This Southern City Is the Spookiest in the U.S. — Here's How to Visit

Google reveals its top five cities to get your thrill of chills.

Whether you’re looking to run into a voodoo queen, pirate, or Civil War soldier — in ghost form, that is! — then New Orleans is your place. The Louisiana destination topped the list of top “haunted” cities searched in the U.S. in the last three months, according to Google Trends data shared with Travel + Leisure.

While NOLA may best be known for its Mardi Gras revelers, the city is just as famous for its spooky sites. The aforementioned voodoo queen is Marie Laveau, who is said to have been spotted conducting ceremonies where she used to live on St. Ann Street. She and pirate Jean Lafitte have also been rumored to pull up a stool at the 200-year-old Old Absinthe House bar, alongside General Andrew Jackson. Civil War buffs can try to spot a Confederate soldier wandering around the second-floor balcony of the Napoleon House, while literary fans can test their luck at catching a glimpse of William Faulkner at his 1920s writing desk at Faulkner House Books.

With all those tales, it’s no wonder New Orleans draws paranormal lovers and fright seekers, especially this time of year. And ghost hunting isn’t the only eerie experience in town. Bloody Mary’s Tours hosts Victorian Seances, while Muriel’s Jackson Square lets you enjoy spirits (pun intended!) in its Seance Lounge. Cemetery tours are plentiful, like through Haunted History Tours and Save Our Cemeteries, or perhaps go set-jetting through locations seen in creepy pop culture favorites, like "Interview with a Vampire," True Blood, and American Horror Story: Coven.

But, of course, New Orleans isn’t the only spooky city Americans search for on Google. Just trailing behind is Salem, Massachusetts, an especially popular destination during Halloween with its Haunting Happenings. This includes parades, fairs, and events — and of course plenty of haunted ghost tours at the site of the witch trials.

The top five are rounded out by Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, haunted by the remnants of the Battle of Gettysburg from 1863; Jerome, Arizona, a former mining-turned-ghost town with a reputation of being the “Wickedest Town in the West;” and Savannah, Georgia, where tales of ghosts and unexplainable pasts seem to ooze out of every building, cemetery, and hotel. 

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