This Small Town Was Named the ‘Spookiest’ in the United States

Spooky season is well and truly upon us as we enter Halloweekend. While trick-or-treating around your neighborhood is the norm for most, those with a particular fondness for the freaky and frightening can make a memorable Halloween trip to some of the most haunted, ghost-and-ghoul infested towns in the country. A new study determined the spookiest city in America isn’t one of the most well-known: Virginia City, Nevada.

The study analyzed factors such as ghost sightings, haunted locations, haunted houses, astrologers and psychics per capita, spiritual stores, ghost-related Google searches, and more: out of the more than seventy cities and towns studied, Virginia City was deemed the spookiest, with the highest concentration of haunted houses, spiritual shops, and ghoulish Google activity. Once a bustling silver mining town, the historic center is extremely well-preserved, giving the town of just 787 residents a living ghost town vibe that makes it an appropriately cool-yet-creepy Halloween destination.

Some of the Most Well-Known Spooky Center Were Lowly Ranked

Legendary Wild West town Tombstone, Arizona and Victorian-era resort town Eureka Springs, Arkansas rounded out the top 3, all scoring high for being popular funeral destinations with plenty of macabre shops despite their small size. Smaller towns dominated the list, although Austin, Texas and Los Angeles, California made the top 10.

It seems some of the most well-known haunted destinations are also some of the most overrated. Amityville, New York, famous for its its horrific murder house, only managed 13th. Salem, Massachusetts, site of the infamous Witch Trials and long-time Halloween hub, ranked a lowly 41st: perhaps surprisingly, the town ranked very lowly in terms of spiritual shops and haunted house attractions, which are diluted by Salem’s relatively large population of 44,000 compared to places like Tombstone and Virginia City. While Salem and Amityville are always great Halloween destinations, for pure concentrated spookiness, Virginia City claims this terrifying title.

Next: This Sunny European Country Was Named ‘Best Place For First-Time Travelers’

This story was originally published by Men’s Journal on Oct 30, 2026, where it first appeared in the Travel section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.