Spooky Season in Kansas City: Haunted houses & historic haunts
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s spooky season, and we are rounding up a list of historically haunted spots around the Kansas City metro.
Laura Wonder, known as @kansascitywonder on TikTok, joined FOX4’s Morning Brunch to talk all things haunted in Kansas City.
Check out our list of haunted spots along with haunted houses in Kansas City to celebrate the Halloween season.
Haunted Spots
John Wornall House
The John Wornall House is widely considered one of the most haunted places in Kansas City, with numerous ghost stories centered on its history as a Civil War field hospital and the tragedies of the Wornall family.
The house is considered haunted due to its brutal history as a field hospital during the Civil War’s Battle of Westport and the personal tragedies experienced by the Wornall family. Reports of paranormal activity range from spectral soldiers to the family’s deceased children.
John Wornall House
Belvoir Winery and Inn
Belvoir Winery and Inn is widely reported to be haunted, with its history as the former Odd Fellows Home – a facility that included an orphanage, hospital and nursing home. It has even been featured on paranormal investigation television shows like “Ghost Hunters” and “Ghost Adventures.”
The property’s history is marked by numerous deaths and unsettling rituals.
Visitors and staff have reported hearing unexplained voices, footsteps in empty hallways and the sound of children’s giggling and singing, particularly the song “Ring Around the Rosy.”
Belvoir Winery in Liberty, Mo.
Epperson House
The Epperson House is a historic, castle-like mansion in Kansas City with a widespread reputation for being haunted. Its paranormal legends, which even landed it on the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries,” are rooted in the tragic deaths of its former residents.
The Epperson House is believed to be haunted primarily because of the tragic death of Harriet Barse, an organist who was like a daughter to the Eppersons. Numerous supernatural occurrences have been reported in the decades following her death.
Students and staff at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, which later acquired the house, have reported hearing footsteps and the phantom organ music coming from the basement.
A historic photo from 1922 of the UMKC Epperson House.(Credit: UMKC)
Vaile Victorian Mansion
The Vaile Victorian Mansion in Independence, Missouri, is a historic landmark known for its intricate Second Empire architecture and its reputation for being heavily haunted. The mansion’s ghost stories are rooted in its tragic history involving its original owners, Colonel Harvey and Sophia Vaile, and its later use as a sanitarium.
The most common report is the sighting of Sophia’s ghost, often described as a woman in white who wanders the halls and looks out windows. Her spirit is said to be most active in her former bedroom.
The Elms Hotel & Spa
The Elms Hotel & Spa in Excelsior Springs is famously haunted, with its ghostly reputation stemming from a history that includes two devastating fires, Prohibition-era crime and visits from notorious figures. The hotel embraces its supernatural lore and even offers guests a paranormal tour.
Specific areas of the Elms Hotel & Spa are well-known for paranormal activity, particularly the third floor and the basement lap pool. The hotel even features these spots on its nightly ghost tours.
The Elms in Excelsior Springs, Mo.
The Glore Psychiatric Museum
The Glore Psychiatric Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri, is widely considered one of the most haunted locations in the state due to its past as a mental institution. The museum chronicles the history of the former State Lunatic Asylum No. 2, which housed thousands of patients from 1874 until the 1990s.
The museum actively embraces its haunted reputation, offering public and private overnight paranormal investigations for those brave enough to explore the building’s darker past.
The Glore Psychiatric Museum lobotomy room
Haunted Houses
The Beast
Unleash the beast with this spooky haunted house that was voted Best Haunted Attraction in the Nation. For tickets, click here.
📍 1401 W 13th St Kansas City, MO
Edge of Hell
Now in its 51st year, Edge of Hell is the oldest continuously operated haunted attraction in the US. Tickets start at $37, with options to upgrade.
📍 1300 W 12th St Kansas City, MO
Exiled: Trail of Terrors
This haunted forest experience takes your through a trail full of twisted turns, jump scares, and suspense in Bonner, KS. Tickets start at $39 and can be purchased here.
📍 12829 Loring Rd, Bonner Springs, KS
Macabre Cinema
Step into an abandoned 1930s theater that has now become a horror-filled multi-floor attraction. Tickets start at $37 with group discount rates available.
📍 1401 W 13th St Kansas City, MO
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