There are numerous places throughout the world that are known for their spooky atmosphere, though some are considered to be more haunted than others. In this video, we’ll be tracking down the most haunted places on the planet to determine which is really the spookiest of all. Join ViewCation as we find the most haunted places in the world.
Alcatraz Island
The first location that we’ll be taking a look at in this video is a location that most viewers likely already have at least a cursory familiarity with. You may have seen Clint Eastwood escape from the island in Escape from Alcatraz, but did you know that Alcatraz Island is actually considered to be haunted? The reasoning behind the location being haunted is pretty obvious. More often than not, locations that are deemed as haunted are locations with a dark history. Few locations have a darker history than Alcatraz Island!
Alcatraz Island is located in California’s San Francisco Bay, and it housed an infamous federal penitentiary that operated from 1934 until 1963. During the time that it was in operation, the prison housed some of the country’s most dangerous criminals. As one might imagine, this didn’t lead to the greatest environment. Prisoners were mistreated, and prisoners also mistreated the guards. On many occasions there were fatalities. Oftentimes, these fatalities were self-inflicted. Today, Alcatraz Island functions as a museum for tourists. The idea that the island is haunted only adds to it’s ghoulish nature, with rumors that chains can be heard jangling and red eyes can be seen glowing in the night.
The Island of the Dolls
Alcatraz Island is a very well known location, particularly amongst Americans. A lesser known location that’s just as haunted as Mexico’s Isla de las Munecas. For those who need catching up on their Spanish, the name of this location translates to “the Island of the Dolls”. When you get to the island, you’ll see a clear reason for the designation. The island is populated by creepy little dolls hanging from trees, and the sight of these dolls will give tourists a fright whether they know the supernatural backstory behind them or not. As the legend goes, a man found a young girl drowned on the island with a doll in tow. He then tied this doll to a nearby tress as a sort of makeshift memorial. As time went on, he began to feel as if he was being haunted by the young girl’s spirit. He was compelled to hang more dolls to satiate the spirit, and that’s how the Island of the Dolls came to be! To make matters worse, there are some who claim that they can hear the dolls whispering to each other in the night. There are even those who say the girl’s spirit possesses the dolls.
Larnach Castle
There was a time in history when there was nothing more modern and eloquent than the classic, Middles Ages-style castle. However, castles have developed decidedly dark reputation overtime, both thanks to their intimidating architecture and the possible horrors that may have occurred within their walls. Located in New Zealand, Larnach Castle is one of the more notable haunted castles known to the modern world. The castle is said to be haunted by the daughter of it’s original owner, who was a man by the name of William Larnach. William had a daughter by the name of Kate, and she did not long after her 21st birthday. Today, her spirit is believed to reside in the castle’s ballroom.
Pittock Mansion
Castles have largely gone the way of the dinosaur, but that doesn’t mean that wealthy people haven’t continued to build excessively large homes in the decades since the Middle Ages. Just as with castles, the mansions of the wealthy elite from more recent times are notorious for becoming decrepit and possibly haunted. One such cased is Pittock Mansion, which resides I the American states of Oregon. The mansion was built by a newspaper editor by the name of Henry Pittock, who planned to start a family with his wife Georgiana. Sadly, those plans didn’t turn out, as the couple died only a few years after the mansion was built.
After Henry and Georgiana Pittock passed away, the mansion that they built remained under the ownership of their extended family for a few decades before being sold off in the late 1950s. Within a decade of being sold, a storm hit the mansion and caused extensive damage. The mansion was about to be torn down when community activists stepped in and claimed that they wanted to preserve the building for it’s historical merit. This is how the mansion became a historic site, and it has since developed a reputation as being haunted. Of course, believers say that the couple still resides in the mansion, with the Pittocks having never fulfilled their dream of starting a family.
Poveglia Island
Besides prisons, mansions, and castles, another type of building that is notorious for becoming haunted is the mental hospital. There was an infamous mental hospital that resided on the Venetian island of Poveglia, and many say that the island is haunted because of it. Poveglia Island has drawn loads and loads of paranormal investigators to Venice, Italy, though it could be that these investigators are just using the haunted as an excuse to taste some fine Italian cuisine! Though paranormal investigators have been able to get within the walls of the mental hospital that once operated on Poveglia Island, the ruins are officially off-limits to the public. Many believe that this off-limits status is kept adamantly in place because of the facility’s exceptionally haunted nature!
Stanley Hotel
As far as famous haunted locations that have inspired classic Hollywood movies, Alcatraz Island is not alone on this list. Some viewers may have already heard the tale of how the Stanley Hotel in Colorado inspired author Stephen King to write his novel The Shining, which in turn was adapted into Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film. Not only was the film based on an actual hotel, but the hotel is still in operation today! The hotel attracts horror fans from all over the world.
The Stanley Hotel may be best known today for inspiring The Shining, but the infamously haunted location actually has a pretty interesting history. The hotel has been around for over a century, with it being erected in 1909. It was named after a famous inventor by the name of Freelan Oscar Stanley, who both designed and managed it. True to Freelan’s scientific leanings, the hotel was exceptionally cutting edge for the time that it first opened up. It came to be known as one of the first facilities of it’s kind in the region to feature both telephones and electricity, which was ironic when you consider that it was always intended as a wilderness retreat for the wealthy elite. Some may wonder how such a prestigious building came to develop it’s haunted reputation. The fact of the matter stands that glamour always fades, and this proved all too true for the luxurious Stanley Hotel.
By the 1970s, the Stanley Hotel had become a mockery of it’s former self, and many began to spread rumors that there were ghosts lining it’s walls. The haunted nature of the building is what drew horror writer Stephen King, who found just the inspiration he needed to write his new novel when he spent the night. When it came time for his novel to be adapted into a feature film, the Stanley Hotel itself sadly wasn’t used as a shooting location. However, that doesn’t mean that the popularity of The Shining didn’t increase the popularity of the building that inspired it. The lasting popularity of both the book and the subsequent film has allowed the Stanley Hotel to continue to operate to this day.
Aokigahara Forest
It’s very likely that viewers will have heard of Aokigahara Forest, which is located toward the bottom of Japan’s famous Mt. Fuji. However, it’s less likely that viewers will be familiar with the forest by it’s actual name. Instead, chances are that viewers will have heard of this location by it’s decidedly disturbing nickname, which is “Suicide Forest”. If you know anything about the location, the reasoning for this nickname is plain. Aokigahara is an exceptionally popular place for residents of Japan to commit suicide. The phenomenon started decades prior, in the 1950s. As time went on and rumors began to spread, more and more people came to think of the forest as the place to go if you need to kill yourself in Japan. Though most have chosen not to question the phenomenon of suicides in Aokigahara Forest, there are those with theories that suggest that suicides aren’t just caused by depression. Some have speculated that the iron deposits underneath the forest can mess with compasses and make travellers get lost. Then, after a few days of not finding their way, they take their own life.
Regardless of the real reason behind the number of suicides that continue to occur within Aokigahara Forest, the evidence is plain. Visitors to the forest have documented the surplus of corpses dotting it’s vicinity, with some influences having even gotten in trouble for posting footage of the site to social media platforms after visiting. It seems that visitors nowadays can make it in and out of the forest without committing suicide unless they truly want to, so the supernatural dangers seem moot. Still, the haunted nature of the location goes without question, and we’d stay away!
The aforementioned locations represent what many believed to be the most haunted places in the world. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that there’s a forest in Japan that seems to inspire people to commit suicide, and that The Shining was based on an actual haunted place in the American state of Colorado? Comment down below!