Post by JoannaL on Aug 29, 2020 8:53:30 GMT -5
America's Most Haunted States
According to CardsChat, the worldwide poker community, the state where you’re most likely to see a ghost is Illinois and the one where you’re least likely to encounter an entity from the Great Beyond is Florida, but not everyone agrees.
Angela Alderman, formerly of Ghost Hunters International, a resident of Tampa, considers Florida one of the world’s most haunted locations. “When I walk through parts of Florida, I have heard people walking behind me, turned around and saw no one,” she claimed. “Florida has some magical places.”
According to CardsChat, the gambling odds of seeing a ghost in Florida are +1,296,000, meaning a $100 wager would win almost $1.3 million. The state where one is most likely to see a ghost is Illinois, with odds of +110,900. Anna Osborne, a British marketing executive representing CardsChat, said the data was collected utilizing manual web research with keywords such as “haunted,” “ghosts” and “paranormal” and combinations thereof. “If one person declared they have seen a ghost more than once, or multiple people have shared the same inexplicable event over a period of time, then we noted that as haunted,” she explained, noting there is no scientific proof of a haunting, so the data is subjective.
“That doesn’t sound right,” Alderman asserted. “Ybor City alone should place Florida higher.”
Following is CardsChat’s list of states where one is most, and least, likely to encounter a ghost, with the odds in parentheses:
| 1. Illinois (110,900) | 26. Rhode Island (441,900) |
| 2. Maine (182,400) | 27. Virginia (482,700) |
| 3. North Dakota (190,400) | 28. Mississippi (521,700) |
| 4. Oklahoma (215,500) | 29. Massachusetts (525,300) |
| 5. South Dakota (220,800) | 30. Minnesota (538,800) |
| 6. New Hampshire, Vermont (280,400) | 31. Tennessee (542,300) |
| 7. Wyoming (282,100) | 32. Utah (580,900) |
| 8. Montana (295,300) | 33. Pennsylvania (599,700) |
| 9. West Virginia (310,300) | 34. California (609,000) |
| 10. Kansas (320,500) | 35. South Carolina (613,700) |
| 11. Alaska (321,900) | 36. Washington (731,700) |
| 12. Iowa (323,200) | 37. Georgia (637,900) |
| 13. Indiana (332,000) | 38. Louisiana (686,100) |
| 14. Nebraska (356,300) | 39. North Carolina (719,400) |
| 15. New Mexico (356,800) | 40. Colorado (733,300) |
| 16. Idaho (359,900) | 41. Maryland (746,400) |
| 17. Kentucky (379,700) | 42. Hawaii (776,200) |
| 18. Arkansas (387,100) | 43. Connecticut (788,300) |
| 19. Michigan (389,900) | 44. Delaware (792,700) |
| 20. Missouri (396,000) | 45. New Jersey (865,100) |
| 21. Wisconsin (397,000) | 46. Nevada (899,600) |
| 22. Texas (415,200) | 47. New York (951,100) |
| 23. Ohio (423,200) | 48. Arizona (1,010,800) |
| 24. Alabama (423,300) | 49. Florida (1,296,000) |
| 25. Oregon (425,400) |
But Alderman isn’t the only who disagrees with the results. The Travel Channel, using data from Ghost Adventures, Kindred Spirits, Portals to Hell, etc. dubbed California most haunted and Delaware least, as indicated below:
1. California
2. Nevada
3. Texas
4. Ohio
5. Arizona
6. New York, Pennsylvania
7. Massachusetts, Missouri
8. Louisiana
9. Illinois, Utah
10. Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Washington
11. Indiana
12. Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, West Virginia
13. North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee
14. Connecticut
15. Montana
16. New Jersey
17. Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Virginia
18. Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wisconsin
19. Alaska, Mississippi, Wyoming
20. Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, North Dakota, Rhode Island
21. Vermont
22. Delaware
Brandswatch also compiled a list of most and least haunted states, declaring North Dakota, Ohio, Nevada, Nebraska and New York the most haunted. The states in which people are least likely to encounter a ghost are Mississippi, South Carolina, Delaware, Vermont and Missouri.
Despite the foregoing claims, like Angela Alderman, most paranormal investigators and authors who write, or have written, about the supernatural seem convinced their states have not only the highest in number, but the most intriguing ghosts.
Sources: Paul Guzzo, The Tampa Bay Times, August 13, 2020; CardsChat; The Travel Channel, October 17, 2019; KTNV, October 8, 2019; Sheriff Guy White, Sheriff’s Ghost Walk Tour, St. Augustine, Florida; Red Cloak Tours; Appalachian Magazine; Brandwatch; Tales of Southern Haints; The Ghost Research Society; Premium Tours; and People Magazine.
