22 Most Haunted Places in Texas
For anyone seeking the Halloween thrill of the supernatural or a ghostly encounter, the Lone Star State is one of your best bets. Not only does Texas have a long and varied history, a rich cultural tradition, and beautiful locations, it’s one of the most haunted states in America.
From the echoes of the American Civil War and Confederate soldiers to the 13-day siege of the Alamo, Texas's military history alone accounts for thousands of deaths and possible hauntings.
But that’s not all— Texan locals and visitors to spectral hotspots report seeing a ghostly little girl, disappearing footsteps, or floating orbs above the desert. In all, Texas can be one of the best destinations for paranormal activity.
So, have you ever wondered, where are haunted places near me? Well, it’s time to grab your spirit box, dig out that Ouiji board, and read on to discover the top 22 most haunted places in Texas!
1. The Alamo, San Antonio
Location: South-Central Texas
Not only do historians remember the Alamo— so too do the ghosts that are supposed to remain there.
Ghost tours and those involved in ghost-hunting should never miss the Alamo, where paranormal activity has been reported for decades. And it’s no surprise, given how many Texan and Mexican soldiers lost their lives in this location during the 13-day siege of 1836 when thousands of bodies were unceremoniously buried and left behind.
Sightings of ghostly apparitions are common, including a young boy and even a ghastly John Wayne!
2. Marfa Lights, Marfa
Location: West Texas
The state of Texas is no stranger to UFOs, strange noises, and orbs, and the Marfa Lights combine all three! Located near Route 67, the east of Marfa, people have been intrigued by these apparitions for years.
First spotted in 1883 by a rancher driving his herd of cattle, theories range from campfires to aliens, spirits to secret government testing. But these occurrences have since become an integral part of local life, including an annual Marfa Lights Festival and a designated Marfa Lights Viewing Area.
So, if you are ever in the area of Mitchell Flat, and spot a group of orbs hovering over the desert and flickering lights, you might be one of the lucky ones to spot this possibly-paranormal or extraterrestrial activity!
3. USS Lexington, Corpus Christi
Location: South Texas
While ghost stories are common in haunted houses, you can find the spirits of this Texan location wandering the decks of a massive aircraft carrier. The USS Lexington is permanently moored in Corpus Christi Bay, open to visitors as a museum and historic artifact— as well as spirits.
Also known as the “Blue Ghost” from its World War II service days, the many soldiers and sailors who died aboard the carrier are said to remain within its tight passageways and narrow stairwells, including lights that turn on by themselves (which is a feat for 75-year-old wiring)!
4. The Magnolia Hotel, Seguin
Location: South-Central Texas
This establishment is proud of its status as one of the most haunted hotels in Texas, thanks to its basement originally being used as one of the most deplorable jails in the state. Bad luck seemed to dog the building and land, as subsequent owners lost their lives in horrifying ways throughout the 1800s.
But today, this bed and breakfast seems to only hold the echoes of the past, as the occasional specter wanders the halls of this historic building, said to number an unlucky 13 in total.
5. Goatman’s Bridge, Denton
Location: North Texas
The Old Alton Bridge has stood since 1884, allowing cars, carriages, and horses to cross it for centuries. But did you know about the demonic presence that is said to linger on this bridge, too?
Appearing as a goat-like figure with glowing, red eyes, many people have reportedly seen this creature on the bridge, particularly when being disrespectful to its claim on the structure. When paired with supposed black magic rituals taking place in the surrounding woods and the specter of a Ku Klux Klansman who also haunts the area, this might not be a place to visit at night!
6. Hotel Galvez, Galveston
Location: Southeast Texas
Also known as the “Queen of the Gulf”, this stunning hotel overlooks the Gulf of Mexico and offers opulence to its guests.
Unfortunately, it also offers the possibility of a paranormal experience. This haunting centers around a young woman named Audra who stayed on the hotel’s fifth floor during the 1950s, waiting for her fiance to return from sea.
Tragedy struck when she heard his ship had foundered and she took her life, only to be found by her fiance who had actually survived and returned to his lover. The so-called “Lovelorn Lady” may still haunt the room where she died.
7. La Carafe, Houston
Location: Southeast Texas
Tucked within Houston and reminiscent of the French Quarter, La Carafe is said to be the oldest bar in the city. And along with this history, the establishment comes with several ghostly patrons who never seem to have left the premises.
Visitors might be able to hear children playing upstairs, unseen bottles falling from shelves and glasses breaking, a ghostly bartender called Carl, and even the specter of Sam Houston, the former governor of Texas.
8. The Jefferson Hotel, Jefferson
Location: Northeast Texas
Originally built in 1851, this former cotton warehouse still retains its grand exterior— and its paranormal activity. In particular, the guest rooms 5, 19, 20, 21, 23, and 24 are the most active, including a young woman’s ghost named Elizabeth who hung herself on her wedding night.
Additional hauntings include electrical fluctuations and inanimate objects moving, shifting, and sometimes falling onto the floor.
9. The Driskill Hotel, Austin
Location: Central Texas
According to local legends, Austin’s Driskill Hotel is one of the most active paranormal lodgings in Texas since its opening in 1886.
Among the many ghosts that frequently appear, there is the hotel’s original owner named Jesse Driskill, a little girl who died after falling down the hotel’s grand staircase (who was also a Texas senator’s daughter), and a series of new brides who committed suicide by drowning themselves in the same room’s bathtub, decades apart.
10. Presidio La Bahía, Goliad
Location: South Texas
During the Texas Revolution, this Goliad building was the center of two bloody conflicts: the Battle of Goliad (1835) and the Goliad Massacre (1836), both of which left many people dead. Prior to these events, the building was originally a fort called the Presidio Nuestra Señora de Loreta de Bahía, and was built in 1747 by the Spanish Army.
However, after the following events of the Texas Revolution, the spirits of the departed seem to have stayed in the Presidio La Bahía, including a woman in a white gown who wanders the grounds, ghostly soldier apparitions, and sensory experiences like the sound of cannon fire and the intense stench of fresh, metallic blood spilled across the ground.
11. The Menger Hotel, San Antonio
Location: South-Central Texas
What happens when you combine one of the oldest hotels in Texas, opened in 1859, with visits by many famous individuals, from Presidents William H. Taft and Dwight D. Eisenhower to Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant? Well, you get a historic haunting!
Without a doubt, one of the most famous ghosts who is said to frequent the barroom of the Menger Hotel in San Antonio is former US President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt.
Teddy likes to appear in the shadows and pour himself a drink every now and then, along with other ghosts— possibly up to 32 entities! He is often joined by a maid who was murdered by her husband in 1876, named Sallie, while taking a break from her spectral cleaning.
12. Yorktown Memorial Hospital, Yorktown
Location: South Texas
Many of the most haunted places in the world are hospitals and medical facilities such as asylums, likely due to the intersection of life and death that occurs there, and Texas’s Yorktown Memorial Hospital is no different.
With over 30,000 square feet of apparently haunted rooms, hallways, and staircases, this 1950s hospital was originally run by the Catholic Order of the Felician Sisters, caring for the sick and ailing. However, due to rumored rampant medical mistakes and malpractice, many patients ended up dying inside the facility.
Visitors report seeing a possible demonic entity with coal-red eyes that responds angrily to Bible verses said aloud, ghostly surgeons and their patients, and even the spirits of nuns remaining on the second floor of the hospital.
13. Demon’s Road, Huntsville
Location: East Texas
Bowden Road in Huntsville is famed for its otherworldly encounters, leading to its nickname: Demon’s Road.
This area is particularly active as you approach the Martha Chapel Cemetery, at the dead end of the road. And though the cemetery itself is reported to be very haunted, being one of the oldest graveyards in the area, the roadway is where visitors often see unexplainable sights.
These include floating red orbs, spectral children, demonic entities, and even incorporeal handprints appearing on cars, so it’s a road trip only for the brave!
14. De Soto Hotel, El Paso
Location: West Texas
The De Soto Hotel has played host to guests in El Paso for over a century, but locals and visitors alike claim that not all those who stay there are still alive.
From demonic spirits resurrected by supposed Satanic worship and black magic in the basement to a little girl’s ghost called Sara, souvenirs from this hotel have ranged from normal to supernatural, including unexplained bruises and scratches left by an entity.
15. Worley Hospital, Pampa
Location: North Texas
The now-abandoned Worley Hospital was built in the mid-1900s and after serving the community for around 40 years, finally closed its doors. However, locals report seeing silhouettes in the derelict windows of former patient rooms and surgical suites, despite the hospital being barred and empty.
It was featured most recently in an episode of A&E’s “Ghost Hunters”, where a ghostly nurse named Mary who died in the building was reportedly caught on camera. Strange swarms of rats and bugs are also supposed to be frequent in the building, despite the lack of food in the area.
16. Bragg Road, Saratoga
Location: East Texas
Home of the mysterious Saratoga Lights, this backwoods road winds through a densely forested and swampy area along the border, called the Big Thicket.
Locals report seeing orbs of light around the size of basketballs that glow bright blue, white, yellow, or green, darting ahead of them on the road. So far, no one has been able to get close enough to see exactly what causes these sights.
17. The Baker Hotel, Mineral Wells
Location: North-Central Texas
A hotspot for famous people in its heyday, the Baker Hotel even welcomed stars like Judy Garland and Clark Gable. And these days, there are a few distinct ghostly denizens of this Mineral Wells building.
Several female apparitions have been identified, including the hotel manager’s mistress in the mid-1900s, who leaped to her death from the roof and now haunts the seventh floor. Additionally, a young boy and his dog seem to haunt the premises, as well as a haunting orchestra that WWII veterans claimed to hear playing in the empty ballroom.
18. Fort Worth Zoo, Forth Worth
Location: West Texas
Sometimes, hauntings can be subtle. But at the Fort Worth Zoo, the ghosts are literally the elephant in the room.
According to the zoo’s history, two ghosts are frequently seen wandering the grounds: a woman in white carrying a parasol, and Michael Bell, an elephant trainer who was crushed to death by a bull elephant in 1987. He can be spotted wandering between the elephant and zebra pens.
19. The Emily Morgan Hotel, San Antonio
Location: South-Central Texas
Not only do guests roam the halls of San Antonio’s Emily Morgan Hotel— you might find spirits there, too.
The hauntings might have started when Texas forces clashed with the Mexican army during their fight for independence in the mid-1800s, with hundreds losing their lives in this area.
Or, perhaps the ghosts arrived after the hotel was used to house members of medical professions, including a psychiatric ward for those dealing with mental illnesses. Either way, this stately and impressive building is the perfect setting for some spookiness!
20. AI Engineering Building, College Station
Location: East-Central Texas
Previously known as the Animal Industries Building, this section of the Texas A&M University is one of the original portions of the structure, and was home to the Animal Industries’ meat locker.
And according to legend, it’s still the home of Roy Simms, a foreman who was simply carving up a slab of bacon in 1959. What should have been a routine process turned deadly when the knife slipped and punctured his femoral artery, located near the top of his thigh.
Though his assistant called an ambulance, Simms bled to death before it arrived. Today, people report hearing strange noises and seeing disappearing footprints, rumored to be Simms.
21. White Rock Lake, Dallas
Location: Northeast Texas
One of the most common ghosts around the world is a young girl looking to make her way home, and the specter of White Rock Lake near Dallas is no different. The story of this spirit who appears in a white dress, dripping wet, and asks for a ride was first recorded in 1943, but when someone stops to help, she will vanish from the car before arriving at her destination.
She’s known as the Lady of the Lake, and generally gives you an address located in Oak Cliff. Locals surmise that she is the ghost of a young woman who sadly fell out of her boat and drowned.
22. The Plaza Theater Performing Arts Center, El Paso
Location: West Texas
One of the original movie palaces of the early 1900s when an outing to the silver screen was all the rage, this theater was built to be opulent and luxurious, remaining open for 55 years of movie-going.
Now, it’s a historic location that is rife with apparent hauntings, which include a woman in a long white dress, a playing child, and a man dressed in all black. And apart from the human specters, visitors might spot floating orbs and flashing lights.
So, where do you want to visit first— will it be the spirit-filled aircraft carrier USS Lexington, mingling ghost-hunting with a Hotel Galvez stay overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, or braving Goatman’s Bridge in the deepest woods of Texas?
And to prepare for your spectral investigation, quiz yourself to Name This Scary Story or brush up on your knowledge of Serial Killers in Texas!
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