Massachusetts City Named ‘Best City To Be a Ghost In’ (???) – Not Boston, NOT Salem!

Spooky Season is here and with it comes some studies that... well... won't pop up any other time of year. Like this one from the team at Upgraded Points, a service that helps you maximize the number of travel points and frequent flier miles you earn. They looked at a bunch of factors to determine what city is the best city to be a ghost in. Really.

The team looked at the 100 most populous U.S. cities on 11 criteria that would impact a city's ability to give ghosts a good home, scoring them between 0 and 100.

If I were a ghost I probably wouldn't settle down anywhere. I mean, I would just spend my time flying places. That'd be pretty cool. Or creeping on old exes and stuff. I'd spend a good amount of time flipping light switches on and off too. But apparently most ghosts like to settle down? So Upgraded Points found those ideal locations for ghosts and low and behold - a Massachusetts city finished up top at #1!

I know, you're thinking it's Salem. Nope! Boston since I said city? No. It's.... drumroll.... SPRINGFIELD!

Springfield has 13.8 haunted houses per 100K households and buildings with a median age of 64 years old, ghosts love old buildings. The city also has 6.6 mediums per 100K people, which makes communicating with all those alive people much easier.

So congratulations Springfield! Salem says step off the Halloween train please.

While Springfield is the best place in the country for real ghosts to moved to and set up shop, there are plenty of scary as heck FAKE ghosts waiting to haunt you. Check out this list of the best haunted houses in and around Massachusetts for Spooky Season 2023!

Here it comes, it's that time of year again, ghosts, goblins, scary stories and for the not faint of heart it's haunted house season. The folks at Boston Magazine have compiled a list of the best the bay state has to offer. We have distilled the list down to the best 7 haunted in Massachusetts. The good news is, most of them are within an hour to 90 minutes away. That will give you enough time to pump yourself up and chill on the way home.

Writers Madeline Bilis and Camille Dodaro say "We love a good homemade haunted house, but if you’re searching for a semi-professional scare, look no further than these spooky attractions in Massachusetts and beyond. They’ll give you all the chills and thrills you need this Halloween."

Not everyone loves them, but the folks that do want to be good and scared and want their monies worth. They hope to leave feeling as though they have escaped a near life and death experience. That's why today's haunted house is not your grandfather's idea of one. Long gone are the days of sheet covered ghosts or corpses that rise from the casket to give you a jolt. Now it's not uncommon to be asked to sign a waiver before starting the adventure to protect the business from any potential mental or physical suffering that may come being so overly frightened.

You should be aware if you plan on attending or visiting one of these fine establishments that you might be shocked at the level of gruesomness that awaits you. These places are not looking to give you a little tremor. They want you to experience a certain level of terror. Not so much that you will lose your mind, but enough to question your decision to enter in the first place. If you're the daring type that wants to feel all the chills, these are the best places to visit.

From Boston Magazine, (Note: In general, most venues leave age appropriateness up to parents or recommend no kids under 10-12. In other words, make wise judgments and try to not traumatize your children for life.) 

Inside, the Haunted Mansion’s dramatic execution—pun fully intended—only gets better every year

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The main attraction is Haunted Fields, a 45-minute walking trail through corn stalks, orchards, and forest patches inhabited by scary actors. A more chill option is the Flashlight Maze, a seven-acre corn maze

Nashoba Valley Ski Area dresses up as Witch’s Woods. Open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughout October, the scream park’s premiere attraction is a haunted hayride, but there are three other macabre adventures to explore, including something called Castle Morbid.

A unique set of chills and thrills await, offering up plenty of options for haunted house aficionados. After Halloween, Factory of Terror will open for one more “Extreme Fears” weekend in November which actors can touch you—waivers required, safe words provided.

Held at the Seekonk Speedway near the Rhode Island line, the mostly outdoor destination advertises three haunted houses for a combined total of “over 45 minutes of fear,”

A Bay State spinoff from the 13th World haunted trail in Cumberland, Rhode Island, this Massachusetts fright park has its own haunted trail (something called Moonlight Mayhem)

Every fall, Six Flags morphs into Fright Fest. During the day, you can get classic scares on their rides, but it’s at night when the real ghouls come out to play. Watch out for the creepy creatures that wander the park’s Scare Zones, looking to strike terror into visitors.