Washington has more than its share of creepy ghost stories. From our haunted historic hotels to our eerie hiking trails like this one, it isn’t very difficult to find paranormal activity across the PNW. In some places, like Port Townsend, people have even spotted apparitions roaming the streets at night.

But if you’re wondering what our most ghastly ghost story is, look no further than a charming Irish pub at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Its sinister history might surprise you.

In the early 1900s, a diphtheria epidemic, poor sanitation, crime, and mining accidents resulted in an excess of dead bodies in the Seattle area.
Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub / Facebook
In 1903, the city built a mortuary here to help house all the bodies. That morgue, originally known as Butterworth & Sons, was found in the Butterworth Building.
Many years later, in 1983, the McAleese family founded an Irish pub and opened it right here in the Butterworth Building, in Pike Place Market's Post Alley.
Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub / Facebook
These days, Kells Irish Restaurant & Bar is a fun, lively place, adored by locals and tourists alike.
Mark Tellius / Google
Not only does the gull bar have one of the city's largest whiskey collections, but the live music and exciting events make it pretty enticing.

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Kells serves elevated pub food with quite a few authentic Irish dishes, and it's delicious.
Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub / Facebook
The food is both local and organic, with fresh produce sourced locally and from the Kells family farm in Oregon.
But of course, given its location, you can't help but wonder if there's ever any paranormal activity here... and the answer is a resounding yes.
Kari Mayer / Google
Quite a few dead bodies passed through these doors, and even though the building's mortuary days are behind it, it's clear that some of the spirits never left. One theory is that the spirits thrive off the happy energy of the bar.
Here, mirrors sometimes shatter out of nowhere, plaster falls off the wall at random, and glasses have slid mysteriously to the floor for seemingly no reason. Numerous ghost hunters have investigated the pub, and the general consensus is that it is the most haunted pub in the Northwest, if not the country.
Scott Carter / Google
The two spirits most often seen here are a little girl with red hair and an older man in a derby hat named Charlie, who seems to come around when live bands play (you can sometimes spot him in the mirrors). Both of these spirits are harmless, but many employees and patrons have sensed that something darker lurks here as well. Considering thousands and thousands of bodies inhabited these walls at one time, it makes sense that not all of them would be harmless.
Many people come to Kells for a hearty meal, a live performance, or to watch a local game and have no issues.
Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub / Facebook
However, if you talk to any employee about paranormal activity, you're bound to hear a story or two.

Have you ever been to Kells?

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Kells Irish Restaurant & Bar, 1916 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98101, USA