The 13 Most Haunted Places in the World

By Meghan Brennan

 

Halloween’s a’coming, and in honor of that creepiest and crawliest of holidays, we’ve put together a list of 13 of the most haunted places known to man – are you brave enough to visit any?

1. The Tower of London, England

This place has been around for centuries. Yeah, it's got stories to tell.

This place has been around for centuries. Yeah, it’s got stories to tell.

This is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city, if not the country, so people must not be too worried about ghost encounters (or maybe they’re looking forward to them). The Tower was originally a royal palace, but is best known now as a prison where hundreds of people went to their deaths. It’s no surprise, then, that some of those poor prisoners still haunt the halls. The most famous unearthly inhabitant is probably Anne Boleyn, wife of Henry VIII, who was executed in 1536. Other ghosts include Margaret de la Pole, whose grisly execution is said to be reenacted by phantoms; Lady Jane Grey, who was executed at age 16; and the Princes in the Tower, who mysteriously vanished in the summer of 1485, perhaps murdered by their own uncle.

2. Poveglia, Italy

This Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons image is from the user Chris 73 and is freely available at //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poveglia_Closeup_of_Hospital.jpg under the creative commons cc-by-sa 3.0 license.

This Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons image is from the user Chris 73 and is freely available at //commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poveglia_Closeup_of_Hospital.jpg under the creative commons cc-by-sa 3.0 license.

Cursed, haunted, and a mess of other things, Poveglia is bad news, which is probably why so few people visit. Out of the millions of travelers who descend upon Venice every year, hardly any make the trip to this small island in the lagoon. In fairness to them, it’s technically off-limits (unless you go through a lengthy approval process), but if you can find someone with a boat to take you and afford to pay them a possibly steep fee to go against their better judgment, odds are no one will stop you (maybe they think that if you’re crazy enough to go there, you deserve whatever you get).

So why is Poveglia so creepy? Well, for a while it was a quarantine station – individuals infected with various diseases were sent there to die, and with Venice’s history of being an important port city, a lot of infectious disease came through the area. Eventually it became a mass burial ground when all of those sick people began to die. But perhaps the darkest part of the island’s history came in the 1920s, when it became an asylum for the mentally unwell. Unfortunately, the doctor in charge of this asylum didn’t hold himself to particularly high standards when it came to practicing mental health care – patients were treated cruelly, with dangerous lobotomies and other brutal experiments being common practice. Understandably, those whose ghosts hung around were pretty angry, and the doctor eventually jumped off the bell tower – or perhaps was pushed. One version of the story says he survived the fall – it was the mysterious fog that killed him. The asylum closed in 1968, and the island has been abandoned – by the living, at least – ever since.

 

3. RMS Queen Mary

Who else is expecting a ghost to pop out?

Who else is expecting a ghost to pop out?

Proving that all hauntings don’t happen on land, the Queen Mary can boast her own small army of ghosts. While it’s now a floating hotel based in Long Beach, Calif., it was once one of the most glamorous ocean liners in service. Then, during World War II, she was refitted into a military transport ship. After the war, she returned to commercial service, but by the 1960s, air travel was taking the lead in Atlantic crossings, and the ship was retired. During her decades of commercial service, 49 passengers and crew are known to have died onboard, and no one knows how many service members passed away on the ship during the war.

Probably the most famously haunted part of the ship is the first class swimming pool – though it’s been empty for years, there are frequent reports of seeing people going for a dip. The nursery is another suspect area, with several people admitting to hearing the sounds of children playing when there aren’t any around. And, of course, there’s room B340. After many reports of strange events, such as knocks on the door in the middle of the night, furniture flying across the room, and faucets turning themselves on, the room is no longer rented out.

4. The White House

white house Yeah, you read that right. The President of the United States lives in a haunted house. It’s OK though, these ghosts are (probably) nice. After all, the most famous is certainly Abraham Lincoln. Starting with First Lady Grace Coolidge, a number of inhabitants of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have claimed to have seen him, including Eleanor Roosevelt. Visitors aren’t immune, either – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands supposedly fainted when confronted by the ghost of the 16th president, and Winston Churchill once, upon finishing a bath, walked into his bedroom stark naked to find Abe leaning on the mantel. (Never one to miss an opportunity for a joke, Churchill apparently took it in stride and simply said, “Good evening, Mr. President. You seem to have caught me at a disadvantage.”) Other ghosts are less friendly. The Demon Cat that haunts basements and underground passages throughout Washington, D.C. appears before presidential elections and national catastrophes, including the stock market crash of 1929 and JFK’s assassination. And the most malevolent of the bunch is the British soldier who died while trying to burn the White House to the ground during the War of 1812 – every so often he tries to finish the job, as in the Truman era, when he was seen trying to light a bed aflame. There was also a mysterious blaze in the house on Christmas Eve, 1929. Luckily he hasn’t succeeded yet.

 

5. Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, Australia

beechworth Because one asylum isn’t creepy enough, here’s another one to keep you awake at night. Beechworth, located in Victoria, Australia, closed in 1995, after almost a century and a half of questionable health practices. While operational, patients could be admitted with just two signatures, while it took eight to get out – making leaving a much more difficult process. Even more sinister were the so-called “ha-ha” walls – thanks to a deep ditch, they were higher on the inside (where the patients were) than on the outside. Visitors would think nothing of it, but patients knew they were trapped.

It works like this - only instead of goats, they're tortured mental patients.

It works like this – only instead of goats, they’re tortured mental patients.

With a history that unpleasant, it’s no surprise that plenty of ghosts make Beechworth their home. One gruesome story tells of a patient who happened to be a chain smoker. Another patient wanted her cigarettes and took the woman by surprise one night, throwing her out a window to her death. The dead woman was Jewish, and so her body had to be left on the lawn for two days while a rabbi traveled up from Melbourne to see to it. She still haunts the lawn and the window above, and a floating orb has been seen by the spot from which she fell.

Related: Our 10 Favorite Castles in Europe

6. Bhangarh Fort, India

bhangarh OK, you want haunted, we’ve got haunted. The Indian government doesn’t allow anyone to stay at Bhangarh after sunset – that’s how haunted this place is. Located in northern India, the fort (built in 1613) is about an hour and a half outside of Jaipur, but it may as well be a separate world. A town of about 1300 (presumably very brave) people has sprung up a bit outside the walls, but most Indians (and indeed most people) won’t go near the long-abandoned fort. And really, that should be more than enough information to strike this one off your travel list for good. The most popular story about Bhangarh is more a curse story than a ghost story, but it’s creepy all the same. The story goes that the beautiful 18-year-old princess who lived in the fort, Ratnavati, caught the eye of a local magician (the bad kind). He knew she would never accept him, so one day while she was out shopping, he enchanted some oil so that when she touched it, she would fall madly in love with him. Unfortunately for him, Ratnavati saw this, and threw the oil against a boulder. It came loose and began to crush everything in its path, including the magician. With his dying breath, he cursed the fort and all who dwelled within. The next year, the Mughals invaded and took the fort, killing all 10,000 people who lived there, including Princess Ratnavati.

 

7. Hell Fire Club, Ireland

Well that's not creepy looking.

Well that’s not creepy looking.

When you mix young men and lots of money, the results pretty commonly include disaster. Such was the case at the Hell Fire Club. They were said to be devil worshippers, and left a chair open at all their gatherings for him. Supposedly, one night a traveler came to the door and was invited to join them in a game of cards. When someone dropped a card, one of the men bent down to retrieve it and saw that the stranger had cloven hoofs in place of his feet. The traveler vanished in a ball of flame and they never saw him again. There are further accounts of animal sacrifices, and once the murder of a dwarf. For years, there have been reports there of a woman screaming in anguish – perhaps the ghost of a woman the young aristocrats trapped in a barrel, which was then lit on fire and rolled down the hill. These gatherings ended in 1740 when a fire broke out in the stone building where most of the club was gathered. Too drunk to run, many of them perished in the blaze, which gutted the structure (it remains empty to this day). Visitors have reported seeing shadows moving through the building, perhaps still trying to escape.

 

8. Château de Châteaubriant, France

chateaubriant When you think of haunted places, gorgeous French chateaus probably aren’t at the top of your list – but if Châteaubriant is anything to go by, they definitely should be. The castle was built in the 11th century, but its haunting didn’t get started until about 500 years later. Jean de Laval, the nobleman who owned the palace, was invited to serve at the court of King Francis I. His beautiful wife, Francoise de Foix, accompanied him, and quickly caught the eye of the king. The two became lovers, and didn’t bother to keep the affair a secret. It went on for several years, until Francoise went home to Châteaubriant with her husband. She mysteriously died the night of October 16, 1537. There are several suggestions for what may have happened to Francoise. Her husband had a reputation for being a brutal man, and it was rumored that he had killed her, or perhaps even locked her in a room to starve. Ever since, however, the ghost of Francoise de Foix appears on the anniversary of her death each year. Some have claimed to see the ghosts of her husband and lover join her as she climbs the main stairs before disappearing at the final stroke of midnight.

 

9. The Island of the Dolls, Mexico

Imagine this, but lots of them and all around you.

Imagine this, but lots of them and all around you.

The story of this island is not for the faint-hearted. Xochimilco, a borough of Mexico City, is famous for its canals created by the Aztecs and resulting in artificial islands called chinampas. The story of the Island of the Dolls, or Isla de las Muñecas, begins on one of these chinampas in the 1950s. The man who lived on the island, Don Julian Santana, learned of a young girl who had died in the river and, sensing her presence, hung a doll in a tree so she might have something to play with. The girl began to haunt him and he brought more and more dolls to the island, trying to appease her spirit. He would go through garbage and trade the produce he was able to grow to get more for her. Sometimes they were old and broken, missing limbs and with empty eye sockets, but he hung them nonetheless. For 50 years he collected the dolls, until one day he was found dead, drowned in the river in the same place the girl had perished. The dolls remain to this day, some new, some decomposing, making the island look like something out of a nightmare.

 

10. Glamis Castle, Scotland

Sure it looks pretty, but we’re not staying after dark.

This castle, not far from the Scottish city of Perth, has a long and eerie history. All the stories seem to stem from one mysterious fact – if a visitor counts the number of windows that can be seen from outside the castle, and then all the windows they can find inside, the first number will always be two more. This has led generations to believe in, and some to search for, a secret room in Glamis Castle. Some say it was where King Malcolm II was murdered (an act that inspired Shakespeare’s Macbeth). Another story holds that a group of neighboring aristocrats, the Ogilvies, arrived at the castle on the run and begged the lord to give them shelter. He swore to do so, but betrayed them and locked them up in the hidden room without food or water. When the door was opened a month later, only one of the men still lived, having eaten his comrades to keep from starving. Others suggest that it is where one of the Earls’ firstborn son was hidden away when he was born horribly deformed, where he then proceeded to live for decades and eventually perish, always out of sight of anyone who might spread word of his existence. One story, though, suggests that one of the Earls who lived in the castle had a penchant for gambling. One week, on the Sabbath, he demanded that one of his guests play cards with him, but they all refused. He declared he would play with the Devil himself should he appear, and suddenly a stranger appeared at the door of the castle. The two went into the secret room to play cards and there they remain, to this day, the Earl cursed to gamble for all eternity. Whatever the secret truly is, it is a dark one, only entrusted to the Earls, their sons, and trusted employees. When one Countess begged her husband to tell her the secret, he replied only, “If you knew the nature of the terrible secret, you would go down on your knees and thank God that it is I who must bear it, and not you.”

Related: Top Ten Quirky Castles from Around the World

11. Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood

Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel may not be the most haunted building in the world, but it’s probably got the most famous ghosts. The hotel has a long and storied history – it hosted the first ever Academy Awards, a banquet for just 250 people held in its Blossom Ballroom. Marilyn Monroe resided there for two years when her career was in its infancy, and Clark Gable stayed in the penthouse with his third wife, Carole Lombard. It has a pedigree of glitz and glamour, and has hosted countless celebrities. The problem, of course, is that it seems like some of them never left. Marilyn Monroe’s ghost has been seen in room 229 as well as dancing in the ballroom – she did always like a party. Montgomery Clift’s is thought to haunt room 928, the room he stayed in while making the classic film From Here to Eternity – some of the staff have reported hearing him play the trumpet he learned to play for the movie. And Carole Lombard has been seen on the 12th floor ever since she stayed there with Clark Gable.

 

12. Castle of Good Hope, South Africa

Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)

Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)

South Africa’s oldest building was constructed in the 17th century to provide a restocking station for ships heading through the dangerous Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, and it has been haunted almost as long as it’s been around. In 1729, seven soldiers were unjustly condemned to die at the Castle, by the express command of Governor Pieter Gysbert van Noodt. One of the men challenged the governor to attend their execution, but the governor didn’t, perhaps too ashamed to face his victims. Legend has it the soldier’s dying curse sought out the governor, who was found later that day dead in his chair, a look of horror on his face. Van Noodt is said to still stalk the halls, yelling and cursing at any who get too close. Lady Anne Barnard is another unearthly resident of the castle. She lived there as its first lady several decades after van Noodt’s untimely death, and while she stayed only five years, her journals indicate that she was fascinated by South Africa and the castle itself. She is seen to this day at parties for important visitors and bathing in the Dolphin Pool, one of her favorite spots. And of course, there’s the bell tower – after a soldier was found hanging there, it was sealed off. Yet to this day the bell sometimes rings of its own volition, tolling across the grounds for all to hear.

 

13. Cortijo Jurado, Spain

Photo by Tyk.

Photo by Tyk.

This 19th-century mansion lies in ruins today, but when it was built it was the home of Malaga’s Heredia family, one of the wealthiest in Spain at the time. Mysteriously, a network of underground tunnels connected it to another nearby mansion (owned by the Larios family) and the river. It isn’t known what tied these families so closely together; what is known is that for a period of time around the turn of the century, a number of young girls from the area, aged 18 to 21, vanished. Their captors were never found, nor were their remains. An elderly man in the area, Manuel Martin, has recounted to visitors the story of how in his youth he found his way into the tunnels and discovered crypts and an underground cave filled with torture devices, skeletons, and an altar covered in strange symbols. He escaped and the room has not been found again, but ghostly figures have been seen wandering Cortijo Jurado for decades, along with mysterious sobs, knocks, and voices trapped in the walls – where the young women’s bodies are said to have been hidden.

So there you have it, 13 of the world’s most haunted places. Are you brave enough to visit any? What’s the most haunted place you’ve ever been? Let us know in the comments!

 

About Meghan Brennan

Meghan_BrennanIn between jet setting around the world to research blog posts, Meghan enjoys eating caviar and attending polo matches with the Queen. She also has a highly overactive imagination. When persuaded to interact with reality, she spends a lot of time in used book stores and planning her next adventure.