It's SpOoKy season. Ready for some ghoulish tales? Come along with us as we show you our collection full of scares and stories of the Old Patent Office, now home to the Portrait Gallery and @americanart. #MuseumScaries

President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Created two months before his death, this is the last formal portrait taken of him. The crack running across his head is thought to have hauntingly predicted his death. #MuseumScaries

Lincoln’s ghost is rumored to wander the White House as recounted by the likes of first ladies Grace Coolidge and Eleanor Roosevelt. #MuseumScaries

: http://s.si.edu/37UuVbQ ; http://s.si.edu/35MMl7u 

The area was considerably active during the Civil War and the museum is one of the oldest public buildings in the city, and during the Civil War, the site was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers. #MuseumScaries

: http://s.si.edu/2G9cODh 

On the third floor of the museum, you can find “C.H.F-1864 Aug 8th" carved into the wall. The gallery @americanart, is the only space where the original architecture is preserved. At the time the initials were carved, the room housed hundreds of patent models. #MuseumScaries

The Civil War would last another 16 months after the carving and these initials could have belonged to a volunteer, soldier, or patent office worker. The mystery remains: who was C.H.F.? #MuseumScaries

: http://s.si.edu/2TASNIV 

Charles Brockden Brown published Wieland in 1798, the first Gothic novel to be set in the U.S. Along with hallucinations and hysteria, the dark tale features a sinister ventriloquist and death by spontaneous combustion. #MuseumScaries

: http://s.si.edu/37NAMQ2 

Washington Irving’s 1819 “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” has become a classic American ghost story. Set in a bewitched Dutch settlement in New York, the tale centers on the terrifying appearances of a headless horseman. #MuseumScaries

: http://s.si.edu/2GaI7xz 

In short stories such as “The Tell-Tale Heart” and poems like “The Raven,” Edgar Allan Poe probed human psychology to shocking effect while imbuing the experience of passion, sorrow, and terror with a haunting, supernatural dimension. #MuseumScaries

: http://s.si.edu/35IRjSJ 

With so many frightening portraits in our collection, we couldn't share them all but be sure to check under the bed for creepy crawlies, shut your closet doors, and leave a night light on before bed tonight! #MuseumScaries

: http://s.si.edu/35ISr8V