An unsettling cold gasp running down your neck, all your senses alerted and no matter how much they tell you “retreat” you can’t keep yourself from taking one more step. The curiosity of what the darkness holds is just too overwhelming.
We’ve all been, one time or another scared out of our whacks and at the same time so intrigued that there’s just no stopping the desire to see and feel more. By means of that same sensation I’ve compiled a list of The Top 10 Most Haunted Places in the World. They are old and creepy with a lot of soul…
At nr 10; the small village of Borley has a shocking reputation because it was the location of the infamous Borley Rectory, ‘The Most Haunted House in England’. Built in 1863 on the spot of an ancient Monastery for Reverend Henry Bull, the story goes that a nun and monk have fallen in love – to much disgrace – when they tried to elope the monk was executed and the nun bricked up in the cellar walls of the monastic building. Many have spotted the desolate nun still doing her ‘Nun’s Walk’…
There are a number of legends connected with my number 9; The Berry Pomeroy Castle. This 14th-Century Castle has a reputation of being haunted by the most notorious lady ghosts. The White Lady and the Blue Lady. According to legend the White Lady is the spirit of Margaret Pomeroy, who starved to death while imprisoned in the dungeons by her jealous sister. She haunts the dark dungeons, and rises from St Margaret’s Tower to the castle walls. Lady Blue is not limited to specific areas and is supposed to lure people into parts of the ruin, very bad things when you follow her.
As any other good story, number 8 starts when a beautiful princess rejected an evil magician, Singhia who then cursed the Bhangaargh Fort with the death of all who lives in it and that their souls will stay there for centuries without rebirth. This fort which was abandoned in the 1700s is reportedly so haunted that even the Government restricts entry between sunset and sunrise. Visitors have experienced a sense of severe impatience and unease in the air and vow not to go back again, ever.
When thinking Jamaica, the idea of an infamous haunted house might not be your first thought, but Rose Hall is exactly that. This huge house is reportedly occupied by the ghost of a voodoo priestess’s daughter who causes bloodstains to appear and disappear randomly. She murdered three husbands and a series of slave lovers by poison and witchcraft. According to legend the ghosts of the sacrificed rituals also haunt this house and male victims have been caught on camera.
Long ago in the city of Paris it became necessary to make more space. Masses of dead were moved to the underground section of quarries beneath the city. These Catacombs are notorious and many have encountered more than just a deadly silence. There have been ghostly encounters and touching. Inhabitants roam the passageways and silently follow the tour groups. They lie there to this day, in darkness.
Inside the empty halls and narrow streets of Edinburgh there are echoes of the restless dead. Edinburgh Castle is said to be the site with the most active ghost sightings, visitors have reported shadowy figures with extreme presence and tugging of clothing. Hot spots include the prison cells and the South Bridge vaults which were used to entomb victims of the plague. Reports include a ghost dog roaming the ground’s pet cemetery, a headless drummer and the spirits of the prisoners taken at war. Edinburgh also homes the Underground Vaults where visitors have been attacked by the unseen, left cut, bruised and some unconscious.
Many of us have seen or remember the horror film The Shining based on a novel by Stephen King. The story was inspired after a stay at the Stanley Hotel. Guests and staff claim to have heard music and seen the piano keys playing without seeing anyone. The ghost of a child has been spotted numerous occasions with guests awakening and finding their blankets taken and folded while room 407 reeks of a cherry pipe being smoked. Room 418 is reportedly the most haunted room by ghosts of children; impressions of bodies have been found on the bed even though the room was never occupied…
The Tower of London is one of the most well-preserved buildings in the world and reportedly the most haunted place in England. Many executions, murders and tortures have taken place here, even more ghosts have been spotted over the years in and around the Tower. The most recognized being the spirit of Ann Boleyn, one of Henry VIII wives. She was beheaded and has been seen sometimes carrying her own head on Tower Green and in the tower Chapel Royal. The Salt Tower is so haunted even dogs refuse to enter. Another gruesome story connected with the Tower of London includes the death of the Countess of Salisbury where she was hacked to death. Her execution has been seen re-enacted by spirits many times.
It is estimated that as many as 36,000 people died in the Waverly Hills Sanatorium; coupled with reports of mistreatment and extremely doubtful experiments it produces the perfect recipe for a haunted location. Voices of an unknown source have been reported, isolated cold spots and unexplained shadows with echoing screams down the hallways and fleeting spectres all have been faced and captured on film. The creepiest is a little girl’s spirit playing hide and seek with visitors and a little boy playing with his leather ball…
Knocking in at nr 1: 112 Ocean Avenue is the house which The Amityville Horror story is based on. It started in 1973 when Ronald Defeo Jr shot and killed his parents, two brothers and two sisters. In 1975 George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house with their 3 children, when a Father came to bless the house he told them about the uneasy feeling he got. The following 28 days were a torment for the family and on the last night they heard noises coming from the basement, doors and windows would slam open and close all over the house while the children’s beds where hauled across their rooms and levitated. As soon as it begun, it was finished. They fled the house and no one has ever returned…
Whether you are a believer of trapped souls or an afterlife sceptic; one thing is for sure, there will be no denying that there is something chilling about these places and spaces. Make a memo on your bucket list to visit them before they come visiting you…
