Believe in ghosts? 30+ haunted places in RI to visit ... if you dare

Stories of the paranormal abound in Rhode Island.

There are haunted colonial taverns with guests who never left. Mansions the dearly departed decided not to depart. There are rumors of vampires and witches. There's the legend of a haunted boat that keeps coming back to Block Island. And of course, there's one very famous movie about about The Conjuring House.

Many of these real-life places can be visited by those who know where to look.

Here are some of the more popular haunted tales from around the Ocean State.

The Biltmore, with its Satanist past

The Biltmore is now the Graduate Providence, but for an old story we will use the old name. The 1922 building has several stories associated with it. It's said that on Black Tuesday – Oct. 29, 1929 – a stockbroker leaped from his room when he heard the news of the market crash and that guests can still sometimes see his ghost falling. It's also said the hotel financier Johan Leisse Weisskopf was a Satanist, and that he conducted satanic rituals at the hotel.

The full story: As Providence's Graduate hotel turns 100, Amy Russo checks into all those spooky rumors

Providence's Benefit Street was once dotted with graveyards

With its colonial houses and sprawling canopy, Benefit Street is one of the most beautiful walks in Providence. Before the road was straightened in the 1700s, the ground was dotted with small family cemeteries that had to be moved to the Old North Burial Ground for the road straightening project. Perhaps this is why people claim the street is haunted by several ghosts. Among those said to haunt it is none other than Edgar Allen Poe, who visited the street when he was courting Sarah Hellen Whitman.

The mayor who won't leave Providence City Hall

The second longest-serving mayor of Providence (after Buddy Cianci), Thomas Doyle died of a stroke in 1869. His body lay in state at city hall, and his spirit is said to have never left. City Hall was investigated in a 2012 episode of "Ghost Hunters" and people have reported moving chairs, whispers and the lingering scent of cigar smoke.

Spend the night at Rose Island Lighthouse

Built in 1870, the lighthouse has been reported to have unexplained voices and footsteps, doors opening and closing by themselves and other eerie occurrences. It is on an island that, when not used as part of a Navy torpedo station, housed barracks for quarantining patients with infectious diseases. The lighthouse, which is also for what it's worth quite charming, rents rooms out to guests who want to experience staying in a lighthouse.

RI ghost stories: How to visit 'Conjuring' house and other haunted Rhode Island spots

The famous residents of Swan Point Cemetery

The eternal resting place of H.P. Lovecraft, Swan Point Cemetery in Providence is said to be haunted by a great number of people who haven't found rest in their graves. Thomas Dorr from the Dorr rebellion, the murdered Asma Sprague, and Ambrose Everett Burnside, a Civil War general, are all among those said to still roam.

The innocent man sentenced to death at the Old State House in Providence

When the prominent Amasa Sprague was murdered in 1843, suspicion quickly fell on Irish immigrant John Gordon. In what was found to be a rigged trial at the Old State House, he was sentenced to be executed. More than a hundred years later, he's been pardoned, but the innocent man is still said to haunt the Old State House where he was wronged.

The lover still waiting at the Providence Arcade

The oldest indoor shopping mall in America, the Arcade is said to have a resident ghost. In "Haunted Providence: Strange Tales from the Smallest State" there is a story about a woman named Annie who worked at a hat shop there. Annie was rich but fell in love with a poor man her parents didn't approve of. Her beau set out for a life at sea to try to earn the type of money it would take to marry Annie, and Annie was left to wait and wait and wait. Rumor is she's still waiting.

The prank-loving ghost at Colt State Park

A stable hand reportedly died at this former farm and his ghost is said to “play pranks” with the lights and doors at the park office. He is not alone: He is joined by the ghosts of two young girls who drowned in the water off Colt State Park in the 1970s.

Ghostly specters spotted at North Kingstown's Carriage Inn 

Specialists from the "Ghost Hunters" investigated this building in 2008. At the time of The Atlantic Paranormal Society’s investigation, the property was the Hoof-Fin-Feathers. It’s said to be haunted by a woman in clothes that look like they are from the 1700s or 1800s, a man dressed in black carrying a book and a young girl with burns. Some of the ghosts seem like they might have worked in a brothel, according to those who report having seen them.

The true story of the Conjuring House

Also known as the Farm on Round Top Road, the Conjuring House was built in 1736. In the 1970s, the Perron family moved in and were allegedly so tormented by the spirit of the late witch Bathsheba Sherman that they called in paranormal investigators and demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren from nearby Connecticut to exorcise the home. As with their other famous cases, the Warrens then parlayed their account into a major film, “The Conjuring,” which spawned an entire cinematic universe based on their investigations, including “The Conjuring 2” and “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.”

The jilted romance of the Hearthside House

The story goes that sometime in the early 1800s, Stephen Hopkins Smith, a Quaker, won $40,000 in the lottery and used the money to build this beautiful home in the hopes that it would win him the heart of a Providence socialite. But, the lady couldn't picture living out in the wilderness and told him so, dashing his dreams. He never married or lived in the house, and some came to call it the Heartbreak House. Some say they have experienced strange feelings in the rooms or heard noises while alone in the house.

The Nathaneal Greene Homestead

Once home to George Washington's right-hand man, the Nathaneal Greene Homestead, in Coventry, is now a museum. The house was originally known as Spell Hall, but likely because of a schoolroom in the house where kids learned how to spell and not because of witchcraft. People have reported apparitions, cold spots and voices when no one is around.

The brothers of Sprague Mansion

The Spragues founded and owned Cranston Print Works, at one point the richest textile companies in the country, which allowed them to build a huge house in Cranston. All that money, though, couldn’t buy happiness for the family, who, despite having several members rise to the highest office in the state, were beset by personal tragedies, particularly after the death of William Sprague III’s brother and head of the family company, Amasa Sprague, who was bludgeoned to death on New Year’s Eve 1843. While John Gordon (see the above entry on the Old Providence Statehouse) was wrongly executed for the murder, there's some suspicion his brother may have hired the killer. Hauntings have been documented as far back as 1925, and in 2007, "Ghost Hunters" and the TAPS crew filmed an episode there.

The ghost at the Hotel Viking in Newport

The hotel made historichotels.org’s list of 25 most haunted. Guests and have reported seeing a little boy cleaning the floors. It also recently made the list of nicest hotels in the Northeast.

Nine Men's Misery on a trail in Cumberland

In 1676, war between the colonists and the Native tribes had become a brutal affair. English Capt. Michael Pierce led his men into an ambush along the river, and all but nine of the men were immediately killed. The nine left were marched through the woods, and allegedly tortured, executed and then buried where the monument now stands. It's said the people can sometimes see a phantom horse galloping or hear yells near the site.

The unexplained voices at the Cumberland Monastery

Now a library, this old monastery has been investigated on an episode of "Ghost Hunters." There have been stories of doors inexplicably slamming and voices in the old building.

The young ghosts at the Slater Mill Historic Site

The birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in America, Slater Mill was also home to dangerous labor practices and child labor. Some of these children died in the factory, and are said to still haunt the mill today. There's one ghost child in particular who is known for giving out hugs.

The former morgue at Rhode Island School of Design

The Dexter House at RISD used to house a funeral home and morgue and is where the wake of the father of horror himself, H.P. Lovecraft, was held after his death in 1937. And in case you thought the other buildings on campus might be safe, they were mostly built on local family graveyards. Interestingly, RISD isn’t the only Providence school with a strong connection to the dead. Brown University’s University Hall was transformed into a hospital for wounded American and French soldiers during the Revolutionary War.

The legend of the Palatine Light

One of the most famous stories in Rhode Island lore, John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem “The Palatine" is the story of the Princess Augusta's winter night crash into Block Island's rocky coast in 1783. The ship was carrying about 240 immigrants, mostly German Palatines from the Palatinate region of Germany (as an aside: The Princess Augusta was meant to be a cargo ship, not a passenger ship) who had had an objectively terrible journey: poisoned water, the captain dying, bad weather, etc. There are two versions of what happened when the ship ran aground. In one story, Block Island residents nurtured the passengers and the version more befitting of a ghost story: the Block Islanders pounced on the ship, plundered it and then set it on fire. Local legend and quite a few eyewitness accounts say you can still see the “Palatine Light” in the form of a great burning ship on the horizon during storms around Christmastime.

The mad woman of Block Island's Southeast Lighthouse

Likely more legend than truth, the story goes that one of the early lightkeepers in a fit of rage pushed his wife, Maggie, down the tower stairs to her death. Understandably furious, today "Mad Maggie" continues to haunt the men who enter the lighthouse, rattling the furniture they sit in, pulling on their hair or kicking them out altogether.

The Haunted Looff Carousel at Cresent State Park

The Looff Carousel is both the state symbol of American folk art and absolutely haunted. The carousel is located at a former amusement park site, which was wracked by disasters such as fire and hurricane. The park's ballroom, pier, roller coaster and midway all met sudden ends. Spooky doings include sightings of an apparition of a young woman staring into the lake in the park, as well as the carousel and its calliope music turning on by itself.

Tucker Hollow and Ramtail Road in Foster

In the forests around Tucker Hollow and Ramtail Road in the town of Foster, some say, the ghosts of deceased mill workers walk among their haunted graves, scattered throughout the ruins of a graveyard. Among those ghosts and spirits is Dolly Cole, who was said to be a witch, a vampire and a murdered prostitute who wore the clothes of the opposite sex.

After a child of hers was killed due to her neighbors committing arson, she herself died young after either being murdered or drowning in a stream near her house, or perhaps both. There have been numerous sightings of her as told by local hunters and fishermen over the years. It has been said that late at night you can hear a bell in the forests, but no one knows where the ringing comes from.

The haunting history of the Ladd School

In 1908, Dr. Joseph H. Ladd opened the Rhode Island School for the Feeble-Minded, a place for children and adults with disabilities. When the eugenics movement took hold in America, it also took hold at Ladd. Horrible human rights violations took place at Ladd, which is probably why many believe it's still haunted.

From the archives: FINAL DAY: Ladd Center shuts down quietly

The undead in Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Exeter

When it comes to haunted cemeteries, it’s hard to beat vampires. Or, the belief in vampires.

Chestnut Hill Cemetery at the Chestnut Hill Baptist Church in sleepy Exeter is the final resting place of little Mercy Brown, Rhode Island’s last “vampire.” Obviously, vampires aren’t real, but as we’ve covered in the Haunted New England newsletter before, Rhode Island (and Connecticut) went through a bit of a vampire scare in the late 1800s thanks to an ongoing tuberculosis outbreak. Tuberculosis had been ravaging New England for over a century at that point and, with germ theory still a ways from being accepted by most doctors, the most plausible explanation for rural New Englanders was – vampires. When the Brown family started dying of “consumption” in 1892, local folklore pointed to a vampire, in the form of a dead member of the family rising each night to consume, or feed off the living members, and the only way to stop the vampire is to desecrate its corpse. So George Brown, Mercy's father, did just that, digging her up to burn her heart and liver to turn into a tonic that would hopefully save his last living child (it didn’t).

Mercy’s remains were reburied in the cemetery and, today, she enjoys a nice following of people who leave offerings and stones on her gravesite. However, this is absolutely the kind of story that leads to restless spirits when the sun goes down.

The rich ghosts of Seaview Terrace

Seaview Terrace, also known as the Carey mansion, was used as the fictional setting for the Dark Shadows soap opera. In 2011, the Syfy network's "Ghost Hunters" brought The Atlantic Paranormal Society team to investigate Seaview Terrace, where the Gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows" was filmed at from 1966 to 1971.

During the episode, lead investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson looked into a male voice in the hall saying "Hello, is that you?" as well as a drastic temperature change in the third floor tower and a door handle that turns by itself.

The investigation led to "the loudest evidence they've ever heard," according to Syfy. It was also featured on the Travel Channel’s "Ghost Nation" in 2020.

The ghosts of the White Horse Tavern

Although the White Horse Tavern is now popular for being the oldest tavern in the United States, the building served various roles throughout its history including a residence and meeting house. The building is thought by many to be haunted because of all the people who went throughout the house during its over 350-year history. An unidentified man was said to have died in the building and continues to roam the building. Others have reported hearing a child crying near the restrooms.

The pirates of Newport's Blood Alley

An area now full of some of Newport’s most popular businesses used to be full of pirates. The area of Upper Thames that now holds favorites like the Brick Alley Pub used to be a rather deserted part of town titled “Blood Alley” for its nighttime violence. The area is said to be haunted by the pirates who once dominated the area.

The public execution at Gravelly Point, Newport

The neighborhood now known for its historic housing was once known for being the site of a large public execution in the 18th century. Gravelly Point, once on Long Wharf, held an execution of 26 pirates in the early 1700s. The pirates were then buried on Goat Island. The area is said to be haunted by the pirates who died there.

Haunted furniture at Belcourt Castle

Construction on the 60-room mansion began in 1891 and was completed three years later. It was built for Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, a wealthy banker, publisher and politician. In the 1950s, Newport socialites Louis and Elaine Lorillard bought Belcourt and hosted the Newport Jazz Festival there in 1955 and 1956. Ruth and Harold Tinney bought the mansion in November 1956, using it as a private residence and home for their exotic furnishings. A former owner believes the antique furnishings of the house brought with them paranormal energies. She recalled one tour of the castle in which visitors were allowed to rest a hand on an early Gothic chair. One visitor’s touch yielded a flash of light and the smell of burning rubber. A suit of 15th-century armor once frightened a group of Girl Scouts; they claimed the suit had moved. And the former owner recalls one night when she awoke and saw a man standing by her bed. The man’s face was cloaked by a hood, and he left the room by walking through the wall, she said.

Alice Vanderbilt still haunts The Breakers

The largest of the Newport mansions, there is plenty of room for a ghost to walk the halls and never have to bump into a tourist. According to the website Haunted Rooms, Alice Vanderbilt is still enjoying her home by the sea and has no plans to vacate.

The haunted hall at Salve Regina

A haunted Hogwarts? When asked about the Wakehurst property at Salve Regina, now referred to as Gerety Hall, students will typically mention that it resembles the well-known Harry Potter school and that it is haunted. The legend originates from when Salve Regina acquired the property in the early 1970s. The late owner, Margaret Van Alen Bruguiere, despised the university, going so far as to build a tall stone fence surrounding her property to keep students out. Many in the Salve Regina community now believe she haunts the student center.

The angry spirits of the Jailhouse Inn

The historic inn was once the headquarters for the Newport Police Department and a temporary jail for those passing through. Although the building was not a long-term holding facility, there are debates on whether the property is haunted by the angry spirits of the people held there.

The spooky past of Brenton Point

What remains of the property at Brenton Point is a mystery to many visitors. The Bells property went from being a private residence to a military defense battery during World War II to being abandoned. Most of the property was destroyed by a fire in the 1960s. The long and devastating history of the abandoned property leads many people to believe it is haunted.

A mansion the Ghost Hunters investigated

Another paranormal-filled mansion in Newport is the Beechwood property. The mansion is said to have haunted features like random taps on the shoulders, footsteps and doors moving on their own. There was so much speculation that the show “Ghost Hunters” made a visit to the house in 2005. They debunked many of the tales, but could not find an explanation to the self-opening and closing doors.

The dog that has kept watch at Fort Wetherill

Located high on coastal cliffs in Jamestown, Fort Wetherill dates back to the American Revolution, where the Continental Army attempted to use it to prevent attacks on Newport by the British.

It’s rumored to be haunted by a ghost dog with red eyes; some visitors report hearing a dog growling in the tunnels. Others report seeing ghosts of soldiers roaming the grounds.

The legend of Purgatory Chasm in Middletown

Site of a 160-foot cliff overlooking Second Beach, Purgatory Chasm is perhaps aptly named. Local legend has it that a young Native American man chased his would-be lover to the area, where she successfully leaped to the other side. Not so for him, as he is said to have fallen to his death. Is his spirit still there, searching for his love?

Haunting and murder at the Valley Inn Restaurant 

The restaurant is said to be haunted by the ghost of Rebecca Cornell. She was found burned to death, and her brother testified that she came to him as a ghost to tell him she was killed by her own son, Thomas. Thomas – in part on the claims of a ghost – was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged.

The Valley Inn is located on the former Cornell family farm. In 2021, the TV show "Kindred Spirits" filmed an episode inside the Valley Inn.

With reports from past editions of The Providence Journal, The (Fall River, Mass.) Herald News and The Newport Daily News.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Real life haunted places in RI where paranormal lives: ghost stories