Dairyland of the Dead: 16 Most Haunted Places in Wisconsin

You’re about to explore the most haunted places in Wisconsin. Every stop is visitable now, and each has multiple, documented manifestations that keep researchers and tour groups coming back year after year.

Ready or nah?

These are the most haunted places in Wisconsin:

The Pfister Hotel

Milwaukee

The Pfister opened in 1893, designed by Henry C. Koch, who pioneered fireproofing, electricity, and in-room thermostats when it debuted as the “Grand Hotel of the West.” 

The building’s prestige, art collection, and continuous operation provide a deep historical record behind the stories that have made it one of the most haunted places in Wisconsin.

Many believe the hotel is haunted because Charles Pfister never truly left the grand creation he built.

Manifestations describe televisions powering on by themselves, radios switching to static, knocks and pounding on walls, objects moved, and a suited gentleman believed to be Charles Pfister seen on the grand staircase. 

Modern accounts tie the hotel’s reputation to a wave of first-person testimonies from visiting Major League Baseball players. 

Players, including Michael Young, Bryce Harper, and others, have given on-the-record interviews that describe these hauntings in detail, and local news has continued to document fresh claims from current players. 

Shaker’s Cigar Bar

Milwaukee

Shaker’s operates inside a 1894 cooperage, a place that made cask barrels, which supplied Schlitz Brewing. 

During Prohibition, the building shifted to a mobbed-up speakeasy and brothel, a violent era that tour operators and the bar’s own documentation discuss openly.

Guests can still book guided ghost tours and the former brothel rooms, which keep a steady flow of firsthand testimony that anchors Shaker’s as a serious guide to the most haunted places in Wisconsin. 

Shaker’s is believed to be haunted because of its violent past as a Prohibition-era speakeasy and brothel, where fights, murders, and other crimes happened all the time. Many think the spirits of those who died there, including former prostitutes and mob associates, still linger, forever unrested.

Manifestations tied to those years include voices in vacant stairwells, doors that close with a loud bang with no one nearby, sharp temperature drops in the basement, full-figure apparitions on the upper floor, and classic poltergeist pranks at the bar. 

Bartenders and guests have reported glasses sliding off shelves or tipping over on their own, bottles rearranging themselves overnight, and barstools spinning or moving when no one is near them. 

The Rave / Eagles Club

Milwaukee

The Eagles Club opened in 1927 as a fraternal complex with a ballroom, gym, and a basement swimming pool. 

On September 10, 1927, 15-year-old Francis Wren went under during a crowded public swim and could not be revived, a death documented in contemporary accounts and later histories. 

Many believe it to be haunted because of the tragic death that happened shortly after it opened in 1927. Many think his spirit is responsible for the unexplained activity in the pool room.

Performers and staff have long pointed to the sealed pool and boiler areas as the building’s most active zones, which puts this venue on many maps of the most haunted places in Wisconsin. 

Reports center on the pool level and backstage corridors. Witnesses describe splashing sounds from the empty basin, hurried footsteps on concrete when no one is there, a child’s presence near the doorways, and cold air that rolls through locked service tunnels. 

Service tunnels are narrow passageways built under the building to allow staff to move equipment, supplies, and maintenance tools without using public areas. 

Seasonal tours and repeated coverage by local history outlets keep the case in roundups of the most haunted places in Wisconsin. 

Riverside Theater

Milwaukee

Riverside Theater opened in 1928 inside the Empire Building and ran vaudeville, film, and concerts through booms, decline, and restoration. 

The operator, Pabst Theater Group, has hosted official ghost tours, and local media has profiled the theater’s “ghostitarian”who collect and compare reports between tours. 

Riverside Theater is haunted because of its long history as a nearly century-old performance space where countless people have died. The Riverside Theater is said to be haunted due to the constant activity and emotional energy built up over nearly a century of performances.

Common manifestations include whispers and soft conversations from an empty balcony, shapes crossing the stage when crews lock up, drastic temperature drops in dressing rooms, alarms tripped in sealed spaces, and children’s sounds.

Venue-run tours make these patterns easy to verify, keeping Riverside in the active column of the most haunted places in Wisconsin that you can still walk through. 

Brumder Mansion

Milwaukee

Publisher George Brumder built this Tudor mansion in 1910. 

After family use, the basement ran as a Prohibition club, and the house cycled through church and boarding use before restoration as a B&B and small theater. The mansion regularly hosts public sessions, creating a long record that puts the mansion on this list of the most haunted places in Wisconsin. 

Many believe Brumder Mansion’s hauntings stem from the layers of intense history that have unfolded inside it .. The building has been a family home, a Prohibition-era speakeasy possibly linked to organized crime, a church property, and a boarding house. Each era leaves emotional residue.

Researchers and owners suggest that the spirits tied to the mansion may be former residents, employees, or long-term caretakers who had strong attachments to the house. 

Renovations and changes to the property are believed to stir these presences, particularly those with specific preferences, such as “Suzanne,” a dominant older female spirit, who reportedly dislikes dogs in the Gold Room.

In the Gold Suite, guests have reported unexplained blood in the bathtub, mirrors lifting off their hooks, and doors opening or closing on their own. 

Other suites, like George’s, produce cold spots, sudden headaches, and the movement of objects without cause. On the third floor, visitors often hear the laughter or footsteps of a child, and EVPs have captured pleas like “Don’t leave, help me.”

Old Baraboo Inn

Baraboo

Built in 1864 across from the railroad corridor, The Old Baraboo Inn is a saloon-hotel rolled through rough frontier years, brothel use, and a Prohibition chapter that local storytellers connect to mob trade. 

They document a basement they say was used for torture, with an “execution pole” that still shows bullet scarring and is believed to have been used for torture and executions by the mob. These details, along with continuous public investigations, keep the Inn in the top tier of the most haunted places in Wisconsin. 

Most manifestations occur in the basement area. These include unexplained cold spots, disembodied voices, and the sensation of being touched by unseen hands. 

Visitors and staff hear female voices upstairs, hard knocks on doors, heavy footsteps on empty floors, and after-hours movement of bottles and glassware.

Guests have also reported seeing a full-figured woman in period dress near mirrors and have experienced cold touches at the bar. 

Manifestations:

Basement:

• Sensations: Visitors and staff have reported sudden drops in temperature and the feeling of being touched in the basement area.
• Disembodied Voices: Unexplained voices, including whispers and murmurs, have been heard emanating from the basement, even when no one is present.
• Movement: Items such as bottles and glassware have been moved from their original locations without any apparent cause.

Main Floor and Upstairs:

• Apparitions: Witnesses have described seeing a full-figured woman in period dress near mirrors, particularly in the upstairs areas.
• At the Bar: Patrons have experienced sudden cold sensations while sitting at the bar, often accompanied by the feeling of a presence nearby.
• Jukebox: The jukebox has been known to play songs on its own, with “If the House is a-Rockin‘” by Stevie Ray Vaughan being a frequently reported track.
• Moved Objects: Items left in one place have been found in entirely different locations upon return, suggesting unexplained movement.

Ongoing tours keep the Old Baraboo Inn on any credible list of the most haunted places in Wisconsin. 

Grand Opera House

Oshkosh

Opened in 1883 and restored after decades as a cinema, The Grand Opera House remains Wisconsin’s oldest operating theater. 

The theater’s long history, with its transitions through different uses and the many individuals who have passed through its doors, has led to a buildup of energy. 

Manifestations:

• Percy Keene: A former stage manager who worked at the theater from 1895 to 1967, he is said to be a benevolent presence. Witnesses have seen Keene’s apparition, described as a smiling man wearing round, shiny glasses in the balcony area during rehearsals.
• Dog: A ghostly canine is said to roam the theater, spotted crossing the stage or heard running in the basement. This apparition is believed to be the spirit of a dog that belonged to Percy Keene, who lived above the theater.
• Orange Mist: An unexplained orange mist has been observed enveloping the stage and seats, with no clear source. 
• Apparitions in the Audience: During performances, some patrons have reported seeing figures seated next to them, only for the seats to be empty upon closer inspection.
• Cold Spots and Unexplained Sounds: Visitors and staff have experienced sudden drops in temperature and heard footsteps or whispers in empty areas, particularly in the basement and balcony.

For those interested in exploring the weirdness firsthand, the Grand Opera House offers ghost tours. 

Octagon House Museum

Watertown

John Richards finished this eight-sided home in 1856. The Octagon House Museum is one of the most haunted places in Wisconsin.

John Richards was pioneer settler and the house is one of the largest pre-Civil War homes in Wisconsin and was designed based on the octagonal architecture promoted by Orson Squire Fowler.

Fowler believed that octagonal buildings allowed for better light, air circulation, and overall health. The house features a central spiral staircase, verandas on all sides, and a cupola with panoramic views.

Innovations such as early forms of central heating, running water, and ventilating systems were incorporated into the design, making it one of the most advanced homes of its time.

Manifestations:

• Boy: Visitors and staff have reported seeing the apparition of a young boy at the upper windows. This figure is often described as a playful presence, sometimes seen laughing or running through the halls.
• Voices: Soft laughter and small footsteps have been heard in areas where no one is present, particularly near the central staircase.
• Unexplained Movements: Items have been found displaced, and doors have opened and closed without any visible cause. These occurrences are often reported in the same areas where the young boy is seen.
• Coldness: Sudden drops in temperature have been felt on the central stair, even when the rest of the house remains at a comfortable temperature.

Hotel Retlaw

Fond du Lac

Walter Schroeder opened the Retlaw in 1923, the name formed by reversing his first name.

After a century of ups and downs in celebrity stays, the property underwent a full restoration in 2019 and reopened as a boutique hotel. Local features note the building’s historic stature and its persistent haunting reputation.

Manifestations:

• Room 717: This room is the most haunted in the hotel. Guests have reported hearing loud banging on the door, sudden temperature drops, lights and faucets turning on and off by themselves, and unexplained scratching sounds. Some have described feeling minor physical sensations, like hair being pulled. An apparition of a pale woman with red hair and a sad expression has also been seen in this room.
• Redheaded Woman: A spectral figure of a redheaded woman in a white bathrobe has been seen vanishing into walls, particularly on the seventh floor.
• Voices: Guests and staff have reported hearing disembodied male voices, footsteps, and strange humming sounds in various parts of the hotel.
• Movements: Objects, especially doors, have been observed moving on their own, and lights and faucets have been known to turn on and off.

Maxwell Mansion

Lake Geneva

Chicago physician and early politician Dr. Philip Maxwell built this residence between 1855 and 1856, making it one of the town’s oldest buildings.

Dr. Maxwell was known for his larger-than-life personality and significant contributions to the development of Lake Geneva. His mansion, originally named “The Oaks,” was the first of its kind built in the area.

Manifestations:

• Auditory: Many have heard footsteps pacing overhead and voices in empty corridors, particularly on the upper floors. These sounds often occur when no one else is present, with no explanation.
• Objects: Items have been found displaced from their original locations, suggesting possible poltergeist activity. 
• The Child: A child’s presence is often felt on the upper floor, with reports of giggling and the sensation of being watched. Some guests have claimed to see a small figure out of the corner of their eye, only to find no one there.
• Cigar Smoke: Employees have occasionally smelled whiffs of cigar smoke in areas where no one is smoking, believed to be Dr. Maxwell.

Dartford Cemetery

Green Lake

Dartford Cemetery in Green Lake is renowned as one of the most haunted places in Wisconsin. Chief Highknocker, the last Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) chief of the area, drowned in 1911 and was originally buried near the river. In the 1930s, his son relocated his remains to Dartford Cemetery to honor his father’s connection to the lake he loved. 

The grave is marked by a boulder from the lake and a distinctive headstone carved with his likeness. 

The old crypt with a crack in its roof is said to be haunted because legend has it that if someone sits atop the crypt, they may be pushed off by an unseen force, especially on or near Halloween.

Visitors describe full apparitions walking between headstones, a sensation of being pushed when people sit on the cracked-roof crypt, disembodied voices at dusk, and unusual lights that drift over graves.

Bloody Bride Bridge (Hwy 66)

Stevens Point area

Local legend says a bride died in a crash on or near the bridge. 

The Stevens Point Area Tourism Office summarizes the story that a police officer once believed he had hit a woman on the bridge, searched and found no one, then saw her again sitting in his passenger seat. 

While researchers note that official records for a specific fatal crash have not been found, the number of fresh driver reports keeps this location on lists of the most haunted places in Wisconsin. 

Drivers tell a consistent story: a woman in a wedding gown appears on the bridge deck, then vanishes; cabin radios erupt into static on the span; and some motorists report a soaked bride in the back seat or passenger seat that disappears at the far end. 

As recently as 2022, there was another fatal crash on the bridge. 

Nelsen’s Hall Bitters Pub

Washington Island

Nelsen’s opened in 1899 and never closed during Prohibition. 

Owner Tom Nelsen secured a pharmacist’s license and poured Angostura bitters as a stomach tonic. 

Eventually, he started the Bitters Club, where people join by taking one shot and leaving a thumbprint card. It now adds thousands of members each year. Many believe it is the oldest saloon in Wisconsin that has operated without closing, and it sells more Angostura by the shot than anywhere else in the world.

Patrons and staff tie the activity to Nelsen himself, who died upstairs in 1960. 

Manifestations:

• Women’s Restroom: Several visitors have reported seeing a full-figured male apparition in the women’s restroom, believed to be Tom Nelsen himself. 
• Unexplained Radio Station Changes: Patrons have observed radios in the pub changing stations without any apparent cause, usually switching to genres Tom Nelsen was fond of.
• Footsteps: Disembodied footsteps are heard, particularly in the upstairs area where Tom Nelsen died, even when the building is unoccupied.
• Breezes: Women sitting at the bar have reported sudden cold breezes brushing across their necks, despite no drafts or open windows.
• Doors Closing by Themselves: Unseen forces have been known to close doors with a loud bang, even when no one is nearby.

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