a spooktacular Paranormal Road Trip.  This week's stop is New York City.

For this week's Paranormal Road Trip, we're doing something a bit different.  This week I'll be visiting NYC for a few days, so I thought it would be fun to check out some spooky places listed online, and to revisit a previous Paranormal Road Trip post.

My List of New York City's Top 5 Spooky Places

North Brother Island:  An abandoned island that once housed Riverside Hospital, a hospital specializing in treating diseases that required quarantine—a subject all the more poignant in today's Ebola frenzied social climate.  Riverside Hospital became a prison for Mary Mallon, the famous Typhoid Mary, who was quarantined here for three decades.  Mary died here after years of living in isolation.  Some say she never left.

Chumley's:  This pub is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Henrietta Chumley, who owned the establishment in its days a speakeasy.  Henrietta is said to have rattled glasses and knocked bottles from the shelves.  Unfortunately, the pub is currently closed due to the collapse of its chimney, a problem probably due more to the passage of time than Henrietta Chumley's mischievous ghost.

Landmark Tavern:  Another haunted drinking establishment, Landmark Tavern makes this list for it's two resident ghosts.  The tavern is said to be haunted by a confederate soldier, who was shot here in a bar brawl, and a young girl who died here from typhoid fever.  The girl is said to haunt the third floor, and the soldier haunts the second floor which still houses the bathtub where the man bled out.

Washington Square Park:  The site of a former potter's field, Washington Square Park sits on the unmarked graves of over twenty-thousand corpses.  Many of the people buried here were victims of the 19th century yellow fever epidemic, and their bones have surfaced during construction and when the park was used as military parade grounds.  Have these disturbances of their final resting place caused disturbances of a very different kind?  You decide.

Hangman's Elm:  Hangman's Elm, or The Hanging Tree, is located just off Washington Square Park.  This tree, the oldest in Manhattan, has a ghoulish reputation for being the haunt of ghosts rumored to have been hung here.  City records provide no documented proof of the tree being used in public hangings, though a hanging is recorded to have occurred nearby.  Perhaps the sightings are of the park's other ghostly residents...

I was planning on doing a bit of sight seeing while in NYC, but, on second thought, perhaps I'll just hide in my hotel room.  Searching the internet for spooky sights may have been a bad idea.  Are you scared yet?

Also, don't miss Melissa de la Cruz' picks for the top 5 spookiest places in Manhattan.

Manhattan's Top Five Spooky Places

Manhattan is a city full of history and haunted places. A few of my favorite places to ghost-bust, below.

Hotel Chelsea
222 West 23rd St. 

The famous hotel in Chelsea was the site of many deaths. Poet Dylan Thomas, who wrote of the “dying of the light” and died there is said to haunt near room 206. Doomed punk couple Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen are said to haunt the lower floors. Sid killed Nancy in a drunken, drugged out fight, and he died of a heroin overdose before he could stand trial.

White Horse Tavern
567 Hudson St.
One of my favorite bars downtown, and related to the Chelsea Hotel. Dylan Thomas reportedly drank 18 whiskey shots here before collapsing and being brought back to his room at the Chelsea. It’s said he haunts his usual table at the tavern from time to time.

One If by Land, Two If by Sea
17 Barrow St.


One of the most romantic restaurants in Manhattan, it is also the former home of Alexander Hamilton and his daughter Theodosia, who have supposedly never left. Diners are said to have experienced being shoved by them, lights flicker, and women’s earrings disappear. Staffers insist the ghosts are friendly, but maybe a little cheeky?

Edgar Allen Poe’s Abode
85 West 3rd Street
“Nevermore” author Edgar Allen Poe lived here for eight months in 1845 and 1846, and wrote “The Raven” here. The house has been demolished for NYU dorms but students say they’ve seen the haunted and haunting writer climbing the banister, the only remaining part of the original house.

Mark Twain House
14 W 10th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves
The practical and down to earth writer born Samuel Clemens lived in Greenwich Village from 1900-1901 and reportedly haunts this domain. He was skeptical of ghosts, so it’s hard to believe he became one upon his death.

You can read Melissa's entire Paranormal Road Trip: Destination Manhattan guest post here.

What did you think of our picks for spooky places?

Last week on Paranormal Road Trip we visited Twelve Acres, Colorado with Teri Harman.  Next week we'll be back to our regularly scheduled Paranormal Road Trip, and we'll be traveling to Eden, Kentucky with Sharon Buchbinder.

Join us for another spine-tingling Paranormal Road Trip...
if you dare!