After sharing ghost stories until midnight with a college friend in her dorm, a young woman took off into the moonless, foggy night to cross the campus to her own dormitory. Halfway to her destination, she heard footsteps echoing on the cement pathway behind her. As she sped up, the footsteps behind her sped up. When she stopped, they stopped. With each footstep behind her, she also heard a “clink, clink, clink.’ Her heart pounded. Running for the closest light she put her keys in her hand like she’d been taught in a self-defense class and turned towards the phantom in the mist ready to defend herself. Knowing she could not make it to her dorm in time, she feared she may be breathing her last when out of the darkness stepped one of the elderly gentlemen who acted as security on campus, a bundle of keys clanking at his side.
“Good evening, Miss,” he said. “Can I walk you pack to your dorm? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Why Do We Like to Be Scared?
Why do we like to be scared? Why does the fright both terrify and energize us? While fear speeds up breathing, the heart pumps faster as we transfer into fight or flight mode. When the fear is gone or the false terror passes, we are left in a dopamine and endorphin high. Being scared with friends releases bonding hormones like oxytocin, which brings people closer together. That is why we tell ghost stories around the campfire or truck off to haunted houses and woods at Halloween.
But what about those places that make our skin crawl, and the stories of the weird that just won’t go away, but keep reverberating through time? Here are 13 such stories from places around Middle Tennessee collected by Tennessee Hauntings on their Facebook page. Some of these stories still reach out from the past and grab us, others have faded into the shadows of time.
Rokeby Mansion, Nashville
Rokeby Mansion, once one of Nashville’s grand country estates, is long gone, but it stood for more than a century serving as medical-student housing, a dance school, and a church before being demolished in 1950. Today, the property is home to The Upper Room near Vanderbilt University.
Built in 1813, it eventually became the home of Judge Oliver B. Hayes, whose daughter Adelicia would build Belmont Mansion. Even before the Civil War, the house had a reputation for being haunted. People who lived in or visited the house reportedly saw unexplained faces staring back at them from mirrors, heard doors opening and slamming shut on their own, and listened to heavy footsteps moving through the halls and up and down the stairs.
When Sarah Hayes fled Nashville during the Union occupation in 1862, she reportedly left Rokeby unattended, yet returned to find the mansion strangely untouched. According to legend, Union soldiers heard it was haunted and were too frightened to enter.
Belle Meade Plantation, Nashville
While staff members at Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville are told not to talk about the spirits that still reside on the property, every now and then one will share experiences they have had while working there.
Dating back to the mid-19th century, the home is definitely haunted. One former staff member shared her story. One day she arrived earlier than usual, then went into the back part of the house. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a black man wearing overalls working on something, so she turned and said, “Good Morning.” The man smiled and acknowledged her and she continued on her way. Yet, something didn’t seem right. Was this a new maintenance man? She hadn’t seen him before so she introduced herself. As she began talking, the man in overalls disappeared right in front of her.
Behind the mansion located in West Nashville stands an old limestone burial vault once used by the Harding family. After the property was sold in 1906, undertakers were hired to remove 24 bodies from the vault and reinter them at Mount Olivet Cemetery, but legend says one family member never completely left. According to legend, a ghostly Lady in White has been seen inside the empty vault. She is said to be the spirit of Selene Jackson who continues mourning the loss of two of her babies who died shortly after their birth.
L&C Tower, Nashville
On Thursday, February 8, 1996, a recently divorced 20-year-old woman from Kentucky entered the L&C Tower in downtown Nashville and took the elevator to the 30th floor. After walking around the observation deck for a few moments, the young lady jumped to her death.
Ever since that tragic day the elevator car that the young lady rode in her final moments randomly goes up to the 30th floor. Someone who works in the building believes that the elevator door opening is because it is looking for its dead former passenger who never came back down.
The elevator became such a nuisance that repairmen were even called to see if they could fix it. Each time the elevator car was inspected, everything appeared to be in working order.
But it’s not just the elevator. Those who have worked late at night inside the office building have claimed to see a lady walking through the halls. Anytime she is approached, the woman disappears into thin air.
Cannon Cemetery, Smyrna
Hidden behind the Smyrna airport near Stewart Creek is Canon Cemetery, a burial ground dating back more than two centuries. According to local folklore, not everyone buried there rests quietly.
For generations, stories have circulated about a mysterious Lady in White wandering through the cemetery and surrounding woods. She is believed to be the spirit of Martha Young Sharpe, who was buried there in the early 1800s.
One of the strangest accounts of her haunting occurred in the 1910s when a teenager named Willie Young was traveling by buggy to visit a girl who lived near the cemetery. As Willie made his way along the lonely road, he claimed a woman dressed entirely in white suddenly appeared beside him in the buggy. Terrified, Willie continued riding with the silent stranger sitting next to him until, just as mysteriously as she had arrived, the woman vanished.
Mt. Hope Cemetery, Franklin
In December 1891, five-year-old Joe Eddy died in Franklin and was laid to rest in his family’s plot at Mt. Hope Cemetery. Just days later, his grieving mother returned to the grave and discovered something horrifying—the grave had been disturbed, Joe’s tiny jacket, trousers and boots were scattered around the grave, and his body was gone.
Retired constable C. W. Westbrooke investigated, suspecting it was the work of grave robbers who stole freshly buried bodies and sold them to medical schools for dissection. Westbrooke and two constables descended on the Nashville Medical College in the middle of the night and searched its basement and morgue, but found no trace of the child. Authorities feared Joe’s body may already have been shipped by train to a medical school in another city as Joe Eddy’s body was never recovered. Perhaps he still walks the grounds looking for his body.
While Mt. Hope Cemetery is primarily known for its peaceful, well-maintained historical grounds rather than active ghost stories, Franklin itself is considered a major hub for paranormal activity due to the bloody 1864 Battle of Franklin.
Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7, Franklin
Built in 1823, Franklin’s Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7 is the oldest Masonic hall in continuous use in Tennessee. It has witnessed nearly two centuries of history.
During the Civil War, the lodge was occupied by Federal troops and was one among many of Franklin’s buildings used to care for wounded soldiers and dying soldiers after the bloody Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. The town was filled with thousands of casualties.
With that history, it isn’t surprising that ghost stories have become attached to the old lodge.
According to those who have been in it at night, heavy footsteps are sometimes heard moving through the building after dark, and the apparition of a Confederate soldier has reportedly been encountered on the upper floors.
Perhaps the strangest stories have been from children who have occasionally described seeing what they thought were Civil War re-enactors inside—only to learn that no re-enactors were there. Children are said to have a more heightened sense of the paranormal.
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, Petros
Operating from 1896 to 2009, Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary was known as “the end of the line” because dangerous offenders—including James Earl Ray—were sent there with little expectation of leaving alive. It is widely considered one of the most haunted prisons in America due to its brutal 113-year history of violent inmate conflicts due to massive overcrowding and harsh coal-mining labor. After regular miners would no longer brave the mines for their meager pay, prisoners were forced into service to provide coal to the ravenous railroad industry.
By the mid-20th century, Brushy had the reputation as the last stop for the worst criminals. Anyone who wore out their welcome at another prison or committed some unspeakable crime ended up at Brushy. It became one of the most notorious maximum-security prisons in the country in 1969.
Well worth the three-hour drive from Nashville by those interested in the paranormal, visitors and ghost-hunting teams frequently report sudden physical touches, disembodied growls, chilling cold spots in the chapel, and shadowy figures roaming the corridors. Now a tourist attraction, a person named Jamie Brock provides a variety of ghost hunting tours at the former prison, including one for those of strong heart that takes place over night.
1802 House, Donelson
Just a short distance from Two Rivers Mansion in Nashville, stands the much older 1802 House. According to legend, it is haunted by a headless woman.
In 2017, paranormal investigators Amy Bruni and Adam Berry investigated the house with Kellie Pickler and Ben Aaron for Pickler & Ben. A former Events Manager who was present, said their equipment produced what appeared to be a three-foot-high human figure beside Ben in the kitchen—but the figure had no head.
During another session, investigators asked whether the spirit was a girl, boy, man or woman and reportedly captured the response, “A woman.” Whatever happened to the poor lady, visitors and staff have reported becoming nauseated or overwhelmed inside the house, while others have experienced dramatic temperature changes. In the middle of July, it might be sweltering inside one day, only to inexplicably drop to around 60 degrees the next—then climb back toward 90 degrees a day later.
Midway Mansion, Brentwood
According to legend, Midway Mansion in Brentwood is haunted by the ghost of Private John Leatherwood, a Union soldier. As Leatherwood lay dying in the house, he asked Cynthia and Margaret McGavock for permission to be buried in the family cemetery until his relatives in Illinois could reclaim his body. Although the McGavocks were staunch Confederates, they took pity on the soldier and buried him in an unmarked grave behind the mansion instead of the family plot.
Nearly two centuries later, his remains are still there. Since his burial, generations of visitors have reported hearing the heavy footsteps of a soldier pacing through the first floor, while local teenagers have long claimed to see the apparition of a uniformed man standing silently in the windows after dark, watching over the place where he never intended to remain.
Monkey Woman Bridge, Murfreesboro
According to Middle Tennessee lore, couples who parked on a bridge near Smyrna during the 1960s sometimes reported encounters with a strange, ape-like woman said to live beneath it. Legend claimed she would crawl onto cars, bang on the hood and windows, or even climb through an open window. Her most common target was randy teenagers.
In the 1950s, a local journalist named Ed Bell claimed a screaming creature jumped on his car hood when he visited the site. His adventure was detailed by WGNS Radio.
The bridge was once located on One Mile Lane in Smyrna, crossing Stewart Creek. When it faced demolition in the mid-1970s, some forward-thinking leaders moved the bridge to present day Cannonsburgh near downtown Murfreesboro as part of America’s 200th birthday when the village was built.
Today, the original Monkey Woman Bridge is still preserved at Cannonsburgh Village in Murfreesboro, however there are no reports of any strange beings living beneath it.
Highpoint Hospital, Gallatin
Those who work at Highpoint Hospital claim that late at night, a little girl dressed in blue clothing from another era can sometimes be seen wandering the halls. According to legend, the apparition may be connected to the old Wilson family cemetery that once occupied the property. It is said that when the hospital was built, the graves were reportedly never relocated, leaving some to wonder if the mysterious little girl is connected to those still buried beneath the building.
The Beast of Sugar Flats Road, Lebanon/Mt. Juliet
One of Wilson County’s strangest legends centers on the Beast of Sugar Flats Road, a mysterious creature allegedly struck by a car on a secluded stretch of road near Mt. Juliet in 1989. According to the story, the driver stopped to investigate and discovered not a deer, but a massive, seven-foot-tall, hairy creature resembling a Sasquatch. Panicked, he hid the body in the woods and returned the next morning, where legend says he buried the creature but removed its head.
The bizarre, taxidermized head was later sold to Cuz’s Antique Shop in Lebanon, where it became a local curiosity. Owner Frank “Cuz” Buster placed it inside a glass box where it is said that the once brown hair turned white after spending somewhere between 10 and 24 years in the widow of the antique shop.
Spending time in private hands after the antique shop closed, the artifact made appearances at events like the Tennessee Wildman Con. In 2021, it was put on display at the Lebanon Museum and History Center.
Having disappeared in recent years, the head is said to still exist, but it is now locked away in a secure location.
The Screamer, White Bluff
One of Tennessee’s strangest legends comes from Dickson County, where generations have told stories of an eerie, blood-curdling scream echoing through Montgomery Bell State Park. According to the legend, a family living in a secluded cabin in the area during the 1920s was tormented night after night by the mysterious cries until the father finally went into the woods with a rifle to find their source.
The story claims that while he was gone, he heard the screams of his wife and children coming from the direction of home and returned to find his family slaughtered.
A massive, four-legged, cat-like creature with white fur and huge claws, or a shaggy white beast roughly twice the size of a man is said to be the source of the sound and the killer of the man’s family.
Longtime White Bluff residents have continued to report strange screams in the area for decades. Some describe The Screamer as a large white animal, while others believe the sound belongs to something far more supernatural. Locals compare it to a regional relative of Bigfoot or a “Dogman.” Others believe it to be a haint, much like the La Llorona, an omen of doom.
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