10 Real Ghost Photos That Will Keep You Awake Tonight

We put a call out for our readers to send us their photos of paranormal phenomena, and they came through. We received a number of eerie images, but below are ten that truly chilled us to the bone. To see if your ghost photo made the cut, check out the spooky selections below.

And remember, keep your camera at the ready — you never know when a spirit will drop by for an otherworldly photobomb.

Note: This post was updated in December, 2017.

real ghost photos — Photo Credit: Shannon Dawn

Shannon Dawn took these photos while spending time in New Orleans’ Jackson Square. While behind a large church, she and her boyfriend both saw a bizarre image. The photo on the left is what appeared on her phone’s screen, but after snapping a picture, the phenomenon on the screen appeared to revert back to normal. A tour guide in the area told them that a priest who helped slaves was killed one night while leaving the church late, and that his murder was never solved.

While Janna Mahoney and her friend and husband were visiting the battleground in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, her friend Joe Milter snapped this mysterious photo. The photo appears to show fog over the battleground, although no one in the picture could see the mist at the time. Peer closely, and you may even be able to see the upper torso and head of a soldier shrouded in the murk.

Steve Cooper was on a guided tour of Moundsville State Penitentiary when he snapped this picture of a mysterious human form. During a deadly prison riot 30 years ago, prison guards barricaded themselves inside the area pictured here. You can see the vague figure of a guard in the left-hand corner of the image, although Steve says there was no one there at the time.

Gwen Giovengo submitted this photo of her family, taken while she and her kids visited her parents’ home in Channahon, Illinois. Gwen’s father passed away 11 years before the image was taken, but he may have made his presence known in this photo of Gwen, her children, and her brother. Gwen says it was pitch-black that evening aside from the light from the fire seen here, and that there was no moon. No other photos taken that evening have the same brightness, leading her to believe the bright light pictured may be the spirit of her dad, hovering near his loved ones.

Reader Mollie McGregor snapped this image at Strawberry Chapel in the notoriously haunted town of Charleston, South Carolina. Peer close, and you may be able to see the form of a young boy and a dog, united still in death.

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This intriguing shot was taken at the Barriere Fall Fair Hall in Barriere, British Columbia, Canada. Reader Matilda Donal says the image was taken during the group dance at her cousin’s wedding, and that she only noticed the mysterious shadow while going through images on her phone later. The hall often hosts the North Thompson Fall Fair and Rodeo, which first began in 1949.

Sharon Wiseman Vierra was visiting her father’s home in Monterey, California when this pictures was taken of what appears to be a baby in the corner of the closet. Sharon says that at the time the picture was taken, there was nothing but a stack of books there. Prior to when the photo was taken, she had been experiencing strange phenomena in the house for weeks—lights flickering, inexplicable noises, and cabinets that appeared to open and close on their own.

Reader John D. Mimms took this photo near where the field hospital was for the Battle of Pea Ridge in the Civil War. Although John says he saw nothing but the woods there at the time, he’s noticed that it’s often possible to take pictures like these while visiting historical locations.

Carly Pindak said she snapped this picture of a young girl in a green dress soon after other children told a nearby woman that they’d also seen the girl playing up the hill. The image was taken in Oakbrook, Illinois, not far from a cemetery believed to be haunted.

Reader Michelle Curtis took this unsettling photo while she and her husband were visiting a friend’s house in Tampa, Florida on 11/11/13. The friend had experienced strange phenomena at her house prior to when the photo was taken. The image shows a window in a screened-in porch area, and Michelle says that the ghostly, transparent face isn’t anyone who was in the house at the time. Anyone living, that is.

Featured photo: Matthias Lueger / Flickr (CC)