Haunted Schools

California State University Channel Islands

-Camarillo, California

It may have only opened in 2002, but Camarillo's California State University Channel Islands makes this most-haunted list by virtue of its spooky locality. The school's campus was constructed on the site of the former Camarillo State Hospital – regarded as among the country's most notorious mental health facilities. Between 1936 and 1997, over 1,000 patients died at the institution – some due to the passage of time, others from neglect and sickness – and shock therapy was reportedly commonplace. Paranormal investigators have visited the university's grounds, believing them to be an active location for supernatural goings-on, while students have experienced the former hospital's "unique eeriness" as well, with one mentioning a door that apparently locked itself. It's perhaps appropriate, then, that the site was used to portray a creepy psychiatric facility in 2002 horror movie The Ring, while crews from TV shows like The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer have also filmed here.