Constructed from the dismantled remains of a 400-year-old Elizabethan manor imported from England, Thornewood Castle is a “Gothic Tudor” anomaly that brought its own ancient spirits across the Atlantic. Completed in 1911 by Chester Thorne, a founder of the Port of Tacoma, the 54-room estate was built as a monument to his wife, Anna, yet it remains anchored by the tragic and obsessive energy of the Thorne lineage. The site gained modern notoriety as the filming location for Stephen King’s Rose Red, but for those who walk its three-foot-thick brick walls, the real hauntings are far more personal. The most persistent presence is Anna Thorne, who is frequently seen in her former bridal suite, sitting before an antique mirror that was original to the English manor. Visitors often report seeing her reflected in the glass, meticulously brushing her hair, only to find the room empty when they turn around.

The castle’s atmosphere is defined by a sense of “stagnant time,” where the spirits of the past seem to continue their daily routines undisturbed by modern guests. Chester Thorne himself is said to manifest in the hallways as a tall, dignified silhouette, often accompanied by the sudden scent of expensive tobacco and the sound of heavy boots on the grand staircase. More unsettling is the “Boy in the Lake,” the spirit of a Thorne grandchild who allegedly drowned on the property; he is seen dripping wet on the lakeshore or peeking through the floor-length windows of the ballroom. Modern activity recorded at the castle includes consistent “cold spots” in the library and audio captures of light, rhythmic tapping on the wood paneling—believed to be the spirits communicating through the 15th-century oak.