Scary Places Around The World You Should Visit

With Halloween around the corner, let’s explore some of the scariest places in the world that will give you the spooks.

Island of the Dolls, Mexico

If you are afraid of dolls, then don’t bother going to this place. Based south of Mexico City, in the Xochimilco channels, the surrounding areas are well populated but the island itself is largely deserted with hundreds of dolls hanging in the trees. Many of these dolls are unclothed. Some who have visited the place say that the dolls’ eyes are moving, believed to be possessed by the spirit of a drowned girl who met her fate near the island. Legend says that the former island caretaker began hanging the dolls after he found the drowned girl, haunted by her spirit.

Mansfield Reformatory, Ohio

Featured in The Shawshank Redemption and several other films, the Ohio State Reformatory is home to the world’s tallest freestanding steel cell block at six stories high. Many of the cells were meant to hold one prisoner at a time, but overcrowded conditions led to violence and disease, forcing the prison to  eventually close. Visitors have reported seeing shadowy figures, hearing unexplained footsteps, and being grabbed or scratched. It’s rumored to be inmates who’ve died during their sentences that are roaming the halls. If you enjoy a deeper thrill, you can do a public ghost hunt or “Escape From Blood Prison”, a haunted house meets escape room.

Nagoro, Japan

In the Iya Valley, it is said to be an eerie village with only 30 residents and over 400 large dolls. Local resident Tsukimi Ayano creates them in memory of the deceased. Bearing a striking resemblance to deceased human counterparts, wearing clothes and all, this adds to the creepy factor as they silently stare at you from all angles as you move about town. They are usually perched fishing on the riverbanks, sitting at desks in the local school, or waiting for the bus rather than being in one spot. If I were to sit in the class with one of these dolls, and it starts moving, consider me out.

La Recoleta Cemetery, Bueno Aires, Argentina

If you are looking for cemeteries that are beautiful to pass by, this is not one of them. Said to contain 6,400 statues, coffins, mausoleums, and gravestones; visitors happen to hear key jangling which is believed to be the late gravedigger David Alleno, who reportedly committed suicide after three decades on the job. At the time, his status of himself that he commissioned was complete.

Peyton Randolph House, Virginia

Built in 1715 and restored in the 1900s, the Peyton Randolph House is one of the oldest homes in Williamsburg and said to be of the most haunted. It is said that a slave named Eve cursed the home as revenge for cruel treatment. Many who have lived in the property died,  whether it be from mysterious illnesses, falling off trees, falling from windows, or shooting. Visitors reported hearing strange voices, seeing objects move on their own, and being touched or pushed.

Sedlec Ossuary, Kutná Hora, Czech Republic

If you thought churches weren’t spooky, guess again. “Church of Bones” or Sedlec Ossuary, is set to have around 50,000 human skeletons lying around the monastery, which has been deemed holy land and was once a popular burial site. The bones are artfully woven into chandeliers, candelabras, candleholders, and more, strung around above the church.