Marilyn Monroe, Witch Trial Caves: 13 Tales From Haunted America

ACROSS AMERICA — Americans are fascinated by derelict psychiatric hospitals, run-down mansions and haunted graveyards. It’s Halloween season, and all the traditional ghost stories and folklore are making another go-round.

Some tales have been told hundreds of times, with varying degrees of believability. Others fall into the “Who knew?” category.

Here are 13 stories from Patch editors across America on the best places to get your Halloween haunt on.

The Ghost Of Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe, the beloved model and actress who died young almost 60 years ago, is said to haunt the Hotel Roosevelt. She’s been spotted by guests hanging out in her old Room 1200, where she lived in the 1940s before becoming an icon.

“Many see Marilyn in the mirror,” a maintenance worker at the hotel has said.

Read more from Kenan Draughorne, Hollywood Patch

The Spookiest Place On Earth?

It’s not just the old prisons, shuttered hospitals and graveyards that make up haunted America. Disneyland, long dubbed the “happiest place on Earth,” has a spooky side, too.

Video footage from the California park shows what’s believed to be apparitions “taking a stroll” in the park. One in particular is said to be Walt Disney himself.

Read more from Ashley Ludwig, Mission Viejo Patch

Alcatraz Island

Up the coast from Southern California, the Bay Area boasts a haunted corridor of its own. Alcatraz Island and its eerily abandoned prison cells hold history that supposedly lingers still today.

Although there’s been some discrepancy over whether prisoners were actually executed there, many visitors have reported rattling chains, cell doors swinging open and a ghostly draft.

Read more from Kat Schuster, San Francisco Patch

Resurrection Mary

The Chicago area is another haunted corridor of ghosts, perhaps none more famous than Resurrection Mary.

As the legend goes, a few young men saw Mary more than eight decades ago at what was then the Oh Henry Ballroom, later the Willowbrook Ballroom.

They danced with her, then offered her a ride home. She squeezed into the front seat, but vanished when they passed the gates of the nearby Resurrection Cemetery. The men later learned she had died in a car accident.

Read more from David Giuliani, Burr Ridge Patch

The Ghost Of Sheridan Road

Illinois also has Marion Lambert, the “Ghost of Sheridan Road.”

Motorists on Sheridan Road, a thoroughfare that connects Chicago and southwest Wisconsin, have reported sightings of ghostly apparitions, including one strikingly detailed story of a young girl with a damaged mouth.

Whether Lambert, 18 at the time of her 1915 death, died of a homicide or suicide has still not been conclusively determined. She died of cyanide poisoning, and her boyfriend was tried and acquitted of murder in connection with her death.

Read more from Jonah Meadows, Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch

The Biltmore Hotel

When looking up haunted sites to visit in the Sunshine State, Mark Muncy is the expert on haunted Florida.

Muncy says a Prohibition-era gambler named Fatty Walsh haunts the luxurious Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. Walsh was shot dead after upsetting the wrong customer, the historian said.

"Fatty's ghost, of course, haunts this area," Muncy said. "He has appeared to many and sometimes is seen with the spirit of a young lady. So, he's not alone."

He has even spooked former President Bill Clinton, who requested to be moved to another room during his stay.

Read more from Tiffany Razzano, Miami Patch

Salem Witch Trial Caves

Legend has it that people accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials of the 1600s fled to what is now the Ashland-Framingham border in Massachusetts and hid in caves there.

Read more from Neal McNamara, Worcester Patch

“The Exorcist” Movie Site

The ominous stairway in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., is best known for its role in the horror classic "The Exorcist," the 1973 movie based on the bestselling novel by William Peter Blatty. The novel was inspired by a reported exorcism of a young boy.

Read more from Mark Hand, Fairfax City Patch

Whaley House

Located in San Diego's Old Town neighborhood, the Whaley House has been called the “most haunted house in America” by Time Magazine and the Travel Channel's "America's Most Haunted."

It’s a place where hangings took place during the 1800s.

Visitors have reported encountering a variety of spirits, including Thomas Whaley himself, according to the museum's site. The earliest documented ghost at the Whaley House was "Yankee Jim," who was convicted of attempted grand larceny in 1852 and hanged on a gallows off the back of a wagon on the site where the museum now stands.

Read more from Kristina Houck, San Diego Patch

Chicago’s Most Haunted Hotel

The Congress Plaza Hotel in downtown Chicago is home to a number of haunted tales. It’s considered the most haunted spot in Illinois.

Room 441 in particular.

People staying in Room 441 report seeing the dark figure of a woman who kicks them awake. Guests also report seeing objects moving and hearing terrifying noises.

Read more from Amber Fisher, Chicago Patch

Rialto Theater

The paranormal activity at the Rialto Theater in downtown Joliet, Illinois, isn’t confined to just one ghost. Several spirits are known to wander the hallways.

Read more from John Ferak, Joliet Patch

Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery

The amount of paranormal activity at this south suburban Chicago cemetery could encompass an entire book, with stories dating back to the 1950s.

The cemetery is the rumored site of the "White Lady" or "Madonna of Bachelor's Grove," who, according to legend, was buried next to her child and whose apparition can sometimes be seen holding a baby in her arms.

Read more from Rebecca Hughes, Oak Forest Patch

Curtis House, Connecticut’s Haunted Inn

Ghost Betty haunts Room 16 of the hotel in Woodbury, where she is believed to sometimes tuck guests snugly into their beds.

Read more from Rich Kirby, Across Connecticut Patch