From AmericanTerror.com to American Ghost Stories
American Ghost Stories didn’t start with this name. It began in 2003 as AmericanTerror.com, billed as “Your Only Online Resource for Real American Terror.”
According to its original About page, the site’s anticipated launch was July 1, 2003 (the Internet Archive’s earliest capture is May 26, 2003). It opened by covering only the South Eastern United States, with plans to expand region by region across the country — which it eventually did.
The early site was pure late-’90s/early-2000s web: a clickable US map, a skeleton graphic, and sections for Ghost Stories, Haunted Houses, Mass Murderers, and Serial Killers, plus a Terror Forum and a “Submit a Story” page. Its stated goal was to be your “ultimate source of terror,” and readers could reach the webmaster — who went by Bela — over AOL Instant Messenger or email.
Over two decades and 100-plus archived snapshots later, that project evolved into American Ghost Stories. The focus has narrowed and deepened — away from true-crime shock and toward haunted history, regional folklore, and eyewitness accounts — but the original mission holds: collect and organize America’s scariest stories, state by state.
American Ghost Stories is part research project, part storytelling archive. The site cares about the tale itself and the history behind it — the towns, buildings, people, and events that gave rise to each haunting. Whether you’re here to browse ghost stories by state, revisit a well-known legend, or submit your own account, the goal is simple: to preserve America’s scariest stories and keep them alive for the readers who love them.
Have a story to share? Submit a Story