This SC location is the creepiest place in the state, HGTV says. Here’s why it’s so spooky
Charleston’s Dock Street Theatre is the creepiest place in South Carolina, according to the home improvement network HGTV.
That’s because of two ghosts said to be haunting the theater, built in 1736 as the first building in the U.S. exclusively for performances. It’s home now to Charleston Stage and Spoleto USA.
Some say the actor Junius Brutus Booth, father of President Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, is seen walking the stage. Booth didn’t die in the theater or even in Charleston, but he was known to say Dock Street was his favorite theater. Actors and workers alike say they have seen him and felt his breath on their necks.
The other ghost is believed to be a prostitute. Some say she is Nettie Dickerson, who went into the world’s oldest profession after working in a church. Others say no one knows her name.
The legend goes that Dickerson was struck by lightning on a balcony during a visit with a priest. Actors say they have seen her as looking like a zombie in a red dress.
The competition is tough for the creepiest place in Charleston, which HGTV has also named as the spookiest city in South Carolina.
Most Charleston ghost tours think that distinction belongs to the Old City Jail, built in 1802, and the location where pirates, murderers, slaves, Civil War prisoners and the first known female serial killer, Lavinia Fisher were held.
“She was held there until her execution, and legend says she wore her wedding dress to the gallows,” Nightly Spirits says on its website.
“People have reported hearing voices coming from empty rooms, seeing objects move on their own, and feeling someone poke them as they walk by,” the website says.
HGTV’s creepiest places list includes such famous sites as Lizzie Borden’s house and Antietam National Battlefield,
Many on the list are penitentiaries, hospitals for the mentally ill and hotels.
The Biltmore Estate in Asheville was selected as North Carolina’s creepiest.
“Built between 1889 and 1895 by George Vanderbilt, the magnificent home contains 250 rooms, including a library where George spent a great deal of time,” HGTV said. Some visitors say he never left and they’ve heard his wife, Edith, whisper his name.
The Nebraska capitol building is said to be haunted by the ghost of a man putting up Christmas lights. They say they have heard him scream.
Providence, Rhode Island, City Hall, is said to be haunted by Mayor Thomas Doyle, who died of a stroke in 1869.
Georgia’s creepiest place is Bonaventure Cemetery, made famous by the novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
“Some say that the statue of a girl named Gracie, who died of pneumonia at age 6, cries tears of blood at night. Others claim to have heard sounds of children playing (with no children in sight) or to have seen statues smiling or grimacing at them,” HGTV said.
