Maybe this comes as no surprise to anyone in or near Ohio, but Ohio is one of the spookiest states in the country, according to a recent study by online casino and sportsbook Hard Rock Bet.
With Halloween almost upon us, Hard Rock Bet wanted to see which states ranked the highest in spooky factors, including haunted locations, number of ghost towns, UFO sightings and average haunted house ratings. The casino gathered data on each of these factors for every state from scarefactor.com for , then normalized the factors to provide each one with a score between 0 and 1. Those values were then added together to give each state a total score out of 100, with Ohio ranking No. 4 at 56.46, preceded by California (78.98), Texas (76.82) and Florida (64.01).
Now what makes Ohio spookier than many of the other states? According to the study, it’s our high number of haunted locations — 171, according to the survey, and more than any other state — as well as the high ratings for our haunted houses: an average 8.46 out of 10. We’ve also had 4,680 recorded UFO sightings — the sixth highest number on the list — and are home to 66 ghost towns.
It’s easy to see how Ohio ranked so high. Greater Cincinnati alone has plenty of spooky sights for the Halloween season, including attractions like Kings Island’s Halloween Haunt, where the park transforms into multiple “scare zones;” Land of Illusion’s Haunted Scream Park, featuring several haunted houses; and the much-beloved Dent Schoolhouse. We’ve also been known for our hauntings, with places like Bobby Mackey’s former building and the Sedamsville Rectory appearing on ghost-hunting TV shows. Another study also showed Ohio has the third-highest number of ghost encounters.
But it’s not just Ohio that’s pretty spooky. Our neighbors, Indiana and Kentucky, also ranked in the top 15 of spookiest states in this study. Indiana ranked No. 8 at 45.42, thanks to its high number of haunted locations, UFO sightings and average haunted house score. As for Kentucky, it placed 11th with a score of 39.74, with 104 haunted locations, 17 ghost towns and 1,802 UFO sightings, plus an 8.4 out of 10 haunted house rating.
