Only For The Brave: 5 Haunted Bed And Breakfasts You Can Actually Spend The Night At

1. Lizzie Borden House

In Fall River, Massachusetts in 1892, police conducted one of the most incompetent investigations of a murder ever recorded. Lizzie Borden, suspected of murdering Andrew and Abby Borden, her parents, with an axe was acquitted at trial despite changing her story repeatedly and literally being the only person in the home who could have committed the grisly deed.

The Borden family was odd and the children, especially the daughters appeared to be spoiled, demanding that their father ‘give’ them a rental property. The family also argued notoriously with Lizzie herself leaving several times to stay in a boarding home rather than stay in her parents’ house after an argument.

Just as bizarre, the heads of Lizzie’s parents were removed during the subsequent autopsy and later presented at trial which reportedly caused Lizzie to faint in court. The heads were later buried at the foot of the parents graves.

The more interesting theories as to what may have motivated Lizzie to killer her parents are the hypothesis that she had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of her father. However there is no evidence to support this idea. Another theory is that Lizzie, who was widely rumored to have been a lesbian, killed her parents after she was caught having sex with the maid.

The Borden home has since been turned into a very popular bed & breakfast. You can make reservations to stay by clicking here. As would be expected, all the rooms have been booked for the month of October.

2. Smith-Ely Mansion

Notoriously haunted, the Smith-Ely Mansion is a forty-three room three story home built in 1850. In its day it has served as a family home, a veteran’s home, and low income housing, eventually being condemned in 2006 before being purchased and renovated two years later.

The mansion is rumored to have been the scene of several suicides in the past and those who’ve previously lived there tell stories of hearing voices at night, doors opening and closing by themselves as if people were entering and exiting the room, as well as hanging pictures and the like falling off the walls for no visible reason.

On a more grisly note, the mansion is also rumored to be the site of a decapitation resulting from an argument between two house servants wherein the body of the victim was never found and only the head remained.

You can book a room here. Have fun.

3. The Haunted Myrtles Plantation

The stories about the paranormal at Myrtles Plantation start at the very beginning when the house was originally built in 1796. The home’s owner, General David Bradford, believed the house was built on what had been a Native American burial ground and told stories of seeing a young native girl wandering the property at night. In the years that have since passed, many others have also claimed to have seen the same thing.

Another story claims that a Judge and his family once lived in the home and that the Judge took a slave named Chloe as his mistress against her will. The story goes that later on Chloe poisoned a birthday cake intended for the family, killing two of the Judge’s children. Chloe then fled but was later killed. She too has been seen spying on people staying at the plantation.

Click here to book a night at the plantation.

4. The Jailer’s Inn

Located in Bardstown, Kentucky, the Jailer’s Inn served as an actual jail for over two hundred years. Famous hauntings include the apparition of Ms. McKay who became the jailer after her husband, previously the jailer, died. She’s said to be friendly but I can’t imagine that would make anyone less creeped out about seeing her.

Martin Hill, who was convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to death, has also reportedly been seen in the jail and actually died in one of the cells before he could be executed. And speaking of executions, the gallows were located in the courtyard right outside the jail where countless instances of frontier justice were carried out. Ghost hunters who’ve stayed at the Inn report countless disembodied voices echoing in the jail cells at night.

You can spend the night in these cells as well. Click here to check it out. The Jail Cell Room even has a waterbed.

5. Heceta Head Lighthouse

Heceta Head Lighthouse in Devil’s Elbow has been around since the late 1800s and includes a multi-room lightkeeper’s house attached to the structure. It’s also considered one of the most haunted places in America with regular sitings of a woman known as “Rue.” However, the sitings haven’t been limited to the odd vague appearance here and there. One worker cleaning the attic in the 70s looked up from her work only to see the clear reflection of a silver-haired woman in a mirror. Turning around, the woman was still there. The worker fled the attic and refused to ever return. Rue is said to be a helpful spirit and it’s been claimed that she’s even been known to clean up broken glass in the past.

In addition to Rue, visitors to the lighthouse have reported hearing unexplained screams as well as other unexplainable sounds. The lighthouse keeper’s home is also available for rent so you can go meet Rue yourself. Check out their website. The site is ideally located in a park so you can awake to a foggy Oregon morning while scanning the room for silver-haired ghosts.