Terrifying Real Haunts Across Indiana That'll Prove Once & For All Ghosts Are Real

The Story Inn is believed to be hauted by the ghost of the town founder's wife, who is attracted to blue lights in th Garden Room of the Inn.
Photo by: Joe Monin, via Flickr. (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Here in Indiana, there are a ton of haunted places where locals and tourists alike have reported seeing ghostly spirits, experiencing eerie encounters and contact with spirits. Whether or not you believe in ghosts, these real haunts are definitely worth checking out - the history behind the horror is absolutely fascinating, and who knows, you might even encounter a spirit or two on your adventures!

• The James Allison Mansion - Indianapolis, IN - Built in the early 1910s, this hundred year old behemoth is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a little girl who drowned in the basement pool (I mean, basement pools are their own special kind of creepy, without the help of little girl ghosts, thank you very much, but still). It's also believed that the property's namesake, James Allison may be haunting the mansion as well - it's been reported that objects move and disappear by themselves, furniture is rearranged, and that disembodied voices can be heard in the attic.
  
  To be fair, this is James Allison's estate, so if the man/ghost wants to haunt it, more power to him (plus hey - is it really haunting if it's your own home? Maybe he didn't like the new residents' furniture layout choices).
  
  
• The Hannah House - Indianapolis, IN - Built in the 1850s by Alexander Hannah, the historical house now known as "The Hannah House" was a vital part of the underground railroad, which helped slaves escape to the North before the American Civil War. So why is this house haunted, considering Hannah helped slaves escape the South? Well, a group of escaped slaves were killed when an oil lamp fell and caused a fire at the house, killing multiple slaves on their way to freedom.
  
  In order to avoid being ousted as a stop on the Underground Railroad, instead of reporting the accident, Hannah decided to bury the bodies of the slaves in the basement, so as to avoid being ousted, and potential retribution from slave owners. While his intentions may have been good, the ghosts don't necessarily see it that way, and it's believed that the ghosts of the all-but-free-slaves that died in the fire still haunt the property to this day.
  
  
• The Story Inn - Nashville, IN - The Story Inn is located in what once was the town on Story, IN, which was founded in the 1850s, and consisted of little more than The Story Inn, a school house, a church, a saw mill, and a few general stores. The town of Story flourished until the Great Depression, but in recent times, many of the historical buildings, The Story Inn included, have been restored to their former glory.
  
  One of the rooms in the Inn, a garden room known as "The Blue Lady", is believed to be haunted by The Countess - the wife of town founder Dr. George Story. It is said that if you put a blue light on in the room, she will appear, often leaving blue items, or you may spot her set of blue eyes. There have also been reports of visitors smelling cherry tobacco, a favorite of Mrs. Story. 
  
  
• The Tunnelton Tunnel - Tunnelton, IN - The Tunnelton Tunnel is one of those haunted places that is home to seemingly endless rumors and urban legends - the tunnel, which was built in the 1880s, has countless urban legends about its hauntings. There have been reports of an apparition of a decapitated man hanging out in the tunnel, wandering around with an oil lantern in his hand, and there's another legend about a family traveling via horse drawn carriage that was tragically killed in the tunnel, and haunts it to this day.
  
  A THIRD urban legend focuses on the cemetery that sits above the tunnel, or at least, used to. Legend has it that construction workers erroneously cut into caskets of those buried at the old cemetery above the tunnel, and well, you know what happens when you disturb the final resting place of the dead. Nothing good, that's what.
  
  These are just a fraction of the creepy stories surrounding the supposedly haunted tunnel, which definitely seems to be a hotbed for paranormal activity.
  
  
• The University of Notre Dame - Notre Dame, IN - With over a century of history, it's no wonder that the campus of Notre Dame du Lac is believed to be haunted. While there have been numerous reports of paranormal activity across the college's campus, one of the hot beds of activity is Washington Hall, where numerous incidents with a variety of spirits have been reported.
  
  One of the most well-known ghosts to haunt the building is that of star football player, George "Gripper" Gipp, who died of pneumonia after sleeping on the steps of his building, after breaking curfew. Reports of doors slamming, music playing, and light bulbs unscrewing themselves have been made by students, faculty and visitors. This is just one of many ghost stories that are notorious on the Notre Dame campus, which could have an entire book written on its paranormal activity alone.

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