Boo! Who knew South Jersey could be so spooky? Turn on a light and check out some of the haunted tales from the hallowed halls of South Jersey locations. 

The Emlen Physick Estate

Cape May’s nearly 150-year-old haunted house has plenty of history to keep ghost stories alive. Built for Dr. Emlen Physick Jr. in 1879, the 18-room mansion was home to Dr. Physick, his mother, Mrs. Ralston and his Aunt Emilie. Mrs. Ralston died in 1915. A year later, Dr. Physick died. Aunt Emilie died in 1935. All in the house. But legend has it, they never really left. 

Since the Physick family passed, no one else has lived in the house. Or, should we say, has been able to live in the house. The house was purchased in 1946 by Dr. Harry Sidney Newcomer, who lived there for a few years first with his wife and then with his second wife (after his first wife died in 1949). But they moved to an apartment downtown after experiencing ghosts. Dr. Newcomer reportedly heard footsteps and other noises at night, but when he went to find the source, there was no one else in the house. 

And the stories persist to this day. When working at the site as manager of tour operations for Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) – the organization that runs the museum – Rosemary Rombado says she walked into the parlor room with some staff members and saw a page in a photograph book standing straight up. When she began to speak, it immediately fell. Other staff members have heard footsteps and seen figures walk into rooms. 

Flanders Hotel 

Every haunted hotel needs a residential ghost. For Ocean City’s Flanders Hotel, that’s Emily – a.k.a. the Lady in White. Emily was a girl in her 20’s with brown hair who was waiting for her boyfriend to return from fighting in World War I. He never did, so Emily continues to wait in the hotel. 

Guests and staff have shared stories of seeing a barefoot woman walking the halls and walking through walls, hearing a young girl giggling and seeing swinging doors and lightbulbs unscrewing. The good news is: apparently Emily is a friendly, cheerful ghost. 

White Hill Mansion 

A 3-centuries old house in Fieldsboro, originally owned by Robert and Mary Fields, is now an infamous site for lots of haunted activity. 

First, the house’s original owner, Robert, died from a “fall” in the lake (he was on a boat with a servant who he had discovered was a British spy when this happened), but that’s nothing compared to the stories surrounding Mary Fields’ second husband. 

After remarrying United States Navy Commodore Thomas Reed, Mary and Reed lived in the home together. Reed died in 1979, but Mary – and current staff members – don’t think he ever left. When Loretta Kelly, founder of Friends of White Hill Mansion, was first exploring the building with a colleague and an EVP recorder, they stumbled upon a spooky discovery. The two stood at the top of the stairs to the basement, which acted as a secret bar during prohibition, and Kelly asked questions, leaving time between each for any spiritual entities to answer. They then went to the next room to listen to the recording, and after they heard Kelly ask “What’s your name?” a male voice responded “Thomas.”