Survey says: Columbus named one of the spookiest cities in the U.S.
Think Columbus seems particularly scary at this time of year?
You're not wrong, at least according to a recent report that ranks Ohio's capital city among the 20 spookiest cities in the U.S.
Columbus ranked 18th on the list created by Michigan-based homebuilder Lombardo Homes, which based its conclusions on per capita Google search traffic for Halloween decorations. So either Columbus residents do indeed love to decorate for Halloween, or they're at least interested in new decorations to replace old ones.
No other Ohio cities made the list.
The spookiest city in the U.S., according to the analysis? Las Vegas.
Halloween 2022:Here's when trick-or-treating is planned around Greater Columbus this Halloween season
Lombardo Homes also determined via survey that Americans spend an average of $61 each year on decorations and that skeletons are Ohio's favorite Halloween decoration. (South Dakota, Nebraska and Massachusetts prefer clowns, yikes!)
What places in Columbus are said to be haunted?
Putting aside Halloween décor, is Columbus indeed a spooky place? Well, the state's capital has plenty of places where ghosts are said to frequent.
Perhaps the best known is the Kelton House Museum & Garden on East Town Street.
Built by one-time residents Fernando and Sophia Kelton in 1852, occupied by their descendants until 1975 and now run by the Junior League of Columbus, its executive director, Sarah Richardt, reports giving a tour to a couple and seeing the lights flicker each time the name “Fernando” was spoken.
“The third time Fernando’s name was mentioned, the front door, which is an extremely heavy front door ... opened completely and stayed open for a good 15, 20 seconds and then just slowly closed,” Richardt told The Dispatch last year. “The young boy that was there was not real thrilled.”
More: Eerie experiences: Ohio Statehouse, other venues have long history of 'ghost' stories
Another place is Harrison House Bed and Breakfast in Victorian Village, which recently changed ownership and is undergoing renovations, according to its website.
Former owner Lynn Varney told WOSU in 2019 as part of its Columbus Neighborhoods series that soon after she bought the house in 2006 she quickly realized that other "entities" were living there with her.
"I would hear noises, people walking up stairs, doors opening and closing, rattling," she said.
And then there is the Thurber House literary center and museum on Jefferson Avenue where writer and cartoonist James Thurber once lived. It has a ghostly reputation burnished by its former occupant: Thurber’s story “The Night the Ghost Got In” fancifully retells an episode that occurred at the house in 1915.
“(Thurber) was in an upstairs bathroom, washing his face and getting ready for bed, when he heard this stomping coming from around the downstairs,” said Bucky Cutright, the founder of Columbus Ghost Tours. “It woke his brother up. ... The stomping noise came pounding up the stairs towards them, and they could see there was no visible cause.”
Monroe Trombly covers breaking and trending news.
mtrombly@dispatch.com
@monroetrombly
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Halloween 2022: Is Columbus one of the spookiest cities in America?
