Spooky Sites

You may or may not believe that the souls of the departed roam the earth, but sometimes a place has such an eerie atmosphere that an otherworldly presence seems almost inevitable. Cemeteries are notorious for their creepiness factor, even the new-fangled ones where all the markers are flat on the ground. Abandoned buildings, too, are frequently unnerving, although they might just be overgrown and lonely. And of course, anything underground – tunnels, bunkers, caves – has the potential for inducing a few hair-raising moments.

Experienced ghost-hunters may recognize some of the more famous (or infamous) names on this list, but there are a couple that may surprise you. Test your fear threshold with a visit to one of them, or search out some of your own!

Europe is bursting with history, some of it quite gruesome, so it makes sense that there would be a few unsettled souls wandering about. France has a few hotspots, such as the Paris Catacombs. The tunnels started out innocently enough as Roman limestone quarries, but by the end of the 18th century they had largely been converted to a series of vast subterranean tombs. More than 150 miles of tunnels, many of them unmapped, meander under the city streets – the official public tour accesses only a fraction of them. Even if there are no actual ghosts in residence, the sight of piles of skulls, femurs and ulnas is enough to give many a visitor a bad case of the chills. It is possible to explore the other sections, with an experienced guide, but be aware that the cataflics (special catacombs police) will assess a fine of €60 for anyone caught doing so.

England's ghouls and ghosts are well documented, too. In the country's capital city, there is perhaps no more haunted structure than the Tower of London. Some of the most appalling incidents in British history took place within its walls. In 1471, the Duke of Gloucester (who would later become Richard III) stabbed weakling monarch Henry IV to death here. Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey, both victims of Henry VIII's violent whims, met their ends here; also at the behest of Henry the VIII, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury was hacked to death with an axe in 1541. Probably the most reprehensible deaths at the Tower, though, were those of Edward IV's nine- and twelve-year-old sons, orchestrated by their jealous and tyrannical uncle, Richard III (the aforementioned Duke of Gloucester). The roster of hangings, beheadings and other grisly acts committed here is lengthy, and the staff frequently reports unexplained sounds and sights that might just be the unhappy souls of past victims, revisiting the site of their untimely demise.

The city of York in the north central part of England, is reputedly one of the most haunted cities on the planet. Every other pub has its resident spirit, which the publican will be happy to tell you all about. York Castle is home to Mad Alice, a woman hanged in 1825 for being insane. The Theatre Royal hosts the spirit of a nun who had an affair with a nobleman and was consequently bricked up in a wall. Thomas Percy, beheaded in 1572 for treason, supposedly wanders the churchyard of Holy Trinity, searching for his head. There are countless other tales of unfortunate York residents who died in particularly horrific or tragic manners – learn about them, and perhaps spot a phantom or two, on one of the city's many walking tours.

Jamaica, land of sunshine and good times, may not seem the type of place that a ghost would find hospitable. But Rose Hall Great House is evidently attractive to at least one of its former residents, Annie Palmer, known as the White Witch. She is credited with hastening the deaths of three husbands, several lovers and even slaves. Voodoo was widely practiced at the time of her death, and the story has it that her plantation overseer, a man who had taught Annie the particulars of black magic, wearied of her harsh treatment and ever-more-frequent murders and, taking matters into his own hands, finally rendered her incapable of committing any more atrocities. Her grave is not far from the old plantation house where she was killed. Evidently it wasn't prepared just right because her ghost is still seen from time to time, along with the ghosts of some of her victims....

Prisons, by their very nature, are dismal and depressing. An abandoned prison on an island? One of the most desolate and forlorn places you can imagine. Alcatraz is just that, and it's all the more horrifying because it looks out toward the beautiful city of San Francisco, but is separated from it by the frigid waters of the bay and is virtually inescapable. Inmates like Al "Scarface" Capone, Robert "Birdman" Stroud and George "Machine Gun" Kelly made Alcatraz a household name, but the reality of being incarcerated here was much harsher than most people realized. During its tenure (1934-1963), the prison housed over 1500 criminals. Official records state that, of that number, nine died or were killed in escape attempts, eight were murdered by other inmates, five committed suicide and 15 died from illnesses; tallies were not kept of the prisoners driven insane by time spent "in the hole" or simply from the brutality of life on the "Rock." Reports of weird and unexplained sounds are not uncommon. Do the traumatized spirits of former prisoners still roam the grounds?