Haunted Houses and Spooky Sites in Missouri

Spooky hotels, haunted museums, and infamous houses behind urban legends abound in the state of Missouri. Visitors can explore many of these sites (and catch a glimpse of others) in towns and cities scattered across the Missouri landscape.

A Haunted Mansion

The Lemp family of St. Louis, once the proud owneries of a successful brewery business, is now best remembered for the family tragedies that give their mansion its haunted reputation. A series of early deaths, divorce, depression, and dark suicides overshadowed the successful family — the mansion vanished from family hands and became a boarding house whose residents eventually complained of paranormal activities within the home.

Later transformed into a restaurant and hotel by the Pointer family, remodelers and staff members would complain of strange happenings, including inexplicable voices, strange apparitions, and inanimate objects manipulated by unseen hands.

A Less-Travelled Road

Outside of St. Louis lies a lonely stretch known as the “Zombie Road” — an abandoned stretch of roadway travelled along the river during the 1800’s. The dense forest and long shadows add to the eerie reputation of this old road, which many former drivers claimed was an unpredictable pathway which seemed to change in length, shape, and distance, no matter how many times one drove it. Stories about ghosts haunting the abandoned stretch are many, most based on the past events in tiny surrounding communities which vanished along with the road’s activity.

An Infamous Name

The names “Jesse James” is woven throughout the history of Missouri, complete with ghost stories regarding the outlaw’s brutal murder in his own home. The James family farm in St. Joseph is supposedly haunted, with museum employees claiming they’ve encountered inexplicable events like slamming doors, strange lights, and voices when no one is present.

A Haunted Hotel

The historic Savoy Hotel in Kansas City is supposedly prey to paranormal events. Despite its prestigious reputation from the late 1800’s to World War II, the hotel eventually deteriorated to a seedy boardinghouse.

Later renovated to restore some of its former glory, the hotel developed a reputation as a haunted site when workers and visitors claimed to have experience a brush with ghosts. Footsteps and voices haunt the hotel’s hallways, along with ghosts of former residents who make themselves known — including one whose shadowy figure appears in the hall occasionally.

Visit these sites, if you dare, and experience a piece of Missouri’s haunted history. Whether you choose a site open to the public or obtain permission to see a closed area, the visit promises to be memorable for history lovers with a taste for the supernatural past.