[Updated August 21, 2023] With the state’s dark history during the Civil War, Trail of Tears, and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, it’s no wonder that some of the most haunted places in Georgia include haunted hospitals, hotels, lakes, and more.
Historic cities like Savannah and Atlanta are home to many of GA’s most haunted places, including famous locations like the Ellis Hotel and The Olde Pink House.
Many of these haunted places in GA are still open to visitors today, whether as operational hotels or restaurants.
They’re often included on local ghost tours, and offer a chance to learn a bit about Georgia state history while having a bit of spooky fun.
Read on to learn the stories behind some of the most haunted places in America!
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The Most Haunted Places in Georgia Guide
(Arranged geographically & alphabetically)
- Ellis Hotel
- The Fox Theatre
- Oakland Cemetery
- Masquerade Nightclub
- Rhodes Hall
- Euharlee Covered Bridge
- Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield
- Lake Lanier
- Mount Hope Cemetery
- Marshall Place Hotel
- Moon River Brewing Company (City Hotel)
- Old Candler Hospital
- The Olde Pink House
- St. Simon’s Lighthouse
- Windsor Hotel
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Haunted Places in Atlanta GA
1. Ellis Hotel
The Ellis Hotel, the location of the deadliest hotel fire in the U.S., ranks as one of the most haunted hotels in Atlanta.
The hotel’s guests have reported hearing screams, smelling smoke, and seeing haunting apparitions in the windows.
Originally known as the Winecoff Hotel, the business was opened by Fleming Winecoff and Grace Smith Winecoff in 1913. The Winecoff hotel fire in 1946 killed 119 occupants, including the 76-year-old owners.
The high death toll was likely the result of inadequate fire safety protocols, such as a lack of sprinklers and fire exits.
Visitors in the years since have regularly claimed to have heard a fire alarm going off in the early hours of the morning, at the precise time the 1946 fire first started.
Want to experience this haunted place in Georgia for yourself? Check rates for the Ellis Hotel on Booking.com!
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2. The Fox Theatre
Downtown Atlanta’s Fabulous Fox Theater has been around since 1929, which is plenty of time for ghostly spirits to latch onto the lavish movie palace.
This haunted building started as a Shriners temple, but ultimately became a grand movie palace that has been saved from disrepair and demolition on numerous occasions.
It’s common to see a Confederate soldier who died during the Civil War standing in the window of the theater. Others report seeing a ghostly organ player who played at the Fox Theatre for 24 years, whose ashes are inside the organ!
The Fox is home to the first automated elevator in Atlanta. Some visitors say that a ghost (who is often accompanied by the smell of roses) enjoys playing tricks on riders by pressing buttons for the wrong floors.
This historic theater is part of 90-minute ghost walking tours in Atlanta every year around Halloween.
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3. Oakland Cemetery
The Oakland Cemetery is a famous haunted location in Atlanta GA: It’s the oldest and largest burial ground in the city.
Founded in 1850, the cemetery is the final resting place of over 70,000 people, at least 3,000 of which are Confederate soldiers who died in bloody battle.
Some visitors have reported soldiers hanging from trees, or wandering the cemetery, calling out their names in a roll call.
From Confederate soldiers to victims of Yellow Fever, many people who have experienced traumatic deaths have been laid to rest in this Atlanta burial ground.
The haunted cemetery is one of the most haunted places in Atlanta, if not one of the scariest places in Georgia.
Capturing the Spirit of Oakland Halloween tours are a popular autumn tradition in Atlanta. They offer historical tours of Oakland Cemetery after dark on two weekends in late October, just a Georgia’s fall colors begin to peak.
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4. Masquerade Nightclub
The former Masquerade Nightclub location on North Avenue is an old, haunted building that dates back to the 1890s.
The building was originally known as DuPre Excelsior Mill, then a pizzeria, before being turned into the Masquerade, one of our favorite haunted places in Atlanta, Georgia.
Many people have reported paranormal activity at the now-closed nightclub, which was once one of the most popular places in the city to see live concerts and music festivals.
Local legend suggests a woman died in an accident at the club, and you can still hear her screams when you’re standing inside the building at night. Others have reported cold spots appearing randomly throughout the club.
Though no one knows where he comes from, some visitors have even seen the apparition of a tall black man hanging around the historic building.
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5. Rhodes Memorial Hall
Located on Peachtree Street, Rhodes Hall is an ominous-looking home built in 1904. It’s reportedly haunted by Amos Giles Rhodes (of Rhodes Furniture fame) and his wife, who passed away there, along with their ghostly children.
These ghosts try to scare tourists away by any means possible. Mr. Rhodes is said to shout “GET OUT!” repeatedly, while Mrs. Rhodes sometimes appears in mirrors by replacing the face of those looking in.
Sometimes chairs and pictures shake, while the children are often heard laughing throughout the house.
But some visitors say that the basement is home to something far more menacing. The dark, malevolent presence of a man is said to linger in the shadows there.
So perhaps it’s best to be wary when touring the ominous castle near the heart of Midtown Atlanta.
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Haunted Places in North Georgia
6. Euharlee Covered Bridge
The Euharlee Covered Bridge was rebuilt in the 1880s after a previous bridge washed away, having killed a man. This violent death could be the basis of the bridge haunting, but witness accounts never seem to reference a man.
Varying tales swirl around the covered bridge. Some locals believe that a Native American girl was hung from the bridge’s rafters, and some accounts mention hearing a rope shift as the body sways.
But many historians suggest that the real story involved a rambunctious young white girl who was crossing over the river with her father in a wagon.
While they were crossing, she jumped up and her hair got caught in the bridge’s rafters. As she came back down, her neck snapped, and she was gone. The creaking sounds are said to be the girl swinging from the rafters by her hair.
Both of these tales are equally horrifying, leaving you imagining their young spirits lingering on the bridge where they died for an eternity.
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7. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield
The Civil War was brutal, and the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield is a testament to that. At least 5,350 men died during one battle, a testament to the bloody nature of war.
It is said that the ghosts of slaughtered soldiers (some of them missing limbs) can still be seen patrolling the battlefield, though they typically disappear before witnesses can get a good look.
Some visitors report hearing these phantom soldiers attempting to end the famous battle, with cannon booms and gunfire off in the distance. Others said they smelled strong odors of blood and gunpowder.
Other guests have said they saw “ghost deer” on the land. These animals reportedly ran directly at witnesses, but as they near, they dissolve into nothing but a slip of mist on the wind.
Visiting this battlefield is spine-tingling, and the history of Kennesaw Mountain makes it an intriguing spot to explore.
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8. Lake Lanier
Lake Lanier, a 37,066-acre reservoir north of Atlanta, is known for being one of the deadliest lakes in the United States.
More than 200 people have died on the lake since the 1990s, and more than 700 have died there since the lake’s creation in 1956.
This haunted lake in Georgia is located between Sugar Hill and White Sulfur Springs, on top of a town that was formerly known as Oscarville.
Oscarville was a prosperous, predominately black community that experienced a horrific amount of lynching, riots, and other racially motivated violence in the early 20th century.
Oscarville was eventually flooded to create Lake Sydney Lanier, which still covers the remains of the town.
Locals claim that souls from the town’s cemeteries still haunt the lake, causing some of the mysterious drownings and boating accidents that happen there today.
There have also been numerous alleged supernatural sightings near Browns Bridge.
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9. Mount Hope Cemetery
Mount Hope Cemetery in Dahlonega GA has existed since before the Civil War, and many ghostly spirits are said to linger among the rare tab-and-slot gravestones there.
Witnesses have given many accounts of unexplainable occurrences, and proof of the specters has also come to light.
Photographic evidence of multiple spirits and an otherworldly mist has hung in the Historic Lumpkin County Courthouse (now the Dahlonega Gold Museum) ever since it was taken by a librarian in the 1950s.
As for the ghosts in the cemetery, some are said to be Confederate veterans roaming the land where they died, with ghostly figures walking around at night.
The beautiful headstones and remarkable history are fascinating , but the spine-tingling aspects of a nighttime adventure make a trip to visit this marble orchard a must.
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Haunted Places in Savannah GA
10. Marshall House
Built by Mary Marshall in 1851, the Marshall House is another one of the famous haunted hotels in Georgia.
Guests have reported hearing strange crashing sounds and smelling rotting flesh in the haunted hotel.
The Savannah hotel is one of many buildings in Georgia that were used as a hospital during the Civil War and Yellow Fever epidemics.
During renovations in the 1990s, workers found human remains that were believed to be the amputated limbs of Civil War soldiers.
Aside from the chilling sounds and smells, guests have also been plagued by spirits trying to turn their doorknobs from the outside. The 2nd and 4th floors are particularly notorious for paranormal activity.
If you want to experience the phenomena for yourself, check out the rates for the Marshall House on Booking.com or the Savannah History and Haunts Candlelit Ghost Walking Tour.
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11. Moon River Brewing Company
The Moon River Brewing Company is a popular brewery located in what used to be one of the most haunted hotels in Savannah GA.
Formerly known as the City Hotel, the building was used as a hospital during the Civil War and the Yellow Fever epidemic.
The hotel was also the location of a deadly shooting in 1832, when James Stark (a known drunk and frequent troublemaker) was shot by Dr. Phillip Minus.
Some locals say that Stark continues to be a nuisance nearly 200 years after death, haunting the guests and employees of Moon River.
The Savannah building has been featured on popular paranormal TV shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures.
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12. Old Candler Hospital
The Old Candler Hospital in the Savannah Historic District is arguably the most famous haunted hospital in Georgia.
It was built in 1804, making it the first hospital in Savannah and the second oldest operating hospital in the U.S.
Obviously many people have died in the Old Candler Hospital. But never more than during the Yellow Fever epidemics of 1820 and 1854, during which more than 1,700 locals succumbed to the disease.
Bodies of dead patients piled up in the underground morgue tunnel, where they waited to be taken to Forsyth Park.
The 300-year-old Candler Oak outside the hospital, which was commonly known as Savannah’s “hanging tree,” also has an extremely dark history.
Many Savannah locals have reported seeing ghostly apparitions hanging from the tree at night, or haunting the windows and underground tunnels of the hospital.
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13. The Olde Pink House
The Olde Pink House, one of the most famous haunted houses in Georgia, is known for being haunted by the ghost of its original owner.
James Habersham Jr., who built the home in Savannah in 1789, died under suspicious circumstances.
The official cause of death was listed as “declining health,” but many believe that Habersham committed suicide after discovering his wife’s infidelity.
Even after the house was turned into one of the city’s most popular restaurants, he continued to haunt the building.
Employees of the haunted restaurant in Savannah report seeing tables and chairs that have been inexplicably straightened, or candles lit when no one was in the room.
They’d leave a room, only to return moments later to find the restaurant completely clean and organized. Sounds like a ghost who wants a share of the tips!
Haunted Places in South Georgia
14. St. Simons Lighthouse
The famous haunted lighthouse on St. Simon’s Island was constructed in 1872, replacing the old lighthouse that was destroyed during the Civil War in Georgia.
The lighthouse is one of many haunted places near Savannah, Georgia: It’s located about an hour south of the city.
One night in 1880, lighthouse keeper Frederick Osborne and his assistant, John Stephens, were said to have gotten into a disagreement about one of their wives.
The argument turned deadly when Stephens shot Osborne, killing him instantly.
Stephens was later acquitted of the murder, but the ghost of Frederick Osborne is said to haunt the St. Simons lighthouse to this day.
Employees have reported hearing ghostly footsteps on the stairs, and tales of lighthouse maintenance being mysteriously completed while they slept.
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15. Windsor Hotel
Built back in 1892, the Victorian-style Windsor Hotel is a haunted hotel located in the small town of Americus GA.
The story holds that a young girl and her mother, who was the original housekeeper, died in the hotel after being thrown down an elevator shaft. Their ghosts are said to haunt the hotel to this day.
This haunted hotel in Georgia is still open, and guests have reported hearing bone-chilling screams in the hallways at all hours of the night.
The screams sound like those of a young girl and end quickly, as if she had reached the bottom of the elevator shaft.
If you want to visit one of Georgia’s most haunted places, check rates for the Windsor Hotel on Booking.com! -by Amy Lewis; featured image of Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta GA via Canva
