The Scariest Places in the DMV: Halloween Road Trip
The Scariest Places in the DMV: Halloween Road Trip
It’s one thing to visit a haunted house, corn maze or even Six Flags for some Halloween fun. It’s something else to create a road trip focused on real hauntings and seriously scary places found around D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV).
The DMV is not short on History and with History comes legends, folklore and urban myths.
Why You Should Take a Haunted Road Trip ?
It’s a great way to enjoy quality family time, learn a little history and stay distanced from large crowds. It’s also fall and with mile temperature and beautiful changing foliage is a great time to get out.
I have put together this list naming some of the most haunted / scariest places in the DMV, that you can easily and safely visit this fall.
With significant historic destinations like Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello, Jamestown,Washington D.C., Historic Georgetown and Baltimore being the home of Edgar Allen Poe, is filled with monumental landmarks of great American History. The DMV is also right in middle of such hallowed grounds of an American Revolution battlefields and Civil War sites. This rich history also brings a supernatural side effect: a long list of haunted venues. The DMV has more than its share of ghost stories, and I have compiled a few of the scariest places in the DMV for a Halloween road trip. All are open to the public to experience a truly haunted Halloween road trip when you visit these ghostly grounds.
Virginia
Gadsby’s Tavern Museum—Alexandria
Originally built as a tavern and inn for weary travelers to rest, Gadsby’s Tavern Museum is the site of one of the most curious mysteries in Virginia. As the story goes, in 1816 a young woman and a man, who was presumed to be her husband, arrived at Gadsby’s Tavern.
“The gentleman was polished and polite; the lady was young and handsome,” according to the July 20, 1866 edition of the Alexandria Gazette.
The woman had taken ill on the voyage to Alexandria and, after being tended to by doctors and nurses for weeks, it became clear she wouldn’t make it. At this point, the story takes a turn.
However, once brought to Gadsby’s, her health quickly deteriorated, and on her deathbed, she made all of the people that attended to her swear an oath to never reveal her identity. To this day, no one knows who she was, and she is buried in St. Paul’s Cemetery with a gravestone marked “Female Stranger”. Both the cemetery, located near Duke Street, and Room 8 of Gadsby’s Tavern are supposedly haunted by the ghost of the young woman, forever unknown yet never forgotten.
Some say the Female Stranger’s story continues today – in the afterlife.
Over the years, several people have reported seeing a young woman dressed in 19th-century clothing wandering Gadsby’s Tavern.
See for yourself if you dare…
Bunnyman Bridge – Fairfiax, V
Some believe this bridge is one of the most dangerous locations in Northern Virginia. Hang around here at midnight on Halloween, and you could be butchered by the Bunnyman. Legend has it, at midnight on Halloween, a killer in a white rabbit suit awaits.If you speak his name three times, he’ll appear. Bunny Man, Bunny Man, Bunny Man.
But don’t expect to survive. He’ll slash your throat and leave your body dangling from the bridge.
Several origins stories exist about the Bunny Man. One being that the spirit of an escape mental patient haunts the railroad bridge. Long ago a bus full of the Criminally Insane were being transported to the New Lorton Prison. The bus overturned in the storm all inmates were located accept one Douglas Grifon, some believe he was hell bent on avenging the murders of his wife and child, who were slain nearby. As Grifon lived in the woods near the bridge, he killed and ate rabbits, wearing their skins and leaving their mutilated bodies hanging in the trees. One Halloween night, taunted by some town children, he killed and mutilated them, too, hanging their corpses from trees around the bridge.
The Making of a good urban legend
Many of the best Ghost Stories and Urban legends often require years or decades for true to life scary stories to merge together into one. Creating a version that keeps little ones up at night on Halloween and adults to drive the long way around on dark and stormy nights as to not tempt fate.
The possible origins of the Bunny Man is most likely that. In February 1949 the gruesome slayings of a mother and her 8-month-old baby girl made the headlines of all local papers. The two were found in a shallow grave in Fairfax after disappearing during a car ride with the husband. Police soon found the victims in a shallow grave. The woman had been beaten and shot; the baby girl buried alive. The husband and father Charles Holober was eventually arrested, convicted and sent to a mental institution for his crimes.
Washington Post, on Oct. 22, 1970. The headline read: “Man in Bunny Suit Sought in Fairfax.”
The story detailed the harrowing experience of an Air Force cadet who went “parking” with a girl on Guinea Road in Fairfax.
The military man told of a man in a white suit “with long bunny ears” throwing a hatchet through the car’s windshield, then “skipping off” into the night, according to Conley’s paper.
The Bunny Man made another appearance, according to the Post, on Oct. 30, 1970.
Neighbors on Guinea Road reported seeing a man in a bunny suit hacking away at a house under construction with a hatchet. Confronted by a security guard, the “bunny” ran off.
So who is the Bunny man -Douglas Grifon, Charles Holober or is it someone or something else, maybe not of this realm. Do you dare find out?
Washington D.C.
The Exorcist steps
No technically a haunted place but you can’t take a ghost tour of DC and not check of the Exorcist Steps which are arguably the most popular set of steps in the United States. These stone steps in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. famous for being featured in the 1973 film The Exorcist. The steps are located at the corner of Prospect St and 36th St NW, leading down to M Street NW, and were built in 1895 during construction of the adjacent Car Barn.
The dark stone Gothic architecture throughout the Georgetown University definitely inspires feelings of medieval Christian spiritualism making it the perfect setting for this story. Its no wonder the author and alumnus William Peter Blatty included it into his novel The Exorcist, which was a New York Times best seller for nearly 60 weeks. Just walking the steps at night is creepy enough without thinking about the Exorcist.
When you arrive you have to get a lucky and find a small window of time to take photos. The stairs are a popular spot for Georgetown visitors and locals love to exercise on them. At the top of the steps you will find the house used for the outside exteriors and the famous Father Merrin arrival scene. There is also a plaque that documents the movies filmed in that location.
You will also noticed the house is not right next to the steps the final scene was shot using a little movie magic.
Urban legend has it if you count the steps as you walk them you will never count the same numbers of steps twice. Give it a try let us know what you come up with.
The Old Stone House
Old Stone House was first erected in 1765, according to the National Park Service. It is the oldest structure in the District on its original foundation. You can easily find it at 301 M St. NW. Washington D.C. currently maintained by National Park Service.
https://www.nps.gov/places/old-stone-house.htm
As a ghost hunters favorite location, most of the information on the hauntings at Old Stone House say at least 11 spirits alleged to have taken up residence within its centuries old walls. Which is plenty of time for ghost stories and legends to grow.
Some of these spirits include a woman dressed in 1700s-style clothing who appears near the fireplace, a young woman running up and down the stairs, young boys playing in the third-floor hallway, a lady in a rocking chair, and a German craftsman. However, the most menacing spirit that inhabits the Old Stone House is George, a man who absolutely despises women.
The Old Stone House is said to be one of the most Haunted Houses in the District of Columbia. https://www.amazon.com/Haunted-Places-Directory-Supernatural-Locations/dp/0142002348
Maryland
Cry Baby Bridge, Bowie Md.
Imagine driving at the darkest part of night, where you don’t even have light from the stars. You start to drive over a bridge when suddenly, your car stalls and you start hearing the cry of a baby. Afraid and a bit curious, you get out of the car to see where the sound is coming from. You look over the side of the bridge and see a figure that looks like an infant floating face-down in the water. Or something to that variation.
Like most urban legends, there are different stories told about Crybaby Bridge. In fact, there are several different bridges in the state of Maryland that have been given that nickname. In Bowie, Md., off of Beaver Dam Road near the Beltsville Research Agricultural Center, a bridge has become known as Crybaby Bridge. It is also said to be a place where the Goatman has been sighted most.
Some stories claim that a woman and her baby were murdered on the bridge. Another story claims that a young woman became pregnant out of wedlock and in order to avoid judgment, she drowned her baby in the river.
The real name of the bridge is Governor’s Bridge, which is a single lane bridge that connects Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties.
Tail of the Goatman
If you’re from Prince George’s County in Maryland, then you’ve probably heard of the legendary Goatman. The tale goes something like this: Lurking in the woods in the area surrounding Bowie, Md., a half-human creature with the head of a goat and the body of man torments lovers, teens and dogs with an ax. In some versions of the tale, Goatman is said to have been the product of an experiment at the Beltsville Research Agricultural Center that went horribly wrong.
News reports about Goatman surfaced in the ’70s after an article appeared with the headline “Residents Fear Goatman Lives: Dog Found Decapitated in Old Bowie.” Teens and young adults are said to still go “Goatman hunting.” A common sighting of Goatman has been reported on a bridge, known to locals as “Crybaby Bridge.” The bridge is currently closed to vehicle traffic but you can park and take a 15 min hike up the road if you dare.
Point Lookout Lighthouse
Point lookout is touted as one of, if not the most scariest places in the DMV.
For over 350 years, humans have massacred, imprisoned, tortured and starved one another. Add shipwreck, fire, famine, disease and war, and the stage is set for ghostly encounters.
Point Look Out began as a resort for the wealthy elite located just south into the Potomac where the river meets the Chesapeake Bay. During the Civil War, it was quickly converted into a military hospital. After the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, the Union established a prisoner-of-war camp at the site. By the end of the war, more than 50,000 Confederate prisoners had passed through Point Lookout’s gates, making it the largest prisoner of war facility in the north. The soldiers who died at the prison camp are now buried at Point Lookout Confederate Cemetery located north of the historic prison. Two memorials stand commemorating the Confederate soldiers buried in a mass grave at the cemetery.
Its an eerie place with a mysterious atmosphere that makes it easy to understand why so many people go looking for hauntings here. A ghost dressed in Civil War clothing has been seen on the grounds. Footsteps and slammed doors have been heard in the Lighthouse, despite the witness being alone. The park is a beautiful area by day — and a creepy place by night.Adding to its legendary Status, Point Look Out was also a stop along the Underground Rail Road.
https://dnr.maryland.gov/Pages/Spirits-of-Point-Lookout.aspx
