Halloween Encore: Whispers in the Woods — Paranormal Pursuits in the Adirondacks

A grand hotel with an unexpected presence in the hallway. A ruined estate whose story refuses to disappear.

A college dorm where Steve spent two years without meeting the ghost everyone kept telling him about. The Adirondacks have no shortage of places where local history comes with an unexplained footstep.

In this Halloween encore of ADK Talks, siblings Jane and Steve Ackerman explore the region’s allegedly haunted side, following stories from Saranac Lake to Lake Pleasant, Lake George and the Lake Champlain region.

Originally recorded in October 2024 and returning for Halloween 2026, the conversation pairs local lore with personal recollections, a little skepticism and the occasional sibling tangent.

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What you’ll hear.

• Hotel Saranac’s stories of phantom singing, unexplained sounds and a distinctly well-dressed apparition.

• The unsettling legend associated with the Rhinelander estate near Lake Pleasant—and why a few surviving walls can carry a remarkably long story.

• A different side of Lake George, where historic buildings and battlefields have inspired accounts of unexplained encounters.

• Steve’s memories of living in a supposedly haunted Plattsburgh dorm, including repeated fire alarms and the ghost sightings he somehow kept missing.

• A turn toward Lake Champlain’s Champ and the Adirondacks’ Sasquatch lore, because the region’s mysteries do not all stay indoors.

An elegant hotel with more than one kind of spirit.

Hotel Saranac makes an inviting starting point. Steve has stayed there, admires its architecture and makes a persuasive case for spending time in the Great Hall even without an interest in ghosts. The setting provides plenty to appreciate before anyone mentions a shadow in the corridor.

Then come the stories: a man in formal dress, singing with no obvious singer and sounds that suggest a presence just out of view. Jane and Steve discuss accounts tied to different parts of the hotel, including reports from its renovation.

Jane’s enthusiasm for the building meets Steve’s questions about the details. How, exactly, does someone identify an unexplained scratching sound as a phantom cat? It is the sort of question that can complicate a perfectly serviceable ghost story.

For listeners who enjoy historic hotels, the conversation offers another way to consider the places where travelers come and go—and the characters local lore suggests may have stayed.

ADK Taste’s guide to haunted places in the Adirondacks offers more on Hotel Saranac and other locations tied to the region’s ghost stories.

A ruined estate and an enduring story.

Near Lake Pleasant, the conversation takes a darker turn with the legend of Philip Rhinelander and Mary Colden Hoffman. As Jane recounts it, the estate’s story involves wealth, isolation, jealousy and a woman whose life in the Adirondacks proved very different from the one she had known in New York City.

The tale moves from an impressive household to rumors of intercepted letters, mysterious disappearances and a presence said to linger after death. Jane follows the local accounts attached to the estate, where the story has considerably outlasted the mansion.

What remains of the property contrasts sharply with the household described in the episode. A few traces in the woods invite listeners to imagine the people and rooms that once occupied the landscape.

The Rhinelander story also changes the mood of the conversation. Alongside the spooky details sits a sadder account of isolation and an unhappy marriage. Its power comes as much from the human story as from the alleged haunting.

Lake George beyond the familiar postcard view.

Lake George usually enters the conversation through its water, mountain views and summer traditions. Here, the focus shifts toward the stories attached to its historic buildings and military past.

Jane and Steve discuss the Sagamore, the old courthouse and Fort William Henry and the battlefield area. Familiar names acquire a different atmosphere when the conversation turns to unexplained footsteps

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