Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore

Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore Hotel
The Radisson hotel was named after George Calvert, aka Lord Baltimore and the founding father of Maryland. The 23-story hotel, opened in 1928, was built in the Art Deco style popular during the decade and was the largest in the state at the time. It's a historic landmark hotel and a member of the Historic Hotels of America.

How haunted is the old building? Hard to say. It's spooky lore seems to stem from the keyboard of Paul Schroeder, who wrote “A Haunted Hotel in Maryland” for TravelParanormal.com.

One story involved an alleged suicide on the 19th floor, and the elevators’ constant trips up there at night, with no one ever getting in or out of the car.

Another sighting, not reported by Schroeder, is of gangster-type spooks haunting the Lord Baltimore's halls, apparently reliving the high life of their wise guy days.

Guests, particularly those sensitive to the paranormal, have complained of nightmares, touchings, and other signs of presence from the other side.

A long-time employee, Fran Carter, was Schroeder's mother lode of tales. One story is of three people standing in the moonlit ballroom, each positioned in front of a window, gazing at the ceiling.

Carter passed within feet of the trio, even noting the brass buttons and ascot of one of the men. Likely assuming they were checking out the hall for an event, she offered to turn on the lights. As soon as she hit the switch, they disappeared.

She also related that she saw a little girl wearing a long cream colored dress and black shiny shoes run by, bouncing a red ball and going through an open door into the hotel hallway. Carter chased after her, thinking she was lost. The hallway was deserted.

Turning around, she spied a well-dressed older couple in tux and gown. Thinking they were looking for the runaway child, she pointed down the hall. The couple vanished in front of her eyes.

That was on the dreaded nineteenth floor, and that little girl is the star ghostie of the hotel. She's been reported several times as a screaming child in a long gown, crying and rocking herself back and forth. Whether she has a part to play in the suicide tale, no one knows.

If you ever visit Charm City, get a room on the nineteenth floor of the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore. You can let us know if Paul Schroeder and Fran Carter are right.

Cliff Park Inn

Cliff Park Inn image from Bestweekends
The Cliff Park Inn, located in Milford, Pike County, dates from a land grant given in 1627 by Charles I when the Buchanan family came to America from Scotland. The one room cabin became the Buchanan Homestead in 1820.

In 1900, Annie Buchanan started the Cliff Park House, named for the 900' cliff vistas the estate offered above the Delaware Gap. During the early days of movies, studios used the Cliff Park as a location because of the stunning view (and the golf course, a popular attraction during non-shooting periods). Many stars such as Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. graced the resort.

It also has some spooks, many known by name such as Fanny and Big George. People have reported the presence of Walt, the former maintenance man. The "Lady in Brown," supposedly a member of a 1920's film crew, has been spotted gliding down the main staircase, going out the door and across the golf course to the cliff where she was reputed to have leaped to her death.

The Inn's one-time Caribbean chef, Uncle Stew, still holds court in the kitchen. He's been known to throw cans of pineapple juice at cooks he thinks are sous'ing below his demanding standards. In fact, several of the Inn's spooks are associated with the hotel as employees, and seem to aim their otherworldly approbation to current goof-off workers.

The most famous spirit is Sally in Room #10. The stories tell of eerie noises, voices, orbs, seeing her outline lying on the bed and her apparition popping up throughout the Inn. It's said that when you leave the room that Sally will reopen the door if she wants you to stay and slam it shut if she doesn't. So a word to the wise if you're sharing Room 10 with Sally...

The place is locally renown for its paranormal performance, being visited by Penn Valley Paranormal, Paranormal Investigators of the Poconos, and North East PA Paranormal, as well as getting some love in "Pocono Ghost Legends - Book 2" by Charles Adams III and David Siebold.

Another log is tossed on the spooky fire every Halloween with the Inn's "Tales In the Parlor" event, when it hosts stories of local ghosts, legends and lore of the past.

The Lowe Hotel

The Lowe Hotel
Point Pleasant, West Virginia, is a hotbed of paranormal lore. It's home to the infamous Mothman, and the victim of Cornstalk's Curse.

Shawnee chief Cornstalk's plague on the area has been blamed for many calamities over the years, while Mothman managed to get a book and movie made of his shenanigans, and even has an annual festival held in the town.

And if you go, look for Mothman's statue. Then look across the street, and you'll spot the only place to stay in Point Pleasant, the Lowe Hotel. It more than holds its own in the spooked-out category.

The hotel opened up in 1901 as the Spencer Hotel, and was known for its ballroom and as a gathering place for the upper crust. The Lowes bought it in 1929 and renamed it after themselves. Rush and Ruth Finley bought the hotel in 1990, and are still in the process of rehabbing the old grand dame.

The more common paranormal experiences at the hotel are the usual things reported from old buildings: loud noises, icy blasts of air, and feelings of presence in guests' rooms, halls and the staircase. While the human eye can't see anything to explain the sense of presence, photographs of orbs have been captured during the experiences.

Starting from the top, the fourth floor features the ballroom and an unfinished storage area. One of the items kept upstairs is Mrs. Lowe’s cane rocking chair. The Finley's daughter watched the chair began to rock by itself, while other staff members say the chair moves around the room by itself.

But the third floor is where the main ghost action is.

The third floor suite hosts the ghost of Jimbo, aka Captain Jim, who appears to guests and tells them that he's waiting on his riverboat, the River Explorer.

A tall, thin man with a beard, whose reflection has been seen by many in the mirror, haunts room 314. It's said that he's none other than Sid Hatfield of Hatfield/McCoy feud fame.

The bottom two floors are just generally "eerie," but spook-free.

A word of caution - the Lowe Hotel was where the film crew stayed when they taped a Sci-Fi Channel program about Mothman. It's reported that at least one crew member had an experience so spooky that he packed his gear and left the hotel, staying out-of-town across the river in a Days Inn.