‘Crumbling’ Pa. building among world’s most haunted locations

Pennsylvania has long been recognized as being home to a variety of paranormal activity , from witches to, of course, ghosts .

It should come as no surprise, then, that one of the world's most haunted locations sits right in the Keystone State.

Planet Cruise — which, according to its " About Us " page, "is an independent cruise travel agency dedicated to providing exceptional cruise packages to destinations around the world" from "a pre-cruise hotel stay in your chosen destination, a land tour to pair with your days at sea or private flights and transfers across the world" — published a list of "The Top International Haunted Hotspots" the other day.

This list was created after researchers at the site collected TripAdvisor data, and analyzed sites of allegedly paranormal activity based on the following metrics: the number of "haunted" mentions in reviews; the number of times the word "spooky" was used; how often the word "scary" was brought up; and, finally, the average TripAdvisor rating.

Based off of all that, the Planet Cruise team deduced that Easter State Penitentiary in Philadelphia was ranked the second most haunted place in the world.

"Embark on one of our cruises around North America, and visit Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary , which has come in second place," the report elaborates. "With the highest number of 'haunted' mentions in their TripAdvisor reviews (538), alongside the second highest mentions of 'spooky' and 'scary' (236 and 340).

"This former prisoner has been home to over 85,000 criminals, but is now a crumbling shell of cell blocks. You can tour it most days of the year, but it really comes to life over the Halloween season, with haunted houses, themed bars and live entertainment popping up around the site."

In first was Mary King's Close in Edinburgh, Scotland, and in third to round out the top three was Crumlin Road Goal in Belfast, Ireland.