Explore the Most Haunted Locations in Upstate New York

The charming villages and rolling hills of upstate New York mask a much darker history that many visitors glaze over. You don’t hear much about these stories, which are mumbled among locals but rarely shared with outsiders.

The Abandoned Asylums

The Utica Psychiatric Center is a monument to suffering. Its large stone buildings housed thousands of patients throughout the decades. Patients whose last departure from the center was by death. Ghostly figures and shadowed figures haunt the halls. Night-time security guards have reported hearing disembodied voices calling their names in empty rooms. Security guards have had footsteps follow them down dark locked corridors. Guards also report cold spots in hallways that seem to follow them around the motion-sensor cameras. Late at night you’ll find footage that shows odd orbs and shadows appearing in strange places.

Paranormal researchers frequent the facility, bringing their equipment and installing video cameras in an effort to document paranormal activity. When making the drive from the city, many researchers and investigators will often car rental NYC so they can also have the opportunity to visit multiple haunted places in upstate New York on their long weekend trip. Renting a car helps the researcher arrive early enough to take part in any activities that might take place in the early morning. This is when paranormal activity peaks.

The most disturbing activities and evidence has come from the basement. Some researchers have captured video orbs and other ghostly manifestations. One research team abandoned their overnight study session because the microphones recorded voices having a conversation and responding to questions being asked (in real time).

Waterside Specters

Foggy nights are when the Finger Lakes reveals its secrets. A large number of these unexplained phenomenas happen at Seneca Lake.

Misty nights bring ghost ships so clearly described, that witnesses have detailed descriptions that don’t match up to modern ships. Minutes later, they vanish. Sightings date back to the 1890s and continue to the present day.

Even fishermen are wary of certain cove areas after dark. Water temperatures drop in strange ways around these areas, even in summer. And fish seem to avoid these areas completely. Boat engines stop for no known reason.

RealCar clients have described seeing strange lights while driving the shoreline routes at night. One customer even pulled over near Watkins Glen because they witnessed what appeared to be lanterns moving slowly beneath the surface of the water at a depth of 600 feet.

Historic Houses with Permanent Residents

Haunted houses exist outside the realm of simple attractions or tourist traps. Many historic houses are haunted by spirits or unexplained presences, disturbing owners and guests alike.

As a historical landmark, Belhurst Castle is a favorite spot for tourists trying out fine wine and spoiling themselves with plush accommodations. Most remain blissfully unaware that they may actually see an unexpected guest or two during their stay. The resident ghost affectionately called Isabella, most often chooses to show up around this haunted house upstate New York around 2 AM and 4 AM. Isabella will usually stand at the foot of beds or sit quietly in chairs of rooms, wearing a white period dress.

It is believed this happens twice a month. The hotel unofficially keeps track of sightings, with a few rooms in particular reporting disturbances repeatedly, like room 22, where Isabella appears to be the strongest.

Guests will wake up to find rearranged personal items, and even more strangely, jewelry displayed in strange arrangements. Even more disturbing, there have been wet footprints left on bathroom floors, which always start at the tub and making its way towards the bedrooms, only to eventually disappear.

Road Mysteries

Mount Misery Road in Huntington has a lot of trees surrounding it, which seems appropriate given the number of accidents and reports of GPS errors.

Individuals travelling alone have reported seeing a young female hitchhiker standing on the side of the road in white, looking distraught. When they stopped to offer her help, she vanished. Sometimes, she appears directly on the road forcing drivers to abruptly brake.

Travelers heading to supernatural areas in New York City, like those in Long Island, pay the same attention to reliable transportation as they do to ghost-hunting gear. Many tourists planning a trip headed to these supernatural points of interest choose a car rental Manhattan NYC that has roadside assistance coverage. The peace of mind it provides is invaluable.

The thirteen curved road near Syracuse has its own ghost. In damp or rainy weather, a bride appears near the seventh curve. Even when it isn’t raining her wedding dress is dripping wet. A number of different accounts exist of individuals picking her up and driving her until she disappears from their back seat leaving only a wet spot.

The Winfield House Mystery

It would be hard to find a house with a greater record of spirits than Winfield House. Built by lumber baron Edward Winfield in 1869 on 10 wooded acres in the Catskills of upstate New York, this haunted house in upstate New York has over a hundred years of history, with its grounds dating back to the indigenous Indian tribes. Today, as it sits vacant, it is said to be haunted by the spirits of Edward Winfield and his family. Current tenants describe everyday items mysteriously flying off shelves, doors opening and closing on their own, and even hearing children’s laughter echoing through empty hallways in the middle of the night.

Multiple unconnected visitors have described seeing the same elderly woman in period dress watching them from the upstairs landing. The details are uncanny–from her high-collared black dress to the pinned cameo brooch at her throat, completely matching.

Historical accounts confirm that Edward Winfield’s mother died in the house after falling from the upstairs landing in 1872.

Scientific Explanations

These locations have many things in common. All of these upstate New York haunted house have extreme experiences associated with them, such as suffering, acute death, or profound loss. Many haunted houses in upstate New York have strange geological forms or electromagnetic properties, with some being situated over underground water or magnetic anomalies. They’ve been monitored for temperature changes, electromagnetic spikes, and infrasound which can contribute to hallucinations or anxiety in some visitors.

Nevertheless, this does not explain the recurring accounts over decades from unrelated witnesses.

The locals are not willing to share their stories about any of the phenomena. Diners are quiet. After dark, newcomers to the area are warned about certain roads. You cannot get anything else out of them. What the locals share is limited and speaks as much volume as the stories themselves.