- Business Insider identified haunted homes in every US state via various paranormal sighting reports.
- The haunted homes industry in the US reportedly checks in at least $300 million annually.
- The list includes abandoned mansions and historic hotels.
Nothing screams Halloween like a haunted house.
In America, haunted homes are not only a staple of the spooky season; they can be highly lucrative and raise a town’s profile as a tourist destination.
Take, for example, the Ohio State Reformatory, where the 1994 film “The Shawshank Redemption” was filmed. Once filming wrapped, the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society, a non-profit, bought the property for $1 and opened its doors to the public for ghost tours. The haunted home now attracts more than 120,000 visitors each year, and ticket sales help raise funds for property restoration.
Haunted houses can make paranormal tourism a profitable economic strategy for cities. American Haunts, an industry trade group, estimated that the haunted-homes industry makes between $300 million and $500 million in ticket sales annually.
However, some homes have such dark histories that they’re better left alone.
To find the most haunted home in every state, Business Insider considered properties that are known locally for their spooky occurrences or ghost sightings, or ones with horrifying backstories. Some of these properties are open to the public, while others have undergone transformations.
From abandoned mansions to historic hotels, here’s where the spookiest haunted home is hiding in every US state.
Lucy Yang contributed to a previous version of this article.