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10 Of The Creepiest Places In The World For You Horror-Loving Weirdos

10 Of The Creepiest Places In The World For You Horror-Loving Weirdos

October hasn’t exactly been scarier than any other month in 2020, but it does house the day when many cultures around the world honour the dead.

So in the spirit of Halloween, here are some of the scariest places on the planet – including an island full of snakes that can melt human flesh – perfect for the phobophile’s bucket list.

#1 The most haunted house in England

This is the definition of cursed. The fact that this cottage is built on the site of a prison where a witch was hung in 1582 is enough to warrant major creep factor, but its haunted history doesn’t end there.

The house was a medieval prison known as ‘The Cage’ where 13 witches — who became known as the Witches of St Osyth — were held pre-trial. Three were found guilty and hung, the most famous being Ursula Kemp in 1582. Then, the home was used as a prison for men, women and children (?!) until 1908.

It then became a private residence, “[but] many of the subsequent owners could not handle the paranormal activities and sold on quickly,” explains a sale listing. Vanessa Mitchell bought the home in 2004, but only lasted living there for just over three years because of the “relentless paranormal activity”.

She says her house was plagued by multiple hauntings, one of which involved a ghost pushing her over while she was pregnant. The house sat empty for over ten years until it recently sold.

#2 The world’s deadliest island, Brazil

 

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lha da Queimada Grande is an island off the coast of Brazil brimming with thousands of the most venomous and endangered snakes on the planet. Researchers estimate there are one to five golden lancehead vipers per square meter on this island of nightmares. NOPE.

How does this come to be? Thousands of years ago, rising sea levels separated the Ilha (and its snakes) from mainland Brazil and they evolved and rapidly reproduced without human intervention. There were no predators on the island, but that also meant no prey, and according to Smithsonian Magazine, the snakes began slithering upward to kill birds. DOUBLE NOPE.

“But the golden lancehead vipers can’t track the birds they bite – so instead they evolved incredibly potent and efficient venom, three to five times stronger than any mainland snake’s – capable of killing most prey (and melting human flesh) almost instantly,” they explain. Cool cool cool.

There are, of course, many stories of deaths from those attempting to set foot in the place. The island’s lighthouse has been automated ever since the 1920s when the keeper was attacked, and the Brazilian government has placed a ban on visits — except the Navy who make an annual visit.

#3 Edinburgh Castle and Mary King’s Close, Scotland

 

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There are tales of literally hundreds of ghost sightings at Edinburgh Castle. A headless drummer boy, French and American prisoners of war, and even phantom dogs wandering the pet cemetery are all common characters to see.

It got to the point where back in 2001 a team of scientists spent 10 days investigating the castle, with many reporting paranormal activity like sudden drops of temperature and the feeling of people tugging at their clothes.

But the castle isn’t the only creepy part of this story – the underground alleyway beneath the City Chambers known as Mary King’s Close has also been haunted since the 17th century when residents who had the plague were sealed into their homes and left to die. How good were the olden days!

#4 An island of dolls, Mexico

 

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It’s about that time for this list to include an island filled with hundreds of hanging, rotting, decapitated dolls. Enter La Isla de las Muñecas, or the Island of the Dolls, the creepy creation of a man named Don Julian Santana.

Over fifty years ago, Santana left his wife and child and moved onto an island south of Mexico City on Teshuilo Lake in the Xochimilco canals. It’s said that a little girl drowned in the canals, and Santana spent the remainder of his life collecting dolls for her ghost to play with.

It’s up for debate whether the girl was in fact real, or made up by Santana, but the reality remains: a kind of freaky, horrifying shrine brimming with broken and dismembered dolls hanging from trees.

#5 The Tower of London, England

 

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The Tower of London has seen its fair share of espionage, torture and decapitation. It was all pretty standard stuff during the 17th century, especially considering it was used as a prison for those accused of treason.

Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, is one of its most famous residents along with ‘Nine-Day Queen’ Lady Jane Grey. Both were beheaded on the Tower Green and buried in the chapel, and it’s said their headless ghosts roam the halls to this day.

There’s other alleged hauntings, of course. The Bloody Tower is said to be where 12-year-old Edward V and his younger brother, Richard (sons of King Edward IV) were murdered in 1483 on orders from their uncle. Then there’s the Queen’s Tower, reportedly haunted by the ghost of Arbella Stuart, the cousin of James I who was imprisoned and later murdered here.

#6 Hoia-Baciu Forest, Romania

 

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Known as the Bermuda Triangle of Romania, the Hoia-Baciu Forest has earned a reputation for being one of the most haunted on earth, with reports of high paranormal activity and plenty of other unexplained events.

This includes endless ghost sightings and apparitions, UFO sightings (in the 1970s), feelings of intense anxiety and of being watched, unexplained charring on tree stumps and branches and even things like headaches, rashes, scratches, and burns. Maybe skip this one for your camping trip.

#7 A bone church in Czech Republic

 

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Over in the Czech Republic, things are just as spooky. The Sedlec Ossuary in Kutná Hora outside Prague sits beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints and was created with the skeletons of a casual 40,000 people, possibly more.

The centrepiece is a giant chandelier, which contains at least one of every bone in the human body. But there are also garlands made of skulls, six large bone pyramids, bone candelabras, and skull candleholders, so there’s something for everyone!

Where did the bones comes from? The already existing church had to be greatly expanded thanks to the Black Death in the mid-14th century. Mass graves were unearthed during construction, so for some reason a half-blind monk was given the task of exhuming the skeletons and staking their bones in the church to be turned into the fascinating horror it is today.

#8 Catacombs of Paris, France

 

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Underneath the streets of Paris lies the famous catacombs – an eerie network of old caves and tunnels lined with the bones of the dead. But we’re not talking a few hundred, or even thousand – this subterranean labyrinth holds the remains of roughly six million Parisians, whose bones were moved here from overcrowded cemeteries in the 18th century.

Deeper underground than both the metro and Paris’ sewer systems, there’s over 320 kilometres of passageways, said to be haunted. A short section is open to the public.

#9 Port Arthur, Tasmania

 

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You might have heard of this World Heritage-listed Tasmanian town after gunman Martin Bryant massacred 35 visitors in 1996 (and subsequently impacted our gun laws for the better). However, this isn’t the area’s only piece of uncomfortable history.

Port Arthur was also a convict prison, known as ‘hell on earth’ and one of the worst in the British empire. Over 1,000 people died here during its 47 years as a convict settlement, and the rumour goes that many of their ghosts still hang around.

Believed to be one of the southern hemisphere’s most active haunted places, there’s said to be so much activity here that more than 2,000 ‘incidents’ have been recorded in the past two decades alone — especially inside the Reverend George Eastman’s house in the penitentiary.

Incidents include your usual paranormal stuff – “soldiers in uniform standing guard, noises of unseen children, inexplicable shadows. And that’s just in the daytime,” says Port Arthur Historic Site.

The museum even has an ‘unusual occurrence form’ on hand for anyone wanting to report their brush with the other side.

#10 Bell Witch Farm, USA

 

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This tale local legend in Tennessee is surely the pinnacle of warring neighbours. In the 1800s, a woman named Kate Batts believed her neighbour John Bell cheated her out of some land, and so, lying on her deathbed, swore she would haunt him forever.

Cue the Bell family reporting physical attacks, hearing chains dragged across floors, noises in the walls and seeing odd-looking animals on their farm, including a dog with a rabbit’s head. According to CNN, the begrudged spirit poisoned patriarch John Bell and really had it in for his daughter, Betsy.

Today you can tour Bell Witch Farm‘s cave and reconstructed cabin and stop by for the annual Bell Witch Festival.

(Lead Image: Isla de las Muñecas)

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