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By Becky Mahan, Editor
Chateau Miranda – Belgium
This castle was originally built for the French elite, but became a shelter orphanage for children during World War II. It was abandoned in 1980, and ghost hunters love to prowl the overgrown grounds for apparitions and mysterious voices.
Priypat – Ukraine
You may not recognize the city name, but you’ll know the nuclear plant that had a meltdown near it: Chernobyl exploded in 1986, sending a vast plume of radioactive material across the USSR and Europe. Pripyat, as the homebase for many of the plant workers, got the full brunt of it and was evacuated, leaving it today as an eerie, radioactive ghost town.
Beelitz-Heilstätten Hospital – Germany
This one is famous with ghost hunters: the Soviet military hospital in Germany saw many a tortured body in its day, and now houses many a tortured soul after being abandoned in 1995. The hospital was built in the 1800s and is said to have treated a leg wound on Adolf Hitler.
Six Flags Jazzland – New Orleans
The perfect setting for a horror movie, this Six Flags park was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina and now stands as a creepy shell of an amusement park, abandoned and overgrown.
Eastern State Penitentiary – Philadelphia
One of the world’s first modern penitentiaries, Eastern State opened in 1829 and set the architectural model for modern prisons. It was also home to famous inmates like Willie Sutton and Al Capone. Closed and abandoned in 1971, it is now a – haunted – national landmark.
Castle of Good Hope – Cape Town
Built in the early 20th century, visitors have reported apparitions at this castle since nearly the beginning of its ambiguous establishment. People seem to mostly see a man walking the ramparts and a dog who jumps on visitors, but the most intriguing story is about repeated sightings of a crying woman running through the complex. When modern excavations uncovered a woman’s body, the sightings promptly stopped.
The Ancient Ram Inn – England
By B R Marshall – Geograph, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5976010
This 12th century inn has a sinister character, indeed: home to satanic sacrifices and rituals over the centuries, the owner of the inn claims that on his first evening in the house, he was grabbed from his bed and dragged across the room. Why he stays there, we’re not sure.
Changi Hospital – Singapore
Built as a hospital in the 1930s, it was seized by the Japanese during World War II and turned into a prison and torture facility for the Japanese Secret Police. Visitors have reported seeing men, women, children, and bloody Japanese soldiers wandering aimlessly throughout the halls.
Island of the Dolls – Mexico
Have you heard of this one? In the 1950s, a man moved to this island seeking solitude and refuge – only to find that it was already inhabited by the spirit of a little girl who drowned off the shore decades earlier. To soothe her, he bought countless dolls and hung them from trees — until he mysteriously drowned in the same spot she did. Visitors report seeing the ghosts of both the little girl and the man on the island, and hear whispers from the dolls as they walk past.
Moosham Castle – Austria
Countless women condemned of witchcraft in the Middle Ages were executed at this moody 12th century castle. Many of those women haunt the grounds now, showing themselves as angry and sad spirits, headless apparitions, and disembodied screams for visitors. One is even said to badger visitors incessantly to make them leave.
Mary King’s Close – Scotland
Considered one of the most haunted dwellings in the UK, people have reported apparitions, voices, and footsteps within its tortured halls since the 17th century. The Close is a complex of underground streets and tunnels leading to various shops and homes in the 16th and 17th centuries, but was abandoned after the plague swept through and claimed endless lives. Hundreds of visitors have reported the particular sighting of a little girl who told them her name is Annie.
Sai Ying Pun Community Complex, Hong Kong
This complex started first as a nurse’s facility, then became a mental asylum which housed particularly troubled patients. Today, hauntings are violent: most people see a demon dressed in traditional Chinese clothes who bursts into flames; others see headless specters and hear blood-curdling screams seemingly right behind them.
Bhangarh Fort – India
Built in the early 17th century, this fort protected a small city and royal palace. When a sorcerer allegedly fell in love with the king’s daughter and then died trying to seduce her, he cast a curse on the city with his final breath. Shortly afterward, an invading army pillaged the fort and murdered almost every citizen, leaving the place abandoned and riddled with ghosts. Locals refuse to live anywhere near the ruins, and even demand that the complex be closed after dark to prevent the hundreds of ghosts who have been seen prowling the area. In fact, there is an unsettling number of cases of people who ignored locals’ warnings, remained at the fort past dark, and were found dead in the morning.
Source: gogobot.com