Fans might recognize some of the locations Zak Bagans & the Ghost Adventures crew have visited throughout the years, as they are some of the most notoriously haunted locations in the world. Old prisons, hospitals, homes, and places in the wilderness that the crew has investigated were already notorious for their apparent paranormal happenings, and the crew has a way of boosting the visibility of these rumor-shadowed places.
The Ghost Adventures investigators don't just introduce fans to new or unheard of hauntings. These locations were famous before the Ghost Adventures team stepped foot in them, but what they find reminds viewers why they were so legendary, to begin with.
Isla de las Muñecas
Widely known as the Island of the Dolls, Isla de las Munecas is home to over 1,500 mysterious dolls. According to legend, in 1950, Don Julian Santana Barerra was unable to save a child from drowning in the canals of Xochimilco. He took a floating doll as an omen, so he collected dolls for over 50 years, hanging them throughout the island.
One of the greatest pieces of evidence the Ghost Adventures crew encountered comes from Mexico's Island of the Dolls. The team revisits the island at night and hesitates to get off the boat but ultimately does so with Harold the Doll in tow. They first stumble upon a campfire that wasn't previously lit, but the scariest moment was the obnoxious laughter heard from behind Aaron that came from one of the dolls.
The Queen Mary
Since 1967, The Queen Mary has been located in Long Beach, California at the docks for history buffs and curious fans of the supernatural to visit. The Queen Mary was originally used to reinforce troops because it could carry such a large amount of people and equipment, but this also meant wounded soldiers and even prisoners were aboard on her trips back.
Zak introduces their subject as, "the most haunted location in the world, The Queen Mary." Their guests, a paranormal author, the captain of the ship, and a psychic medium, all have encountered a little girl called 'Jackie' who haunts the first-class pool. The investigation leads them to learn that it may not be a child at all.
Winchester Mystery House
A historic landmark in San Jose, CA, the Winchester Mystery House was the previous home of Sarah Lockwood Pardee Winchester. According to Ghost Adventures, Sarah Winchester did not particularly care for how her family came into money and designed the house with specific angles and architecture to appease spirits.
The team originally attempted a stay in the Winchester House in 2011, performing a trial run of friends in other haunted locations and asking the spirits to travel to the Winchester House, but they abandoned the night because of how the activity was affecting them. They went back in 2016 to see if they could discover anything new.
Castillo de San Marcos
St. Augustine, Florida is notoriously known for its hoards of ghost tours, but the most visited haunted location is Castillo de San Marcos. Built in the 1600s, it's the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States. With over 450 years of habitation and its previous purpose to defend the Florida and Atlantic trade routes, Castillo de San Marcos has seen quite a lot of history.
Zak, Nick, and Aaron visited the fort to discover whether or not the ghosts of the soldiers and prisoners are present. Just after midnight, they started feeling movement in the air and hearing sounds from the prison areas of Castillo de San Marcos.
Eastern State Penitentiary
The Eastern State Penitentiary is famed for its age, the original solitary confinement cells, and one of its infamous prisoners, Al Capone. Even when Al Capone was a prisoner, he claimed he was being haunted by a victim of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
The Ghost Adventures team explores how the prison changed over the years when they changed the cells to include room for more prisoners and incorporated new, torturous forms of punishment. During their overnight investigation, the electronic voice phenomenon device picked up a few threats in traumatic rooms throughout the prison.
Alcatraz
The most famous prison in American history is also one of the most famous locations for hauntings. Alcatraz is found off the coast of San Francisco, CA, and it opened for visitors in 1973. It is now visited by more than 1.4 million people every year. Also known for its inmate riots in 1946 where two guards' lives were lost as well as numerous escape attempts, the Ghost Adventures team had many suspicions as to what may be lingering in the prison.
Unfortunately, one of the worst episodes the Ghost Adventures team produced was in one of its most famous locations. But, when they locked down overnight, they experienced energies at the thresholds of various cells. According to Jeff Dwyer, a paranormal investigator and Ph.D., no previous settlers of the area built on the island for fear of what it held, so it may have been a haunted location even before Alcatraz was set atop the tiny mound of land.
Stanley Hotel
Horror and thriller movie fans know it as the inspiration for Stephen King's novel and subsequent movie The Shining. The carriage house, manor house, and main hotel all seem to have energy based on the items still present from its darker past where employees have had tunnels cave in and guests have experienced entities murmuring things to them in their rooms.
In season 4, the Ghost Adventures team stays overnight in the carriage house where the old morgue was stationed and mattresses from unfortunate guest passings are also housed. Most of the investigated yielded temperature changes, but no specifics of which ghosts they may have been interacting with.
The Black Dahlia House
The infamous and gruesome murder of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short, recently covered on Netflix's Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, is what made this location iconic among the places the Ghost Adventures team has investigated. The case remains unsolved decades later, and the team hopes to find out more by visiting the Los Angeles mansion where her death occurred.
Season 15 kicks off with an interview with Steve Hodel, the son of suspected murderer Dr. George Hodel, about events they suspect went on in the house before and after the death of Elizabeth Short. During their stay, with the assistance of Patti Negri, they perform communications with Bill Chapell's Paranormal Puck device in an attempt to talk to any ghosts trapped in the house.
Crescent Hotel
In Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the Crescent Hotel remains a place of intrigue due to its horrifying haunts from Norman Baker's victims. The hotel was built in 1886 and did not start as a life-threatening destination. "Dr." Baker used the hotel as a front, tricking people into thinking he could cure cancer. After the torture he embued upon people, the hotel racked up a rather impressive list of notorious ghosts including "the little boy," "lady in the mist," "the ghost of Michael," "the demon," and Norman Baker himself.
The Ghost Adventures' team's best episodes, such as the one at the Crescent Hotel, feature more investigating rather than interviews. They even gather substantial evidence readings on the EVPs and SLS machines, so much so that Zak's body physically reacted. The morgue had moving curtains and their music box was reacting more than normal, which led the team to double-check with EMF readings.
Lizzie Borden House
Fall River, Massachusets is the home of Lizzie Borden's house where she grew up before she allegedly killed her parents. Her case was known as the "trial of the century," but Zak wanted to investigate the potential cause of Lizzie's attack being possession. The home now serves as a bed & breakfast where paranormal investigators and tourists take interest.
Leanne Wilbur, the property manager, shows them around and clarifies the details of Lizzie's trial. Locals recall their disorienting experiences on various floors of the house, and, when it came time for the overnight investigation, the Ghost Adventures team gathered some of the most malicious audio captured in the show's history.