Every town has one. A deserted, rundown old house on a hilltop or deep in the woods. Occasionally passersby report seeing a light or a mysterious figure peering from a window. Young people dare each other to spend the night there. And rumors abound. A vicious ghost is said to haunt this place.

But not all haunted houses fit this stereotype. If we broaden the term to include various kinds of human dwellings, haunted houses span an amazing range of types. Here are a few of the more than two thousand "haunts" reported by Dennis William Hauck in his National Directory of Haunted Houses:

. Bolivar, Tennessee: A former owner's ghost is seen rocking on the front porch of the quaint, old Parran house.
. Honolulu, Hawaii: The spirit of a young girl dressed in white makes appearances near a fountain at Iolani Palace.
. Wilmington, North Carolina: Confederate general William...