One of the most popular activities in the month of October is going to haunted houses. The Darkness and Creepyworld are among the many spooky attractions in St. Louis where people go for thrills and chills. Costumed people and animatronic monsters frighten those who walk through, offering scares just in time for Halloween.

However, these are haunts that are specially designed to scare the pants off its customers. Other places in St. Louis are unintentionally haunted and swarming with paranormal activity. The Lemp Mansion is a prime example of this, even being selected by Life Magazine in 1980 as one of the nation’s most haunted houses.

Built in the early 1860s, the local mansion was formerly a home for the Lemp family, who was very successful in the local beer industry. However, as wealthy as they were, the Lemps appeared to be cursed; four family members committed suicide over a period of almost 50 years. Three of those suicides happened in the mansion itself. Because of this, it is believed to be haunted.

According to their website, the mansion is presently a restaurant and inn, but also gives ghostly tours, hosts weddings, parties, and banquets, and presents comedy-mystery dinner theatre.

Many people have reported seeing signs of paranormal activity. One story tells of a ghostly silhouette descending the mansion’s staircase, while others find floating translucent orbs in a picture they took. There is also the tale of a small boy who haunts the attic, reported to be the illegitimate child of one of the Lemp family members. Lights tend to flicker on and off, and the temperature sometimes changes in random spots.

“I once had an ashtray crack right in front of me,” Mark Halim, one of the managers for the Lemp Mansion, remembered. “It just suddenly split in half not two feet away from me.”

Halim also reported seeing shadows and silhouettes of figures, and has heard footsteps in rooms that were empty.

Many personal testimonies about visits to the Lemp Mansion can be found all over the Internet, along with many creepy and chilling photos. One of the strangest ones was a picture from the top of a stairwell. A little boy’s face was right by the handrail-the very top, which was about nine feet off the ground.

For more information about tours, events, accommodations and hauntings, visit their website at http://www.lempmansion.com/.