M.A. Kleen

Visitors to Sylvan Beach, a charming lakeside resort town in central New York, often report eerie encounters with unseen entities—especially after the sun goes down and the boardwalk lights begin to shimmer across the surface of Oneida Lake.

• The first Sylvan Beach amusement park opened on Oneida Lake in 1886.
• A mysterious Lady in White is said to haunt the abandoned Yesterday’s Royal Hotel.
• The park was featured in a 2013 episode of Ghost Hunters on the SyFy Channel.
• Zoltar the fortune teller still delivers prophecies at Carello’s Carousel Arcade.

With its nostalgic carnival rides, arcades, roller coasters, and bright summer lights, Sylvan Beach evokes the timeless magic of a bygone era. For over a century, families have flocked to Verona and Sylvan Beaches to enjoy lakeside fun, earning it the nickname “The Coney Island of Central New York.”

A walk through the amusement park today feels like stepping back in time. But when the crowds disperse and the night grows still, the ghosts of the past seem to come out to play. Stories of ghost sightings have swirled around the park for decades, culminating in its appearance on SyFy Channel’s Ghost Hunters in 2013.

Long before it became a vacation hotspot, the region was home to the Oneida and Onondaga peoples—both members of the Iroquois Confederacy. They called the lake Tsioqui, meaning “white water,” and remnants of their fishing villages are still discovered around its shores. In the early 1800s, settlers from New England poured into the area in search of fertile land.

In the 1850s, James D. Spencer and his sons began real estate speculation on the eastern shore of Oneida Lake, recognizing its potential as a summer retreat. Hotels and amusement parks followed. Carello’s Carousel Arcade opened in 1896 and still delights children with its original wooden carousel. Although the park’s original funhouse was destroyed by fire, it was replaced in 1954 by Laffland—a deceptively cheerful attraction whose creepy clowns have terrified children for generations.

Today, Sylvan Beach Amusement Park boasts a variety of classic rides and attractions, including Kiddieland, the Bomber, Tilt-A-Whirl, Bumper Cars, Rock-O-Plane, Bumper Boats, Treasureland, Bonanza Shooting Gallery, and the Galaxi Coaster. Other notable local spots include Eddie’s Restaurant, Harpoon Eddie’s, and the now-closed Yesterday’s Royal, an eerie, empty hotel and restaurant that sits alongside other shuttered amusements and bars, waiting for a possible revival.

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Hey, Sleuthhounds!

If you were writing a ghost story set in Sylvan Beach, which ghost would you feature as the main character? Why?

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According to local legend, the area is haunted by the spirits of three former employees. Abby, known as the Lady in White, is often seen and felt in the halls of the Royal Hotel. “Scotty,” a carnival worker whose body was found in the Treasureland building, has reportedly been spotted throughout the park and in the attic of the old Playland building. Jack, another deceased carny, is said to hang around Yesterday’s Royal, opening doors and lingering near the bar.

In September 2012, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) conducted a weeklong paranormal investigation at Sylvan Beach for their show Ghost Hunters. They documented a wide range of unexplained phenomena, lending new credibility to the area’s haunted reputation.

“They put in quite an effort and found interesting results,” said Doug Waterbury, owner of the amusement park and Yesterday’s Royal, in an interview with the Syracuse Post-Standard. “We’ve had for decades reports of all kinds of ghost sightings and other paranormal activities in Sylvan Beach amusement park and Yesterday’s Royal.”

The episode, titled “Scream Park,” aired in February 2013 and helped launch Park After Dark ghost tours, led by a group called CasperCops. On these nighttime tours, guests reportedly witness objects, including coins and pieces of wood—flying through the air and crashing to the ground without explanation. During one 2014 tour, an investigator described hearing coins hit the floor after an unseen container fell from an air hockey table, only to find no trace of the object moments later.

“It appeared to be a container full of coins but when it hit the floor I only heard what sounded like one coin. By the time that I had moved to the air hockey table with my video camera, no container or coins were found.”

The ghost tours run Friday and Saturday nights at 9 p.m. during the summer. Tickets are $30 and sell quickly.

When I visited Sylvan Beach Amusement Park in August 2015, I was instantly transported back to the carefree summers of childhood. While it was disheartening to see several local businesses shuttered, likely due to that summer’s unusually mild weather, the atmosphere remained magical. Park employees we spoke with were not only aware of the hauntings; many had experienced strange events firsthand. Kahuna’s Burgers and Floats, in particular, seemed to be a paranormal hotspot.

If you visit, don’t miss Carello’s Carousel Arcade, and be sure to get your fortune told by Zoltar the wise gypsy. Just be warned: some of the spirits of Sylvan Beach may have a few fortunes of their own to share.

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