By Marnie Kunz,
Brooklyn running coach

In honor of Halloween, I wanted to put together this guide to haunted Brooklyn, with a list of the best spooky spots to run by. Whether you’re an “American Horror Story” fan seeking out scenes filmed in Brooklyn, you want to celebrate Halloween, or check out some local Brooklyn ghost stories, our borough of Kings, New York, has a long, bloody history. These top haunted Brooklyn spots are sure to give you chills. Check out my Haunted Brooklyn video on YouTube for a full rundown of the places to go.

Haunted Brooklyn History

Brooklyn is a borough with a long, violent history. The Battle of Brooklyn in 1776 was a key battle in the Revolutionary War, where thousands of American soldiers were slain and imprisoned by the British. Over 11,500 American prisoners were tortured and killed in the British prison ships in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. There is now a monument in Ft. Greene Park to honor the fallen troops, the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument.

Brooklyn also has a bloody history of mafia violence, executions, and gang warfare. Add to this the turbulent living conditions of the thousands of workers who worked on the Brooklyn waterfront in the 19th and 20th centuries, and it’s no surprise that bodies and lost souls of locals can be found all over Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Bridge

Haunted Brooklyn Spot: Brooklyn Bridge, 1.6 miles from pedestrian entrances in downtown Brooklyn to downtown Manhattan

You may be surprised to learn of Brooklyn Bridge ghosts as part of the history of haunted Brooklyn. Indeed, the classic NYC landmark has a storied history, including ghosts, aliens, and lots of bodies.

The Brooklyn Bridge was constructed from 1869 to 1883 and was the first fixed crossing of the East River connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan. The construction and opening of the bridge left a slew of bodies.

There is no record of the exact amount of workers killed during the bridge’s 14-year construction, but estimates range from 21 to 40 people killed, including the designer of the bridge. In addition, 12 people were crushed to death in a stampede six days after the Brooklyn Bridge’s grand opening in 1883.

It’s no wonder that with all those bodies, Brooklyn Bridge ghosts have been seen and heard by many. People have reported seeing a headless ghost of a worker decapitated during the bridge’s construction. The ghostly silhouettes of a headless man and a transparent blonde woman have been seen by several people. The headless man is said to be one of the workers killed during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. People have also reported hearing screams and shouts materializing from nowhere when walking over the bridge.

In addition to haunted Brooklyn Bridge ghosts, people have reported seeing an alien abduction on the bridge. On Nov 30, 1989, Linda Napolitano was reportedly seen rising towards a beam of light from her apartment building, accompanied by three figures into a waiting UFO. Several witnesses – including a famous political leader – corroborate this sighting. The onlookers reported that the UFO flew in the direction of the Brooklyn Bridge, and so began the Brooklyn Bridge alien abduction story.

Also, Brooklyn Heights, the posh neighborhood next to Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Brooklyn Bridge, is the setting for the latest season of “American Horror Story: Delicate.” In the show, the main character lives in a sterile, creepy, luxury apartment in Brooklyn Heights.

You can take a run over the Brooklyn Bridge and decide for yourself if it’s haunted, but be careful of tourists during peak travel times as you may find that the only shouts you hear are your own trying to clear a path through the revelers.

Brooklyn Theater Fire

Haunted Brooklyn Spot: Johnson Street and Cadman Plaza West, located between downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights

The Brooklyn Theatre Fire of 1876 is considered one of the worst theater fires in America because of the number of people who perished in the blaze. The Two Orphans play was showing to upper-class clientele when one of the props caught fire, and it spread quickly. The audience rushed to escape the double doors, but they were locked in. So many bodies were burnt beyond recognition, and hundreds more melded with building debris. Estimates range from 278 killed to over 300 who perished that day. The remains of bodies were buried in a mass grave in Brooklyn’s Greenwood Cemetery.

A new theater was built in the exact same spot by the owners despite reservations from the community, which were proven to be rightly suspicious. Employees saw ghostly actors reciting lines from The Two Orphans play long after the audience left the new theater. Even creepier, several patrons of the new Brooklyn theater saw ghostly forms occupying seats while waiting for plays to begin. The community was horrified, and the haunted Brooklyn theater was abandoned and torn down.

Although the theater is gone, you can run by this spot by hitting Cadman Park Plaza and running across the park at Johnson Street.

Litchfield Villa

Haunted Brooklyn Spot: Prospect Park West and 5th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn

Picturesque Prospect Park is also home to towering Litchfield Villa, an Italianate mansion that has had ghastly sightings and happenings. The Gothic structure was built on a private estate (before Prospect Park existed) from 1854 to 1857.

Margaret Cahill, a friend of Edwin Clark Litchfield, the owner of Litchfield Villa, enlisted his permission to arrange for séances at his home. One of the séances went awry, however, as demons were said to enter the home. The lights flickered and the home shook, and two of the attendees ran out of the villa screaming in horror. Within a year of the séance, four of the five participants died (including Mrs. Cahill), and the remaining one, William Woodruff, vanished, with no known reports of his whereabouts.

You can run by Litchfield Villa, which is now the headquarters of the Brooklyn Department of Parks and Recreation, by running along Prospect Park West, on the western side of Prospect Park. You will see the looming mansion at 5th Street and Prospect Park West.

Lovecraft Home

Haunted Brooklyn Spot: 169 Clinton Street in Cobble Hill (formerly the neighborhood was part of Red Hook)

For fans of the HBO show "Lovecraft Country," horror writer H.P. Lovecraft's former home is located at 169 Clinton Street. The horror writer moved to the lower apartment in 1925 and stayed only 1 year, as he was greatly agitated and anxious in the place and practically starved himself. He was inspired to write “The Horror at Red Hook” while living in the apartment. The now upscale neighborhood used to be part of Red Hook.

Lovecraft was a vocal racist who was often irritated by Brooklyn’s immigrant population, especially the many immigrants who worked on the Brooklyn waterfront. His unhappy ghost is said to haunt the apartment, as residents have reported objects moving and disappearing and strange noises. Perhaps Lovecraft’s racist ghost is also appalled at the show Lovecraft Country, which weaves together stories from its starring African American cast as they traverse a treacherous Jim Crow South in 1950s America. The show includes supernatural elements and horror aspects inspired by Lovecraft’s writing and also illustrates the horrific racism that black people faced in America.

Haunted Brownstone

Haunted Brooklyn Spot: 455A Sackett Street in Carroll Gardens

A tour of haunted Brooklyn would not be complete without a visit to a haunted brownstone. The ghosts of 455A Sackett Street in Carroll Gardens offer plenty of paranormal happenings. This apartment is notorious for having a high turnover due to all the ghastly activities, including children’s voices and screams, a child’s body found in the walls of the basement, fires, and other unexplained tragedies happening to its tenants.

One woman who lived at 455A Sackett Street in 1998 as a 14-year-old describes her firsthand experiences living in the haunted Brooklyn house, including family tragedies, unexplained fires, bad energy, and the body of a child discovered in the wall.

In her account, the tenant says, “An elderly woman who'd lived right next door for most of our life informed us that no one had occupied our apartment for more than a year at a time since as long as she could remember... she also related that terrible tragedies befell all of said people, within only a few weeks of moving in, continuing through the day they moved out.”

She said her friend came over and saw a little boy in burnt rags staring at her in the mirror and crying. Later, she found out, through the neighbor, that in the '30s or '40s, a fire had killed a little boy within a month of the family moving in. In the '60s, a couple in the apartment was executed by the mob because of an insidious affair.

In keeping with other former tenants, the family moved out after only a year. The people that moved in after them tried to renovate the basement and found the body of a little boy in the wall. They left suddenly one night not too long after and never returned.

Another tenant said she lived in the house in 2003, and “it was the creepiest place ever.” She said there was a small storage room under the porch in the back. She went in with her roommates after the door popped open one day. They saw an altar-like structure and a pair of girls’ roller skates with caked-on blood and small boys’ clothes.

If you’re not sure what is really going on at 455A Sackett Street, run by and decide for yourself. Just don’t go inside.

McCarren Park Pool

Haunted Brooklyn Spot: 776 Lorimer Street, Williamsburg

Williamsburg is home to more than overpriced real estate — McCarren Park Pool has had many paranormal sightings reported. A girl is said to have drowned in the pool in the 1930s and continues to haunt the area, with multiple ghost sightings at night and people hearing her screams.

Paranormal investigators have also recorded sudden, significant temperature drops of up to 30 degrees in the pool water. Although I wouldn’t recommend running there at night, you can make this stop on your haunted Brooklyn run and then flee to the sanctuary of surrounding McCarren Park during daylight hours.

Gowanus Staples

Haunted Brooklyn Spot: 348 4th Ave. in Gowanus

Brooklyn was a major battle site in the Revolutionary War. The 1776 Battle of Brooklyn was where 400 Maryland soldiers fought against 2,000 British soldiers at Old Stone House, resulting in over 200 deaths, mostly from the Maryland side. It is said that the bodies lie in a mass grave under the Staples on 4th Ave and 3rd St. in Gowanus. So, if you see flying office supplies or ghastly sites while shopping at Staples, now you know why.

You can run by the Gowanus Staples and check out the site for yourself, and don’t forget to stop by the nearby Gowanus Canal.

Gowanus Canal

Haunted Brooklyn Spot: Gowanus Canal

The Gowanus Canal is said to be a favorite mafia dumping ground for bodies and weapons that may never be dredged up from the toxic sludge. The Gowanus Canal is one of the nation’s most polluted bodies of water, unfortunately, due to over a century of industrial waste flowing into the canal. Although it is undergoing a lengthy clean-up process, the murky waters of the canal include toxic sludge that buries shady parts of Brooklyn’s history that we may never fully recover.

Will the new multi-million dollar developments going up in the area include more than a high price tag if the secrets of the Gowanus are dredged up? Time will tell (but you can bet the prices won’t go down.)

If you want to delve deeper into the world of haunted Brooklyn, the local newspaper the Brooklyn Daily Eagle has a storied history of publishing ghost stories, especially in October. You can also learn more about Brooklyn's creepy side from the Brooklyn Library.

Have you been by any of these haunted spots in Brooklyn? Are there any we forgot? Comment below and tag Runstreet on Instagram to share your favorite running spots and get cheered on in your workouts. 👋

Marnie Kunz is a NASM-certified trainer and USATF- and RRCA-certified running coach, dog lover, Akita mom, and writer and the founder of Runstreet. She is based in Brooklyn, NY.

Haunted Brooklyn Guide: Creepiest Spots to Run By