Top 20 Most HAUNTED Places in the World

Top 20 Most Haunted Places in the World

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the creepiest places throughout the world that are said to be haunted.

#20: The Island of the Dolls
Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico

For many, dolls are scary enough. Never mind an island full of them. But that’s just what you get with Isla de las Muñecas, an eerie little place located in the Xochimilco canals, just south of Mexico City. It is famous for the hundreds of dolls that hang from trees, fences, and buildings throughout the island, which creates a deeply unsettling atmosphere. Legend has it that a man named Don Julián Santana Barrera started hanging dolls in the trees to honor the spirit of a girl who had drowned nearby. The island is now said to be haunted by the spirits of the girl and other lost souls, with visitors hearing footsteps and even seeing the dolls move on their own accord.

#19: Mary King’s Close
Edinburgh, Scotland

A “close” refers to a narrow alleyway or lane that is often found between buildings in old Scottish cities. Enter Mary King’s Close, a historic street that was shuttered and buried beneath the Edinburgh City Chambers. Many of the old buildings and artifacts are frozen in time, creating an eerie atmosphere that fuels many ghost stories. Like the one of Annie, a little girl said to have died of the plague in the 17th century. She now haunts the Close and is often seen crying and searching for her lost doll. And that’s not including the myriad apparitions, strange noises, and cold spots that visitors are said to experience on a near-daily basis.

#18: Hoia-Baciu Forest
Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Found just west of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca is the Hoia-Baciu Forest, which some people refer to as the Bermuda Triangle of Romania. This is owing to the many creepy stories that have emerged from its borders throughout the years. Perhaps the most famous is a UFO sighting from the 1960s, in which a biologist named Alexandru Sift allegedly captured photographs of a flying disc-shaped object over the forest. The forest is also known to affect electronic devices like cameras and phones, and visitors have reported hearing disembodied voices coming from the dense foliage. Forests are definitely creepy, but this one takes the general creep factor one step further.

#17: West Virginia Penitentiary
Moundsville, West Virginia, USA

Built in 1866, the West Virginia Penitentiary in the small town of Moundsville operated as a maximum-security prison for over a century before it closed for good in 1995. The penitentiary was the site of over ninety executions, and prisoners endured horrific living conditions, both of which are believed to have left an imprint on the prison. Now open for tours, visitors report seeing shadow figures and hearing disembodied voices like whispering and even loud yelling coming down corridors. Hotspots of paranormal activity include the boiler room, the so-called “Sugar Shack,” and the cell of Red Snyder, a convicted murderer who was stabbed to death in 1992.

#16: Aokigahara
Honshu, Japan

Mount Fuji is one of Japan’s most breathtaking sites, but just below it hides a dark underbelly. That is Aokigahara, an extremely dense forest known for its high rate of death. People often go to the forest to take their own lives, and trailheads litter paths urging visitors to reconsider their situation. This, combined with the forest’s density, darkness, and calm silence all add to a dreadful atmosphere. Aokigahara has been associated with death for a very long time - it is said to be inhabited by yūrei, which are ghostly figures in Japanese folklore. The area is also linked to the mythical practice of ubasute, which is when an elderly or sick family member was taken and left to die in a remote location.

#15: The Gettysburg Battlefield
Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania, USA

Hauntings are said to result from great violence, and that is certainly the case with Gettysburg. Found in Adams County, Pennsylvania, this is the site of the magnificent Battle of Gettysburg, fought between July 1 and 3 of 1863. Over 50,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or went missing in the conflict, making it one of the deadliest battles in American history. Naturally, Gettysburg is now considered one of the most haunted places in the country. There have been numerous reports from visitors, park rangers, and locals describing sightings of ghostly apparitions, many of which are dressed in Civil War uniforms. Gettysburg is also an intensely auditory experience, with visitors frequently hearing phantom gunfire, cannon blasts, drum beats, and the groans of wounded soldiers.

#14: Château de Brissac
Maine-et-Loire, France

Named a “monument historique” by the French Ministry of Culture, Château de Brissac dates back to the 11th century, although the structure we see today was constructed in the 17th century. It is currently owned by the noble Cossé-Brissac family, who rent it out for tours and overnight visits. The château is said to host the ghost of Charlotte de Brézé, an illegitimate daughter of Charles VII of France. In 1477, Charlotte was murdered by her husband Jacques, who owned the château and who suspected Charlotte of having an affair. Many visitors and residents have reported seeing her disfigured spirit, making the grand Château de Brissac a popular tourist destination for ghost enthusiasts and paranormal investigators.

#13: Leap Castle
Coolderry, Ireland

Found smack in the middle of Ireland is Leap Castle, whose long history is filled with tales of murder and betrayal. Dating back to the 13th century, the castle is home to many ghosts, including those of the MacMahon clan, who are said to have been massacred inside the castle in 1599. There’s also The Elemental, a small, hunched figure with decayed flesh who carries a powerful stench. And finally there’s the infamous Bloody Chapel, in which a member of the O’Carroll is said to have murdered his priest brother. The man of God now haunts the area, as do the victims of the “oubliette,” a narrow pit inside the Bloody Chapel into which prisoners were thrown to rot.

#12: Poveglia
Venetian Lagoon, Italy

As beautiful as Venice is, its dark and moody brother lives right next door. Found inside the Venetian Lagoon is Poveglia, a small island that was used as a quarantine station during bubonic plague outbreaks in the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s said that the bodies of plague victims were burned on the island, and their ash mixed with the soil. In 1922, a mental hospital was built on Poveglia, further adding to its mystique and eerie atmosphere, and it remained active until the late 1960s. The island now sits untouched, its crumbling structures housing disembodied voices, shadow figures, ghostly bells, and even the spirit of a mad doctor who performed grisly experiments on the patients of the mental hospital.

#11: Bhangarh Fort
Rajasthan, India

India’s main paranormal hotspot is Bhangarh Fort, which was built back in the 16th century to house the son of Raja Bhagwant Das, a ruler of the Kingdom of Amber. The fort itself is an imposing structure, and its remote location and crumbling architecture contribute to its spooky ambiance. According to local legend, the fort and its surrounding area are cursed. One story posits that a local sadhu hexed the fort when its tall shadow fell upon his humble house. Another claims that a practitioner of black magic unleashed a curse when a local princess shunned his advances and accidentally killed him. Regardless, Bhangarh Fort is now said to be deeply haunted - a reputation bolstered by the fact that visits are prohibited after dark.

#10: The Stanley Hotel
Estes Park, Colorado, USA

The place that inspired horror writer Stephen King to write “The Shining”? Yeah, that’s definitely on the list. King stayed in Room 217 of the Stanley Hotel, and reportedly heard ghost children playing in the hallway. The ballroom is where the real action is, however, with accounts of kitchen staff thinking a party was going on in the room, but ultimately finding it unoccupied upon entering. Guests have also reported hearing the ballroom’s piano, despite no one playing it. The show “Ghost Hunters” found reasonable explanations for certain sounds, but they could not decode occurrences in the ballroom.

#9: Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh, Scotland

Medieval castles in Europe are always a popular tourist attraction thanks to their long and interesting history. Edinburgh Castle, however, is also one of the most haunted spots in Scotland – reportedly, of course. Visitors have claimed to have seen the spirits of colonial prisoners from the American Revolutionary War and French prisoners from the Seven Years War. The most famous spirit, though, is the ghost of a piper who was sent to explore the underground tunnels and never returned. Legend says the faint sound of music can still be heard from within the castle.

#8: The Catacombs of Paris
Paris, France

If you wanted to find a ghost, looking in the place where Parisians placed the bones of their dead for decades would be a great place to start. The Catacombs of Paris hold the remains of nearly six million people, and so the site is essentially a mass grave. If that’s not creepy enough, the ossuaries are a small part of Paris’ vast network of underground tunnels and caverns. In 1871, French revolutionists massacred of group of monarchists in one of the underground chambers. With that much death and that much history, how can they not be haunted?!


#7: RMS Queen Mary
Long Beach, California, USA

The RMS Queen Mary, once a prominent ocean liner in the North Atlantic Ocean, has been the subject of haunting rumors ever since it was permanently docked in California. The most haunted area of the ship is the engine room, where a 17-year-old sailor died while trying to escape a fire. Cabin B340 is also said to be haunted, this time by the spirit of a murder victim, while the ghost of a young girl allegedly haunts the pool area after a drowning accident. Yikes.

#6: Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary
San Francisco Bay, California, USA

Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary has been cited as one of the most haunted places in the United States. There are numerous reports of ghostly encounters in the Utility Corridor, where three inmates were killed in a failed escape attempt. Cell 14D is another supposedly haunted area of the prison, due to a legend that says an inmate once spent a night calling out that he was being murdered by a creature with glowing eyes. Lo and behold, he was found throttled to death the next day. Al Capone’s ghost also allegedly haunts the prison, so enter at your own risk.

#5: Borley Rectory
Essex, England

The village of Borley is not the sort of place you would associate with ghosts, but it is home to the infamous Borley Rectory, considered to be the most haunted house in all of England. Once the site of an ancient monastery, legend has it that a monk and nun were killed in the area after their affair was discovered. The nun allegedly haunts the grounds of the rectory, while multiple tenants have reported paranormal activity like the ringing of bells, the breaking of windows and the appearance of writing on the walls.

#4: The Myrtles Plantation
St. Francisville, Louisiana, USA

The Myrtles Plantation is rumored to be located on an ancient Indian burial ground and is said to be home to twelve ghosts, including Chloe, a former enslaved girl. Legend has it that Chloe was caught spying on her owner, had her ear cut off and hid it with a turban. She tried to get revenge by poisoning a birthday cake, but the plan backfired when only the owner’s wife and children ate the cake, and all died. Chloe was hanged and thrown into the Mississippi River, and her spirit supposedly haunts the plantation to this day.

#3: Waverly Hills Sanatorium
Louisville, Kentucky, USA

One of the most haunted hospitals in America; the Waverly Hills Sanatorium was built to help handle the outbreak of tuberculosis in Jefferson County in the early 1900s. Urban legend claims that over 60,000 people died at the Sanatorium, many of whom were sent down the “death tunnel,” a chute used to lower the dead bodies in a secretive manner to prevent patients from seeing how many people were being killed by the disease. Room 502 is also rumored to be haunted by a nurse who took her own life with a light bulb wire.

#2: Eastern State Penitentiary
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Eastern State Penitentiary was home to some of the harshest punishments in the United States, including the Water Bath, the Mad Chair, and the Iron Gag. The first prison to use solitary confinement, many Eastern State Penitentiary prisoners went insane because of its extreme conditions and isolation. Numerous people have reported hearing cackling from cellblock 12, while mysterious, ghostly faces are said to appear in cellblock 4. Even Al Capone was allegedly haunted by the ghost of James Clark, one of the men he had murdered, during his incarceration.

#1: The Tower of London
London, England

The place where multiple executions, murders, and tortures have taken place over the last 1,000 years? If there is a haunted place in the world, this is surely it. Our top pick is allegedly home to hundreds of ghosts, including Lady Jane Grey, Henry VI, Sir Walter Raleigh and Thomas Becket. However, perhaps the most famous resident is the spirit of Anne Boleyn. Her ghost has been seen on many occasions, usually in the Tower Chapel Royal or on Tower Green, and she is often carrying her head in her arms.


Do you have an experience with these haunted locations? Let us know in the comments below!