The Top 12 Haunted Houses in the UK and USA
These haunted houses are nothing like the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. These are the real deal, the scariest real haunted houses in the UK and America.
1. The headless ghost at Blickling Hall
Blickling Hall is home to one of history’s most famous phantoms: Anne Boleyn. The older medieval manor, which used to stand on the site of Blickling Hall is thought to have been the former Henry VIII’s birthplace. Anne didn’t provide the King with an heir to the throne, so out of frustration he ordered his own wife’s execution.
Her headless ghost is said to return every year on 19th May (the anniversary of her execution). Her ghost rides up to the house in a coach drawn by a headless horseman. As soon as the coach reaches the house it vanishes into thin air.
2. Sir Francis Drake lived in glory as a national hero. But his spirit is not a happy one
The house built on the site of the former abbey was the Devon home of Sir Francis Drake from 1580. While Sir Francis was regarded as a national hero, many locals feared him and believed he had supernatural powers. Some said that he had only defeated the Spanish Armada because he had made a pact with the Devil.
There seems to be a headless horse theme here, because Sir Francis’ ghost is said to ride across Dartmoor in a black coach driven by headless horses and chased by a pack of hounds. There’s a possibility that The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was inspired by this haunted house, as he is known to have visited the area and therefore must have heard of the ghost.
3. The Dream by Sir Winston Churchill
The former Prime Minister wrote an account entitled ‘The Dream’ when his dead father appeared to him when he was painting in his studio.
Churchill saw his father sitting in his red leather armchair, exactly how he used to. Churchill went on to update his father on the 50 years he had missed, including the two World Wars.
"He was so exactly like my memories of him in his most charming moods that I could hardly believe my eyes. I felt no alarm; but I thought I would stand where I was and go no nearer."
4. This dramatic ruined fortress in southern Dorset is associated with a murderous story
A woman in white, believed to have performed an act of treason during the Civil War is said to stalk the battlements at Corfe.
5. The most haunted house in the Midlands, Croft Castle, Herefordshire
There are said to be a total of seven spectres in residence at this ancient Herefordshire fortress.The most imposing of these is a seven-foot figure of a man clad in a leather jerkin. He is believed to be the ghost of Welsh freedom fighter Owain Glyndwr.
6. Echoes of a century-old murder
Many peculiar and unsettling reports of ghostly activity have come out of Newton House in Camarthenshire. In the 1980s a TV crew stayed overnight at this lonely property. At one point a cameraman swears that he felt an invisible pair of hands squeezing his throat.
Legend has it that Lady Elinor was forced to marry a man she didn’t love. After running away to seek refuge with her family at Dinefwr, her enraged suitor followed, burst into the house and strangled his wife to death.
This was in the very room that the cameraman felt the hands around his throat…
7. A haunted library at Felbrigg Hall
The ghostly presence of William Windham III at Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk is linked to a fire that broke out at Felbrigg. William died trying to save his precious books and has since been sighted as a ghost trying to read all the books he didn’t have time to whilst he was alive.
Photo Credits: National Trust
American photographer Seph Lawless took the following photos of these truly haunted houses. Lawless will be staying in one of these abandoned houses on Halloween night and will live-stream the event. You can vote for which house by following his Instagram!
8. Nova House
Benjamin Albright accidentally shot and killed his son in 1958 in this Nova Ohio house. He later killed himself and his wife.
Called the Nova House, the home has been abandoned ever since. Some of the family's belongings are still inside.
9. Haught Mansion
This mansion is located in Brush Park, Michigan. A former upscale brothel in the 40s. Years after it closed, several dead women’s bodies were found in the basement. There were perfectly round circles drawn on the torsos and chests of the victims.
10. Downtown McKeesport, Pennsylvania
Lawless shot this 1892-built house the day before it collapsed from a fire - freaky right?!
"It's truly frightening and it still gives me chills thinking about it" says Lawless.
11. The Old Hickory Tavern, Pennsylvania
Lawless heard unexplained, eerie nosies here when he visited…
12. Franklin Castle in Cleveland, Ohio
This is considered one of the most haunted houses in America. According to local legend, there have been numerous murders in the house, in addition to people seeing ghosts and hearing strange noises.
The three-story mansion was originally built for Frank Knox. It was sold in 1928 and converted into a hotel and restaurant.
Photo Credits: Seph Lawless