Top 15 Most Haunted Places In The World

Warning: This is not a suitable read for the faint-hearted. We have a series of eerie stories lined up about the most haunted places in the world. So if you usually jump at the sound of a window slamming shut on a stormy night, you better come clean right now. Alright, let’s do a courage test. How long do you sit through a party where everyone tells anecdotes and stories about ghosts?… The whole time? Well, as long as you are honest with yourself, we can move forward. 

It’s safe to say that paranormal places are no news for us. No matter which little dot on the map you live in, you must have heard of at least one time-worn house in your vicinity with a little girl ghost roaming around in it for centuries. Whether you are a big city person or come from a solitary hamlet, legends about ancient cemeteries and haunted museums have remained popular universally. So put your brave face on and we will dive into uncanny tales from the most terrifying places in the world. 

The Top 15 Most Haunted Places In The World Where You Cannot Travel Alone

There are people who get a kick out of bizarre, paranormal activities. Some thrill seekers, some professional ghost hunters. They would kill for a night at a deserted castle eavesdropping on the rustling sound of the spirit of a discontented king loitering around the hallways. A friend of mine wanders across haunted destinations from all over the globe just to see ghosts live.

We would love to think there’s an aspiring ghost hunter among us looking for cursed places to visit. Or maybe you are here simply because the history of world-famous haunted places is on your Halloween reads. Either way, warm up your pumpkin spice latte because we have a long list of spookiness ahead of us:

1. Gettysburg battlefield, Pennsylvania, USA

In the year 1863, the American Civil War took a tragic turn after the massacre of over 50,000 soldiers within a span of three days. It’s easy to deduce that those damaged, departed souls didn’t receive a proper send-off to the other side. Thousands of spirits remained entrapped in this area including soldiers and civilians.

Ever since then, Gettysburg’s got its haunted reputation. The city has a heavy flow of visitors who have reported many supernatural occurrences like doors opening and closing, apparitions of soldiers in the fields, mystical orbs, and lights. You may even catch something on camera if you are ever in the infamous Jenny Wade House, Cashtown Inn, or the Daniel Lady Farm.

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2. The Tower of London, UK

Standing in its glory since 1066, the London Tower knows British history more than any big fat book in the library. It has witnessed a rollercoaster of events—the golden days of the country and the gruesome past of execution, betrayal, and untimely death. As a setting of so many assassinations, the tower has made the list of significant haunted locations around the world.

Of all the deceased souls, 13 are said to be making an appearance inside the building. The spirit of Henry VI is a visitor to Wakefield Tower where he was executed. People reported hearing shrieks and howling from the mysterious dungeons. You may come across Queen Anne Boylen, the second wife of Henry VIII, lurking in a shady passage with her slaughtered head in hand.

3. Bhangarh Fort, India 

If you are on a mission to cross off the major creepy places in the world from your bucket list, you sure can’t miss Bhangarh Fort. This 17th-century fortress is still living up to the legends associated with it. Here goes:

• The ruins have immortalized the unrequited love of a local occultist named Singhia for the princess of Bhangarh, Ratnavati. He met a tragic death after the princess caught him casting black magic spells on her. On his last breath, he cursed everyone in the fort to die and never be born again

• Another folklore talks about a hermit, Bala Nath. He allowed King Madho Sing to build the fort under one condition. The castle walls should never overshadow his humble abode. Unfortunately, the royal family broke the pact and suffered the wrath of Bala

After the entire settlement was wrecked, the spirits of the villagers and the princess eternally haunted this place. Even today, you can’t enter this mysterious place in India after sundown for the sake of your own safety and sanity.

4. La Noria Cemetery, Chile

We are not exaggerating, La Noria is one of those scary places around the world where you cannot travel alone. I know I definitely won’t. It is indeed a difficult journey given that there’s very little access by road. 

La Noria was a thriving saltpeter mining town in the 1800s. Like any mining habitation, it had a heartbreaking history of torture, starvation, and slavery. People were buried, more like dumped casually in a graveyard outside the locality. After suffering through economic downfall, the town was abandoned and all that was left was the desolate cemetery in the middle Atacama desert.

Today you will see many coffins broken open with bones and skeletons hanging out. Blame the harsh weather conditions or the tomb raiders if you will. To add to the horror, spine-tingling stories about phantoms of children playing and laughing, and women weeping by the graves are widespread around La Noria.

5. Château de Brissac, France

This stunning French castle has to cross your mind when you are trying to name the most haunted place on earth. It’s kind of a bummer though. How can such a majestic medieval structure be frightening? Well, if only you know the whole story.

In the 15th century, the Duke of Brissac, Jacques de Brézé, moved in here with his wife Charlotte. Soon enough, the duke got the news of his wife engaging in amorous relationships with a huntsman. One night, she was caught in the act with her lover. In a fit of rage, the duke killed both of them.

Charlotte’s unhappy soul was resolved to scare her husband off his precious château. Long after he was gone, she kept hanging around in the chapel and other nooks of the castle. Eyewitnesses tell it’s a disturbing sight with holes in her eyes and nose. They call her The Green Lady, named after the color of her dress.

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6. Poveglia Island, Italy

What is the most haunted place in the world? Hopefully, the phantom clan of Poveglia won’t mind if we mention the island in answer to that. When a severe plague outbreak took a toll on the Italian population, they started sending the infected lot to Poveglia to secure the rest of the country. These corpses were mercilessly thrown into pits and burnt eventually. Rumor has it that half of Poveglia’s soil consists of dead people’s ash. 150,000 plague victims is no joke after all!

Later in 1922, the island hosted a group of psychiatric patients. The mentally deranged doctor who ran the asylum tortured his patients with experimental surgeries. The story ended with the doctor committing suicide. 

The loss of so many human lives in such a small place strengthened the haunted element. People heard the chiming of an invisible bell and saw apparitions. Fishermen reportedly caught skulls in their net. No wonder it’s a forbidden land for visitors!

7. Gonjiam Asylum, South Korea

One scroll through the internet and you will hear and see tons of unsettling tales about this psychiatric hospital near Seoul. Different versions of the story accuse the doctors and the hospital owner of many heinous crimes. Cruel treatment of the patients, imprisoning them, and maybe even killing them off—you name it and they are guilty as charged.

However, after the death of the director in 1996, the hospital remained shut for the next two decades. But that didn’t stop the ghost chasers and YouTubers from trespassing the building. Visitors came out with eerie experiences and disturbing images on camera. However, after the release of the 2018 film Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, the government decided to demolish the establishment and put an end to all the chaos.

8. St. Augustine Lighthouse, Florida

Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the Matanzas River, St. Augustine lighthouse is a beautiful and historic landmark. But people don’t rush here for just the gorgeous view. Otherworldly activities make it one of the most coveted haunted destinations among ghost hunters. 

Let’s take William Russell for instance. In 1874, he was appointed as the first lightkeeper, a job that no longer exists today with all the automated lighthouses. However, his unwavering commitment to keeping the tower well-maintained was remarkable. So much so that he chose to be a permanent resident. Tourists still sense Mr. Russell smoking his cigar in a no-smoking zone and hear his boots thumping up and down the stairs. 

Another calamity occurred in the lighthouse when contractor Mr. Pittee brought his daughters to work. The girls were playing in a cart that toppled straight into the ocean. Their giggling still echoes in the walls of the lighthouse at night. It is also said that sometimes the doors open themselves and gift shop products vanish and reappear. How spooky is that!

9. Aokigahara Forest, Japan

In case you are wondering, Japan is often labeled as the most haunted country in the world with a surprisingly high suicide rate. Japanese philosophy holds committing suicide in high regard as it gives a person the power to decide when to walk out of life with dignity. Aokigahara forest in Japan prepares the perfect setting for the last voyage. 

Located on Mount Fuji, the Suicide Forest is spread across a 14-square-mile area. Let’s paint you a mental picture. Everywhere you look, it’s just trees. Wind or sunlight can barely make their way into the forest. Even walking becomes challenging with thick volcanic ash in the soil and entwined roots of the trees on the ground. 

Japanese folklore also mentions the presence of Yūrei, or demons in the forest misguiding hikers toward the unyielding trails. Once you set foot in this death trap, chances are very low that you will safely make it out of there. 

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10. Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Canada

All those who are reading us from the Great White North, see if you can manage a trip to the most haunted hotel in the world. With the breathtaking view of the Rocky Mountains on the outside and spine-tingling eerie events inside, a stay in the Fairmont Banff Springs will be etched in your heart forever. 

When you are there, try to sneak a peek of the Ghost Bride. You are bound to feel sorry for her dreadful fate. To die so young that too on her wedding day clad in her dress! She is still seen dancing in the ballroom alone and wandering around the staircase she tripped off. 

If you are lucky enough, Sam McAuley might come from beyond and lend you a hand with your bags. This super friendly ghost of a former porter of the hotel reappears from time to time to guide the guests to their rooms and help with a thing or two. If I am fated to have a supernatural encounter someday, I would like to dip my toes in with someone cordial like Sam. Better than facing the aggravated soul of a 500-year-old lady, what say?

11. Castle of Good Hope, South Africa

Once upon a time, the Dutch East-India Company raised a citadel as they needed a refreshment supply station for the ships passing by the shore of Cape Town. Later on, it was turned into a prison and torture cell by the British. This architectural marvel can testify to the myriad of incidents happening in South Africa for over 350 years. With its long history of catastrophes, suicides, and executions, it passed the criteria of the most terrifying places in the world in flying colors. 

And boy oh boy is the place haunted! The ominous presence of Governor Pieter van Noodt is pretty well known. Apparently, a man he sentenced to death cursed him and mysteriously it came true the very same day. Don’t be surprised if you hear an invisible bitter man shouting inside the building—that’s Noodt. Some confirm the story of Lady Anne Barnard, the first lady of the castle, calmly supervising the daily affairs. 

12. Monte Cristo Homestead, Australia

This is a story of how an ordinary homestead transitioned into one of the scariest places in the world. An honest, hard-working couple from New South Wales owned this Victorian-style abode. The rhythm of the Crawley family was disrupted right after the death of Mr Crawley in 1910. A series of freaky incidents took place in Monte Cristo and now there is one ghost dwelling in almost every room.

Mrs Crawley, for instance, locked herself in the attic for the last 23 years of her life. Even in death, she remained the cranky old woman pushing and touching people she didn’t like. She allegedly killed the pets of the next owners. 

It was a mystery how one of the two housemaids impregnated by Mr Crawley jumped off the balcony and died. The stable boy Morris met a gruesome death in a fire set by his master. Where do you think the maid, the stable boy, and all other casualties in Monte Cristo poofed off to? The vengeful spirits wrecked the place into a horror house.

13. The Forbidden City, China

Located at the heart of Beijing, the Forbidden City has been the home of Chinese emperors for five hundred years. One can imagine the socio-cultural baggage this place is carrying on. The city is associated with a brutal mass slaughter of 2800 prostitutes, and eunuchs in the very year of its opening, 1421. It was the deed of a Yongle emperor who was trying to protect his reputation from a sex scandal.

That incident ignited the checkered past of the Forbidden City. Like most terrifying places in the world, a haunted site doesn’t feel complete without its weeping woman ghost in a white dress. Sightings of phantom dogs and the sound of music coming from the forlorn houses have been reported many times. It’s only fair the authorities don’t allow visitors after dark given the city’s profound supernatural connection.

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14. Island of Dolls, Mexico

Of all the creepy places in the world, the doll island is bound to give you a cold shiver.  Somewhere around the 1950s, a sequestered man Don Julian Santana Barrera abandoned his family and chose an ascetic life in Xochimilco. There he discovered the corpse of a little girl who drowned in the canal. Her body was found with a doll floating nearby.

As the sole member of the island, Santana took it upon himself to please the little girl’s soul and he hung up the doll on a tree. Wait, we are not even close to the final chapter yet. Over the years, the man hung weirdly disfigured dolls on many trees to protect himself from the evil spirits. 

His story took a poetic turn when in 2001, his dead body was discovered in the canal in the exact same spot where he once found the little girl. As a popular haunted destination, Xochimilco gets many tourists who stop by with dolls dedicated to the troubled spirits of the island. 

15. Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia

Let’s wrap this somewhat creepy list with the most hauntingly beautiful underwater graveyard, Chuuk Lagoon (formerly known as Truk Lagoon). This Japanese army base amidst the Pacific Ocean was hit hard by American troops during WWII. 

More than a hundred submarines, aircraft, and battleships collapsed into the sea. After the enormous damage done in Operation Hailstone, the Japanese forces were literally brought down to their knees. A death toll of over 4000 in two days was hard to overcome. 

After 79 years of that malevolent time, people moved on from its gloomy shadow. Wreck divers have found a gold mine in Chuuk Lagoon examining every remaining piece of the destruction. Some are said to have spotted apparitions of deceased soldiers and experienced sudden waves of melancholy. 

It was a hell of a journey learning and writing about the famous haunted places in the world. I am not ashamed to admit that I am no braveheart. While I may dare to take a day trip to some of these places but at night, I want to be home, tucked in bed. I assume, of the two of us, you are the fearless one. So, what’s your pick? One cozy stay at the Banff Springs Hotel? Let us know!