It turns out cheese has a pull, even beyond the grave.
Image courtesy of Clyde Adams III/Wikimedia Commons.
In the spirit of Halloween, this self-professed horror junkie decided to see if the cheese world is haunted. The answer is a resounding yes: From coast to coast, top to bottom, America’s full of deeply spooky places dedicated to dairy. This includes cheese factories, pizza parlors, even popular ice cream shops. Read on for the local lore, including several eyewitness accounts of apparitions.
Rogue Creamery
Central Point, Oregon
Make sure to bring your EMF reader to Rogue Creamery—this place is certifiably full of ghosts, according to employees.
In the cheddar-packing room, a full-body apparition has been seen wearing a white lab coat. It’s possible that the same ghost was spotted by a maintenance worker, who described speaking to an old man wearing glasses and a lab coat. But when he briefly turned away, the man disappeared. The maintenance worker quit shortly after, thoroughly spooked. Another employee reports hearing her name spoken by a woman with a shrill voice.
Quesos Navarro
Mexico
It’s said the witching hour is 3 a.m. Once, when a member of the Quesos Navarro family was working late into the night, she heard something familiar: the sound of a twig broom brushing across the patio. This is normal in the creamery’s town … when the sun is up, that is. Of course, she saw no one sweeping, though she continued to hear the eerie, repetitive swishing noise.
Image of Crowley Cheese courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Crowley Cheese
Mount Holly, Vermont
The oldest continuously operating cheese factory in the US opened in 1882 and is confirmed to have paranormal activity by current staff. Its main spirit is suspected to be Robert Crowley, whose story is rather sad. Two years after his father died, Crowley stepped up as head cheesemaker. But on the night before his wedding in 1966, he died of a heart attack in the factory. Though Crowley didn’t appoint a successor, his family legacy lived on after his death—you can still visit the largely unchanged factory today to buy cheese.
White Horse Tavern
Newport, Rhode Island
White Horse Tavern is the oldest pub in Rhode Island, and perhaps the scariest. Its most famous dish is featured in Food to Die For, a cookbook by paranormal investigator Amy Bruni: lobster mac and cheese. While the mac and cheese has since been traded for ravioli, the hauntings have not changed. Diners may hear the disembodied laugh of a child or even see full-body apparitions floating above a table.
Image of Old Town Pizza courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Old Town Pizza & Brewing
Downtown Portland, Oregon
The only thing better than haunting a cheese factory might be haunting a pizza joint. That’s exactly what Nina, the resident ghost at Old Town Pizza, has been doing for more than 100 years. Patrons have smelled strong whiffs of perfume that signify a visit from Nina, who was thought to be a prostitute in her day and died in an unfortunate elevator shaft accident back when Old Town was a hotel. Nina also likes to pace the basement, but sometimes she can be seen upstairs wearing a black dress watching folks dig into a slice.
Plymouth Cheese
Plymouth, Vermont
You’ll find Plymouth Cheese in the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site. That’s because President Calvin Coolidge came from a dairying family—his father owned the Plymouth Cheese Factory. The ghost of a woman in a wheelchair has been seen hanging around the historic complex looking at the buildings, but her identity is unknown. There’s a historic tie that lends some credence to this—Coolidge’s wife, Grace, advocated for those with disabilities during her time as First Lady.
Dairy Queen
St. Anthony, Minnesota; Appleton, Wisconsin
A haunted Dairy Queen sounds like a B-movie plot, but in the case of two Midwestern locations, it’s true.
The DQ in St. Anthony, Minnesota, offers plenty of fright factor. Servers hear their names called by no one, along with the sounds of children laughing. They also feel cold spots—a telltale sign of paranormal presences. But creepiest of all are the order slips that print when no one’s ordered anything.
Meanwhile, the DQ in Appleton, Wisconsin, has a much more lighthearted ghoul-in-residence. It was once located on the site of a bar; inside, lights will often flicker and equipment fails, causing delicious ice cream to gush out. Blizzards, anyone?
Alana Pedalino
Alana Pedalino serves as Managing Editor of culture. Her work has been featured in Bon Appétit, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and more. She loves to write, cook, and kayak. Find her bylines at alanapedalino.com.
