9 spooky ghost towns to visit this fall

Time travel still eludes us, but there’s a way to step back into the American West’s astonishing past. Scattered across the land are countless ghost towns, each with its own story to tell. And there’s no better time to visit than fall, when temperatures cool and Halloween is on the horizon.

Who knows? You might scare up a ghost or two in the process. Some of the nation’s best tales of horror come from the silver, gold and copper mining towns that sprang up in the West in the late 19th century — places where greed drove gunmen, prospectors and settlers to violence and mayhem. There’s a reason they’re called ghost towns.

Even if you don’t encounter a spirit, you’ll find that these abandoned towns are fun places to spend an afternoon.

Click here for a photo gallery of classic Old West ghost towns.