Creepy and haunted places still capture everyone’s fascination because it plays with our imagination. Whether these places are indeed haunted or not, brave souls have visited these places and report a wide range of experiences. Perhaps, one day it could be you. Which of these places will you visit when the opportunity arises?
1. Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital
The actual Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital is located in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province in South Korea. Legend has it that the hospital was closed down in the 1990s when patients mysteriously died. Voted as one of the scariest places in South Korea, people who have tried to sneak into the abandoned building reported feeling chills and a presence following them.
While the legend has inspired a horror movie, the truth is really much more mundane. According to Atlas Obscura, the hospital actually closed down due to economic downturn and unsanitary conditions. Nevertheless, the spooky legend lives on despite the hospital getting demolished in May 2018.
2. Aokigahara Forest
Aokigahara forest in Japan is a beautiful and breathtaking place during the day. However, the forest also bears horrific names such as Suicide Forest, Jukai (Sea of Trees) or the Demon Forest. It’s named the Suicide Forest because many people have ventured into the lush forest to commit suicide since the 1950s. It’s also difficult to track those who ventured inside due to the density of the forest. Nevertheless, many positive and uplifting signs have been put up in the forest with increased surveillance to try to discourage people from taking their lives.
3. The Conjuring House
In the 1970s, the Perron family moved into the farmhouse known as the Old Arnold estate and immediately experienced a series of haunting. The disturbances started small with beds shaking at 5.15am, appearances of spirits, and smells of rotting flesh around the house. The haunting soon escalated and they had no choice but to call in the famous husband and wife ghostbusting team, Ed and Lorraine Warren. Somehow the Perrons stayed until 1980 and the haunted house is now owned and loved by a couple, Cory and Jennifer Heinzen, who are also paranormal investigators.
4. Island of the Dolls
The Island of Dolls in Isla de las Munecas, Mexico sport hundreds of dolls hanging from trees. Even from afar, it’ll scare away many people because it’s said the largely unclothed dolls have eyes that move, possessed by a spirit of a little girl. Legend has it that a girl drowned nearby and the island caretaker found her body. He hung up these dolls because he was haunted by her spirit.
5. Catacombs of Paris
Beneath the glitz and glamour of Paris lie the catacomb tunnels housing almost more than 6 million bodies. These tunnels were built in an effort to manage the city’s overflowing cemeteries. As spooky as it is, the subterranean labyrinth is open to visitors who can take tours of the tunnels and marvel at the artfully arranged skull and bones display.
6. Capuchin Catacombs
The Capuchin Catacombs in Sicily, Italy was built as a cemetery in the mid 1500s for the Capuchin friars. It also became the final resting place for aristocrats in the 17th century. These buried bodied had naturally mummified by the time it was discovered and was believed to be an act of God. Thus, the corpses were hung from the catacomb walls like relics. There are 2,000 skeletons marked lining the walls today and each is marked with labels indicating the name and date of death.
7. Hoia-Baciu Forest
Hoia-Baciu Forest is also known as the Bermuda Triangle of Romania. Visitors who entered the forest reported experiencing headaches, bursting out in rashes, scratches, nausea and burns. There have been reports of UFO sightings in the area too. In the 1960s, two different photographers captured images of disc-shaped objects hovering above the forest.
8. Guanajuato Mummy Museum
The Guanajuato Mummy Museum, which is owned by the state government in Mexico, displays more than a hundred of its mummified and deceased former citizens. It gets even more morbid when you find out that these mummies have been disinterred from the cemetery next door. For a fee, visitors get to see mummified corpses that died in an 1833 cholera epidemic, murder victims, killed in an iron maiden and criminals buried alive.
9. Bath, UK
Bath in the UK has plenty of haunted attractions whether or not you believe in the supernatural. From the Grey Lady ghost in Theatre Royal Bath to a phantom carriage in The Royal Crescent, there are plenty of spooky experiences to seek out. Rumour has it that several ghosts haunt the theatre but the most popular of all is the Grey Lady. She was an actress centuries ago and her presence can be easily sensed by the lingering scent of her jasmine perfume.
10. Hill of Crosses
The Hill of Crosses in Lithuania can be the perfect setting for a horror film. Throughout history, people placed crosses on the hill for various reasons such as remembering the dead rebels in the 1831 peasant uprising. Locals kept rebuilding the hill although everything was bulldozed by the Soviets three times. The air fills with eerie chimes whenever there’s a breeze due to the numerous rosaries clinking against the metal and wooden crosses.
This article can be found in theSun Buzz iPaper HERE
