There are haunted houses, and then there are historic homes that may be haunted. During the spooky season, Northeast Pennsylvania believers and skeptics alike can soak up some history with their scares.
‘I’ve seen some strange things’
“There is a lady who follows me every once in a while and you will get a whiff of her perfume,” in the Schuylkill County Historical Society museum, said Executive Director Diana Prosymchak. She wrote the script for an upcoming haunted history walking tour in Pottsville.
The tour guides tell stories about noted author John O’Hara, a significant Pottsville figure. For believers in the paranormal, there is bonus content. The scent of cigar smoke is said to sometimes linger near his books in the Historical Society museum.
Pictures of the Molly Maguires, an alleged Irish-American secret society, sometimes fall from the museum walls near the anniversary of executions at the town’s old jail in the 1870s, Prosymchak said.
The tour starts in the museum and continues downtown. “I’ve seen some strange things in this building,” Prosymchak said.
The Haunted Walking Tour is Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Registration is required. Tickets cost $10 for society members and $15 for others.
The society is also touring the Charles Baber Cemetery on Saturday, Oct. 17.
Author Richard Bigg, a native of Pottsville, will discuss the headless ghosts of Schuylkill County at the museum Oct. 22.
The National Register of Historic Places and a bone saw
The exterior of the Old Jail in Jim Thorpe is featured in some Halloween-season tours. The building also operates a museum. (COURTESY OF THE OLD JAIL MUSEUM.)
A headless horseman will be part of a Swetland Homestead event. (COURTESY OF THE LUZERNE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY)
The Swetland Homestead in Wyoming on Thursday, May 28, 2026. The home dates back to 1803. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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The exterior of the Old Jail in Jim Thorpe is featured in some Halloween-season tours. The building also operates a museum. (COURTESY OF THE OLD JAIL MUSEUM.)
Guests at two Luzerne County Historical Society museums, the Swetland Homestead in Wyoming and the Nathan Denison House in Forty Fort, ask about ghosts year-round.
“The single most common question I get is, ‘Is this place haunted?’ I can count on one hand with fingers left over how many tours I’ve given where that question doesn’t come up, and I’ve been doing this 18 years,” said Mark Riccetti Jr., the director of operations and programs.
About half of the people who come to events are paranormal believers, he said.
“People go on the tours and claim they have experienced things,” he said.
Asked if he believes in ghosts, Riccetti laughed. “I think there is definitely a level of local folklore and mythology that is certainly true. A lot of these stories come from a time when something was scaring people, years ago, and they didn’t quite understand what it was, so they created a mythology around it. I think all of that is very real.”
An event called Haunted Spirits and Shadows at Swetland will be repeated Oct. 16-17, beginning at 7 p.m., with tours staggered through the evening.
Costumed docents will recreate a Victorian funeral. A headless horseman will make an appearance.
“It’s not a haunted house per se — no one is going to jump out and grab you, and there’s no gore,” he said. “But it will be very creepy and macabre. We’ll have artifacts on display in our exhibition space, including an exorcism kit and a huge Civil War surgeon’s kit with a dirty bone saw. Everything you hear will be our own local history and folklore passed down for years.”
The Swetland Homestead was built in 1803 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently, it is only open for special events or private tours.
Society members pay $25. Tickets for the public are $30.
Jim Thorpe
The live guides on the Jim Thorpe Trolley Co.’s 75-minute ghost and graveyard tour tell stories about the jail, mansions and graveyards of the picturesque Poconos town Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 7.
Most riders are “October people” — believers in the paranormal or fans of a good scare — said ticket booth staffer Kalyn Humphreys.
Customers who come for just the facts will find plenty, she said. The ride goes by the infamous jail where members of the Molly Maguires were held.
The tours start and end at the Jim Thorpe Visitors Center. Tickets are $28 for adults and $19 for children.
The website is jimthorpetrolley.com/ghosts-and-graveyards-tour.
Sold out in Scranton
The Lackawanna Historical Society Scranton After Dark tours are sold out.