Alaska is outwardly known for its beautiful nature and sunless days. However, it is also known for paranormal activity. Over the years, paranormal bloggers and streamers alike have come to Alaska to explore its haunted restaurants, cafés, hotels, and more. Today, we will virtually be exploring 10 of the most haunted places in Alaska.
Related: Top 10 Ghost Towns Inside Or Near Famous Cities
10 Alaskan Hotel
The historic Alaskan Hotel in Juneau is known for its hauntings, specifically the haunting of room 315. The current owner, Bettye Adams, has owned the hotel for the past 40 years, and she is even scared of the room. When asked about the room, she said, “I just—it’s creepy. You know, I’ve never seen anything, but I feel things.”
The room is decorated as though it’s still in the early 20th century. The beds are covered in old floral print sheets, and there’s a portrait of two women who appear to have been working girls. The room has always been reportedly haunted, but it wasn’t until 2007 that the first notably scary incident took place.
After a navy ship docked in Juneau, several navy soldiers needed a place to stay overnight on short notice. The Alaskan said that they could house them, but one particular soldier had sent an email requesting their haunted room. Upon request, he was put up in room 315 for the night. That night, there was a ton of celebration and noise in the downstairs bar. This was the first time in a long time that many of the soldiers had been off the ship.
Through the commotion, a man in the room below 315 claimed that the guest had jumped since he heard glass shatter and even his own hotel room window shattered. Police officers had to break down the door of 315, and what they saw was blood splattered all over the walls, an odd sight considering that the sailor supposedly jumped. This incident was kept quiet for many years, and miraculously, the sailor survived his injuries. No one really knows what happened.[1]
9 Red Onion Saloon
The Red Onion Saloon was opened in 1898. Today, it also doubles as a brothel museum. If you walk into the saloon today, you will be transported back in time to 1898, as everything is almost as it was all those years ago. The museum’s employees are even dressed in 1898 saloon girls’ costumes to add to the eerie ambiance. Although the saloon/museum is full of laughter, joy, and entertainment today, it wasn’t always like that.
During the height of the Gold Rush, the saloon formed a dark and oppressive history. Working girls were subjected to sickness, disease, unwanted pregnancy, and potentially death. However, many of them needed that career to live, and the only way out was through marriage.
One particular brother worker who is said to still haunt the Red Onion is named Lydia, a resentful spirit who was wronged during her time as a working girl. Some say that she committed suicide over catching an STD from one of the men she attended to. Today, she is said to play tricks on men who go into the saloon while being kind to any woman who enters, often caressing her hair. Lydia also wore very heavy perfume that was a floral scent. Sometimes, current patrons can smell her perfume lingering in the air.[2]
8 4th Avenue Theatre
The 4th Avenue Theatre was completed in 1947, following the end of World War II. It was a glamorous 960-seat theater until the 1980s when it was transformed into a place to host banquets and meetings. However, it must be noted that it still appears outwardly to be a theater.
Today, locals claim that the theater is haunted by the spirit of a woman. Her ghostly figure has been seen in reflections of the long mirrors between the women’s and the men’s washrooms. In 1964, there was an earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska, that hit where the theater is located. The theater was in operation at the time and was put on lockdown. One hundred thirty-one people in the area died as a result of the quake, so it’s very possible that the ghostly woman is a lost soul from that natural disaster.
Unfortunately, the defunct and long-closed theater was unable to be saved after several attempts at renovation over the years. It was finally demolished in 2022. But who knows what spirits will still linger on the property?[3]
7 Snow City Cafe
Snow City Cafe is a cute and quaint cafe with delicious sandwiches and soups. Outwardly, it appears to be like any other cafe. However, you would never guess that it has its very own ghostly guest. A woman named Muriel was murdered on September 30, 1976, outside of her office building where the cafe now stands place. She was leaving work like any other day, but when she stepped into her car, it exploded.
Her ex-husband had wired her car with a bomb while she was at work, and the explosion resulted in her untimely death. Today, Muriel’s ghost haunts the cafe in the late evening hours. She is known by the employees to turn the water faucets on and off in the various sinks. She’s not a malevolent ghost by any means—just a playful one who wants to make her presence known.[4]
6 West High School
West High School appears to be like any other high school. Clad with lockers, busy high schoolers, and sports fields. However, its auditorium is grand and lavish, so beautiful that you wouldn’t imagine it in a high school. Besides its beauty, the only thing unfitting about this high school auditorium is that it has a very well-known ghostly presence.
She’s said to be a lady in white who only haunts the auditorium of Anchorage’s West High School—no other room. She’s been seen by students, teachers, and visitors alike for decades now. Occasionally, she can be seen standing quietly amid the dark seats, almost out of eyeshot. Other times, she has been spotted running through corridors and haunting backstage. To this day, no one knows who the spirit is.[5]
5 The White House Bed and Breakfast
The 1902 White House Bed and Breakfast was once a hospital, a daycare, and a hotel. However, in the 1980s, the building was set aflame and sat a while before being restored. Following the restoration, apparitions began to appear.
One well-known ghost is that of a younger woman. She is friendly and chatty with children, according to recent guests of the bed and breakfast. This has led some to believe that she was the former owner of the daycare, returning to her beloved job after death.[6]
4 Igloo City Hotel
The Igloo City Hotel has been abandoned since 2005. It was once a four-story hotel with 58 rooms in the shape of an igloo. This hotel, though, was never truly successful. It had issues with building codes, and there wasn’t much capital to pump into it for true success.
Now, the large structure can be found covered in graffiti with broken windows and is often used as a restroom by many who pass through. Let’s just say it smells worse than New York sidewalks in the summertime. Aside from its depleted appearance, the hotel is also rumored to be haunted by a female ghost. She is often seen peering out the cracked windows of the hotel, and some believe she used to be a native of the area.[7]
3 Hotel Captain Cook
Hotel Captain Cook is a luxury hotel in Anchorage, Alaska. The building process ended in 1965, following the tragic earthquake in 1964. Despite it being relatively new, paranormal activity is very common in the hotel. One of the most well-known ghosts is that of a woman dressed in white who is most often seen in the women’s restroom in the lobby.
Although this is information that was initially hidden from the public, it was later discovered that in 1972, a young female in the hotel committed suicide in that very bathroom. Although she isn’t a malevolent ghost, she does play quite a few pranks on guests, such as flickering the lights on and off in a crazy fashion or banging the stall doors as hard as she can. Many guests who have witnessed her chaotic behavior have been frightened to the point of notifying management.[8]
2 Begich Towers
The small town of Whittier, Alaska, has a population of 273 people. Of those 273 people, 215 of them live in Begich Towers, a 14-story condominium that also houses churches and other public conveniences. The most known ghosts that haunt the condominium are that of a man who strolls throughout the entire building and whistles and that of a man whose loud stomping can be heard when everyone is asleep. Whittier itself is practically a ghost town, too, littered with abandoned buildings and practically desolate during the winter months.[9]
1 The Buckner Building
Also located in Whittier, the Buckner Building once functioned as a bunker to protect troops during World War II. It held the title as the largest building in Alaska for many years, as it was 275,000 square feet (25,548 square meters) and intended to house potentially thousands of soldiers. However, in 1966, the military left, and the large structure was left virtually abandoned.
To this day, no one has done a single thing with it. Although it may be shocking in other states to waste a space that large, it makes sense with Whittier’s 273-person population. Today, no one is allowed to go into the deteriorating building. Yet those who were able to visit the building prior to that rule claim that it is haunted.
In 2018, an EVP of a ghost was captured in the building saying something crude. Still, to believe it, you’ll have to listen for yourself on the Funemployment Radio podcast. Considering the size of the building and the deaths that occurred there, it’s understandable why this building is known as one of the most haunted places in Alaska.[10]
