NC Ghosts: Here's A List Of State's Most Haunted Places

CHARLOTTE, NC — This time of year, spooky stories and mischievous tricks are as ubiquitous as falling leaves and pumpkin spice lattes. A good ghost story gets the heart pumping — and if they’re really great — the hair standing up on the back of your neck.

But what about when it’s not just a story?

Patch reader Lacy Palermo said she had her first ghostly experience last year in a cabin she rented near Hendersonville, North Carolina. The cabin seemed completely normal at first, but then her small dog began acting strangely. The dog wouldn’t go downstairs, was clingy and seemed uneasy.

“I was kinda weirded out about the place in general,” Palermo said.

Palermo’s experiences in the cabin seemed focused on technology — specifically a mobile phone. After taking photos around the cabin one day, a cell phone was placed on a kitchen counter underneath cabinets with video accidentally left recording the paneled ceiling of the room. Palermo later found the phone on the floor across the room, and said it wasn’t until she was looking through photos later that she understood how it got there.

In the accidental video, the phone moved — slowly at first — before launching across the room onto the floor.

WATCH: Haunted North Carolina Cabin

It wouldn’t be the only time whatever was in the house took an interest in the phone, she said.

Later that night, she awoke to get a glass of water, and in the darkened room, heard the cell phone being picked up, slammed on the table next to the bed and then thrown on the floor.

She left the cabin the next day.

While Palermo learned the hard way that haunted vacation rentals aren’t always disclosed by realty companies, that’s not always the case when it comes to buying and selling homes, according to Zillow.

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Four states — New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Minnesota — all require some sort of disclosure during the sale of a home with paranormal activity.

In New York, for example, a home sale may be rescinded if a seller creates or perpetuates a reputation that the home is haunted, then takes advantage of a buyer’s ignorance, Zillow said. In New Jersey, a seller must truthfully tell a buyer about paranormal activity if specifically asked.

This house listing in Bellport, New York found on Zillow gets right to the point: “House is haunted,” it says.

Even when not disclosed on paper, some sellers have given their realty agents a creepy heads up.

“I worked with a seller who claimed their house was haunted by a ghost who lived in the basement,” said Zillow agent Jennifer Stauter Kornstedt, in a statement. “When I arrived for the open house, I heard banging noises coming from the basement. I went to investigate but could not find the source of the noise. Then the phone rang three times with only static on the other end.”

Most Haunted Places In North Carolina

Our state is prime for spooky stories thanks to geography, according to Haunted Rooms America.

“When you look at North Carolina’s geography, it almost seems as though it was made for paranormal stories! There are the mysterious mountains to the west and seemingly endless, creepy marshes in the east!” the site said.

Here’s what Haunted Rooms America’s says are the most haunted places in North Carolina:

• The Demon Dog, Valle Crucis, N.C. — A demonic dog jumping out from a headstone and chasing cars is said to keep traffic moving in this Watauga County town.
• Paint Rock, Hot Springs, N.C. — The siren song of a maiden has lured the unsuspecting to a watery death, the legend says.
• Lydia’s Bridge, Greensboro, N.C. — The spirit of a woman who died during a car crash has been seen trying to flag down help and has been known to try to hitch a ride home, only to disappear.
• USS North Carolina, Wilmington, N.C. — Several ghosts have reportedly been seen on the battleship, including a soldier who died in a washroom during a torpedo strike.
• Queens University, Charlotte, N.C. — Students report spooky door openings and sounds, which have been blamed on the spirit of a student who committed suicide.
• Teach’s Hole, Ocracoke, N.C. — In 1718, Blackbeard the pirate lost his head in a fierce battle along the shoreline of Ocracoke in the Outer Banks, and reportedly can be heard searching for it along the beach ever since.
• The Great Dismal Swamp, Northern Border, N.C. — Strange lights and ghostly mists have been reported in this 112,000 acre swamp along the Virginia border.
• The Biltmore Estate, Asheville, N.C. — Whispers in the library, a headless cat and the faint echoes of long-ago splashing in the mansion’s swimming pool are some of the ghostly activity reported at one of North Carolina’s most famous landmarks.
• Old Davis Hospital, Statesville, N.C. — The sounds of babies can be heard crying in what was once the pediatric ward of this old, abandoned hospital in Iredell County.
• The Devil’s Tramping Ground, Chatham County, N.C. — Outside of Greensboro, a barren 40-foot circle where nothing will grow is said to be the Devil’s pacing circle.
• The Brown Mountain Lights, Linville, N.C. — Unexplained lights hovering over a mountain peak have sparked long held local debate about potentially paranormal activity.
• The Grove Park Inn, Asheville, N.C. — The spirit of a woman who fell to her death in the hotel’s atrium in 1920s is said to have never checked out.

You can read more about each of these places here. Other spooky ghost stories from around the state may be found here and here.

Have you ever seen a ghost or had an unexplainable paranormal experience? Tell us about it!