The most mysterious haunted places in the world

If we travel around the world, we can find a multitude of places that are full of legends about spirits that inhabit them or inexplicable phenomena that occur there. Abandoned hospitals, haunted hotels, mysterious forests... Enclaves that, although they are very scary, also attract many mystery lovers who are looking to live an unforgettable, terrifying experience. For all of them, we propose a series of the most disturbing destinations.

There are many legends about aimless ghosts circulating about Japan's famous "forest of those who take their own lives." A sea of trees where silence reigns. It is located at the base of Mount Fuji (in Yamanashi prefecture) and so many people decide to go there to end their lives that there is a sign at the entrance that reads: "Your life is a beautiful gift from your parents. Please think of your parents, siblings, and children. Don't keep it to yourself. Talk about your problems."

Woodchester Mansion, in the Cotswolds (England), is one of the most haunted houses in Great Britain. Legend speaks of countless apparitions that have even impressed the various groups of ghost hunters who have come to the place to investigate. The paranormal activity is intense and includes specters, psychophonies, or sudden temperature changes...

This town in Massachusetts is known for the trials that took place there at the end of the 17th century against a group of women accused of witchcraft. Today, we can find a museum there, as well as the house of one of the judges. And there are even those who say that some of these women have even appeared there.

There are numerous legends surrounding this enigmatic place on the island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands (Spain), known for being a focus of paranormal activity: from UFO sightings and disappearances to supposed doors to other dimensions.

This medieval building, more than a thousand years old, was built as a fortress, but in all this time it has been everything, including a prison. Over the centuries, many people have been imprisoned and executed there. People of all kinds and social conditions whose ghosts now wander within its walls.

When it comes to ghost towns, a special place must be reserved for the Spanish town of Belchite, in Zaragoza. Abandoned after the Spanish Civil War, today it is possible to take night routes to discover the mysterious stories that surround the place. Children's screams, bones of corpses unearthed on rainy days, or different apparitions are part of some of them...

Greyfriars Cemetery in Edinburgh (Scotland) is one of the most terrifying cemeteries due to the stories of poltergeists that circulate about it. Hundreds of people have claimed to have been attacked by the spirit of George Mackenzie, the Scottish Royal Advocate in charge of persecution policy in Scotland by King Charles II against the Presbyterian Covenanters. There are reports of burns, bites, and even possessions. The problem became so great that it was decided to close the area where his pantheon is located to the public.

The Dakota building in New York, the same one where John Lennon was murdered and where Roman Polanski's film Rosemary's Baby was filmed, is another of the most famous mysterious enclaves in the world. Various tragedies have occurred there in the past and there are reports of ghostly apparitions and the practice of witchcraft and black magic.

Another haunted place that appears in a cult film is The Stanley Hotel in Colorado. Part of the film 'The Shining', directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the work of Stephen King, was filmed there. Today, there are tours to visit it and there are many stories about ghosts and unexplained events that occur inside. It is 8 kilometers from the Rocky Mountain National Park and there is talk of a specific room where very strange things happen: room 217.

The Plaza Mayor in Madrid was the scene of trials by the Holy Inquisition. Many people were executed there (the last one was in 1798) for a long time. More than two centuries later, there are reports of ghosts roaming the square and other paranormal events occurring in the houses surrounding it.

Legend has it that a man named Julian found the body of a drowned woman in this place and to protect himself and scare away her spirit, he began placing dolls all over the island. Over time, these dolls have deteriorated, giving the place a more than disturbing image.

To speak of Bhangarh Fort is to speak of one of the most haunted places in India. It is said that it was cursed by a magician and anyone who enters its premises at dusk or before dawn disappears. For this reason, the authorities of the place have gone so far as to prohibit entry.

This is a Victorian-era prison located in Belfast. It was known as the European Alcatraz for its security measures and numerous executions of men and women took place there, many of whom ended up buried in the walls of the building. It is said that the ghosts of many of them still roam its corridors.

Another hotel is on the list. This time located in Banff National Park (Canada). According to the stories of some guests, the ghost of a woman who died on her wedding day appears there, having died after falling down a staircase. The ghost of one of the old bellboys, named Sam, has also been seen.

This Portuguese chapel built by Franciscan friars in the late 16th century at the Church of St Francis is terrifying, as it is, as you can see, made of human bones. It was built to raise awareness of the transience of life, but may not be for the more impressionable.

The neo-Gothic Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia operated from 1829 to 1971. Al Capone himself served his sentence there and was a pioneer because it was one of the first prisons to implement, rather than punish, projects that believed that prisoners should be reformed. Since it ceased operations, there has been a lot of paranormal activity inside shadows, laughter heard in a cell, and doors that close by themselves...

This hill, strewn with crosses, located 11 kilometers from Siauliai (in northern Lithuania), is riddled with legends and stories about its origin and the ghosts of all the people buried in its vicinity over the centuries. A gloomy image, as is the sound heard when the wind passes between the crosses and rosaries that accumulate there.

15 meters from the surface of Paris, known as the City of Light, lies this immense cemetery created in the 18th and 19th centuries to relieve congestion in the overcrowded cemetery of the French capital. A network of tunnels of more than 300 kilometers that houses the remains of some six million people from different periods. It is therefore not surprising that different psychophonies have been recorded and spectral apparitions have occurred.

The French Quarter of New Orleans, the birthplace of voodoo in the United States, is completely haunted. Marie Laveau considered the Queen of Voodoo in New Orleans, was born and lived there, and her magic continues to affect this mysterious area of the city to this day.

This is one of the most haunted houses in the United States. It was built by order of Sarah Lockwood Pardee, widow of William Winchester, heir to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. It is located in San Jose, California, and its chaotic construction (full of labyrinths or doors that lead nowhere else) is designed to confuse the spirits who might have died because of the weapons manufactured by her husband's company.

Photo: Pixabay (@egorshitikov)

The island of Poveglia, located between Venice and Lido in northern Italy, was once known as the 'Island of the Dead', as it was once the place where many of those affected by the plague that ravaged Europe in the 14th century was sent. So it is not surprising that mysterious events occur in its vicinity.

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