From phantom brides to ghoul-ish graveyards, our haunted Pittsburgh quiz is a spooktacular test of your eerie expertise. Will you rise to the occasion—or stay six feet under in the trivia rankings?
Enter… if you dare
Hover over (or tap if on mobile) the empty space below each question to reveal the correct answer. Let’s go!
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1. Which Pittsburgh landmark is said to be haunted by the ghost of a bride who died on her wedding day?
A) Pittsburgh Playhouse
B) Heinz Chapel
C) Carnegie Library
D) Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall
A) Pittsburgh Playhouse. Legend tells of a spectral Woman in White, the restless ghost of a bride whose wedding day ended in tragedy. Preparing to wed at the theatre, she discovered her fiancé’s betrayal moments before the ceremony. In a fit of anguish, she shot both her unfaithful groom and his lover, then hurled herself from an upper-floor window. To this day, her mournful figure is said to linger within the theatre’s walls.
2. Which area of the William Pitt Union is said to be haunted by the ghost of a Russian prima ballerina?
A) The Grand Ballroom
B) Tansky Family Lounge (Red Room)
C) The Terrace Café
D) The Oak Room
B) Tansky Family Lounge (Red Room). The Tansky Family Lounge, also known as the Red Room, is reportedly haunted by a Russian prima ballerina who stayed at the Schenley Hotel decades ago. After missing the opening performance of her US tour in Pittsburgh, she was replaced by her understudy and tragically took her own life that night. Today, legend holds that anyone who naps in the lounge will wake up in time for whatever they need to do, her ghost ensuring no one suffers the same fate of missing an important moment.
3. Which Pittsburgh cemetery is said to be haunted by the Weeping Woman?
A) Allegheny Cemetery
B) Homewood Cemetery
C) Calvary Catholic Cemetery
D) Union Dale Cemetery
A) Allegheny Cemetery. Founded in 1844, Allegheny Cemetery one of the largest and oldest cemeteries in the U.S., with numerous ghost tales. The Weeping Woman is said to be kneeling at the grave of Lillian Stevens, as she sobs uncontrollably.
4. The National Aviary is rumored to be haunted because it was built on the grounds of what former institution?
A) A Civil War field hospital
B) Western Penitentiary
C) A convent orphanage
D) Allegheny General’s first morgue
B) Western Penitentiary. The Aviary occupies land that once held Western Penitentiary, where countless inmates lived and died. Staff report phantom footsteps, shadow figures, and eerie presences that seem far older than the bird sanctuary itself.
5. What ghost is most often associated at Hartwood Acres outside Pittsburgh?
A) A woman in white walking the grounds
B) The original owner’s dog still roaming the halls
C) A phantom carriage pulling up to the estate
D) A woman watching from a window at Hartwood Mansion
D) A woman watching from a window at Hartwood Mansion. Visitors frequently spot the silhouette of Mary Flinn Lawrence, the estate’s former owner, gazing out from upstairs windows, long after her death.
6. Which area of the Cathedral of Learning is said to be haunted by restless spirits, with a chandelier that swings on its own?
A) Croghan-Schenley Ballroom
B) Commons Room
C) Austrian Nationality Room
D) Humanities Center
A) Croghan-Schenley Ballroom. The Croghan-Schenley Ballroom, located on the first floor of the Cathedral, is said to be haunted by spirits that never rest. Visitors and staff have reported the hand-cut glass chandelier swinging inexplicably, and morning crews often find heavy furniture mysteriously rearranged.
7. The Cathedral of Learning has reports of ghostly activity connected to which of its Nationality Rooms?
A) Scottish Nationality Room
B) Romanian Nationality Room
C) Early American Nationality Room
D) Polish Nationality Room
C) Early American Nationality Room. This room is believed to be haunted by the spirit of Martha Jane Poe McDaniel, a relative of Edgar Allen Poe. Her spirit is said to be attached to the wedding quilt she donated to the room, and visitors have reported phenomena like a rocking cradle, shifting objects, cold spots, and unexplained noises.
8. Which unusual ghost is said to appear at the Omni William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh?
A) A headless groom
B) A black cat
C) A panda bear
D) A bellhop with no face
C) A panda bear. Opened in 1916, the historic Omni William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh is said to be home to several restless spirits. Guests and staff have reported everything from disembodied voices and phantom arguments on the 18th floor to the apparition of a panda, linked to author Ruth Harkness, who died there in 1947. These eerie encounters make the hotel one of the city’s most famously haunted landmarks.
9. Which Chatham University dormitory is said to be haunted by a mischievous ghost boy named Billy?
A) Shadyside Hall
B) Fickes Hall
C) Berry Hall
D) Woodland Hall
B) Fickes Hall. Fickes Hall, a freshman dormitory at Chatham, is rumored to be haunted by Billy, a little boy who bounces a ball down the halls and startles newcomers. Students have also reported seeing his handprint on a second-floor door, a mark that mysteriously reappears no matter how many times it is painted over. Built in 1927 as the home of aluminum pioneer Edwin Stanton Fickes, the building has carried its spectral residents since it became part of Chatham University in 1943, shortly after Fickes’ death.
10. What paranormal activity is linked to Clayton House, the former home of industrialist Henry Clay Frick?
A) A rocking chair that moves on its own
B) Unexplained depressions on Adelaide Frick’s bed
C) A ghostly butler who greets visitors at the door
D) Portraits whose eyes seem to follow guests
B) Unexplained depressions on Adelaide Frick’s bed. While no formal paranormal investigations have been conducted or publicized, there have been numerous reports that Clayton House built in the 1860s, is haunted by the spirits of two women, likely the daughter, Helen, and mother, Adelaide Frick. Visitors and staff have reported hearing footsteps on the third floor and seeing unexplained depressions on Adelaide’s bed.
11. What Pitt dormitory hall is supposedly haunted by a friendly ghost named Harriet?
A) Tower C
B) Holland Hall
C) Bruce Hall
D) Brackenridge Hall
C) Bruce Hall. Bruce Hall, formerly the Schenley Hotel, is said to be haunted by Harriet, who died tragically in Room 1201 along with her husband’s mistress. Staff and event workers report ghostly footsteps, moving objects, strange noises, and even a log in the fireplace re-igniting on its own. Today, Harriet is remembered as a friendly, if eerie, presence in the hall’s banquet room.
12. What ghostly event is said to occur at the Carnegie Library’s Oakland branch?
A) A librarian whispering “quiet” from the stacks
B) Staff finding the message, “Sentio Est Hic,” written on walls.
C) Andrew Carnegie’s apparition reviewing books
D) Phantom footsteps on marble staircases
B) Staff finding the message, “Sentio Est Hic,” written on walls. Questionable reports link the appearance of “Sentio Est Hic,” (incorrect) Latin for “The judge is here,” to a city judge who reportedly hung himself in the library’s stacks in the early 1900s. Some accounts claim the judge’s apparition is still seen wandering the stacks, and that the words periodically reappear.
13. Which University of Pittsburgh building is rumored to be haunted by a dapper ghost dressed in a black tuxedo?
A) William Pitt Union
B) Alumni Hall
C) Bellefield Hall
D) Music Building
B) Alumni Hall. Originally the Masonic Temple before acquired by Pitt in 1993, Alumni Hall is said to be haunted by the spirit of a lone mason who never left. Witnesses describe a figure in a black tuxedo silently walking the corridors and stairwells, lingering in shadows long after the building passed into university hands.