Study: Of the States, Ohio Has the Third Highest Number of Ghost Encounters

With a ton of creepiness lurking throughout Greater Cincinnati, we could see how we, and Ohio at large, could be the perfect place for a haunt.

By Katherine Barrier on Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 12:38 pm

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Photo: Michael D. Morgan

United American Cemetery

The Ghostbusters and Winchester brothers might need to make a stop in Ohio, as it’s one of the states with the highest number of ghost sightings, according to new research from BetMichigan.

Ohio is really spooky, according to the study, which looked at the likeliness of seeing UFOs or ghosts from state to state. While we only ranked 30th in overall likeliness of seeing something paranormal (only 0.0620% of residents claiming to see something versus Maine in the top spot with 0.1441% of residents seeing something otherworldly), Ohio had one of the highest rates of ghost sightings, with 2,948 reported. Only Texas (7,517) and California (7,184) had more sightings.

And when it comes to extraterrestrial sightings, Ohio ranks eighth out of the states, with 4,371 sightings. California ranked highest with 15,901 reported encounters, followed by Florida with 8,090 and Washington state with 7,076.

The Truth Is Here: International UFO Investigation Organization MUFON Sets Up Permanent Headquarters in Cincinnati: The 52-year-old organization boasts the largest civilian database of UFO sightings and deploys certified researchers to investigate new occurrences across the globe.

As for our Tri-State neighbors, Indiana ranked 19th in overall spookiness, with 0.0714% of the population reporting paranormal sightings (2,666 UFO sightings and 2,178 ghost sightings). Kentucky ranked slightly above Ohio at 27th, with 0.0646% of the population reporting sightings (1,661 UFO sightings and 1,251 ghost sightings).

To collect the data, BetMichigan researchers pulled reports from Ghosts of America. They analyzed the number of UFO and ghost encounters and compared it to population data in each state to determine the odds of a supernatural sighting.

Guest Commentary: The Story Behind the (Mostly) Friendly Spirits Who Roam Arnold's Bar & Grill: Of course there are ghosts – the building that houses Arnold’s was built around 1838.

And while you might not believe in ghosts and aliens, there’s no denying the creepiness that lurks in some corners of Ohio, particularly Greater Cincinnati. From cryptid sightings like the Loveland Frogman to creepy tunnels hidden underneath a Price Hill park that were used to quietly transport tuberculosis victims to the incinerator, abandoned potter’s fields, bones in Music Hall and gravestone eyes that follow you through Spring Grove Cemetery, we could see how Cincinnati, and Ohio at large, could be the perfect place for a haunt.

Slideshow

The Creepiest Places in Greater Cincinnati

Darby-Lee CemeteryCan be accessed from the Bender Mountain Trail, 6320-6468 Bender Road, Delhi TownshipWest Siders, you may have heard of Fiddlers Green Road, but have you heard the legend of Fiddler’s Green? (Which actually has nothing to do with that particular road.) It goes back to the Darby-Lee family of Delhi Township, members of which are buried in a small graveyard at the top of Bender Mountain – the only known, remaining family cemetery in Delhi. Patriarch of the family Henry Darby was rumored to have been part of the Underground Railroad. The legend of Fiddler’s Green goes that he would sit up on the ridge of his property overlooking the Ohio River into Kentucky. When it was safe for those fleeing enslavement to cross the river and come up the ridge to his home, Darby would light a lantern with a green flame and play his fiddle. On some nights now, you can supposedly see an otherworldly green glow from the cemetery and hear the strains from a fiddle being played nearby.

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Sedamsville Rectory639 Steiner Ave., SedamsvilleSedamsville Rectory, once part of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, oozes haunted house energy with its imposing façade and faded red brick exterior. Inside isn’t much better, with its past owners and residents saying they experienced icy breezes in the home along with unexplained feelings of gloom and doom, assault-like scratches and shoves, disembodied footsteps and doors closing of their own accord. Some say it's demonic forces in the building; others point to ghosts like those of Fr. Donald MacLeod, who reportedly died after being struck by a train near the rectory; past clergymen; and the spirits of a child with a noose around his neck and a man, both whom were found dead outside the rectory at different times. Are these tall tales or is there some truth lending to the former rectory’s creepiness? You can ask the Ghost Adventures’ crew, who investigated the building in 2012.

Over-the-Rhine’s Underground Beer TunnelsIf you dare to go beneath the city, you’ll find a labyrinth of beer tunnels that once belonged to F&J Linck Brewery. While nothing knowingly nefarious happened down there (except maybe a bad batch of beer here and there), the tunnels under the streets of Over-the-Rhine, which were used to keep beer cool before refrigeration, are eerie and tomb-like. You can see them for yourself on the Hidden Caverns or Ultimate Queen City Underground tours through American Legacy Tours.

Dunham Recreation Center Complex1945 Dunham Way, WestwoodThe land that we know today as the Dunham Recreation Center Complex used to be the site of the first municipal tuberculosis hospital in the United States, and an eerie feeling still hangs over the area where the arts center is today. According to records from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine, in 1879, Cincinnati Hospital (now UC Health) bought what was then the Guerley Farm in order to relocate its small-pox isolation house. A hospital was constructed on the farmland and named Branch Hospital for Contagious Diseases. Almost 20 years later, the branch hospital saw the transfer of 15 tuberculosis patients from the main hospital, transforming it into a space to care for victims of TB. As tuberculosis cases grew, so did the hospital campus. More buildings to house patients were added, as were lodging for nurses and doctors; sleeping porches, which doctors at the time thought helped improve TB symptoms; an occupational therapy building; and a preventorium and school for children of TB patients.But what is perhaps the creepiest aspect of Dunham isn’t that it used to be a hospital for victims of what, at the time, was a very deadly disease, but rather what lies underneath all the buildings to this day. Former recreation center employee Kenny Riddell told WCPO in 2015 that the disease was too advanced to be treated by the time many patients sought care, and Dunham was the place to go to die. To keep patient morale up, he said, the bodies would be removed from the hospital via underground tunnels that led to an incinerator where they would be cremated and their belongings would be burned. The tunnels still exist today, but they’re not accessible to the public and some parts are entirely sealed off. But if you spend enough time in the arts center, one of the last remaining buildings from the hospital era, recreation center employees say you may just see something…or someone.

Price Hill’s Potter’s Field4700 Guerley Road, West Price HillWe can’t talk about Dunham without mentioning the historic potter’s field just up the road from it, which may be part of the reason that land was chosen to become a hospital for the fatally ill. Historically, a potter's field was the name for any grave site meant to house the remains of poor or unclaimed people. The Price Hill potter’s field was used as a cemetery for Cincinnati’s poor, transients and criminals from 1849 to 1981. It’s believed that upward of 20,000 people were haphazardly laid to rest there, although it's impossible to guess an accurate number. The site was used until it became so crowded that graves were dug to a depth reportedly as shallow as 18 inches. The newly deceased were stacked on a previous generation, and the oldest part of the site contains three layers of bodies. Years of neglect and overgrowth hide many unmarked graves or markers with the barest of details, but a plaque along Guerley Road identifies where it stands.Those in the potter’s field may soon get the burial they deserve, however. In April 2022, the National Park Service awarded Price Hill Will and Cincinnati Parks nearly $35,000 in funding through the History of Equal Rights (HER) Grant to restore it.

Music Hall1241 Elm St., Over-the-RhineEven if you don’t believe in ghosts, you can’t deny the beautiful but unsettling nature of Music Hall, especially considering the southern part of the building was built over a potter’s field and bones have been discovered during various excavations on-site. Those who have worked in the building late at night have reported many instances of paranormal activity, including things like hearing a singing woman; seeing apparitions of guests dressed in old-fashioned clothes; angry, disembodied whispering in the elevators and feelings of being watched.

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Katherine Barrier

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Katherine Barrier is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s journalism program and has nearly 10 years of experience reporting local and national news as a digital journalist. At CityBeat, she oversees the digital and social media strategies, edits web and print content and writes for the dining and arts...

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