Given Ohio’s plethora of historic homes, repurposed buildings and spooky Victorian structures, it’s hardly surprising that you can find haunted places all over the map.
Throughout autumn, spooky events fill out the calendar in central Ohio and many other regions of the state. Ohio History Connection is a great source of information and events all year, and it knows how to go all-out once summer passes and a chill takes over the fall air.
While the schedule for this year’s Fright at the Museum event at the Ohio History Center are not yet confirmed, the event will take place Oct. 19 and 26. Past years’ festivities have included “Sleepy Hollow” campfire stories, tasteful Victorian-inspired decor, mask- and puppet-crafting, and history-inspired masquerades.
If you can’t wait to get your fill of ghost stories before that time rolls around, Ohio Exploration Society’s collection of hauntings and legends – organized by county on a clickable map – can inspire you with plenty of local tales from Pickerington to Put-in-Bay.
Columbus’ vagrant spirits
Columbus is no stranger to growth and change throughout its history, and ghastly remnants of the city’s bygone eras have shown themselves to believers all over the region.
Before much of Columbus was constructed in the 1800s, its landscape was very different. The winding Scioto River was deeper and narrower than it is in today’s dam- and levy-terraformed waterway, and it had many more islands that have since washed away.
One such bygone island, nicknamed British Island, had a history of tragedy, leaving many spirits wayward across central Ohio. It earned its name during the War of 1812 when captured British soldiers were held in cells in the middle of the river.
The island was constantly prone to partial flooding, which made escape easier on occasion, but also created health hazards and often killed trapped prisoners. North of the intersection of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, reports of soldiers’ spirits have kept the gruesome memory of British Island alive.
This is not the only claustrophobic tragedy that haunts Columbus. The Arena District is said to be the stomping grounds of spirits from those lost in the tragic 1930 fire that killed 332 inmates at the Ohio State Penitentiary.
The massive, overcrowded reformatory was a source of shame for the city and state long before the fire, which is still considered the worst prison fire in American history. Its unendingly troubled past makes it an easy rabbit hole to dive down for the most ambitious – and strong-stomached – haunting enthusiasts.
O-S-Boo
Rumors of ghosts on The Ohio State University campus circulate with each new freshman class, and some memorable ghost stories have stuck around for generations of Buckeyes.
Stories of ghosts perusing Thompson Library’s stacks or screaming in Mack Hall bathrooms are refreshed each year, but no tale has as iconic a status as The Lady of the Lake. A place of leisure and gathering as well-used as Mirror Lake is bound to become a mainstay of spiritual lore at the school, and this is no exception.
The Lady of the Lake is the school’s most famous phantom, known to appear on cold nights by the water outside Mirror Lake Eatery. From the pink party girl from Pomerene to a disgruntled professor’s wife who wanted him to spend more time at home, nobody has been able to get close enough to confirm the spirit’s identity.
Mansfield Reformatory
No discussion of haunted Ohio hotspots is complete without the Mansfield Reformatory. After a decade of construction on its impressive 40-acre footprint, the facility received its first inmates in 1896.
Its operation as a prison concluded in 1990 after a lawsuit forced it to shut down due to poor living conditions. From gangsters to country singers, there is no shortage of notable names on Mansfield Reformatory’s inmate log. Its level of fame has increased significantly over the past two decades as the film The Shawshank Redemption, which was shot on-location, has become a classic with film buffs.
After the reformatory sat vacant for a few years in the 1990s, the state sold the structure for $1 to a group of local activists looking to preserve the building, and it has become one of the state’s leading attractions for ghost hunters.
Once able to hold about 2,000 prisoners at a time, it now welcomes more than 120,000 visitors annually. A variety of paranormal tours run throughout the year, from public pass-throughs to overnight stays for the most dedicated paranormal hunters.
Rogue’s Hollow’s many tales
Located in Doylestown, just a few miles outside of Akron, Rogue’s Hollow was once known for coal mining and unruly locals, and it is now known for a pair of spirits who wander the area after dark.
Crybaby bridges are bridges famous for their associations with urban legends and ghost stories, and Rogue Hollow’s crybaby bridge is known as one of the most active paranormal hotspots in Ohio.
Legend has it that a couple’s car was overturned on the bridge and their baby didn’t survive, but believers disagree on why. Some say the baby was in the car with them; others say it made it through the crash, but starved after it was not found. But all witnesses agree they’ve heard its haunting cry when crossing the bridge today.
The ominous name Rogue’s Hollow certainly lends itself to spooky tales, and historically the tale of a headless horse has been the town’s claim to paranormal fame.
Decapitated by the lowest bow of the aptly nicknamed Ghost Oak Tree, the horse is said to frequent the bridge and haunt passersby.
Moonville Tunnel
Like bridges, small-town tunnels tend to have a reputation for spiritual activity. In southeast Ohio in Vinton County, one tunnel is so famous for its astral visitors that the U.S. National Parks Service added it to the National Register of Historic Places.
Moonville was a tiny mining community dependent on a railroad line from Marietta to Cincinnati that slowly became a ghost town before the 1950s. Today, trails line the railroad tracks up and down Moonville for ambitious ghost hunters to peruse.
Reports of railroad workers waving their lanterns parallel to the tracks are common in the area, with activity surging around the tunnel, one of the last remnants of the bygone town.
Tyler Kirkendall is a contributing writer at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenecolumbus.com.
