Looking at these photographs will send chills down your spine. Knowing their stories will haunt your dreams. And being there will make you sorry you ever came. Here are 14 haunting sites from around the globe.
Military Hospital, Beelitz Germany
[Via]
The hospital was built in 1898 and was finally completed in 1930. It was one of the best hospitals in the world known to specialize in the treatment of tuberculosis. However World War II happened. And when the Soviets bombed the hospital, it sat in eerie abandonment. The hospital is a testament of the German skill in ironwork and architecture. It is also a subject to ghost stories.
Mary King’s Close, Edinburgh (Scotland)
[Via]
It was a place full of life and center to trade until 1645. This warren of streets and cramped dwellings fell victim to plague. Today, it is site you would never want to be in. Visitors as well as guides were said to have seen ghosts of an elderly lady, a black lady and a little girl. The little girl, Annie, is known to make her presence felt and known to people who leave her gifts. Other eerie paranormal activities have also been reported.
Hotel Del Salto (Colombia)
[Via]
The Hotel De Salto was opened in 1928. It was famous due to its very nice location seated at the panoramic view of Tequendema Falls in Colombia. It was closed in the 90’s and left to rot until it was preserved as a museum in 2012. The hotel is believed to be haunted. It is said that ghosts of those who committed suicide by jumping down the falls roam the place.
[Via]
Aradale, is the largest abandoned lunatic asylum in Australia. Opened in 1867, Aradale was reserved for many of the incurable mental patients in Victoria during the 1800s. An estimated 13,000 people died here during 140 years of operation. Haunted location tours are springing up all over the place. Aradale Asylum is one the AHWA is in partnership with to provide an annual creative retreat.
Around 13,000 people passed away at Aradale Mental Hospital in its 130 years in operation. As a result, Aradale is considered one of the most haunted locations in Australia. Now, for the first time, Aradale’s doors have opened for evening explorations. Aradale ghost tour is one of the creepiest ghost tours in Australia. Explore the facilities for two hours after dark where you’ll be haunted by stories of bizarre history, brutal treatments, amazing personal stories, and of course lots of ghost stories.
The tour travels through the cell blocks, administration, chapel, kitchen, infirmaries, surgery theatres and morgue. Tours are limited to 30 people, and are led by a team of professional theatrical historians.
Stull Cemetery (Kansas, USA)
The History
Stull, Kansas, is a tiny, unincorporated town in Bumfuck, Nowhere- er, pardon, Douglas County. Ten miles west of Lawrence and thirteen miles east of Topeka puts it far from anything resembling a large population center. The population of Stull is approximately 20 people. But, don’t let the deceptively quaint village fool you. A darker side lurks behind the bushes and in the shadows.
The Terror
In the early 20th century, two tragedies rocked the tiny settlement (please observe, these are not legend or folklore, but fact). First, a father finished burning a farm field, only to find the charred corpse of his young son in the aftermath. The second incident to occur was a man went missing, and was later found hanged from a tree. As far as legends go, the infamous cemetery is where you can find your fill of supernatural lore. The book Weird US has this to say on Stull Cemetery:
“There are graveyards across America that go beyond merely being haunted and enter into the realm of the diabolical. They are places so terrifying that they say the devil himself holds courts with his worshippers there. The cemetery on Emmanuel Hill in Stull, Kansas, is one of these places.”
Rumors exist stating that Stull Cemetery is one of the 7 gateways to Hell. While the old church is now demolished, many attempt to sneak in at night for a peek at the unsavory goings-on. But be warned, the police patrol heavily, especially on Halloween and the spring equinox. The place is supposed to be so unholy, in fact, that some claim Pope John Paul II refused to allow his plane to fly over eastern Kansas, on his way to an appearance in Colorado. The validity of this last claim is up for debate, but none can deny that legends or not, Stull Cemetery is a terrifying place to be.
Chase Vault Cemetery (Barbados)
The Chase Vault is a burial vault in the cemetery of the Christ Church Parish Church in Oistins, Christ Church, Barbados best known for a widespread legend of “mysterious moving coffins“. According to the story, each time the heavily sealed vault was opened in the early 19th century for burial of a family member, all of the lead coffins had changed position. The facts of the story are unverified, and skeptics call the tale “historically dubious.”[1]
What “haunted sites” list would be complete without traversing through a cemetery at night? This mysterious burial vault is located at Christ Church Parish Church in Oistins. According to legend, every time this early 19 century vault was opened to receive a deceased family member, all of the existing lead coffins (that took eight men to lift!) were in total disarray inside the vault. Each time, the coffins were put back in place and the vault sealed securely. However, every time it was re-opened, onlookers were greeted with coffins in chaos.
Joelma Building (Sao Paolo, Brazil)
The Joelma Building in São Paulo is allegedly haunted by victims of the fire that started on February 1, 1974, after an air conditioning unit on the twelfth floor overheated; centered on the “Mystery of the Thirteen Souls”, individuals who died within an elevator as they were trying to escape the fire, and are haunting the building today.
Catacombs (France)
The Parisian Catacombs function as a gigantic ossuary and cemetery for approximately 6 million bodies. Beyond just bones, there is also the non-tourist section of the Catacombs, where a mostly illegal and unpoliced second city extends for miles beneath Paris. Seeing skeletons all around you engraved within walls, infact, walls made of skeletons is a totally scary and creepy feeling one can get while roaming these caves
So…..are you ready to sleep today? ‘Coz I think I just lost my ability to sleep…..forever.
Eastern State Penitentiary (Pennsylvania, United States)
Built in 1829, Eastern State Penitentiary is a former prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It’s known for being the very first prison of its kind to introduce solitary confinement, or what they used to call, the Pennsylvania System. Prisoners were sent to solitary during this time as a form of rehabilitation. They would be completely isolated, living alone, eating alone, and even exercising alone in their own individual yards. Whenever an inmate left his cell, a black hood would be placed over his head to assure he remained in confinement.
Due to Eastern States’ harsh approach, many prisoners were drove to insanity, and as a result the Pennsylvania System was scrapped in 1913. From then until 1970 it was used as a regular prison, and held the likes of Al Capone and the bank robber, Willie Sutton.
Reports of the paranormal have been going on since the 1940’s, but ever since the stone prison was abandoned in 1971, paranormal experiences have seemingly increased.
Lawang Sewu (Semarang, Indonesia)
Lawang Sewu (meaning “Thousand Doors”) was Built in 1917 by the Dutch East Indian Railway Company. During World War II the Japanese occupied Indonesia, and Lawang Sewu was taken over by Japanese forces. The basement of B building was used as a prison, were many people were treated harshly, with many of them being executed. When Semarang was retaken by the Dutch in October 1945 at the battle of Semarang, Dutch soldiers used the tunnel underneath A building to sneak into the city. A battle ensued and numerous Indonesian soldiers were killed, as well as 5 employees.
Lawang Sewu is believed to be the most haunted place in Indonesia, with many tourists visiting the beautiful building to hopefully catch a glimpse of the paranormal. Among the many ghosts that have been reported here, the most popular and often sighted spirit is the Dutch woman. She is believed to have committed suicide there, and was captured on film during a TV program.
Headless spirits are known to wonder its corridors and grounds, and the basement in B building is believed to be haunted by a kuntilanak.
Catacombe dei Cappuccini (Palermo, Sicily, Italy)
_-_n._020_-_Palermo_-_Catacombe_dei_Cappuccini.jpg){kind=link}
The Capuchin Catacombs are burial catacombs in Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. Palermo’s Capuchin monastery outgrew its original cemetery in the 16th century and monks began to excavate crypts below it. Bodies were dehydrated on the racks of ceramic pipes in the catacombs and sometimes later washed with vinegar. The catacombs were maintained through the donations of the relatives of the deceased. The catacombs are currently open to the public for tourism.
Helltown (Ohio, United States)
The History
The Northern part of Summit County in Ohio is known by the eerily blunt moniker, Helltown. In the 70’s, Boston Township was the site of a government buyout, and subsequent mass eviction of citizens. The houses were intended to be torn down and the land used for a national park, but the plans never quite manifested. Legends spawned wildly, and who can blame the legend mongers? Driving through the dark, wooded landscape was enough to give you chills even when it was populated, let alone when you have to drive by boarded up houses standing next to the burnt out hulks of others (the local fire department used some buildings for practice).
The Terror
Whether based on a kernel of truth or cooked up in the heads of creative visitors, the persistent legends of Helltown add to the creep factor. The steep Stanford Road drop off, immediately followed by a dead end, is aptly named The End of the World. If you get stuck at this dead end for too long, according to ghost story enthusiasts, you may meet your end at the hands of many members of the endless parade of freaks patrolling the woods. Satanists, Ku Klux Klan members, an escaped mental patient, an abnormally large snake, and mutants caused by an alleged chemical spill proudly march in this parade. And if you stray from the roads, you may find Boston Cemetery, home to a ghostly man, grave robbers and, the quirkiest of all, a moving tree.
Island of Dolls (Xochimilco, Mexico)
Located on Lake Teshuilo in Xochimilco nr Mexico City, the island La Isla de la Munecas (The Island of the Dolls) is certainly one of the strangest haunted locations in our list. In the 1950’s, a man named Julian Santan Barrera moved to the island (despite being married with a young family).
Julian was unaware of the dark history of the area when he moved there to become a recluse. Legend says that three young girls were playing near the water in the 1920’s, when one of the girls fell in and drowned in the murky waters. Locals believed that ever since her death, the young girls’ spirit has been unable to leave the island. It soon grew quite a reputation as a haunted place, and locals wouldn’t go near it at night for fear of what they may see.
Julian claimed that as soon as he moved on the island a little girl began speaking to him. The girl told Julian how she had died, and that she was trapped on the island. He began to get the dolls for this little girl, often selling off fruit and vegetables that he had grown on the island, so that he could buy old dolls for her to play with.
Julian later told his nephew that it was becoming more difficult to appease the young girl’s thirst for these dolls, with him seemingly worried that she wanted him to join her in her watery grave. The same day he had this discussion, his nephew was returning to the island, when he found his uncle face down in the canal. His body was in the same spot where the little girl had apparently drowned seventy years before.
Today, tourists to the island often speak of the doll’s eyes following them. Others have also reported that the mutilated dolls whisper to them, especially at night. Julian’s ghost is also said to remain on the island, as well as the young girls’.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum ( Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
The History
Welcome to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, home of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. This former high school was converted, in 1975, to Security Prison 21 by the Khmer Rouge. The prison was used as a base to torture and murder prisoners. Most of the prisoners were former soldiers and government officials from the Lon Nol regime. However, the Khmer Rouge leaders paranoia soon caught up with them, and they began shipping people from their own ranks to the prison. Many prisoners were tortured and tricked into naming their family and associates, who were them also arrested, tortured and murdered.
The Terror
The ghosts of the estimated 17,000 victims of Tuol Sleng continue to roam the halls, and odd happenings around the place are often attributed to them: and it isn’t hard to see why. Most were forced to confess to crimes they didn’t actually commit. Although most victims were Cambodians, many foreigners fell victim to the death machine, including Americans, French, a New Zealander, a Briton, Australians, Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis and Vietnamese. Only 12 people are thought to have survived. To close the entry on this sad history, I’ll leave you with the actual security regulations, the ten rules all prisoners had to abide by. All imperfect grammar is said in context due to poor translation.
1. You must answer accordingly to my question. Don’t turn them away.
2. Don’t try to hide the facts by making pretexts this and that, you are strictly prohibited to contest me.
3. Don’t be a fool for you are a chap who dare to thwart the revolution.
4. You must immediately answer my questions without wasting time to reflect.
5. Don’t tell me either about your immoralities or the essence of the revolution.
6. While getting lashes or electrification you must not cry at all.
7. Do nothing, sit still and wait for my orders. If there is no order, keep quiet. When I ask you to do something, you must do it right away without protesting.
8. Don’t make pretext about Kampuchea Krom in order to hide your secret or traitor.
9. If you don’t follow all the above rules, you shall get many many lashes of electric wire.
10.If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharge.