October is the perfect time to visit some of Louisville's spookiest places. And no, we're not talking about "haunted houses," but actual haunted locations. We dug into our story archives and unearthed five tales about haunted locations in Louisville you can visit this Halloween — or anytime you're looking for a scare.
Happy Halloween!
335 W. Broadway; brownhotel.com
The iconic Brown Hotel in downtown Louisville is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and it's been said ghosts love it there. The hotel is said to have a haunted floor that is used for storage space. John Graham Brown, the hotel's original owner, previously lived on the 15th floor where most of the paranormal activity reportedly happens.
It is said the elevator is known to stop on that floor for no reason and footprints have been seen walking in plaster dust on the floor, according to Kentuckyhauntedhouses.com . One guest event reported hearing heavy walking and moving furniture at night.
625 S. Fourth St.; louisvillepalace.com
The Louisville Palace opened in 1928 as the Lowe's Theater and is said to be haunted by several ghosts.
Some have seen apparitions on the balcony, including a man in 1930s-era clothing or a spooky faceless woman in a blue-grey dress with shoulder pads walking the mezzanine lobby, according to Kentuckyhauntedhouses.com . A former theater employee, who is said to have died from either a heart attack or a fall down a backstage staircase, is sometimes seen up in the projection room. A boy and girl are often heard giggling by the Mammoth Bar and slamming doors in the restroom.
According to the website, an employee also once said someone pulled his wife's ponytail when they were there, but no one else was in the room.
More: It's spooky season! Here are 10+ haunted places to visit within an hour of Louisville
500 S. Fourth St. ; seelbachhilton.com
The Seelbach Hotel in downtown Louisville was founded by Bavarian-born immigrant brothers Louis and Otto Seelbach and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . During its years downtown, it has had many guests report strange sounds and activity during their stays. It is said that a mysterious “Lady in Blue” haunts the floors. She was there to meet her husband at the hotel, but he was killed in an accident and she allegedly threw herself from a stairwell.
There have also been reports of televisions turning on at a loud volume early in the morning and the sound of running footsteps on wooden floors.
"The building is very haunted," night security guard Patrick Rhodes previously told the Courier Journal. "Between Al Capone and the gangsters (staying here), World War I and II and the Great Depression and the age of the building, there's lots of different things that have happened here."
When he walks the hotel property at night, locking doors and doing security patrols, Rhodes said he whispers the Lord's Prayer to himself and makes the sign of the cross on his chest to keep the spirits at bay.
The Seelbach's ghost lore has been well documented, and U.S. News & World Report featured the hotel in a story titled "The 27 most haunted hotels in America." People regularly visit the Seelbach specifically to experience its supernatural energy. Mediums, ghost hunters, and witches have all visited and asked Rhodes to take them on a late-night ghost tour.
"I've heard doctors, lawyers, construction people, grandmothers, everybody in every realm that have reported doors opening and closing, lights flickering on and off, or the smell of perfume," Rhodes previously said of the infamous "Lady in Blue." "Maybe a blue streak of light going across a room. I have thousands and I'm still adding on to the stories."
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2035 S. Third St.; speedmuseum.org
The Speed Art Museum houses tons of artifacts, many of which are tied to dark chapters in America's history, such as the Native American genocide and the Civil War, that many believe could be linked to ghosts.
"Ghosts and spirits, apparently, are attached to things," Steven Bowling, the museum's chief marketing officer, previously told the Courier Journal. "So, I think that's why, a lot of times, people think museums are haunted. They have these things that are ancient."
Aside from some spooky objects, the museum itself also has a resident ghost.
According to legend, a female spirit haunts the hallways and the basement of the building. While there's no evidence that the glimpses of shadowy figures or the flickers on security cameras belong to the museum's founder, Hattie Bishop Speed , some staff members certainly wonder if she's still wandering the halls 80 years after her death.
For Bowling, whenever the elevator opens unexplainably on a random floor, he just shrugs and tells Hattie to "come on in."
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4400 Paralee Drive; therealwaverlyhills.com
The Waverly Hills Sanatorium opened in 1910 as a two-story hospital to accommodate Louisville patients struck by a tuberculosis outbreak. The tuberculosis hospital closed in 1961 and reopened in 1962 as Wood Haven Medical Services, a geriatric facility. Woodhaven had numerous complaints over patient neglect and was closed by the state in 1982.
After closing, Waverly Hills gained a reputation for being haunted. Volunteers working on the building's restoration have reported hearing ghostly sounds and slamming doors, seeing apparitions in doorways and being struck by invisible hands, according to kentuckyhauntedhouses.com .
"Once you went to Waverly Hills, you became a permanent resident," the Waverly Hills Historical Society states on its website.
Waverly Hills attracts tourists from around the country with its paranormal and historical guided tours. It also allows private paranormal groups to host investigations of the facility, many of whom claim to have experienced inexplicable paranormal activity during their visits. Waverly Hills has also been featured on ABC/FOX Family channel's "Scariest Places on Earth," VH1 ' s"Celebrity Paranormal Project," Syfy's "Ghost Hunters," and HuLu's "Living for the Dead."
Reach Features Clerk Gege Reed at greed@courier-journal.com .
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: From the Seelbach Hotel to Waverly Hills, 5 seriously haunted places to visit in Louisville
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