If Maine's "King of Horror," Stephen King, chose Bangor for his home base, there must be a reason, right? The city's history is riddled with spine-tingling ghost stories that have inspired King's novels for over four decades.
Want to know more about the phantoms and poltergeists of the Queen City? Here's our list of Bangor's most haunted spots:
Many believe the Thomas Hill House, home to the Bangor Historical society is the most haunted building in town. The Union Street mansion was previously home to several mayors, including Samuel Dale and his wife. The story goes that after the Great Chicago Fire, the city raised $10,000 to support relief efforts. Mayor Dale was entrusted with the money, but it vanished and shortly after Dale was found dead in the home. Today, historical society employees report that they often smell perfume and cigarette smoke around the mansion and that some of the more mischievous spirits play pranks on them.
Nestled between the Penobscot River and Mt. Hope Avenue, the Mt. Hope Cemetery was the inspiration for King's hit novel "Pet Sematary." Paranormal researchers have recorded voices - including one sounding eerily like Elvis Presley - throughout the cemetery. Who else might you find roaming the tombstones? Former Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, former public enemy number 1 Al Brady, four Maine governors, eight Civil War generals, and numerous lumber barons, just to name a few.
Speaking of lumber barons, in the 1840s the Isaac Farrar Mansion was home to the Farrar and Merrill families. Reportedly, both families suffered the loss of multiple children in the house - one child perished after swallowing a marble and his nanny was so grief-stricken that she passed away just days later. The mansion is now a part of the Bangor YMCA and visitors to the mansion report hearing many of the sounds of normal family life - giggles, footsteps, voices, and slamming doors.
In the early 1900s, Bangor was known as the "Broadway of the North," and the Bangor Opera House was the crown jewel, hosting luminaries such as Oscar Wilde and polar explorer Robert Peary. In 1914, two firemen perished in a devastating fire that destroyed the theater. The opera house was rebuilt on the same site in 1920, and to this day audience members report seeing three ghosts on the property - the two firemen and a young child who weaves through the audience.
From Stephen King's mansion to the ghosts of the Charles Inn, Bangor's city limits are seemingly filled with ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night.