Whether you’re an avid ghost hunter or just curious about the supernatural, here are 8 notorious haunted tourist sites around the world that you can visit!
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, a walk into local haunted sites like the Old Changi Hospital is sure to send chills down your spine. With Halloween around the corner, we’ve compiled a list of eight haunted tourist sites around the world that’s sure to get your spook on when travel reopens.
Spooky Tales Around The World:
1. Haunted Hotels in Asia & Their Horror Stories
2. Most Beautiful Cemeteries in the World
3. Haunting Ghosts & Demons in Asia
4. Haunted Tourist Sites in the World
1. Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Canada 🇨🇦
Why is Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel spooky: There are several resident ghosts that take up their permanent presence in this hotel, most notably a bride who reportedly fell down the stone staircase, and Sam the bellman. Sam worked at the hotel until 1975, and he was dedicated to his job well even till undeath.
When guests were locked out of their rooms, the doors would unnaturally open for them – it’s believed to be Sam’s resolute service to his guests. Guests have also reported that lifts will open on floors that no one has pressed the buttons for. Maybe that’s just Sam doing his rounds and you happened to share the lift with him.
2. Bhangarh Fort, India 🇮🇳
Why is Bhangarh Fort spooky: It was once inhabited by Indian royalty by the name of Chatr Singh, who had an impossibly beautiful daughter named Ratnavati. A local tantrik priest was so taken aback by her beauty that he used his powers in black magic to get her to love him. The black magic took the form of a perfume, by which one of Ratnavati’s maids brought to her. Ratnavati caught wind of the perfume’s vile sorcery and threw it back at the priest, which then turned into a boulder and crushed the priest.
In his final moments, he made his last stand and cursed Ratnavati and her royal family to oblivion. Coincidentally, a year later, a fight broke our between the forces of Bhangarh and neighbouring Ajabgarh, which led to the death of Ratnavati and most of the army. Yikes!
3. Al-Jazirah Al-Hamra, United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪
Why is Al-Jazirah Al-Hamra spooky: Al-Jazirah Al-Hamra was once a thriving pearl fishing village made up of 200-odd villagers in 1830. The population increased to about 2,000 right up until the 1960s, and everyone suddenly disappeared.
There are multiple rumours that caused this abandonment; some said that there were century-spanning tribal conflicts that caused the settlers to move out, whilst others said that the more probable reason was because of the djinns roaming around the area, causing a ruckus and unsettling all the residents. They certainly had to be real powerful djinns to scare 2,000 villagers out of their homes…
4. Xunantunich, Belize 🇧🇿
Why is Xunantunich spooky: It’s an ancient Mayan ruin that has been abandoned for thousands of years. While it has been regarded as an under-the-radar tourist attraction, it’s very much over-the-radar in terms of supernatural activity.
One such ghost is said to haunt the ruins – a long-haired female with red glowing eyes – was sighted by early research teams in 1893, and has made regular appearances since. Many speculate that her spirit roams around in anger because she was made as a human sacrifice as part of an ancient ritual. I hope she doesn’t decide to follow you home after your visit to Xunantunich.
5. Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, India 🇮🇳
Why is the Taj Mahal Palace spooky: While to most people the Taj Mahal Palace is the very vision of perfection, its seemingly minor flaw was a major one to its architect.
According to legend, the architect was so bothered by the Taj Mahal Palace facing the wrong direction that he jumped off the fifth floor to his demise. His spirit has since roamed the halls, tormented eternally by his lack of vision of perfection because of this seemingly small, yet massive error.
6. Lawang Sewu, Semarang, Indonesia 🇮🇩
Why is Lawang Sewu spooky: Once the head office for the Dutch East Indian Railway Company, it was converted into a detention camp during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in World War II. As with any detention camps during that era, lots of harsh interrogations, tortures, and violent executions happened within Lawang Sewu.
There have been many rumours about the restless spirits wandering its halls, many of which are looking to avenge the injustice that happened to them during those dark times. Visitors have reported to hear crying and screaming from the basement of Lawang Sewu, where most prisoners were drowned and tortured to death. Guides here also offer brave visitors a ritual where they can “open their eyes” to ghosts, but be warned that this cannot be undone.
7. Poveglia Island, Venice, Italy 🇮🇹
Why is Poveglia Island spooky: The 18th and 21st century bear a similarity in terms of dealing with pandemics; Poveglia Island was used as a quarantine location for the masses who suffered from plagues and diseases, much like many quarantine measures of COVID-19 we see today. However, back then, science was still very much in its phase of discovery and inventions, and as such, many of the quarantined were subjected to horrific experiments.
In the 1920s, a doctor running the hospital allegedly performed lobotomies, and committed suicide because of the lobotomy patients’ spirits driving him mad to his death. If that’s not bad enough, the sick that were sent to Poveglia Island to live out their last days were often burned in mass graves – so when you do step foot onto the island, it’s probably half soil and half human ashes. While there was a planned restoration work, it was halted abruptly and the island has been empty since 1968, except for the few times it appeared on TV programs for ghost hunters.
8. Teatro Tapia, San Juan, Puerto Rico 🇵🇷
Why is Teatro Tapia spooky: One would normally go to a theatre to immerse themselves in a live performance art, but Teatro Tapia ups the spook level by adding in ghostly performers as well. How did the ghostly performers come to be?
There’s a legend that an actress fell to her death whilst performing, and has eternally sought to finish her performance. Some guests have seen her wandering around, while others report mysterious footsteps, doors swinging open and shut, and an unseen choir of voices coming from the stage. That being said, if you’re looking for a performance-oriented spook house, Teatro Tapia still sells tickets for shows.
Every Day is Halloween…
Halloween may be a once a year thing for you, but these places have their spook on year-round. Ghosts and spirits are eternally restless until they’ve finished what they’ve started, and at these places, they never seem to be done.
To be fair, the ghosts’ eternal restlessness can mirror our thirst to travel, which can’t be possible until borders reopen. Whether you’re waiting to hunt ghosts or to travel, you can still rely on your YouTrip card to enjoy overseas retail therapy – check out our guide to overseas online shopping and you’d be surprised at the guides and hacks we have in store.
If you don’t have a YouTrip card yet, use <BLOG5> during your sign-up to enjoy a free S$5 in your account! 😎
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