Khemetic Nation News Network | Culture Desk
U.S. culture and unexplained phenomena | October 14, 2026
America’s fascination with haunted places is back in the spotlight as October’s Halloween travel season gathers pace. In a new 2026 Spookiest Cities report, home-security company Vivint places Virginia City, Nevada, at the top of its U.S. ranking, followed by Tombstone, Arizona, and Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
Historic towns lead the list
Virginia City, a former mining boomtown with preserved buildings and a long tradition of ghost stories, stands out for its concentration of attractions, spiritual businesses, and spooky online searches relative to its population. Tombstone and Eureka Springs also score highly, while Galena, Illinois, places fourth.
The study uses seven measurements, including reported ghost sightings and haunted places, several kinds of businesses or attractions, and search activity. Those indicators reveal where paranormal folklore, tourism, and public curiosity are concentrated—not whether a haunting has been demonstrated scientifically.
Texas reports the largest ghost-sighting counts
According to Vivint’s dataset, Austin led the locations examined with 115 reported sightings, followed by Dallas with 64 and Houston with 48. Los Angeles recorded the largest number of reportedly haunted places at 61, ahead of San Antonio with 56 and Honolulu with 43.
Importantly, these are entries in third-party reports and directories, not verified observations of supernatural beings. A city with a stronger tourist industry, more storytelling, or more online reporting can naturally score higher.
Haunted hotels attract growing searches
The report also found that searches for the phrase “haunted hotels” increased 315% between 2023 and 2025 in the data it examined. Meanwhile, some other spooky search terms declined. The figures suggest a particular rise in interest in overnight haunted experiences; they do not establish an equivalent growth in ghost sightings or hotel bookings.
How to read the ranking
Vivint gathered its data in September 2026 and combined seven variables after normalizing each on a 0–100 scale. The overall score is an average of those measures. Many business categories are calculated per 10,000 residents, which can reward small historic towns with just a handful of attractions. The report also notes that some local business searches may include listings beyond strict city boundaries.
For readers who love unexplained histories, the rankings offer a lively guide to the places preserving ghost legends across the country. The mystery is part of the culture; the existence of literal spirits remains unverified.
Source
Vivint — Spookiest Cities Report 2026, methodology and rankings
Featured photo: Martin Casagrand / Unsplash, Virginia City, Nevada. Cultural and historical photograph; not evidence of a paranormal event.
