While most people’s idea of a vacation is a relaxing getaway with pretty scenery and lush greenery, this article is not for them. If you are someone who is seeking adventure in the thrilling and morbid elements, check out our list of top 23 spooky destinations around the world which not only give goosebumps but surely increase the heart rate and send a chill down your spine.
- Island of Dolls, Mexico
- Banff Springs Hotel, Alberta, Canada
- The Stanley Hotel, Colorado, US
- Chernobyl, Ukraine
- Château de Brissac, Loire Valley, France
- Bhangarh Fort, Rajasthan, India
- La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Hanging Coffins of Sagada, Sagada, Philippines
- Hill of Crosses, Šiauliai, Lithuania
- The Tower of London, London, UK
- Bran Castle, Bran, Romania
- Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, US
- Village of Nagoro, Nagoro, Japan
- The Door to Hell, Derweze, Turkmenistan
- Castle of Good Hope, South Africa
- Capuchin Catacombs, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
- Hoia-Baciu Forest, Romania
- Aokigahara Forest, Japan
- Ancient Ram Inn, Wotton-under-Edge, England
- Höfði House, Reykjavik, Iceland
- Poveglia, Italy
- Lizzie Borden House, United States
- Port Arthur, Australia
Island of Dolls, Mexico
The Isla de las Munecas also known as the Island of the Dolls is the most creepy destination which has displayed old dolls many of which are missing limbs or have empty eye sockets. These are hanging from the trees and building which looks like a scene from a horror movie.
These creepy dolls are based on the local legend that after a little girl drowned near this island some years ago, the caretaker of that girl hung a doll in her remembrance and the collection was added in forthcoming years. Some believe that these dolls are possessed by the girl’s spirit and you can hear them whisper as well.
Banff Springs Hotel, Alberta, Canada
This hotel was built 125 years ago and was and is a luxury stop for Canadian train travelers. This is a part of the Fairmont chain of hotels, “The Castle in the Rockies” has become the iconic landmark in the region’s picturesque landscape.
The place is considered spooky because the guests here have reported several sightings of the bride falling down the staircase and breaking her neck after her dress caught on fire.
It is also believed to have a ghost of former bellman Sam Macauley who has been seen helping people to their rooms, unlocking the door, turning on the lights, and then vanishing at the time of getting a tip. It is believed that rooms will cost money here but the ghosts here are free.
The Stanley Hotel – Colorado, United States
This is one of the most horror spots in America, which is a 142-room Colonial Revival hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, and has been used by the horror novelist Stephen King’s Overlook Hotel in “ The Shining”. The Stanley Hotel has developed its own claims of paranormal activity over time.
Chernobyl – Chernobyl, Ukraine
Chernobyl is a famous plot of a recent HBO documentary which is a closed but fully decommissioned nuclear power station in the restricted Chernobyl Exclusion Zone located north of Kiev, Ukraine.
This facility faced the most devastating and catastrophic nuclear accident in history which was left with abandoning the city of nearby Pripyat. This facility was evacuated on April 27, 1986.
Château de Brissac, Loire Valley, France
This was initially built as a fortress in the 11th century and is the highest castle in France which has seven floors, 204 rooms, and its own private opera house seating 200 people.
This was also a home to the Cosse Brissac family for five centuries, the “Giant the Loire Valley” has had many notable visitors for many years including King Charles VII, and La Dame Verte (Green Lady).
She was murdered by her husband after being caught having an affair which is why the ghostly figure is often seen in the tower room of the chapel. This place always hears echoes around the castle.
Bhangarh Fort- Rajasthan, India
This fort was built in 1573 by a king and was once a collection of royal palaces, grand temples, bazaars, and mention but today it is known as the “House of Ghosts”. This fort is forever condemned to desolation and inhabited by ghosts making this India’s most creepy place.
La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires, Argentina
This cemetery features thousands of statues, mausoleums, fairytale grottoes, and intricately designed tombstones with the remains of Argentina’s iconic figures like Eva Peron. The Recoleta has many legends of its own which make this an eerie place.
The most famous legend involves Davis Alleno, a former gravedigger and caretaker who used to work in a cemetery for 30 years before killing himself. People also report that they hear Allen’s keys jangling as his ghost walks the pathways at dawn.
Hanging Coffins of Sagada – Sagada, Philippines
In Sagada, Philippines, the dead are buried in coffins attached to the sides of the cliffs like an aerial cross section of the cemetery. This makes the whole scene of this place rather a creepy one.
This thousands of years old tradition mentions that a person needs to carve out their own coffin, die, and get hoisted up next to their ancestors. Some of the coffins here are hundreds of years old and each one of them is truly unique and creepily enough made by the person who rests inside of them.
Hill of Crosses, Šiauliai, Lithuania
The Hill of Crosses is a collection of over 200,000 wooden crosses on a small hill in Siauliai. This collection was started as an act of rebellion in 1831 against the Russian uprising which was forbidden by Soviet Russia and led to bulldozing the hill twice during the occupation. After Lithuania got its independence in 1991, this became a holy site for many Christian pilgrims.
The Tower of London, London, United Kingdom
The Tower of London was built in 1097and the castle and the fortress and has been over 900 years of history. This is the most haunted place in the UK which houses regal kings to tortured prisoners and has a lot of gruesome tales.
There have been many paranormal sightings which is famous for Anne Boleyn, wife of notorious King Henry VIII. The place is also famous for its headless body which has been roaming the tower.
Bran Castle, Bran, Romania
This castle is popularly known as the “Dracula Castle” which is a national monument and a famous landmark in Romania. Transylvania is commonly associated with blood-sucking and cape-wearing vampires which makes this place an ideal gothic horror pilgrimage.
This a grand, turreted medieval castle which was the house of Draculesti who ruled Transylvania hundreds of years ago by a ruler Vlad III also known as “Vlad the Impaler”.
Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, PA
This Eastern State Penitentiary was made like a castle in 1829 which took solitary confinement to the next level. The prisoners here lived alone, exercised alone, and ate alone and when the inmates left the cell, their heads would be covered with a hood so they couldn’t see or be seen.
The punishments here were really severe like chaining the inmate’s tongue with his wrists and the prison had to abandon its solitary system due to the overcrowding in 1913. The site has reported many paranormal happenings like disembodied laughter, pacing footsteps, or shadowy figures.
This spooky place witnesses a lot of visitors every year to its museum and during the Halloween celebrations.
Village of Nagoro, Nagoro, Japan
When the tiny village of Nagoro began to shrink in the face of aging and industry, a local artist had an epiphany to create life-size dolls to place around the village to bring a sense of life. These dolls are placed all over the village and at least 350 toy citizens are inhabiting the village which is really a creepy sight.
The Door to Hell, Derweze, Turkmenistan
The Door to Hell is a giant gas field or the flaming crater which is a hole 230 feet wide located in the hot expansive Karakum desert in Turkmenistan. This hole has been on fire for over 40 years and its fiery glow can be seen for the miles around.
This was created in 1971 when the Soviet drilling rig accidentally punched a massive underground natural gas cavern which led to the collapsing of the ground and fall of the entire drilling rig.
The hole was punched, and the poisonous fumes began leaking at an alarming rate, hence it was called the DOOR OF HELL, making this place another worldly experience.
Castle of Good Hope, South Africa
The Castle of Good Hope was built by the Dutch colonists in the 17th century and is also the oldest building in South Africa and once was a prominent place as a seat of many government operations.
Over the years, this place witnessed some of the most horrendous executions and punishments and led to many stories of ghost sightings making this in our creepy places list. The famous anecdote of “The Lady in Grey” is where a woman is seen running crying hysterically through the castle.
Today this castle has three amazing museums and a restaurant and makes up for the most haunted castle in South Africa.
Capuchin Catacombs, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
This one is the most bizarre and morbid tourist attraction where there are almost 8000 corpses found, some pinned to the wall, sitting on benches and shelves or tucked away in open coffins and each one of them dressed nicely for their Sunday ritual.
The place is ill-lit and the musty catacombs are separated into a few corridors. Some of the oldest corpses found here are from 1599. The last body which was interred at the site was in 1920. The whole scene of this place is truly horrid and super creepy on the creepy scale.
Hoia-Baciu Forest, Romania
The military technician captured a photograph of a “UFO” hovering over the forest in 1968and thereafter the Hoia Baciu gained its paranormal designation around the world. Some even believe that the portal causes visitors to disappear.
Others who pass through the forest without being zapped into another realm have reported rashes, nausea, and feelings of anxiety. This place is also known as the “Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania” which has very spooky curved trees that populate the area making it look more haunted.
Aokigahara Forest, Japan
Also known as the “Suicide Forest”, this serene forest at the foot of Mount Fuji is known for its tormented past. This site has reported 500 suicides since 1950.
The forest has been associated with demons in Japanese mythology while some believe in large underground deposits of iron which interfere with the compasses and make it easy to get lost. Many hikers will mark their path with tape or string to make it easier to find their way back out again.
Ancient Ram Inn, Wotton-under-Edge, England
This inn was built in 1145 and was formerly used as the priest’s residence, housing for masons and slaves, an inn, and also a public house. The place has seen the sighting of ghostly children, priests, and incubus (the devil) wandering in the halls, which led this place to be called a haunted spot. It is also believed that when this was an inn, many guests leaped from the windows in a frenzy to escape and died.
Höfði House, Reykjavik, Iceland
This place was an iconic monument in the Cold War because it is most famous for hosting a meeting between Ronald Regan and Michael Gorbachev in 1986.
The place also housed some famous personalities like Queen Elizabeth, Winston Churchill, and Marlene Dietrich along with other handful of British ambassadors.
There was one ambassador who experienced a ghost of the “White Lady” who was supposed to have died because of a suicide. This sighting of ghosts led to a lot of panic and distress which made the British foreign officer sell the house immediately.
Poveglia, Italy
This place was used for over a century to quarantine victims of plague and other illnesses, which later became home to psychiatric hospitals. The hospital closed in 1968 and thereafter remained uninhabited where several alleged sightings of ghosts of tormented souls are seen who once called this place their home.
Lizzie Borden House, United States
In 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were found murdered at this house in Massachusetts and even though their daughter Lizzie was considered as the prime suspect, she was later acquitted and no one was ever charged for their deaths. Even though this place still operates as a bed & breakfast, the guests can even choose to sleep in the same room where the Bordens died.
Port Arthur, Australia
Port Arthur is an inlet of the Tasman Sea on the south coast of Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania, Australia. This settlement was established in 1830 by George Arthur, as a major site for punishing transporting convicts who have further transgressed and was considered as a model reformatory for boys.
It was abandoned as a prison in 1877 and is a scenic chapel, guard tower, and mass graves of former felons serving as a reminder of the country’s dark past as a British Empire prison colony.
