You won’t find abandoned buildings to camp in, but Kansas offers something better—historic hotels in once-thriving frontier towns where you can spend the night investigating genuine paranormal activity. Places like Hotel Josephine in Holton and the McInteer Villa in Atchison let you book overnight ghost hunts from dusk until dawn, exploring shadow-filled basements, haunted rooms, and underground tunnels while using spirit boxes and thermal cameras. These beautifully preserved 1880s establishments witnessed decades of deaths, scandals, and secret activities that left restless spirits behind.
Key Takeaways
- Hotel Josephine in Holton offers private overnight ghost hunts after 1:00 AM in Kansas’s most haunted hotel built in 1889.
- McInteer Villa in Atchison provides overnight ghost hunt experiences from 8 PM to 9 AM in a historically haunted 1889 mansion.
- Wolf Hotel in Ellinwood features overnight stays with access to underground tunnels used during Prohibition for bootlegging activities.
- Beaumont Hotel offers accommodations at a haunted 1879 location with reported ghost legends and paranormal phenomena throughout the building.
- Wichita’s Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview provides overnight stays in a 1922 building known for phantom calls and unexplainable paranormal occurrences.
McInteer Villa in Atchison: Where Nellie Still Roams
When Irish immigrant John McInteer commissioned his grand Victorian mansion in 1889, he envisioned a monument to his prosperity—not a beacon for the restless dead. Built with $14,000 earned selling harnesses to westward pioneers, this five-bedroom brick residence at 1301 Kansas Street has witnessed nine deaths since its completion.
You’ll find Atchison’s most haunted property welcoming overnight ghost hunters, unlike medieval legends or forgotten tales confined to dusty books. Current owners Stephanie and Jeff Neal reversed previous restrictions, offering you direct access to phenomena once feared. The overnight experience runs from 8 PM to 9 AM, providing ample time for paranormal investigation and exploration.
You might encounter Isobel “Goldie” Altus’s dark figure, experience autonomous door movements, or smell phantom perfume drifting through ornate woodwork. The retired professional violinist transformed the residence into her eccentric sanctuary before her own mysterious presence joined the mansion’s supernatural roster. The second floor’s oppressive atmosphere—where funeral viewings once occurred—generates particular unease among visitors exploring this National Register landmark‘s paranormal reputation.
The Historic Wolf Hotel and Underground Tunnels of Ellinwood
As John Wolf surveyed Ellinwood’s bustling Main Street in 1894, he commissioned architect S.S. Voigt to design a $10,000 addition to the Delmonico Hotel. The Italianate hotel architecture featured Victorian gingerbread detailing and 15 new rooms, eventually becoming the Wolf Hotel.
What makes this destination extraordinary isn’t just the rooms above ground—it’s what lies beneath.
You’ll discover an extensive tunnel system connecting businesses throughout town, complete with wooden boardwalks and stone-lined passages. During Prohibition, these underground corridors housed up to 11 saloons for bootleg operations. The tunnels also contained bathhouses, meat storage facilities, and even brothels during their peak.
Today’s tunnel exploration reveals the original library, gym, and artifacts from the 2020 excavation. Current owner Chris McCord has transformed this National Register property into a vibrant hotel offering lodging, dining, comedy shows, and guided underground tours. The hotel stands across from the historic Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad station, a reminder of Ellinwood’s rail-era significance.
Hotel Josephine in Holton: Kansas’s Most Haunted Hotel
You’ll find Kansas’s most paranormally active location at Hotel Josephine, where overnight ghost hunts grant you private access to investigate after 1:00 AM.
The Buffalo Room pulses with the highest energy in the building, courtesy of an old well beneath it and the shadow figures that regularly materialize there.
Throughout your investigation, you’ll encounter everything from apparitions caught on camera to disembodied screams crackling through spirit boxes and objects moving on their own.
This historic 1889 hotel was built by A.D. Walker and named after his four-month-old daughter Josephine, whose friendly spirit still expects guests to maintain proper decorum during their stay.
The hotel has housed famous visitors including President Grover Cleveland, temperance advocate Carrie Nation, and actress Kirstie Alley throughout its continuous operation spanning over a century.
Overnight Ghost Hunt Details
Located at 501 Ohio Ave. in Holton, the Hotel Josephine has earned its reputation as Kansas’s most haunted hotel through decades of unexplained phenomena and chilling guest experiences.
You’ll arrive at 7:00 PM for overnight ghost hunts organized by Haunted Rooms America, where you’re free to explore this historic 1889 building until dawn.
After 1:00 AM, you’ll gain private access to investigate spectral encounters throughout the property, including the infamous Buffalo Room where shadow figures regularly appear.
The basement, once a holding cell with haunted artifacts like original chains, produces consistent reports of apparitions.
Psychics claim a serial killer’s spirit lingers here.
You can also book candlelight tours, murder mystery dinners, or themed escape experiences if you’re seeking paranormal adventure.
The hotel features 17 unique rooms, each with distinct themes ranging from the Jesse James Room with its embedded prisoner chains to suites named after notable guests like Grover Cleveland and Charles Curtis.
Built by A.D. Walker, the hotel was named after his four-month-old daughter who later graduated from the University of Kansas.
Paranormal Activity Throughout Hotel
The paranormal activity at Hotel Josephine centers around its namesake spirit, Josephine Walker, who was born just four months before her father A.D. Walker opened the establishment in 1889. You’ll encounter her friendly presence in the Josephine Walker Room, though she’ll stomp angrily through empty spaces when guests get too rowdy.
Spirit sightings occur throughout the property, including full-body apparitions and a Native American figure upstairs.
Hotel legends swirl around the basement’s overwhelming energy, where shadows lurk near an old well and visible chains hint at darker prisoner transport history.
The bathroom carries particularly sinister energy—women report breathing difficulties upon entering, with psychics detecting connections to murdered women. Paranormal investigators use devices like the Rim Pod to detect spiritual presences, with spirits reportedly responding by changing the device’s color during communication attempts.
You’ll hear phantom footsteps everywhere, reminders of countless souls who’ve passed through Kansas’s most haunted lodging. The Buffalo Room stands out among haunted locations, where guests report hearing the unsettling sound of a crying baby.
Buffalo Room Shadow Figures
Among Hotel Josephine’s most unsettling spaces, the Buffalo Room generates an overwhelming sense of dread that drives even skeptical visitors toward the exit. You’ll experience intense goosebumps and physical sickness the moment you enter this basement room.
Shadow figure sightings concentrate near the old well and fence line.
Paranormal investigations reveal disturbing energy attachments in this space. Psychic mediums detect connections to either a serial killer who targeted women or a woman harmed in the bathroom.
The room’s oppressive atmosphere proves so intense that you’ll feel compelled to leave immediately.
During paranormal investigations, shadow figures appear most frequently on one side of the basement fence.
This former well served dark purposes—chaining prisoners during courthouse transports.
That history lingers, creating the hotel’s most concentrated paranormal hotspot.
Beaumont Hotel: a Ghost Town Getaway With Aeronautical Spirits
Since 1879, Beaumont Hotel has stood as a proof to Kansas’s frontier spirit, evolving from a humble stagecoach stop into one of the state’s most intriguing destinations. You’ll find this historic gem at 11651 SE Main St.
Pilots can taxi directly to the front door via the adjacent 2,600-foot grass airstrip—a feature added by J.C. Squier in 1953.
But it’s the haunted legends that’ll really captivate you. Cowboy Zeke, murdered by a jealous husband, still roams the upper floor. You’ll experience ghostly encounters in rooms 201, 202, and 208, where clock radios mysteriously activate between 2-3am.
Chairs move behind doors, spurs jangle in empty hallways, and Zeke’s apparition appears at the stairs’ top, watching over his eternal domain.
Wichita’s Haunted Accommodations and Old Cowtown Museum
While Wichita isn’t a ghost town, you’ll find some of Kansas’s most active paranormal sites within its historic buildings.
The Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview stands as a symbol of 1920s grandeur, where guests report phantom phone calls from the spirit of Clarence, who leaped to his death after murdering his unfaithful wife in 1929.
For a broader glimpse into frontier-era hauntings, the Old Cowtown Museum offers investigators a chance to explore 54 reconstructed buildings where shadowy figures and unexplained voices echo through authentic 19th-century structures.
Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview
Standing eight stories tall along the Arkansas River, the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview has welcomed guests since 1922—but not all of them have checked out.
This historical architecture once hosted luminaries like Charles Lindbergh and Al Capone, who frequented its basement speakeasy during Prohibition.
The most notorious spirit is Clarence, who murdered his wife and lover before jumping from the eighth-floor balcony in 1929.
During paranormal investigations, he’s known for making phantom phone calls and suspending curtains against ceilings.
You’ll encounter an elegant woman in white roaming upper floors, 1920s-clad dancers in the Crystal Ballroom, and mysterious black masses gliding through walls.
Guests report furniture moving overnight, EVPs, and one flight attendant discovered her room completely upside down—forcing her to sleep in the lobby.
Old Cowtown Museum Investigations
Just blocks from the Drury Plaza Hotel, the Old Cowtown Museum sprawls across 23 acres with over 50 buildings from the 1800s—and its spirits seem equally determined to preserve the past.
You’ll find paranormal evidence throughout fourteen structures, with the Murdock House leading reports of a pigtailed girl peering from upstairs windows and shadow figures haunting the staircase.
The blacksmith shop delivers poltergeist activity, while investigators document levitating candles and shifting mannequins that normally require multiple people to move.
Historical preservation meets supernatural investigation here, as Wichita Paranormal Research Society captures thermal anomalies and unexplained heat signatures.
You can book ghost hunts through Haunted Rooms America for just $20 deposit, though tickets vanish quickly for this genuinely active location.
The Eldridge Hotel in Lawrence: Civil War Era Hauntings
The Eldridge Hotel’s violent past has left more than historical records—it’s left restless spirits. Built in 1855 as the Free State Hotel, this landmark survived two devastating attacks that killed over 150 people during Quantrill’s 1863 raid. The historical significance of this site runs deep—it served as headquarters for free-state forces during the bloody Kansas-Missouri Border War.
Today’s guests report unexplained footsteps echoing through hallways, phantom voices from empty rooms, and doors opening on their own. The Civil War hauntings concentrate on the third floor, where witnesses describe shadow figures in period clothing wandering the corridors.
Each August 21st, a commemorative white sheet hangs from a window—the same signal that once saved lives during Quantrill’s brutal assault. You’ll sleep where history’s darkest moments still linger.
What to Expect During Your Overnight Ghost Hunt in Kansas
When darkness falls over Kansas’s most haunted locations, overnight ghost hunters enter a world where history’s tragedies manifest as unexplained phenomena. You’ll arrive around 7 p.m. for briefings on historical legends before gaining private access after 1 a.m.
Expect remote controls flying off countertops in Room 204 at Beaumont Hotel, or encounter Native American spirits in Hotel Josephine’s upstairs chambers. The Sunflower Room at Wolf Hotel still reserves a place setting for Bernard Millit, who died in 1927.
Objects take flight in Room 204, while spirits from another era still await their eternal dinner in the Sunflower Room.
Throughout your hunt until dawn, you’ll monitor for ghostly whispers, shadow figures, and moving objects. Ghost hunter equipment confirms hotspots in Room 208, while basement areas reveal lurking apparitions.
These extended investigations let you experience phenomena that thousands of previous guests have documented across Kansas’s most actively haunted buildings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Children Allowed to Participate in Overnight Ghost Hunts at These Locations?
Want family safety clarity before booking? You’ll find no explicit age restrictions mentioned for these overnight ghost hunts, but you should contact each location directly to confirm their policies regarding children participating in paranormal activities.
What Paranormal Investigation Equipment Should I Bring for the Overnight Stay?
Bring equipment essentials like EMF detectors, digital voice recorders, and thermal cameras to capture paranormal activity. Don’t forget safety precautions: flashlights, first-aid kits, and backup batteries. You’ll want reliable gear to document your ghostly encounters independently.
Can I Get a Refund if No Paranormal Activity Occurs During My Visit?
No refunds are offered if paranormal activity doesn’t occur. You’re purchasing access to locations with haunted history and ghost stories, not guarantees of supernatural encounters. These overnight stays are experiential accommodations exploring reportedly active sites.
Are Pets Permitted During Overnight Stays at These Haunted Kansas Locations?
The background information doesn’t specify any pet policy or animal restrictions for these haunted Kansas locations. You’ll need to contact each property directly before booking to confirm whether your furry companion can join your paranormal adventure.
Do I Need Prior Ghost Hunting Experience to Book These Overnight Accommodations?
No, you don’t need prior ghost hunting experience to book these overnight stays. These locations welcome all brave souls interested in their historical significance while maintaining proper safety protocols for your paranormal adventure exploration.
References
- https://www.travelks.com/blog/stories/post/13-most-haunted-places-in-kansas-you-must-visit-this-fall/
- https://kansaslivingmagazine.com/attraction/haunted-kansas-towns-spooky-spaces-attract-ghost-adventures
- https://www.bumpinthenight.net/night-at-the-hotel-josephine
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyhOcQeCOVE
- https://www.hauntedrooms.com/kansas/ghost-hunts/old-cowtown-museum-wichita
- https://globaldebauchery.com/weird-towns-in-kansas/
- https://www.historicwolfhotel.com
- https://eldridgehotel.com/2021/06/the-haunted-eldridge/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McInteer_Villa
- https://phantasm-paranormal.com/1889_mcInteer_villa.html
