Top 30 Creepiest Abandoned Places Around the World

Top 30 Creepiest Abandoned Places Around the World

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most unsettling deserted areas across the globe.

#30: The Salton Sea
California, USA
When thinking of resorts, gorgeous beaches and sunny days may come to mind – not decaying buildings and diseased shores. In the 1950s, the Salton Sea was flourishing; it was perfect for vacations and getting away from it all, and was even known to be frequented by a few notable celebs of the time. However, a series of severe floods throughout the 1970s destroyed the area, even completely submerging one of the beaches underwater. Over time, the land continued to deteriorate, with the local wildlife being negatively impacted. Everything from the air to the water was deemed dangerous, and it was hard to believe what it had once been. While the government eventually stepped in to assist with fixing the zone, it still has yet to fully recover.

#29: City Methodist Church
Indiana, USA
When one thinks of churches, they may think of a safe place that remains constant, through thick and thin. However, even the most seemingly secure locations can be affected by outside factors. That was the case for the City Methodist Church, which underwent severe economic struggles after decades of having a thriving congregation. However, as the population of Gary, Indiana dropped for a number of reasons, so did its popularity. Despite attempts to save it, the house of worship was ultimately closed in 1975. The site has actually been used in a few horror films, and it’s clear to see why. The dilapidated interior is chilling; and reminds anyone who enters that not everything lasts forever.

#28: Ross Island (Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island)
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Here, you’ll find the remains of the British Empire. Following the colonization of India, Ross Island, now named Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island, was converted into a new penal colony for the nation. Several businesses and amenities were introduced, and it became a hub for English administrators. Unfortunately, a devastating earthquake, as well as the impact of it being overtaken during the second World War, caused it to collapse. It would be recaptured, but left behind shortly afterwards and handed over to the Navy after that. What’s left are some eerie battered structures, proof of the small society they had once served. Visitors can explore the island, and see the remnants of one of the most powerful reigns in history which has now been completely lost to time.

#27: Witley Court
Worcestershire, England
When looking at this gorgeous property and garden, it may seem completely normal. While it may look perfectly untouched from the outside, it’s actually a shell of what it once was. It was originally a palace for a wealthy family, and quickly became one of the most grandiose homes in the country. They sold it after World War I, and that’s when things quickly fell apart. A disastrous fire demolished most of the castle in the late 1930s, dismantling the exquisite property. While the garden and the exterior were rebuilt, the inside was left perfectly untouched and it was later secured as a spectacular ruin. ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ is an expression you’ll want to remember with this one.

#26: Château Miranda
Celles, Belgium
Even the most gorgeous sites can be left completely deserted. The Neo-Gothic building was lavish, and served as the residence for an upper class bloodline. It remained in their family for nearly a century, before being sold during World War II. After they left, the surrounding region attempted to keep it open by converting it into an orphanage, and even a children’s camp. However, maintenance costs eventually became too expensive, and it was closed in the ‘90s. Afterwards, it fell victim to a fire and constant acts of vandalism, leaving it a shadow of what it had once been. Eventually, the historic location was completely demolished. The rubble that remains is the only reminder of the architectural feat.

#25: Bannerman Castle
New York, USA
The skeleton of a gorgeous castle lies hidden away on a tiny island off the coast of New York. When it was open, it was the source of countless amounts of ammunition and other military-grade supplies, which it then sold to civilian enthusiasts and to the army during times of battle. However, a series of unfortunate events – including some of the gunpowder igniting and blowing up – rendered the arsenal useless. The castle was completely cleared of any weaponry before being left behind. The unsettling remains are still standing today, sufficiently creeping out commuters and drawing in urbexers aplenty.

#24: Sanzhi UFO Houses
Taiwan
On paper, the idea of pod housing is extremely cool. After all, who wouldn’t want to live in an alien saucer-inspired home? Taiwan tried their hand at it in the 1970s, intending to make the unique concept a resort. They had found success with similar designs, and figured they could replicate that with this complex. During construction, a combination of financial distress and a series of horrific deaths, led the project to be scrapped early on. The structures they did manage to complete were left behind, and stood there for decades. Their unnerving appearance and gutted interiors made them permanently sinister, and they gained a reputation among brave sightseers, and especially among ghosthunters. While the houses may have been demolished, they are still widely discussed online.

#23: Hashima Island
Japan
Some places are off-putting even when they’re fully populated. A certifiable concrete jungle, Hashima Island became a prominent location for Japanese mining in the 19th and 20th centuries. While the community thrived for a while, the craze eventually died down with the introduction of other fuel types. The mines were thus shut down; forcing the population – made up predominantly of miners – to evacuate the island. Now, the only aspect betraying any sort of human life are the remains of the apartment buildings and companies still standing despite the constant harsh elements. The rundown island is now a complete ghost town, and travelers can experience the uncomfortably sinister energy for themselves. It serves as evidence of a once thriving industry, and how quickly it can go dark once deemed irrelevant.

#22: Centralia
Pennsylvania, USA
One wrong move can send a thriving borough into permanent ruin. Centralia was once a haven for mining, filled with happy, hard-working people. However, after an abandoned strip mine pit was used as a site for a landfill, those in charge decided the best way to dispose of it would be to burn it. That one choice led to one of the most insidious fires in American history – one that is still burning today and is expected to continue burning for another 250 years. The fire had spread monstrously underground; meanwhile, attempts to douse the flames were unsuccessful. By the 1990s, the population had all but depleted to nothing, and the land was officially condemned. As of 2021, only four citizens remain.

#21: La Isla de las Muñecas (The Island of the Dolls)
Mexico
This destination is not for the faint of heart. While dolls aren’t necessarily scary on their own; seeing them dangling and weathered by time makes them downright terrifying. The man behind the island began adding to his collection in the mid 1900s, and it quickly escalated into what it is today. His motive’s been contested, but many have taken to believe it has a supernatural explanation. Some have theorized he was warding off unsavory spirits, while others are convinced he was trying to appease a young girl’s ghost. No matter the case, the result is a disturbing array of countless toys hanging about nature. The island was opened after his death as a tourist attraction, so you can see the display for yourself…if you dare.

#20: Orpheum Theatre
Massachusetts, USA
The New Bedford Orpheum was officially opened on April 15th, 1912, which just so happens to be the same day the Titanic sank. It housed theater productions and vaudeville shows and by the 1920s, newsreels and motion pictures when their popularity soared. It was considered the second oldest theater in the US. It closed its doors in the late 1950’s, and was subsequently used as a storage space for a while, until its eventual abandonment. The building, which seats 1500, is still mostly vacant, and the subject of a possible renovation and reopening is in the works.

#19: Akarmara
Republic of Abkhazia
In Soviet times, Abkhazia was a popular holiday destination, with a busy railway line. However, conflict in the region, which declared sovereignty from Georgia in 1990, led to the abandonment of numerous buildings - including an entire area called Akarmara within the town Tkvarcheli. The ghost town includes dilapidated factories and apartment buildings with grand but crumbling facades. Once a booming coal town with a population of thousands, as of 2018 Akarmara was home to just 35 residents. Today, it’s a tourist attraction, but the wide streets and elaborate architecture remain a creepy reminder of past glory.

#18: Craco
Italy
Though there are other examples of abandoned Italian places like the old center of Balestrino, the Medieval settlement of Craco, founded around 540 AD, is one of the most noteworthy. Situated in southern Italy, Craco had two separate districts and a population of over 2,000 people at its height. A university was even established in the late-13th century. However, Craco’s history is also littered with troubles, including a devastating plague in 1656 and civil upheaval throughout the 1800s. A series of natural disasters and geological issues like a landslide in 1963 finally proved the final straw. After the Irpinia Earthquake of 1980, Craco was fully abandoned, and now it’s most known as a film set where scenes from films like “The Passion of the Christ” and “Quantum of Solace” were shot.

#17: Hotel Del Salto
Colombia
What was once one of Colombia’s most exclusive hotels is now one of its spookiest spots. The Mansion of Tequendama Falls was originally built by the architect Carlos Arturo Tapias in 1923, and converted into a luxury guesthouse in 1928. It boasted immaculate views of the Falls and there were plans to extend it to a hotel of eighteen floors. However, those plans were never realized as water pollution problems in the Bogotá River turned the once-serene setting into an unsightly one. Ultimately, the building was abandoned in the ‘90s. Furthermore, the Hotel del Salto, aka the Tequendama Falls Hotel, is said to be haunted. It plays host to the Tequendama Falls Museum now, which shows the change from deluxe to dilapidated.

#16: Poveglia Island
Italy
Poveglia is a small island situated between the city of Venice and Lido in Italy. The tiny island has a rich history. Records of residency on the island date back to 421. In 1379 the inhabitants were forced to flee from warfare. One of its octagonal forts, which were built beginning in 1645, still stands. It is best known, however, for its use as a quarantine for plague victims for about 100 years beginning in 1776, and then home to a mental hospital until it was abandoned in 1968. The island has been vacant since, with locals avoiding it. The island was famously featured on an episode of “Ghost Adventures”. Despite occasional attempts to revitalize it, the island remains vacant.

#15: Maunsell Forts
England
Built during World War II as a last line of defense against Germany, the Maunsell Forts were never intended to last. The science fiction-like structures rising from the River Thames and Mersey estuaries were decommissioned in the 1950s, but while some succumbed to the sea or were dismantled, most remain intact. Some of the technology used in the forts’ construction was applied post-war to build offshore drilling stations, and during the 1960s these structures were home to pirate radio stations. The Red Sand towers are perhaps the best known of all the bases, and today there is an ongoing project to restore them. In fact, one proposal even suggests converting them into luxury apartments! For now, however, there are few more eerily isolated places on the planet.

#14: Bodie
USA
As a mining boomtown built in the California gold rush in the late 1850s, Bodie’s best years were between 1877-1880, when the population peaked at approximately 7,000 people. It was the archetypal Wild West town; its mile-long Main Street played host to saloon brawls, shootouts and stagecoach holdups. With a jail, bank, railroad and Union Hall, it was the model of an Old West movie set. Miners began to relocate in the 1880s however, and by 1910 less than 700 people lived here. When the last gold mine was closed in 1942, Bodie essentially became a ghost town. Today, it is preserved as a National Historical Landmark; the buildings remain unchanged, but the streets are deserted.

#13: Aral Sea Ship Graveyard
Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan
Situated between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the Aral Sea was once the fourth largest lake in the world; now it’s the setting for an ultra-eerie graveyard of ships. The Sea has been shrinking ever since the 1960s, when two major rivers flowing into the lake were diverted as part of Soviet irrigation schemes. Today, less than 10% of the original lake remains. The decaying boats are a rusty reminder of the thriving fishing industry that once existed on Aral shores. There are tentative plans to redevelop the Aral Sea, but it seems all but impossible for it to regain its former vastness. Either way, these particular vessels are definitely not fit for action anymore.

#12: Valley of the Mills
Italy
Valle Dei Mulini, or the Valley of the Mills, is a location in Italy in which stone flour mills were housed beginning as early as the 1200’s. In 1866, Piazza Tasso, Sorrento’s central town square, was built, leaving the mill isolated beyond it. The mill was completely abandoned and left to the elements in the 1940s. The main stone building is hauntingly beautiful, as nature has reclaimed it, surrounding and hugging its walls with lush greenery. One can imagine it rich with the ghosts of former mill workers, producing grain for the area.

#11: Aniva Lighthouse
Russia
There are numerous abandoned lighthouses in the world. But few with as dramatic a setting as Aniva Lighthouse, on the southern tip of Sakhalin island in Russia. Thrusting up from rocks off the shore, the rusted, crumbling lighthouse rises nine stories high amid crashing waves. It was built by the Japanese in 1939, but taken over by the Russians during the Second World War. They installed a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, sometimes known as a “nuclear battery”, to power the light. Abandoned in 2006, it’s now home to nesting birds. While in the right light, it can appear beautiful (in a brutal sort of way), it’s also distinctly apocalyptic.

#10: Montserrat Island
British Overseas Territory
The island of Montserrat in the Caribbean was largely evacuated between 1995 and 2000, following the eruption of the long-dormant volcano in the Soufrière Hills. The eruption destroyed the city of Plymouth, and continued to be intermittently active, forcing the creation of an exclusion zone. Plymouth is now heavily buried in volcanic ash, its remnants a tourist attraction. The abandoned city is said to be eerily quiet, as it is absent of any wildlife. Most haunting are the houses and possessions left behind, as residents were forced to quickly vacate their homes.

#9: Varosha
Cyprus
Entry to this ghost town is forbidden; but its eerie, abandoned buildings can be admired from afar. Located in the city Famagusta, Varosha once had a population of 39,000 and was a Mecca for tourists. However, residents fled during Turkey’s 1974 invasion, and were never allowed to return. Today, the old hotels, shops, and homes are falling apart and overgrown with vegetation. If you want to know what the world would look like without us in it, Varosha will give you a good idea - its empty streets and buildings littered with reminders of the people who once lived there.

#8: Kolmanskop
Namibia
Set within the desolate landscapes of the Namib Desert, Kolmanskop was built when diamonds were discovered there in 1908. It was one of the most lucrative spots on the planet at one point, accounting for over 10% of the world’s total diamond production. The town itself was hurriedly built under German administration. As a result, its buildings all mimic European architecture, with the local pub and skittle alley reportedly the busiest spot. However, when even richer diamond deposits were discovered elsewhere in 1928, Kolmanskop quickly declined. The last families moved out in 1956, and the desert has been steadily reclaiming the settlement ever since. The effect might be described as an anti-oasis; there really was a desert paradise here at one time, but not anymore.

#7: Shicheng
China
Widely dubbed China’s Atlantis, Shicheng is one of the most inaccessible of today’s abandoned places, because it is entirely submerged in water! Schicheng – which translates to Lion City – was built between 1,400 and 2,000 years ago, but was purposefully flooded in 1959 to create Qiandao Lake. When divers rediscovered the city several decades later, experts and tourists marveled at how immaculately it had been preserved. Now, undisturbed and up to 131 feet below water, it offers a unique diving experience. There are even plans to build an inverted bridge for the city, otherwise known as a submerged floating tunnel, to give more people the chance to get an underwater glimpse without the need of a wetsuit.

#6: Gunkanjima
Japan
Officially known as Hashima Island, Gunkanjima is commonly known as Battleship Island thanks to its ominous appearance. Located ten miles from Nagasaki, Gunkanjima quickly became a symbol for Japanese industrialization due to its undersea coalmines. But it also gained notoriety before and during World War II as a brutal labor camp where Korean and Chinese workers endured extremely harsh conditions. Population peaked in 1959 when over 5,000 people lived on the 16-acre stretch of land, before the mine was closed in 1974. Travel to Gunkanjima reopened in 2009, allowing tourists to visit the decrepit site, which had lain deserted for 35 years. There’s now an otherworldly feel to the place as one that had once housed thousands of people, and now hosts plenty of ghosts.

#5: The I.M. Cooling Tower
Belgium
Built in Charleroi, Belgium in 1921, the I.M. Cooling Tower became one of the largest coal-burning power plants in the entire country. It adapted with the times to produce gas power in the 1970s, yet was eventually completely shut down in 2007 due to high CO2 emissions. The enormous structure still stands, and footage or photographs of the interior are truly compelling. Urban explorers make their way into the tower regularly, despite the occasional security guard, in order to provide us with haunting images of the interior.

#4: Kiev Metro Tunnels
Kiev
The subway tunnels in Kiev contain several long-abandoned areas. They are very seldom if at all maintained, and some are now flooded. The tunnels themselves lie deep beneath the city. There are, in fact, three stations that are disused, the train passing through but never stopping. All three were built (or partially built) in the 1990s, but construction was discontinued due to the economic downturn. The tunnels and stations now lie silent, with stagnant waters and the occasional stalactite protruding from the ceilings.

#3: Beelitz-Heilstätten
Germany
The 60-building sanatorium at Beelitz-Heilstätten was built in 1898 but was converted into a German military hospital during World War I. The site’s most infamous moment came in 1916, when a young Adolf Hitler arrived having been injured in the Battle of the Somme, and was treated for a wound to his leg. The Soviet Red Army took control of the complex following World War II. However, most of the site was abandoned by 2000, left to rot and succumb to the surrounding foliage. Rusting hospital beds, discarded surgery tables and decaying corridors combine for an incredibly haunting atmosphere – not least because Beelitz will always be the place that helped Hitler get back on his feet.

#2: The SS Ayrfield
Australia
The SS Ayrfield, built and launched from the UK in 1911, had various uses throughout its nautical life. It served as a steam-collier (a cargo ship designed to carry coal), and carried supplies for WW2. It was decommissioned in 1972, its hull abandoned to the elements in Homebush Bay, Sydney, Australia. Nature has greatly reclaimed the hollowed ship, and it is now referred to as a “floating forest”. There is a certain calming beauty about the image as a whole, as well as an eerie reminder of what once was.

#1: Pripyat
Ukraine
Following a massive explosion at reactor number four of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26th, 1986, the city of Pripyat was evacuated, with many of its 49,000 population already experiencing headaches, nausea and dizziness. The largely unknown threat of radiation poisoning created an 18-mile exclusion zone – which remains to this day. The city exists exactly as it was left, down to open textbooks in the classrooms, and set tables in the restaurants. What’s left is a city-sized ghost town with a harrowing past, while iconic images of the ruined Ferris wheel serve as a constant reminder of the dangers involved with nuclear power. There’s no other abandoned place quite like this one!

Which deserted area gives you the creeps? Let us know in the comments below.