Spooky Sites Around the East Bay

For being a small state, Rhode Island is packed with history – and hauntings. If you’ve grown up in the East Bay, you might already know of local legends and spooky spots, like the lore surrounding Purgatory Chasm in Middletown, ghostly figures spotted at night in Colt State Park, and the eerie vibe from Bristol’s abandoned Longfield house on Hope Street. Here’s the rundown on some of the area’s other most famous frights.

Fort Wetherill, Jamestown 

Simply walking through the abandoned artillery fort is enough to give you the creeps. Historically, it has ties to the Revolutionary War, and there is said to be a ghostly black dog caught roaming the grounds, a British omen of death.

The Barn at Roger Williams University, Bristol

What is now RWU’s summertime performing arts center started as a working barn in Glocester – and is said to be haunted by “Banquo”, the spirit of a farmhand who froze to death inside the building. A chair on the second floor is still reserved for Banquo, and students who have sat in it report strange injuries...

Crescent Park Looff Carousel, East Providence

Crescent Park is most famously known for its colorful carousel, but was once an entire amusement park complete with rides, dining hall, and a ballroom that burned down in 1969. Today, visitors report hauntings by those who died in the fire, music that plays by itself, and an apparition of a woman in old-timey clothing.

Mansions, Newport

Newport is brimming with mansions, and it’s easy to imagine most are supposedly haunted. Seaview Terrace is known for temperature drops, strange sounds (like the broken organ playing on its own), and apparitions – and was once featured on Ghost Hunters. At The Breakers, Alice Vanderbilt’s ghost is rumored to roam the hallways. And of course, Belcourt Castle is probably the spookiest of them all, with a collection of paranormal items like antique armor attached to the angry ghost of a knight!