Looking for ghosts in all the wrong places this spooky season? Fear not! There are plenty of reportedly haunted places in the Columbus area to explore this October.
While some might consider ghost hunting a silly pastime, it’s more than that to central Ohioans who take part in ghost tours and paranormal investigations this time of year. It can be an excellent way to connect with the city’s rich history. And for many, tales of local hauntings are a welcome whimsy, not something to fear.
And whether you’re a paranormal expert or hardcore skeptic, who can resist a good ghost story? Dive into the lore behind some of Columbus’ most famous landmarks with spooky backstories.
A history of hauntings at Thurber House
Thurber House, a nonprofit literary arts center and museum that sits on Jefferson Avenue in Downtown, has a reputation for high paranormal activity. But if you’re looking for a friendly ghost encounter, author and Columbus Ghost Tours founder E.R. “Bucky” Cutright said this is the place to go.
“I don't get a bad vibe there at all,” Cutright said. “It can make you feel a little creeped out whenever something happens, you know? But it’s not super unfriendly.”
Although the Thurber House nonprofit organization was only recently founded in 1984, the building itself was built in 1873 and is the former home of James Thurber. The house sits on the former site of the Central Ohio Lunatic Asylum, which burned down in 1868. Cutright said jeweler Thomas Tracy Tress also reportedly died in the house from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound before Thurber moved in.
Stories of supernatural encounters at Thurber House date far back. Thurber reported hearing disembodied stomping around his house in 1915, which later inspired a humorous short story. Today, some staff members said they have seen orbs in the building, and the form of an old woman is said to have been spotted wandering the halls, Cutright said.
Staff sightings at the Cultural Arts Center
The Priscilla R. Tyson Cultural Arts Center has a history with plenty of fodder for ghost stories. The site once housed central Ohio’s first penitentiary from 1814-1834. After the penitentiary was leveled, one of the first arsenals in Ohio was built on the land in 1861. The building was officially dedicated as the Cultural Arts Center more than a century later in 1978.
Current staff members who have reported paranormal encounters in the building estimate that there are about five separate entities that haunt the halls. One of those, they say, is Hester Foster, the first woman to be legally executed in the state of Ohio. While she wasn’t housed at the penitentiary, her execution took place nearby, Cutright said.
Staff members have also seen other apparitions at the center, including a little girl racing through the ceramic studio and a tall dark figure walking across the gallery. The custodian, Stacy Chandler, said she has often heard footsteps and movements around the building early in the morning before other staff members arrived.
The center recently underwent renovations, however, and ever since, staff members say there haven’t been any ghostly encounters.
“It's funny. We don't know what's going on,” said Adena Griffith, the center’s ceramic studio manager and instructor. “But it was just a part of this place. It’s kind of sad. But if they have moved on, I hope they're at peace.”
Lincoln lingers at the Statehouse
The Ohio Statehouse is another Columbus location that’s supposedly a hotspot for hauntings, and several of its stories star former President Abraham Lincoln, who visited the site twice in life and once in death, Cutright said.
Lincoln first visited in 1859, then again in 1861, when he learned he won the electoral college and would soon be president, Cutright said. It was then that Lincoln appointed then-Gov. Salmon P. Chase as Secretary of the Treasury, and the Chases soon joined the Lincolns in Washington, DC.
Following his assassination, Lincoln’s body was brought to the Statehouse in 1865 so Ohioans could pay their respects. Cutright said the casket was in the rotunda for eight hours while an estimated 20,000 people came to bid the former president farewell. Because he had been dead for approximately two weeks at that point, his casket was placed on a pile of lilacs. Some Statehouse visitors claim they still catch the scent of those lilacs today.
One night in1890, then-Gov. Joseph Foraker was working late in the governor's office. “He heard a violin playing somewhere in the building,” Cutright said. “He went looking for the source of the sound, and he opened the Senate Chamber, and he supposedly saw a very solid figure of Abraham Lincoln dancing with [former Gov. Chase’s daughter] Kate Chase. He watched them for a minute a half, and then they vanished.”
The Statehouse fully embraces its eerie reputation during spooky season by transforming the space into a haunted house and hosting tours. Complete with storytelling staff members and costumed characters, this year's tours start at 7 p.m. Oct. 16, 17, 23 and 24. Tickets are $16 and can be purchased at the Statehouse Museum Shop or at statehouseshop.com.
Seeking even more scares?
Cutright’s locally owned and operated Columbus Ghost Tours offers five walking tours and four paranormal investigations around the city. If you’re looking for more theatrical thrills, central Ohio has a host of haunted attractions nearby designed to scare you silly just in time for Halloween.
Fear Columbus: Open select nights now through Nov. 1 at 2605 Northland Plaza Drive. Tickets start at $24.99.
The Haunt Columbus: Open Fridays and Saturdays and select Thursdays and Sundays in October at 3770 Refugee Road. Tickets start at $30.
Adams Family Haunted Woods: Open Saturdays from Oct. 3-31 at 19698 Barnett Road, Marysville. Tickets start at $20.
Haunted Hoochie: Open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays now through Oct. 31 at 13861 Broad St. SW, Pataskala. Tickets start at $35.
Pataskala Haunted Forest: Open Fridays and Saturdays in October at 8838 Refugee Road SW., Pataskala. Tickets start at $25.
Blood Prison: Open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays now through Nov. 1 at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield. Tickets start at $35.
Reporter Kelly Tucker can be reached at ktucker@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus ghost tours and haunted attractions to explore this October
