8 Haunted Minnesota Places Featured On Television
Who doesn't love a good paranormal investigation show or a good ghost story? From 'Ghost Adventures' to 'Destination Fear' and everything in between, let's talk about times a haunted place from Minnesota has been featured on national TV shows.
Growing up, we would always gather around the TV and see what haunted place 'Ghost Hunters' would check out. Unfortunately, they never filmed at a location in Minnesota. However, various cast members have been to Minnesota whether it was appearances at ParaCon, or when Steve Gonsalves & Dave Tango had a meet and greet and investigation at one of the most haunted hotels in the state.
From sanitoriums, to hotels, to haunted houses, several places have been featured on national TV shows. Some of the shows that featured places from Minnesota include:
- Travel Channel's 'Ghost Adventures'
- Travel Channel's 'My Ghost Story'
- Travel Channel's 'Destination Fear'
- Travel Channel's 'Ghost Brothers'
- T & E's 'Hotel Paranormal'
Let's take a more in-depth look at the shows and the Minnesota places that were featured:
'Ghost Adventures'
One of the more popular paranormal investigator shows has investigators Zak Bagans and Aaron Goodwin, along with A/V techs Billy Tolley and Jay Wasley, as they travel to haunted destinations throughout the country and piece together the haunted history of each place. The show featured two places in Minnesota, and one in the Duluth area.
Nopeming Sanitorium
Nopeming Sanatorium was built in 1912 as a tuberculosis care center, however, the building has succumbed to age, Mother Nature, and vandals sneaking onto the property.
It is said the place is haunted from the spirits of tuberculosis patients of the past. Cooper and I got to do a pretty cool tour there back in 2016, which you can check out here.
Zach and the crew were there for episode 7 of season 10 which aired on January 15th, 2015. You can check out a clip below where Zach talks about the tunnel that was used to transport dead patients.
Palmer House Hotel
Located in Sauk Centre, most people say the most haunted place in Minnesota is this hotel. The town's first hotel called 'the old Sauk Center House' burned to the ground in 1900. The following year the Palmer House Hotel was built.
Some of the paranormal reports throughout the hotel include: guests and staff hearing disembodied voices, feeling rapid temperature shifts, and doors slamming shut on their own. There have even been reports of the sound of a child bouncing a ball or running in the hallway.
Zak, Nick and Aaron went to check out the demonic activity overrunning the hotel. The investigation even gets a little personal when a spirit speaks their full names.
'Destination Fear'
This show follows documentary filmmaker Dakota Laden, his sister, Chelsea, and his best friend, Tanner Wiseman, as they travel across the country in an RV to spend nights in haunted locations.
The crew, who are from Minnesota by the way also checked out Nopeming Sanitorium. You can watch them find the courage to confront the terror inside. The episode was featured as the first episode to open up season 2 in 2020. Check out a cinderblock being thrown in the basement here.
'Ghost Brothers: Haunted Houseguests'
The show follows three best friends and ghost hunters Dalen Spratt, Juwan Mass, and Marcus Harvey as they travel across the country responding to pleas from families experiencing paranormal activity in their home.
In episode 8 of season 1, the crew traveled to Minnesota in 2019 as one home became a hotbed for paranormal activity. A mom called for help from the Ghost Brothers to investigate a dark presence lurking in the basement of their house.
'Hotel Paranormal'
Real-life 'Ghostbuster' Dan Aykroyd narrates the show as hotel staff and guests across the county reveal their face-to-face encounters with the supernatural. The show also has dramatic re-creations and paranormal expert insights to help bring each bone-chilling revelation to life.
In episode 2 of the first season titled 'Dark History', you'll hear stories from the Palmer Hotel. From supernatural events that compel a hotel owner to dig up buried secrets, to a chef that gets terrorized by a ghostly lady in red and a young boy who sees a dark apparition.
'My Ghost Story'
The show has ordinary people like you and me, who reveal their terrifying experiences with the paranormal through photographs, audio recordings, video evidence, and chilling reenactments. This show had the most Minnesota places appearing on six episodes throughout four seasons.
Every episode has a few different stories from around the country. In episode 3 from season 2, called 'The Demon In The Mist'. I could only the whole episode, but the Minnesota part is about a woman who captures pictures and video of the ghosts in her Hastings, MN home. Around 32:52 is when the Minnesota story begins:
'Possession At The Palmer'
Minnesota got another shoutout in the 2nd season. In episode 9, titled 'Simon Says Die', the Minnesota portion is about "a hotel is haunted by the spirit of a man whose head was severed by the freight elevator"
'Leave It To Cleaver'
In season 4, episode 4, you'll hear about a story where a woman encounters spirits trapped by a dark energy in her home
'Paranormal Antiqiuty'
The show travels back to Sauk Centre, this time to hear a story of an antique store owner who is startled by a Victorian doll that raises its arm by an unseen force. This episode s number 12 in season 5.
'Sanitorium of Spirits'
The very next episode of season 5 (episode 13), is about the Pokegama Sanitorium in Pine City. The story is about an orb that is seen on camera traveling down a tunnel along with a voice from beyond in an abandoned tuberculosis hospital.
'A Night With Monique'
Minnesota gets another appearance in season 5 with episode 20. In Stillwater, a prostitute's voice is heard crying out for help at a pub that was a former bathhouse for the town's loggers.
'Eternal Playtime'
The last episode featuring a Minnesota story takes place in season 6, episode 2. In Rush City, while exploring a cemetery where many children are buried, a couple feels the presence of these children around them and one little boy followed them back home.