The U.S. Capitol is home to fiery debates, stormy hearings and regular protests.

But is the global symbol of democracy also home to ghosts?

A Philadelphia newspaper once called the Capitol “the most thoroughly haunted building in the world.”

One such example can be found in 1890: There was a bitter feud between journalist Charles Kincaid and Kentucky Congressman William Taulbee. After Kincaid revealed that Taulbee was having an affair, Taulbee repeatedly harassed the reporter.

“He would rough him up, he would push him into walls. he would tweak his ear, make him bow before him through physical altercation, until eventually, Kincaid had enough and protested this abuse,” said Capitol Historical Society Executive Vice President Samuel Holliday.

One day, as Taulbee was descending a set of stairs in the Capitol, Kincaid shot him in the head. Blood stains are still visible in the staircase at the Capitol where he was shot.

“It's generally encouraged that if members of the press corps are taking that set of stairs, they take their time very carefully,” Holiday said.

A quick trip over to the Senate side of the Capitol shows some concrete evidence of the Capitol’s haunted past: the demon cat.

“It’s gargantuan in size with glowing red eyes, and it stalks its victims through the Capitol, Holliday said.

The cat supposedly left behind its paw prints in the small Senate rotunda.

Legend has it the four-legged creature appeared before impending tragedies, such as the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the assassinations of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.

That’s not the only spooky presidential connection to the Capitol.

“I have one colleague who claims to have seen [former President John] Quincy Adams here in Statuary Hall himself,” Holliday said. "Quincy Adams standing up as if to give that final floor speech that was robbed of him by the stroke."

After serving as president John Quincy Adams became a member of Congress. He was known for giving impassioned speeches, his final one ending in a roaring “no” before he collapsed.

Now, several employees claim to hear this final decree erupt in the halls outside the House floor.

Holliday says stories like these have a more down-to-earth purpose.

“We really feel that people sometimes turn to ghost stories because they have this connection to history. It's a way of restoring the humanity to what sometimes feels like a cold and distant history,” Holliday said.