Real Haunted Places in Pennsylvania

Harrisburg

Harrisburg State Hospital –

Harrisburg State Hospital was an insane asylum for over 150 years. It admitted its first patient in 1851 as The Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital. It is located on the outskirts of city limits of Harrisburg on a 200 acre plot, most of which falls within Susquehanna Township lines. There is an entrance on Cameron St. across from the Farm Show complex and another one off of Elmerton Ave. A hiking and biking trail called the Capital Area Green Belt leads into another entrance in the Edgemont area of the city. It closed its doors as an asylum in 2006, but the grounds and buildings are still in use today as offices for several state agencies such as the PA Office of Mental Health. There are now over 50 buildings on the grounds, although a large portion of the land is still Woodland. Many different noises from screams to footsteps are heard and many different visuals ranging from shadows to full-bodied apparitions are witnessed. The morgue, although very tiny, is 2 stories tall and the basement leads into the tunnels. There are large blood-like stains on the floor and all the exam tables are still there. There is also poltergeist activity reported in the various buildings. Be warned, it may be illegal to be on the property at night and there are some security guards. The morgue, stables, and some of the tunnel entrances are secluded enough to probably not be noticed if entered at night, and since that area is right by the Green Belt, one could enter the property from that entrance and have the car readily available, but it is probably best to try and get permission. It is DEFINITELY illegal to actually be in the tunnels or the morgue, as well as any other buildings that are boarded up or locked.

IHS Nursing Home –

The nursing home is said to be built over an old Indian Cemetery. The one left hallway in the nursing home’s main floor is the only place that seems to be haunted. Items in rooms being thrown everywhere, noises coming from places. Once a nurse walked into a patients room and left, and a few minutes later came back in, and the patient she was treating said “where did that Indian boy go that was following you?”. Also, one time a patient in a room seemed to be being suffocated, and her other roommate rang the call bell and the nurses came in and she suddenly stopped being suffocated. The patient said she saw a character like the “grim reaper” over her strangling her. The next day, bruises appeared on her neck in the shape on hands. Presences are felt in this hospital. Lights going on and off, pretty much the whole place is haunted.

Harrisburg Mall – Boscov’s –

former Bass Pro Shops & former J C Penny’s – When it was an empty store that was formerly J.C. penny’s at the Harrisburg east mall. Night security guards were known to see the images of a person on the stores roof and the image of a human looking from the glass doors. Many times during security checks inside the building, you would hear noises and get the feeling that you were being followed and watched, as if you were being “breathed” on also feelings of dread are common. During one occurrence in the summer, two of the security guards hit a cold spot inside the store and no air conditioning was on. Alarms would go off for no reason, lights would be turned on and off that were on motion sensors. It was also reported to by a local detective and confirmed by a former employee that a person killed himself in the store and another person died of natural causes inside the store. The detective the information came from bought the gun the person used to kill himself from the family. – March 2008 update: no reports have been made since it turned into Boscov’s.