List of reportedly haunted locations in the world
This is a list of locations in the world that are reportedly haunted by ghosts or other supernatural beings. Reports of haunted locations are part of ghostlore, which is a form of folklore.
Australia
- Beechworth Lunatic Asylum in Beechworth, Victoria is reportedly haunted by several ghosts of departed patients. The asylum was open from 1867-1995. It has appeared in several books, television shows, and documentaries, including A.C.T. Paranormal, and is rumored to be a possible episode for Ghost Adventures. Ghost tours run nightly.[2]
- Thirteen people were executed at the Ballarat Gaol in Ballarat. The remains of seven criminals are still in the grounds. The Ballarat Ghost Tours operate nightly.[4]
- Princess Theatre in Melbourne has reported several ghosts since the building opened in 1886. The theatre's best known 'inhabitant' is Frederick Baker, stage name 'Federici', a talented bass-baritone singer who died in March 1888 whilst singing Mephistopheles in Faust - and who was seen by the rest of the cast taking his bows with them shortly thereafter. For years the theatre kept a seat vacant in the dress circle for Federici (only ceasing the practice on economic grounds), and his appearance in the dress circle during rehearsals for a new show is considered a good omen.[5]
- 999 Springbrook Road on the Gold Coast, Queensland is rumoured to be haunted by the spirits of a WWII veteran whom suffering from the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, killed his family in a granny flat and air raid bunker standing alone from the main house.
Barbados
The Chase family vault or just Chase Vault located at the Parish Church of Christ Church was the site of mysterious moving lead coffins inside a sealed tomb during the 1800s. The Barbados' British colonial administrator Governor, Lord Combermere tried unsuccessfully to catch any persons, but none could ever be discovered. As panic ensued the lead coffins inside the vault were eventually excavated and buried separately, and the tomb sealed.
Brazil
- The Joelma Building in São Paulo is allegedly haunted by victims of the fire that started on February 1, 1974, after an air conditioning unit on the twelfth floor overheated. The building is famous for the "Mystery of the Thirteen Souls", individuals who died within an elevator when they were trying to escape the fire, and are allegedly haunting the building today.[7]
Denmark
India
- Bhangarh, Rajasthan: In the first half of the 17th century, Madho Singh of Amber built his capital here with the sanction of an ascetic Baba Balanath, who meditated there, but not without his dire prediction: "Look my dear chap! The moment the shadow of your palace touches me, you are undone. The city shall be no more!" In ignorance, Ajab Singh, one of the dynasty's later descendants, raised the palace to such a height that the shadow reached the forbidden place. Hence the devastation. A second myth describes a tantric battle waged between the lovely queen Kanchan yadav and the wicked sorcerer Amit Yadav, who was attracted by the queen's beauty. Amit Yadav chhatri can be seen on the top of the hill. Desperately, he tried to trap her in his magical web, and failed every time, as the queen herself was a past-mistress in the tantric art. The last battle took place on the day when the queen eventually lost her temper, transformed a glass bottle containing the massaging oil into a big rock and flung it towards the hill-top, where sat the devil. In vain he tried to stall this glass missile. It was too late. Sensing his imminent death, concentrating all his powers, he spat his dying curse: "I die! But thou too, thou Kanchan yadav shall not live here anymore. Neither thou, nor thine kin, nor these walls of the city. None shall see the morning sun!". The night was spent transferring the palace treasures to the new site of Ajabgarh. In the morning came the tempest leveling everything to the ground. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has put up a signboard at Bhangarh stating (among others): "Entering the borders of Bhangarh before sunrise and after sunset is strictly prohibited." Tourists who visit this place say that there is a strange feeling in the atmosphere of Bhangarh, which causes symptoms of anxiety and restlessness.[9]
Indonesia
- Pelabuhan Ratu - Legend says that Nyai Roro Kidul (Nyai is a Javanese honorific for Madame), daughter of King Prabu Siliwangi, is the Queen of the South Sea. She is supposed to have committed suicide by jumping off the cliff and into the sea. Rumors say that if someone wears green when swimming (the Queen's favorite color), he or she will be pulled by her ghost into the sea. Room 308 at the Samudra Beach Hotel is set aside for the Queen.[10][11]
Japan
- Amiidaji (Temple of Amida) in Dan-no-ura, in the Shimonoseki Strait, is the location of a legendary haunting. It is said that the blind Biwa hōshi Hoichi, a resident of the temple, was visited every night by the ghost of a dead samurai and made to play the biwa in the cemetery, but the priest of the temple soon found out and had the heart sutra painted on every part of Hoichi's body apart from the ears. When the samurai returned one night to take Hoichi to the cemetery, he could only see Hoichi's ears, so he took them instead and Hoichi was left earless. Hoichi is commonly known as "Mimi-Nashi Hoichi", "Hōichi the Earless", due to this event. This legend was famously retold by Lafcadio Hearn in his Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things which was later adapted as part of Masaki Kobayashi's film Kwaidan.[12][13]
- Okiku's Well at Himeji Castle is often said to be haunted by the ghost of Okiku. She is supposed to rise from the well at night and count to nine before shrieking and returning to the well.[15][16]
Monaco
- A former yacht belonging to Errol Flynn, the USS Zaca (IX-73) is berthed here and is supposed to be haunted. Witnesses have reported seeing the visage of Errol Flynn's frustrated ghost pacing on board. Others have described the sounds of voices and laughter as if a wild party was happening on board. [17]
Oman
- Bahla is an Omani town. In neighboring Gulf countries and Oman itself, there are rumours of Bahla accommodating jinns which is same as genies in English.[18]
Pakistan
- The Koh-i-Chiltan peak in Balochistan is described according to a local myth and legend associated with it as being haunted by "spirits of forty babies."[19]
- The Mohatta Palace in Karachi is said to be haunted by ghosts of the British Raj era. Museum guides have reportedly acknowledged having seen various incidents where objects have been moved from their original place, or shifted about while guards have claimed to have "felt" the presence of certain spirits during the nights.[20]
Philippines
- Baguio City itself is also considered highly haunted. Aside from the military academy, there are other haunted places scattered throughout the city, such as cemeteries, old hotels and sites where populated buildings and structures used to stand until the 1990 earthquake brought them down, injuring and killing the people inside.[21][22]
- Balete Drive, a residential area in Cubao, Quezon City, is famous for the apparition of a white lady. It is told that there was a teenage girl who was raped by a cab driver in the '50s in that area. It is possible that the lady of Balete is seeking revenge.[23]
- The Manila Film Center was the site of a construction accident in the early '80s. When construction of the center was rushed for a film festival, the ceiling scaffolding collapsed, killing several workmen who fell to the orchestra below. Rather than halt construction to rescue survivors and retrieve the bodies of dead workmen, Imelda Marcos, the First Lady and the main financier of the project, was believed to have ordered cement to be poured into the orchestra, entombing the fallen workmen. Some of them were even buried alive in the orchestra. Various ghostly activities were reported on the site including mysterious sounds, voices and poltergeist activity. In the late '90s, a group called the Spirit Questors began to make visits to the film center in an attempt to contact and appease the souls of the workmen who were killed in the building. Some of these spirits claimed to have moved on, but a few allegedly remain.[24] Previously abandoned for its haunted reputation, the building is now currently in use.
- The Ozone Disco was a disco in Quezon City that caught on fire.[25] Due to mass panicking, nobody was able to get out. Some people near the location hear ghostly disco music in their houses at night and see faint people dancing.[26]
Romania
- Hotel Cismigiu, in Bucharest, is reportedly haunted by the ghost of a student girl. In the early '90s, she fell in an elevator shaft by accident. She is supposed to have died there after a few hours, as no one came to her aid.[27]
- Hoia Baciu Forest, near Cluj-Napoca, has a reputation for paranormal activity. Reports have included, among others, folk ghost stories, apparitions, faces identified in photographs that were not visible with the naked eye, and, in the 1970s, UFO sightings. Visitors to the forest report anxiety and the feeling of being watched, and the local vegetation is oftentimes bizarre (strangely-shaped trees, charring on tree stomps and branches).[28]
Singapore
United Kingdom
United States
See also
- Lists of episodes of paranormal television series that feature reportedly haunted locations
References
- ^ Jack Wong Sue and Barry Sue. Ghost of the Alkimos. (Revised edition: Perth, 2005)
- ^ Beechworth Ghost Tours Information Accessed 6/9/08
- ^ Monte Cristo Homestead, Australia's Most Haunted House - Ghost Tours
- ^ Eerietours.com.au
- ^ Rewind (ABC TV): The theatre ghost
- ^ "The Ghost Guide to Australia" (Richard Davis, 1998)
- ^ G1 > Edição São Paulo - NOTÍCIAS - Lugares 'mal-assombrados' viram lenda em SP
- ^ "Guide to castles of Europe". http://www.guide-to-castles-of-europe.com/dragsholm-castle.html. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
- ^ Gaur, Arun. (December 6, 1998). Silent ghost cities. The Tribune.
- ^ Janssen, Peter. "Pelabuhanratu (Indonesia) - A resort with a ghost". MysticAsia. http://www.mikalina.com/Texts/pelabuhanratu_indonesia.htm. Retrieved December 20, 2006.
- ^ Khouw, Ida Indawati. "Room No. 308 still retains its mystery". The Jakarta Post. http://indahnesia.com/indonesia/JAWSAM/samudra_beach.php. Retrieved December 20, 2006.
- ^ Professor Solomon, Japan in a Nutshell.
- ^ The Story Of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi
- ^ Iwasaka, Michiko and Toelken, Barre. Ghosts and the Japanese: Cultural Experiences in Japanese Death Legends, Utah State University Press, 1994. ISBN 0874211794
- ^ "The Japanese Ghost Story of Okiku". Artelino Art Auctions. http://www.artelino.com/articles/ghost_story_okiku.asp. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
- ^ Iwasaka, Michiko and Toelken, Barre. Ghosts and the Japanese: Cultural Experiences in Japanese Death Legends, Utah State University Press, 1994. ISBN 0874211794
- ^ Richard Winer and Nancy Osborn-Ishmael, (1980), More Haunted Houses, Bantam Books, pp. 69-72
- ^ Nl.newsbank.com
- ^ "Chiltan Mount and a frugal pair". Gutenberg.org. http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10974/pg10974.html. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
- ^ A bit of culture in a piece of history: Karachi Metblogs
- ^ "Philippines". Shadowlands Haunted Places Index. http://theshadowlands.net/places/philippines.htm. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ Cabreza, Vincent (2007-10-28). "Horror means profit". Philippine Daily Inquirer. http://business.inquirer.net/money/features/view_article.php?article_id=97328. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
- ^ "Myths Surrounding Balete Drive". Philippines Guide. http://www.philippinesinsider.com/myths-folklore-superstition/myths-surrounding-balete-drive/. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ "The Manila Film Center mystery: A ghostly place or an urban legend?". Sidetrip with Howie Severino. November 1. 2005. http://gmapinoytv.igma.tv/sidetrip/blog/?/archives/42-The-Manila-Film-Center-mystery-A-ghostly-place-or-an-urban-legend.html/. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ Nepomuceno, Manny (October 12, 2001). "The Ozone Disco Tether". In Nomine Philippines. Archived from the original on 2007-10-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20071022032048/http://www.geocities.com/angeloffools/stuff/ozone.html. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ "Manila Off the Beaten Path - Unique Places in Manila". Virtualtourist. http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Philippines/City_of_Manila/Manila-1391614/Off_the_Beaten_Path-Manila-BR-1.html. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
- ^ Metropotam » D'ale Bucurestilor » Now and then: Hotel Cismigiu
- ^ Pădurea Hoia-Baciu, de lângă Cluj - centrul fenomenelor paranormale (VIDEO)
- ^ "Castle Dracula". http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/vampires/dracula/castledracula/. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
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