There are plenty of places in New York City that can give you the creeps any time of year, not just around Halloween. Be warned, since these four spots may or may not be haunted.
Green-Wood Cemetery in South Park Slope:
Wander through 478 acres of graves, tombs and statues that date back to 1838 and contain many world-famous New Yorkers. These include composer Leonard Bernstein, Charles Ebbets, who owned the Brookyn Dodgers who played in Ebbets Field, stained glass king Louis Comfort Tiffany, Samuel Morse who invented the code that connected us long before the internet, and artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
There are winding paths, manicured lawns, and regular tours and programs. During fall and winter, Green-Wood is open from 7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m.
There is no admittance charge, and free maps offer brief bios of the most famous permanent residents and where to find them.
Woodlawn Cemetery in Northeast Bronx
Another park-like spot with lovely walking paths, and also containing some of the world’s most famous people. Jazz and blues greats Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis and W. C. Handy are here, hopefully making music together, perhaps with Salsa queen Celia Cruz. Moby Dick author Herman Melville is here, as is Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who founded the NYC art museum that bears her name.
Winter hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, and there is no admission charge. The Woodlawn Conservancy operates historical and architectural tours, including to the cemetery’s Jazz Corner.
Morris-Jumel Mansion in Washington Heights:
This is the oldest house in Manhattan, and George Washington slept here when he used the house as a headquarters in 1776. The spirit of Eliza Jumel, the 19th century owner of the home, still may in residence, plus there are stories of paintings that come to life and other ghostly sightings. Alexander Hamilton, who was a neighbor, visited often.
Morris-Jumel Mansion is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There are guided tours on weekends, plus concerts, family workshops and other scheduled events. Admission is $5 for adults.
The Morbid Anatomy Museum in Gowanus
UPDATE: Closed permanently in 2018. RIP.
One of the city’s newest museums – it opened in June 2014 – with an eclectic collection of things that have to do with death and dying, as well as things used by medical students to help save lives. These include taxidermy specimens and embryo models made from wax, plus artwork on the subject of death.
There are lectures with with guest academics, artists and morticians., and workshops on a range of subjects from how to Victorian mourning jewelry, plus Sunday film screenings of creepy movies. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. daily except Tuesday, when the bodies rest.
Another spooky spot is at the movies. According to the NYTimes, this has been a super-scary year for Hollywood, with a long list of profitable horror films.
What NYC spot creeps you out?
This was posted originally in 2016 and is updated annually
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