Enter these spooky locations at your own risk! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the creepiest places throughout the world that are said to be haunted.
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00:00I get a lot of people who come up to the tour's desk or ask me on my tours,
00:04is the place really haunted? Oh yeah, it's haunted.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the creepiest places throughout the world that are said to be haunted.
00:14Waverly Hills is the place where ghostly sightings are almost a daily occurrence.
00:19For many, dolls are scary enough, never mind an island full of them.
00:36But that's just what you get with Isla de las Muñecas,
00:39an eerie little place located in the Xochimilco Canals, just south of Mexico City.
00:45It is famous for the hundreds of dolls that hang from trees, fences, and buildings throughout the island,
00:50which creates a deeply unsettling atmosphere.
00:53Legend has it that a man named Don Julian Santana Barrera started hanging dolls in the trees to honor the spirit of a girl who had drowned nearby.
01:00The island is now said to be haunted by the spirits of the girl and other lost souls,
01:05with visitors hearing footsteps and even seeing the dolls move of their own accord.
01:15Step down into Edinburgh's hidden history and reveal the dark past of its former residents.
01:30A close refers to a narrow alleyway or lane that is often found between buildings in old Scottish cities.
01:36Enter Mary King's Close, a historic street that was shuttered and buried beneath the Edinburgh city chambers.
01:42Many of the old buildings and artifacts are frozen in time,
01:45creating an eerie atmosphere that fuels many ghost stories.
01:49Like the one of Annie, a little girl said to have died of the plague in the 17th century.
01:54She now haunts the close and is often seen crying and searching for her lost doll.
01:59And that is not including the myriad apparitions,
02:02strange noises, and cold spots that visitors are said to experience on a near daily basis.
02:07Which is probably one of the reasons why there are ghost stories.
02:10There was an awful lot of death and anguish that went on here.
02:20This is a place called the Hoia Baciu Forest, one of the most haunted forests in the world.
02:24It's known as the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania.
02:27Found just west of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca is the Hoia Baciu Forest,
02:32which some people refer to as the Bermuda Triangle of Romania.
02:36This is owing to the many creepy stories that have emerged from its borders throughout the years.
02:41Perhaps the most famous is a UFO sighting from the 1960s,
02:44in which a biologist named Alexandru Sift allegedly captured photographs
02:48of a flying disc-shaped object over the forest.
02:51The forest is also known to affect electronic devices like cameras and phones,
02:55and visitors have reported hearing disembodied voices coming from the dense foliage.
03:00Forests are definitely creepy,
03:02but this one takes the general creep factor one step further.
03:06Jess, behind you, on the right, on the right, on the right.
03:10I'm seeing it on camera, I'm seeing it on camera.
03:12Oh my God, Phil, there's somebody out here with me.
03:14Ah!
03:21So a few moments later, I decided I'm gonna walk out backwards.
03:23And the entire time I did that and I got out of sight around the corner,
03:27whatever that thing was was still standing there staring at me.
03:31Did you hear that?
03:32Built in 1866, the West Virginia Penitentiary in the small town of Moundsville
03:37operated as a maximum security prison for over a century before it closed for good in 1995.
03:43The penitentiary was the site of over 90 executions,
03:46and prisoners endured horrific living conditions,
03:49both of which are believed to have left an imprint on the prison.
03:52Now open for tours, visitors report seeing shadow figures and hearing disembodied voices
03:57like whispering and even loud yelling coming down corridors.
04:00Hotspots of paranormal activity include the boiler room,
04:03the so-called sugar shack, and the cell of Red Snyder,
04:07a convicted murderer who was stabbed to death in 1992.
04:10What did they use to kill you?
04:12Metal.
04:13What?
04:14Metal.
04:15Metal?
04:15Are you kidding me? Metal? Are you serious?
04:22Last year, 45 Japanese traveled here from all over the country to end their lives.
04:27Local police became so alarmed, they began patrols.
04:30Mount Fuji is one of Japan's most breathtaking sights,
04:33but just below it hides a dark underbelly.
04:36That is Aokigahara, an extremely dense forest known for its high rate of death.
04:41People often go to the forest to take their own lives,
04:44and trailheads litter paths urging visitors to reconsider their situation.
04:49This, combined with the forest's density, darkness, and calm silence
04:53all add to a dreadful atmosphere.
04:55Aokigahara has been associated with death for a very long time.
04:59It is said to be inhabited by yurei, which are ghostly figures in Japanese folklore.
05:03The area is also linked to the mythical practice of ubatsute,
05:07which is when an elderly or sick family member was taken and left to die in a remote location.
05:12We film the conversation from a distance.
05:14The police offer the man reassurance and escort him back to the station.
05:25If you look very closely in the background,
05:27you can faintly see an unexplained figure walking.
05:30Hauntings are said to result from great violence,
05:33and that is certainly the case with Gettysburg.
05:35Found in Adams County, Pennsylvania,
05:37this is the site of the magnificent Battle of Gettysburg.
05:40Fought between July 1st and 3rd of 1863,
05:44over 50,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or went missing in the conflict,
05:49making it one of the deadliest battles in American history.
05:52Naturally, Gettysburg is now considered one of the most haunted places in the country.
05:56There have been numerous reports from visitors, park rangers,
06:00and locals describing sightings of ghostly apparitions,
06:03many of which are dressed in Civil War uniforms.
06:06Gettysburg is also an intensely auditory experience,
06:09with visitors frequently hearing phantom gunfire,
06:11cannon blasts, drumbeats, and the groans of wounded soldiers.
06:27Number 14. Chateau de Brissac, Ménéloire, France.
06:38Named a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture,
06:41Chateau de Brissac dates back to the 11th century,
06:44although the structure we see today was constructed in the 17th century.
06:48It is currently owned by the noble Cossé-Brissac family,
06:51who rent it out for tours and overnight visits.
06:54The chateau is said to host the ghost of Charlotte de Brézé,
06:57an illegitimate daughter of Charles VII of France.
07:00In 1477, Charlotte was murdered by her husband Jacques,
07:04who owned the chateau and who suspected Charlotte of having an affair.
07:08Many visitors and residents have reported seeing her disfigured spirit,
07:12making the grand Chateau de Brissac a popular tourist destination
07:15for ghost enthusiasts and paranormal investigators.
07:18Number 13. Lep Castle, Kildare, Ireland.
07:30Found smack in the middle of Ireland is Lep Castle,
07:33whose long history is filled with tales of murder and betrayal.
07:36Dating back to the 13th century, the castle is home to many ghosts,
07:40including the ghost of a young girl named Charlotte de Brissac.
07:44Dating back to the 13th century, the castle is home to many ghosts,
07:47including those of the MacMahon clan,
07:49who are said to have been massacred inside the castle in 1599.
07:54There's also the Elemental,
07:56a small hunched figure with decaying flesh who carries a powerful stench.
08:00And finally, there's the infamous Bloody Chapel,
08:03in which a member of the O'Carroll is said to have murdered his priest brother.
08:07The man of God now haunts the area, as do the victims of the Oubliette,
08:11a narrow pit inside the Bloody Chapel into which prisoners were thrown to rot.
08:26Number 12. Poveglia, Venetian Lagoon, Italy.
08:35As beautiful as Venice is, its dark and moody brother lives right next door.
08:39Found inside the Venetian Lagoon is Poveglia,
08:42a small island that was used as a quarantine station
08:45during bubonic plague outbreaks in the 18th and 19th centuries.
08:48It's said that the bodies of plague victims were burned on the island,
08:52and their ash mixed with the soil.
08:54In 1922, a mental health hospital was built on Poveglia,
08:58further adding to its mystique and eerie atmosphere,
09:01and it remained active until the late 1960s.
09:04The island now sits untouched,
09:06its crumbling structures housing disembodied voices,
09:09shadow figures, ghostly bells,
09:11and even the spirit of a mad doctor
09:13who performed grisly experiments on the patients of the mental hospital.
09:26Number 11. Bangar Fort, Rajasthan, India.
09:37India's main paranormal hotspot is Bangar Fort,
09:40which was built back in the 16th century
09:42to house the son of Raja Bhagwan Das,
09:44a ruler of the Kingdom of Amber.
09:46The fort itself is an imposing structure,
09:49and its remote location and crumbling architecture
09:51contribute to its spooky ambience.
09:53According to local legend,
09:55the fort and its surrounding area are cursed.
09:58One story posits that a local sadhu hexed the fort
10:01when its tall shadow fell upon his humble house.
10:04Another claims that a practitioner of black magic unleashed a curse
10:07when a local princess shunned his advances
10:10and accidentally killed him.
10:11Regardless, Bangar Fort is now said to be deeply haunted,
10:15a reputation bolstered by the fact
10:17that visits are prohibited after dark.
10:28Number 10. The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado, USA.
10:32My favorite photo is actually of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley
10:36looking out of a mirror in the billiard room
10:40taken about four years ago on a tour.
10:42The place that inspired horror writer Stephen King
10:45to write The Shining?
10:46Yeah, that's definitely on the list.
10:48King stayed in room 217 of the Stanley Hotel
10:52and reportedly heard ghost children playing in the hallway.
10:55The ballroom is where the real action is, however,
10:58with accounts of kitchen staff thinking a party was going on
11:00in the room, but ultimately finding it unoccupied upon entering.
11:04Guests have also reported hearing the ballroom's piano
11:07despite no one playing it.
11:09The show Ghost Hunters found reasonable explanations for certain sounds,
11:13but they could not decode occurrences in the ballroom.
11:16And so it looks like the first anomaly appears to us
11:19to be like a lady dressed in black,
11:21and to the left of her, it looks like what is a child.
11:24Number nine. Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland.
11:28Edinburgh, Scotland.
11:29This is where Rabs told me to meet him.
11:31It feels like another one of those horror tropes, you know,
11:34the big creepy castle, the big door.
11:36Medieval castles in Europe are always a popular tourist attraction
11:40thanks to their long and interesting history.
11:42Edinburgh Castle, however, is one of the most haunted spots in Scotland.
11:47Reportedly, of course.
11:48Visitors have claimed to have seen the spirits of colonial prisoners
11:51from the American Revolutionary War
11:53and French prisoners from the Seven Years' War.
11:56The most famous spirit, though, is the ghost of a piper
11:59who was sent to explore the underground tunnels and never returned.
12:02Legend says the faint sound of music can still be heard from within the castle.
12:16Number eight. The Catacombs of Paris, Paris, France.
12:27If you wanted to find a ghost,
12:28looking in the place where Parisians placed the bones of their dead for decades
12:32would be a great place to start.
12:34The Catacombs of Paris hold the remains of nearly six million people,
12:38and so the site is essentially a mass grave.
12:42If that's not creepy enough,
12:43the ossuaries are a small part of Paris' vast network of underground tunnels and caverns.
12:49In 1871, French revolutionists massacred a group of monarchists
12:53in one of the underground chambers.
12:55With that much death and that much history, how can they not be haunted?
13:09Number seven. The RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach, California, USA.
13:13The majestic and notoriously haunted royal ship turns 90 this year,
13:18and a very special room can be reserved for those who don't mind an extra guest.
13:23The RMS Queen Mary, once a prominent ocean liner in the North Atlantic Ocean,
13:28has been the subject of haunting rumors ever since it was permanently docked in California.
13:32The most haunted area of the ship is the engine room,
13:35where a 17-year-old sailor died while trying to escape a fire.
13:38Cabin B-340 is also said to be haunted,
13:42this time by the spirit of a murder victim,
13:44while the ghost of a young girl allegedly haunts the pool area after a drowning accident.
13:49Yikes.
13:58Number six. Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, San Francisco Bay, California, USA.
14:04From prison to tourist destination. Now over the years, there have been plenty of spooky stories.
14:09Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary has been cited as one of the most haunted places in the United States.
14:15There are numerous reports of ghostly encounters in the utility corridor,
14:19where three inmates were killed in a failed escape attempt.
14:22Cell 14-D is another supposedly haunted area of the prison,
14:26due to a legend that says an inmate once spent a night calling out
14:29that he was being murdered by a creature with glowing eyes.
14:32Lo and behold, he was found throttled to death the next day.
14:36Al Capone's ghost also allegedly haunts the prison, so enter at your own risk.
14:48Number five. Borley Rectory, Essex, England.
14:58The village of Borley is not the sort of place you would associate with ghosts,
15:02but it is home to the infamous Borley Rectory,
15:04considered to be the most haunted house in all of England.
15:08Once the site of an ancient monastery,
15:10legend has it that a monk and nun were killed in the area after their affair was discovered.
15:15The nun allegedly haunts the grounds of the rectory,
15:18while multiple tenants have reported paranormal activity like the ringing of bells,
15:22the breaking of windows, and the appearance of writing on the walls.
15:26On one occasion, I thought one of the pencil marks was actually moving as I saw it.
15:29Seems mad, but I think that's what I saw at the time.
15:33Number four. The Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana, USA.
15:44The Myrtles Plantation is rumored to be located on an ancient Indian burial ground
15:49and is said to be home to 12 ghosts, including Chloe, a former enslaved girl.
15:54Supposedly, Chloe was caught spying on her owner,
15:57had her ear cut off, and hit it with a turban.
16:00She tried to get revenge by poisoning a birthday cake,
16:03but the plan backfired when only the owner's wife and children ate the cake, and all died.
16:08Chloe was hanged and thrown into the Mississippi River,
16:11and her spirit supposedly haunts the plantation to this day.
16:14You might come in the house and you feel someone touch you on the shoulder,
16:18or you feel someone stroke your hair,
16:20or like I have so many times walking through the house, they'll tug on my clothing.
16:25Number three. Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
16:37One of the most haunted hospitals in America,
16:39the Waverly Hills Sanatorium was built to help handle the outbreak of tuberculosis
16:44in Jefferson County in the early 1900s.
16:46Urban legend claims that over 60,000 people died at the sanatorium,
16:51many of whom were sent down the death tunnel,
16:53a chute used to lower the dead bodies in a secretive manner
16:56to prevent patients from seeing how many people were being killed by the disease.
17:00Room 502 is also rumored to be haunted by a nurse who took her own life with a light bulb wire.
17:05There was said to be a nurse that hung herself, is that true?
17:10Yes.
17:11It is?
17:12It is true.
17:12Number two. Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
17:28Eastern State Penitentiary was home to some of the harshest punishments in the United States,
17:33including the water bath, the mad chair, and the iron gag.
17:36The first prison to use solitary confinement,
17:39many Eastern State Penitentiary prisoners went insane because of its extreme conditions and
17:44isolation. Numerous people have reported hearing cackling from cell block 12,
17:48while mysterious ghostly faces are said to appear in cell block 4.
17:52Even Al Capone was allegedly haunted by the ghost of James Clark,
17:56one of the men he had murdered during his incarceration.
17:59Was this a spirit drawing the energy from our equipment to be heard?
18:29The place where multiple executions, murders, and tortures have taken place over the last
18:401,000 years? If there is a haunted place in the world, this is surely it.
18:45Our top pick is allegedly home to hundreds of ghosts, including Lady Jane Grey, Henry VI,
18:52Sir Walter Raleigh, and Thomas Beckett.
18:54However, perhaps the most famous resident is the spirit of Anne Boleyn.
18:58Her ghost has been seen on many occasions, usually in the Tower Chapel Royal or on Tower Green,
19:04and she is often carrying her head in her arms.
19:16Do you have an experience with these haunted locations? Let us know in the comments below.
19:21If you don't believe in ghosts, a visit to Ireland might change your mind.