From haunted castles and old hospitals to mountain pubs and abandoned villages, there are plenty of spine-tingling locations around the globe that will send chills down your spine. From Green Lady ghosts in French castles to highwaymen pinned to trees on British hilltops – there’s sure to be something eerie at these haunted spots that’ll leave you shaking!
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery in north London stands out as a haunting, magical space with stately tombs, Gothic structures, and stories of vampires and ghosts that haunt its grounds. Its reputation stems back to Victorian times when tombs would often collapse due to an accumulation of gases known as miasma that built up over time.
By the 20th century, as profits declined and upkeep fell off significantly, the cemetery had become overgrown and unruly; residents reported seeing mysterious creatures moving through its ruins.
One such sighting was of an old woman with long knotted gray hair who would wander the cemetery looking for her murdered children, which led to reports of occult rituals and satanic cult gatherings. After David Farrant claimed he saw and staked to death a vampire at Highgate Cemetery, this claim gained widespread media coverage and propelled many towards it as it has since become a hotspot for paranormal activity as well as being featured in horror films by Hammer Studios.
The Castle of Good Hope
From creepy encounters in Transylvania to unnerving hotels in the UK, travelers will discover no shortage of haunted locations during their global adventure. Hotels located within former hospitals or prisons have bloody pasts with spirits lingering long after their bodies have left this Earthly realm.
In Cape Town, The Castle of Good Hope has long been the center of civilian, military and naval activity. However, over time it also became a place for tortures, punishments and executions. Nowadays it serves as a luxury boutique hotel that gives visitors the chance to learn its gruesome past with an optional tour of its dungeons.
La Dame Verte (Green Lady), one of the more well-known ghosts at the castle, can often be found wandering about during early morning hours and her moans can often be heard throughout its grounds. Visitors may either explore on their own or join one of several tours available which feature visits to the dungeons and guided visits of La Dame Verte herself.
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay is widely known for being one of America’s most notorious prisons; however, it is also renowned as a site renowned for paranormal activity with many hauntings associated with it.
There is an infamous tale circulating regarding an individual held captive on the island during World War II, who was placed into solitary confinement in an all-black cell and began screaming of seeing an unseen creature with glowing eyes in it – only for guards to laugh him off before finding their prisoner dead hours later.
Numerous visitors to the prison have reported hearing disembodied voices, putrid smells, banging metal doors and sobbing; others have felt strong vibrations or tingling sensations in their hands or arms. Some of this activity appears most frequently in A, B and C cell blocks specifically room 14-D.
Toyama Park
Toyama Park may appear serene today, but its past is one that is anything but. It is thought to have served as home to an unethical biological and chemical warfare unit of the Japanese Imperial Army that conducted unethical biological and chemical warfare experiments that involved harming civilians such as children and fetuses in unintended experiments conducted on this spot. Furthermore, Toyama Park housed both an army medical school as well as being used as an experimental site by those conducting such tests.
There have been reports of several paranormal activities occurring within this park. Notable among them is the sightings of an unknown woman with long, stringy locks near Sendagaya Tunnel – built atop an abandoned cemetery and often associated with legends surrounding its construction – who has been seen walking slowly along it, often reporting unusual temperature drops within it and hearing women screaming.
Other haunted locations in Japan include Aokigahara Forest, where many have attempted suicide. Akasaka Weekly Mansion – once a lodging house – has also long been noted as haunted, as many believe its spirits still reside there.
