Wisconsin has no shortage of haunted places, but some have reputations that go well beyond the usual reports of footsteps and flickering lights. From a burned-out mansion with a legendary history of ghosts to lonely cemeteries, abandoned institutions, haunted roads and even a house that stood in a film has an even more famous haunted house, these are some of the scariest paranormal places in Wisconsin.
The stories behind these places range from documented history and firsthand accounts to urban legends that have been repeated for generations. None of the paranormal activity reported here has been scientifically established, and in some cases the legend itself is questionable, but that’s part of what makes Wisconsin’s haunted history so fascinating: sometimes the question isn’t whether a place is haunted, but how the story came to be in the first place.
1. Summerwind Mansion – Land O’ Lakes
Few places in Wisconsin have a paranormal reputation as notorious as Summerwind Mansion. Originally built as a fishing lodge before Robert P. Lamont transformed it into a summer home in 1916, the property became famous for stories of apparitions, unexplained noises, moving objects and other strange occurrences. One of the most famous legends says Lamont encountered an apparition in the kitchen and fired his pistol at it. When the Hinshaw family lived there in the 1970s, the story goes that the house drove them mad, and scared off workers hired to do maintenance and repairs, leaving the house to sit empty and rot.
The mansion was eventually destroyed by a fire in 1988, but the stories have kept Summerwind firmly planted in Wisconsin’s paranormal folklore.
2. Walnut Grove Cemetery – Glenbeulah
Walnut Grove Cemetery, usually referred to as Glenbeulah Cemetery, has one of those classic Wisconsin cemetery legends that refuses to die. Dating back to the early 1800s, the cemetery is said to contain a grave that sometimes glows, and another associated with a mysterious pair of ghostly shoes. There are also stories of the apparition of a man who supposedly hanged himself appearing in the cemetery at night, the spirit of a child who watches visitors from a distance.
Whether it’s full of restless spirits or not, it’s not unusual to feel an unease in the air if you happen to find yourself in Walnut Grove alone.
3. Dartford Cemetery – Green Lake
Dartford Cemetery has earned a reputation as one of the more active paranormal locations in central Wisconsin, with its association with “legend tripping” as seen in the series A Haunting. Stories include apparitions of children and the spirit of the Native American Chief who’s buried there. The paranormal challenge associated with Dartford Cemetery is centered around an unusually shaped mausoleum where, according to the legend, spirits push you off if you sit on top of it on Halloween night.
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4. Pfister Hotel – Milwaukee
The Pfister Hotel is one of Wisconsin’s most famous haunted hotels, and its reputation extends far beyond local ghost stories. Since the Milwaukee landmark opened in 1893, guests have reported unexplained noises, objects moving, lights and electronics behaving strangely and apparitions. The hotel’s alleged ghost has become particularly notorious among professional baseball players, many of whom have publicly described disturbing experiences while staying there. The identity of the supposed spirit is often given as hotel founder Frederick C. Pfister.
5. JFK Prep – St. Nazianz
The enormous former JFK Preparatory School in St. Nazianz has everything you could want in a Wisconsin haunted story: a strange religious history, decades of abandonment and a sprawling institutional complex with a reputation for paranormal activity. The property began with the Salvatorian community founded by Father Ambrose Oschwald in the 1850s. It later became JFK Prep, a college-preparatory boarding school that operated from 1968 until 1982. After the school closed, the deteriorating complex became the subject of ghost stories and urban legends.
6. Witch Road – Ripon
Callan Road near Ripon is better known by its ominous nickname: Witch Road. Local legend says an old house once stood in the woods here, home to a mysterious woman who eventually became the “witch” of the story. Visitors have reported strange lights, cold spots, unexplained sounds and an unsettling presence along the road, while one of the area’s trees is said to resemble the face of a crone. The real history is considerably less supernatural: the property was once home to Grace and Gertrude Thorndike, twin sisters who lived there for decades. After Gertrude died in 1987, the abandoned house was eventually destroyed, leaving only legend behind. As far as haunted roads go, Witch Road is one of Wisconsin’s most notorious.
7. Sheboygan County Asylum – Sheboygan Falls
The former Sheboygan County hospital in Sheboygan Falls, known today as the Sheboygan Asylum, is one of Wisconsin’s most compelling locations for an actual paranormal investigation. The 275,000-square-foot facility opened in 1940 and operated for decades before closing in 2002. During its operation, it’s said that nine nurses committed suicide here, and many of the staff had unexplained experiences. Since the facility shut down, paranormal investigators and visitors have reported hearing footsteps, knocking, voices and singing throughout the building, while others have described seeing shadow figures and experiencing unexplained physical sensations. The site has also been investigated for television, and public paranormal tours have allowed visitors to explore its dark corridors, underground tunnels and former patient areas.
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8. Maribel Caves Hotel – Maribel
The ruins of the Maribel Caves Hotel (better known as Hotel Hell) have been fascinating and frightening the curious for a very long time. The historic hotel was damaged by numerous fires and vandalism before a tornado collapsed much of the hollowed out stone structure in 2013. Ghost stories began circulating widely after a 1985 fire, with tales of apparitions and unexplained activity from guests who died in the fire becoming part of the hotel’s mythology. And don’t forget the story about witches opening a portal to hell in the water fountain or the well.
The property’s actual history is fascinating enough without the ghosts: the hotel was once a popular resort and later became associated with Prohibition-era bootlegging and legends involving gangsters including John Dillinger and Al Capone. The building is privately owned and off limits to the public, though you may encounter some of its spirits underground in the nearby Maribel Caves.
9. Hotel Retlaw – Fond du Lac
Fond du Lac’s historic Hotel Retlaw has accumulated its own collection of ghost stories over the decades. The hotel opened in 1923, and its name is simply “Walter” spelled backward, a reference to owner Walter Schroeder. According to local paranormal lore, Schroeder is one of the spirits said to linger around the property, while other stories involve a murdered former owner, unexplained noises, lights and water turning on by themselves. Room 717 has acquired a particularly sinister reputation, with reports of banging, screaming, cold spots, strange sounds and other unexplained activity.
10. Trempealeau Mountain – Trempealeau
Trempealeau Mountain has a paranormal reputation unlike anything else on this list. The steep-sided rock formation rises 425 feet above the surrounding landscape and has a long history of Indigenous cultural significance, including archaeological sites and burial mounds. It is also associated with a bizarre modern legend: a 1975 account describes a man encountering a nest of large, winged, flesh-eating humanoids on the mountain that were carrying off people and local pets.
The story has become one of Wisconsin’s strangest cryptid encounters. And even if you don’t believe it, it’s probably still best to avoid the mountain as the Ho-Chunk believed it was a sacred place guarded by rattlesnakes.
11. Octagon House – Fond du Lac
The historic Octagon House is unusual before you even get to the ghosts. Built in 1856, the eight-sided house contains a series of unusual passageways and spaces that have generated plenty of legends over the years, including stories of the Underground Railroad and Prohibition era bootlegging. Longtime owner Marlene Hansen said she and her visitors encountered full apparitions, heard children laughing and playing, and felt their cold hands touch them. “I regard Octagon House as being possessed by the spirit world,” Hansen said.
12. Boy Scout Lane – Stevens Point
Boy Scout Lane may have one of Wisconsin’s most famous ghost stories, despite the fact that the tragedy at the center of the legend apparently never happened. According to the story, a troop of Boy Scouts died in the woods during a camping trip, with different versions blaming a murderous scoutmaster, a bus accident, a fire or an unexplained disappearance. Visitors have reported seeing mysterious lights in the woods, hearing footsteps and breaking branches and finding child-sized handprints on their vehicles.
The real origin of the name is much less sinister: the Boy Scouts of America once owned nearby land and planned to build a camp there, but the camp was never constructed. The road and surrounding property are now private.
13. Amityville Horror House – Salem Lakes
Wisconsin’s Amityville Horror House seems to be haunted by a story that originally happened somewhere else. The old Victorian on the shore of Silver Lake was used as the primary filming location for the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror, temporarily receiving the infamous quarter-moon windows and other alterations to make it resemble the original house in Amityville, New York. During production, cast and crew reportedly experienced strange occurrences including unexplained cold spots, flickering lights, objects moving and cast and crew waking at exactly 3:15am just like the original Amityville case.
“I think a lot of people make that stuff up to sell their movie,” Ryan Reynolds said, “but there was some weird stuff that happened.”
