Haunted History Trail of New York State

The other day I got an exciting email from Kelly Rapone of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce in Batavia, New York, about a wonderfully haunt jaunty website: Haunted History Trail of New York State.

It’s a state-wide trail developed for those who enjoy haunted inns, investigations, tours, etc….Each location on the site also has a cool audio tour that you can click on. We’re on Facebook too!

Are you kidding me? I was over the moon excited.

When I first started HJ in 2009, some convention center and visitor bureaus (CVBs) listed haunted attractions on their sites. Some still do, but there were some who launched such initiatives on their sites right around that time, but who have since taken them off.

I’ve always lamented that. I used to think I was the only one who liked to travel to haunted places. Heck no! Thanks to HJ, and now thanks to my own travels, I’ve met scores of others with the same interest.

I’ve always thought CVBs who don’t list their haunted points of interest are doing a major disservice to their city. They’re missing out on informing (and perhaps enticing) a population of travelers to come enjoy their area –which always includes more than the haunted places, right?

But even beyond the chills and thrills that come with haunt jaunting, it’s a phenomenal way to learn about history. (In addition to culture, architecture, geography, in some cases geology, etc. You can really learn a lot from haunted places!)

So, how exciting to see a site like this Haunted Trails one!

It’s really neat too. It includes:

• A Trail Map pinpointing haunted places in New York.
• An About the Trail section which explains the site is to help travelers explore the places where ghosts, UFOs, and other  mysterious things have transpired.
• An Explore the Hauntings section which is very user-friendly and allows you to select places by either Region (ie. Greater Niagara, Finger Lakes, Central New York, Capital/Saratoga, Catskills, Hudson Valley, or 1000 Islands-Seaway) or Experience (ie. Haunted Inns, Ghost Hunts, Guided Tours, Creepy, UFO, and even Family-Friendly Events).
• There’s even a section to Request Brochures and get a visitor guide for a specific county you may be planning on visiting.

This is perhaps my favorite paragraph on their site:

The trail offers serious ghost hunting locations that cater to investigative teams, as well as seasonal ghostly-themed events for the paranormal-curious. Muster your courage if you want to participate — alone or with friends.

Bravo, New York State CVBs, for teaming up to produce such a fine website!

There are many places in New York I’d like to Haunt Jaunt to, but the Hudson Valley tops them. You better believe I will be using Haunted History Trails of New York to aid my travels when I do finally get to go there.

And of course I’ve also added it to my “collection” –the Sites That List Haunted Places portion of the Haunted Places page.

Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.