Clinton Avenue contains some of Brooklyn’s finest 19th century architecture, including the Gilded Age mansions that made it the borough’s most fashionable address. A walk down the length of the avenue tells the story of this transformation: from the provincial farming community shaped by a handful of prominent landowners to a “Gold Coast” boulevard of grand Renaissance Revival buildings, and later to the tension between wartime housing needs, development, and the nascent historic preservation movement.

Lefferts-Laidlaw House, July 22, 1934. The temple-fronted Greek Revival house was built in stages, with the main portion completed between 1836-1840, and remained in the Lefferts family until 1854.The Leffertses were prominent Brooklyn landowners whose holdings included much of present day Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, to the east. In late December 1878 the residents of this Brooklyn home began experiencing mysterious happenings: door bells ringing, violently rattling doors and a broken window. According to NY Times reporting the police even got involved and droves of gawkers and spiritualists showed up. After two weeks of the strangeness, the Times notes that the resident, Edward Smith, banished the spirits with "a long and honest prayer." The house was subject to a number of unfortunate “updates” — faux-brick siding, asphalt shingles — during the early 1940s and 1950s, but was later restored to its original appearance. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

We delve deep into the ghost stories, murder plots, and haunted location lists to bring you the most thorough collection of New York City's spookiest spots! Check out the historic photographs of the city's most haunted sites, from Psycho-esque mansions to abandoned lunatic asylums. How many have you visited? Proceed at your own risk!💀💀💀