BedandBreakfast.com has just release its 2008 Roundup of Bootiful and Spirited B&Bs.  This year’s list of haunted B&Bs offers more than 100 tales from the crypt of B&Bs around the world. Here are more than ten great places to sleep with a ghost.Hysterical or historical, ghostly spirits enjoy B&Bs, just like living guests. For the past seven years, BedandBreakfast.com, the largest online B&B directory and reservation network worldwide has compiled the most comprehensive list of inns where ghost seekers will enjoy potentially close encounters with the other world, bed-and-breakfast style.

Haunted Magnolia Mansion Vampire Lair

To find the complete list of Halloween packages and over 100 haunted B&Bs, visit www.BedandBreakfast.com and click Halloween Happenings or Haunted B&Bs. From west to east, here is a sampling of B&B ghost stories:

Thornewood Castle, Lakewood, WA:  This B&B served as a set for Stephen King’s mini-series Rose Red in 2002. In real life, guests have reported their share of chills and plenty of orbs have been recorded on guest photos taken here.

Albert Shafsky House B&B Inn, Placerville, CA: Albert Shafsky built his home in 1902 – and according to the innkeepers here, he’s still hanging around. Shafsky sometimes locks guests out of their rooms and leaves pennies in strange places. An apparition fitting his description has even been seen standing at the foot of one guest’s bed.

Ghost Rails Inn, Alberton, MT: A century ago, the old Milwaukee Railroad paused here to take on water and change crews; the inn was built to house the railroad workers. When the Milwaukee Road abandoned services and pulled up the tracks in the 1970s, the town of Alberton nearly disappeared. It's coming back to life today as a bedroom community for nearby Missoula, just 30 minutes away. The railroading days live on in the form of a phantom brakeman, still awaiting his call upstairs in the old hotel, according to the tales of those who've seen him.

Texas White House, Fort Worth, TX: The ghost here is believed to be the husband of the only family who ever lived in the house. He died here and now haunts his old bedroom (now the Lone Star Room). Interestingly, the ghost sightings occur only when a single woman is staying in the room.

Grand Avenue B&B, Carthage, MO: While the "no smoking" rule is in effect for all guests, the former owner is exempt. A ghostly whiff of his trademark cigar smoke wafts through the rooms when he visits here.

Honeybee Inn B&B, Horicon, WI: It's believed that a lumber baron named Coton is still hanging around with his female companions. His beloved rocking chair, where he died, rocks by itself, and a woman in a long skirt has been spotted too.

Penny Farthing Inn, St. Augustine, FL: Spirited occurrences include midnight tugs-of-war with the blankets, and glasses leaning over and clinking on sherry bottles. One guest described a young lady in his room when he awakened. A few days later, the owners’ daughter described a strange lady  in the dining room – identical to the guest’s description.

Azalea Inn and Gardens, Savannah, GA: Photos taken by guests have revealed orbs, and for days one room stayed icy cold despite the heater. Alarms sounding and phones ringing inexplicably in the middle of the night and a baby's footprints appearing on the carpet are among the clues that former inhabitants are in residence. The original owners of the mansion had a son who suffered from dwarfism and died at an early age; clearly he's not yet ready to leave.

Magnolia Mansion, New Orleans, LA:  Clearly, spirits here don't just come from Bourbon Street bars. Take off your slippers, and you may hear footsteps out in the hall pacing until you cover up your bare feet. Alarms, the quiet tinkling of a music box, overturned water glasses, and a little girl who visits in the night are all common evidences of the spirits residing here. Account after account in the inn's guest books recount chance meetings with polite and friendly ghosts. Many a guest has captured their "other world" friends in photos of orbs and apparitions posted on the inn's website.

Haunted Magnolia Mansion

Pinhook Plantation House B&B, Calhoun, TN: Tales of spirits abound here, including the "Lady in the Gray Gown" opening the front door and walking up the winding stairs, and a monk and other ghosts having a meeting in the Gathering Room late one night. A school teacher who formerly lived in the house brought her students to show them the rocking chair that frantically rocked, and then suddenly stopped as if someone got up.

By The Side of The Road Bed and Breakfast, Harrisonburg, VA:  When the innkeeper went to turn off the basement light, something grabbed her hand, yet nothing was there.  Just about every day footsteps are heard in hallways, and doors unexplainably open and close.

Manchester Inn, Ocean Grove, NJ: Check in to room 316, and ghosts may literally pull your leg. It's been known to happen here, when a guest felt a tugging at her pants leg several times.

Cornerstone B&B, Philadelphia, PA: A floral scent precedes sightings of a ghostly female shape. Innkeepers claim she is an ethereal presence, and her signature perfume always occurs as she gently taps the foreheads of guests.

Inn at Jackson, Jackson, NH: Jason, once the inn’s trusted workman, committed suicide, yet returns to check on repairs at the inn. Guests have been awakened by hammering noises, primarily on the second and third floors.

Captain Lindsey House, Rockland, ME: Captain Lindsey is still hanging around the Captain Lindsey House, along with 35 other spirits, according to what he told the "spiritologists" on their recent visit to the inn. Included in the band of happy ghosts is the Captain himself, along with T. B. Severence, the 41-year-old who purchased the inn from George Lindsey in 1857; a dominant spirit named Ensign; a 5-year-old named Jeffrey and a 4-year-old named Emmy, both of whom are waiting for their father to come and get them. The majority of the spiritual activity takes place in the parlor, where glasses of water slide across tables, and doors have been known to slam on their own.

To learn more about these inns and nearly 7000 others, visit BedandBreakfast.com. A variety of search functions and extensive maps enable inngoers to find the perfect B&B. Travelers can make reservations online, purchase gift cards welcomed at  4,000 inns, and read and write property reviews. 

Marti Mayne is the B&B Editor for Wandering Educators.