New York City is widely regarded as one of the most haunted cities in the world, its dense, centuries-old history of tragedy, disease outbreaks, and unresolved deaths generating an unusually large body of documented ghost lore across its five boroughs.
The Dakota
This Upper West Side apartment building, opened in 1884, is among the city's most cited haunted locations. Musician John Lennon, who was murdered outside the building in 1980, is said to still haunt it, alongside a reported roster of other apparitions. Scenes from the 1968 horror film Rosemary's Baby were filmed there.
The Morris-Jumel Mansion
Built in 1765, this is the oldest residence in Manhattan, and has built a reputation as one of the city's most haunted buildings, having been visited by television investigators including Hans Holzer and the crew of Ghost Adventures.
Chelsea Hotel
This long-running hotel is associated with the deaths of poet Dylan Thomas, who visited the White Horse Tavern shortly before his death there, and Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of Sid Vicious.
The Manhattan Well Mystery
In December 1799, Gulielma Sands left home to elope with her lover, Levi Weeks, and was later found dead in a well, having been strangled. Weeks stood trial and was acquitted, and the killer was never identified. The well itself survives inside a SoHo retail space and is said to be haunted.
Radio City Music Hall
Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel, the impresario who brought the Rockettes to the venue, died in 1936 shortly after it opened. Staff have reported finding his seat lowered at the end of the night, after every other seat has been folded up.
The Algonquin Hotel
Associated with the reported ghost of writer Dorothy Parker, a long-time regular at the hotel's famed Round Table.
Explore New York City
Paranormal and UFO-themed films set or filmed in New York City
New York's density, age, and distinctive architecture have made it a recurring setting and filming location for supernatural, ghost, and alien-invasion cinema.
- Rosemary's Baby (1968) — set and filmed at the Dakota
- Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989) — set in New York City, with 55 Central Park West used as the exterior of "Spook Central"
- The Sentinel (1977) — set in a Brooklyn Heights brownstone housing a sinister evil
- Ghost Town (2008) — comedy in which a dentist gains the ability to see the dead, set in fictionalised Manhattan locations
- 1408 (2007) — a sceptical investigator becomes trapped in a haunted hotel room, based on the fictional Dolphin Hotel, filmed using the Roosevelt Hotel
- The Devil's Advocate (1997) — supernatural thriller shot at locations including Central Presbyterian Church
- Cloverfield (2008) — a giant creature attacks the city, filmed as found footage around locations including the Brooklyn Bridge
- A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) — alien invasion prequel set during a citywide evacuation