It’s a worldwide fact that October is the best month of the year. The weather is finally cooling down, the leaves are changing colors, there’s that distinct “fall smell” in the air, and the ghosts come out to play; all you have to do is figure out where to find them! Well, here they are – the top five most haunted places in Rhode Island.
1. The Shadow Lawn Inn
The year was 1913 when an heiress and her husband moved into the Shadow Lawn Inn. Working as a doctor in Newport, he met with many clients, and particularly enjoyed seeing his female patients. Infidelity in their marriage began to cause some major issues. Completely blinded by rage after he spent a portion of her inheritance on a car for one of his mistresses, the heiress waited for her husband to get home and shot him in the chest. Although she was never charged for the murder, her family shunned her and this heiress died alone in the very same mansion that is now used as a B&B.
2. The Belcourt Castle
In Newport, Rhode Island, this historic building was originally built in 1891 as a summer cottage for Oliver Perry Belmont. After many people began to experience unexplainable events (i.e., objects flying through the air, and furniture being moved), it was opened to the public as a museum. Tours are offered here and many people that walk through the halls constantly feel a strange presence over their shoulder.
3. The Biltmore Hotel
This place just looks like it should have angry ghosts wandering the halls. The Biltmore was built by Johan Weisskopf, a practicing Satanist, and was a popular speakeasy during the prohibition. To make this building even more unsettling, in 2000, the Biltmore Hotel was dubbed the most haunted hotel in America; that'll either make a person really want to visit, or stay as far away as possible. I'd personally love to visit this historic building and see what all the fuss is about. Who knows what you might experience staying in one these rooms ...
4. The Conjuring House
The film, "The Conjuring," was one of those movies that was pretty scary until you found out that it was based on true events - then it became absolutely terrifying. In Burrillville, Rhode Island, Carolyn and Roger Perron lived in the house below with their daughters. Unknown to this innocent family, a Satanist by the name of Bathsheba Sherman, had lived in the house in the 1800s. While she lived in the house, Bathsheba killed her daughter as a sacrifice and hung herself a few days later. That type of negative energy never really leaves a house, and neither have the spirits that haunted the Perron family.
5. Astor's Beechwood Mansion
If you were a part of the Newport elite in the mid 1800s, Astor's Beechwood Mansion was the place to live. One of the first summer cottages built in this town, the wealthy Astor family hosted numerous old money families here. The Astor children grew up among this wealth and inevitability married into more money themselves. The families only son, John (after divorcing his first wife) married a woman half his age when he found out she was pregnant with his child. To avoid bringing shame to his family, John and his young wife decided to head off to Europe together until the rumors died down. Wanting their baby to be born in the US, they headed back to the states... on the RMS Titanic. While his pregnant wife survived, John did not - and it is said that he wanders the halls of his old summer home searching for the family he left behind.
