Forget the haunted house on the corner — this year you can check into one. A new round-up from The Points Guy collects ten genuinely bookable hotels with serious ghost credentials, from a Colorado lodge that inspired Stephen King to a Dublin grande dame that once had to post a staff member in its most haunted room.

The headliner is The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Opened in 1909 and saved from demolition after King stayed there during a 1974 winter storm, it inspired "The Shining" — complete with a hedge maze (with a happier ending than the film's). Room 217, where former housekeeper Elizabeth Wilson reportedly still folds guests' clothes, starts at $197 a night, and themed tours run from $35 per person.

Stateside, the list covers plenty of ground. The Equinox in Manchester, Vermont — hosting presidents since 1769 — counts Mary Todd Lincoln among its apparitions, with rates from $144. New Orleans' Bourbon Orleans Hotel, once a convent and orphanage, from $131, reportedly has yellow fever-era children and a pacing Confederate soldier. The Hollywood Roosevelt, from $246, is where Marilyn Monroe's spirit is said to appear in mirrors. Savannah's Marshall House (from $192) doubled as a Civil War hospital, and guests report phantom marbles and a very vocal typewriter. In San Antonio, the Emily Morgan — from $132 or 32,000 Hilton Honors points — has an elevator with a mind of its own, while Boston's Omni Parker House (from $263), the oldest continuously operating hotel in the US, allegedly has founder Harvey Parker roaming the 10th floor.

Canada and Europe get a look in too. The Fairmont Banff Springs, from $476 or redeemable with Accor points, has its famous falling bride and a bellman who never really retired. Dublin's Shelbourne, bookable from around $419 or 81,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, is haunted — according to multiple guests including actor Lily Collins — by Mary Masters, a child who died of cholera there centuries ago. And The Langham in London, from $599, offers Victorian doctors, Napoleon III in the basement, and a notoriously pushy presence in Room 333.

Why book one? Because these aren't gimmick properties — they're landmark hotels with genuine history, good bars and, in several cases, award-point redemptions. If you'd rather admire the ghosts from a safe distance, most cities on the list also run ghost tours that stop outside. For a Halloween trip with an actual story attached, you could do a lot worse than a night in Room 217.