Pennsylvania is dotted with haunted sites and happenings. The following are just a few spirited samples. To find more in the "Keystone State", go to www.hauntedpa.com.

Eastern State Penitentiary (2124 Fairmount Avenue
Philadelphia, PA, 215-236-3300) (website: www.easternstate.org/halloween)

This site in Philadelphia -- a gothic, castle-like structure built in 1829 -- was once home to such characters as Al Capone and Willie Sutton. The building, which is now a museum, was designed to be frightening. Ghosts are reported to include ill-fated prisoners and a phantom guard who appears in the guard tower. The prison also hosts a Halloween celebration that takes visitors through five cellblocks and the central rotunda, all enhanced by tremendous special effects.

The Farnsworth House Inn (401 Baltimore Street
Gettysburg, PA, 717-334-8838) (website:  www.farnsworthhousedining.com/ghost.html)

This could be one of the most haunted places in all of Gettysburg – and maybe in the entire United States. Confederate sharpshooters occupied the house during the Battle of Gettysburg. They used the attic as a vantage point to fire at the Union troops on Cemetery Hill, just a few hundred yards away. It’s been said that the deeds and the presence of these sharpshooters have left an indelible mark on the house. According to folklore, the sound of a jaw harp, a musical instrument commonly played by soldiers during the Civil War, has been heard coming from the attic when no one is in that part of the house. There are many other ghosts, too – including a young boy who was trampled by a wagon in front of the inn and his father, whom guests have seen holding the dead child. And then there’s Mary, who lived at the inn and died in the "Sarah Black" room. She now has a habit of sitting on people's beds while they are sleeping, misplacing personal items, and sometimes actually appearing to guests.

Ghosts of Gettysburg Candlelight Walking Tours (271 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717.337.0445)(website: www.ghostsofgettysburg.com/)

Over the years since the battle, stories of scores of sightings, stranger than reality, have emerged from the quaint houses and gentle fields in and around the town of Gettysburg: Stories of sightings of these soldiers, moving again in battle lines, across the fields where they once marched. . . and died; tales of visions through a rip in time into the horrible scene of a Civil War hospital; whispers of a look at men long dead held eternally captive by duty.

Ghost Tour of Lancaster County (Gonder Mansion, John Funk House, etc.) Mrs. Penn’s Shoppe (purchase tickets here, where the tour starts)(2 W. Main Street, Strasburg, PA, 717-687-6687) (website: www.ghosttour.com/lancaster.htm)

Why is crazed laughter heard in the wee hours at the Gonder Mansion? Who mysteriously appears to help customers at the John Funk house? What dark secret lies in the Strasburg Cemetery? Hear these chilling tales and more during a candlelight walking tour in the town that time forgot.

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