15 Haunted Locations Around the World

Halloween and scary movie fans looking for authentic haunted locations to visit don’t have to look far.

There are spooky sites to visit all over the world that will send shivers down your spine. Here are some of the scariest places to visit around the world, ranging from abandoned insane asylums to Renaissance castles with underground dungeons.

If you dare, enter any of these haunted locations and try not to jump when you hear something go bump in the night.

#1 Alcatraz in San Francisco, California

Alcatraz, located a few miles off the coast of San Francisco, is possibly the most infamous prison in American history. The maximum-security penitentiary system began in the nineteenth century to house war criminals.

Later, in the early 1930s, it was converted into a federal prison, where the country’s worst criminals were sent to serve their sentences. (Notable inmates at Alcatraz include Al Capone and Robert “Birdman” Stroud.)

Tales of torture and abuse plagued Alcatraz throughout its years of operation, and it became known as the one prison where no one ever escaped alive.

Even before Alcatraz closed in 1963, guards reported strange noises and supernatural sightings in the middle of the night. Visitors and rangers have claimed that the prison is haunted by the spirits of former inmates, including Al Capone, whose banjo music has been heard coming from the shower where he used to play.

Today, visitors can experience the intense atmosphere of Alcatraz by taking a tour of the prison’s facilities and entering one of the prison’s solitary confinement cells, which mysteriously remain freezing cold even during the hot summer months. Even if you only have one day in San Francisco, it’s worth the trip.

Plan your trip to San Francisco

#2 The Whaley House in San Diego, California

The Whaley House in San Diego’s Old Town neighborhood was the first brick building in California, built in the mid-nineteenth century, and served as a granary, city courthouse, theater, and general store.

It is now a historic house museum that draws visitors from all over the country who want to admire the house’s Greek Revival architecture or experience the hauntings that have long been rumored to occur within the centuries-old San Diego home.

The brick house was built on the execution site of thief Yankee Jim Robinson, who is said to have haunted the Whaley family since they moved in in 1857. Later in life, the Whaleys suffered their own tragedies, including the death of their 18-month-old son, Thomas, from scarlet fever, and the suicide of their younger daughter Violet, who was dumped by her conman husband.

Residents and visitors to The Whaley House have reported strange sounds such as heavy footsteps and a baby’s cry for decades, while others claim to have seen a young woman walking around the second floor. It’s no surprise that The Whaley House has been named the most haunted house in America twice.

Plan your trip to San Diego

#3 The Unitarian Graveyard in Charleston, South Carolina

A haunted tour of Charleston’s ghosts always includes a stop at the Unitarian Graveyard, one of the city’s oldest cemeteries and one of the spookiest locations.

The Unitarian Graveyard, which is overgrown with weeds and plants, is said to be haunted by a lady in a white wedding gown who walks among the crumbling tombstones and graves at night. Many believe the apparition is the spirit of Anna Ravenel, the woman who inspired Edgar Allen Poe’s heartbreaking final poem, “Annabel Lee,” about a young woman who died before marrying the love of her life.

Plan your trip to Charleston

#4 New Orleans, Louisiana

With a spooky history filled with voodoo queens, vampires, pirates, and witches, New Orleans has more than earned the title of America’s most haunted city.

While some visitors may prefer to attend a jazz concert or sample the city’s famous beignets, there are also enough tours and haunted locations to keep supernatural seekers busy for days.

Taking a walking tour and visiting famous haunted houses is one of the best things to do in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Visit the Lafitte Guest House, which is said to be haunted by the spirit of a young girl who died of yellow fever, and the Old Absinthe House, which is said to be haunted by the ghost of Andrew Jackson.

If you’re feeling particularly brave, pay a visit to the LaLaurie mansion, a grand mansion with a grisly history of torture, or the St. Louis Cemetery, a 250-year-old graveyard where Marie Laveau, aka the Voodoo Queen, was laid to rest.

Plan your trip to New Orleans

#5 Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Several prominent Argentines are buried in Buenos Aires’ baroque Recoleta Cemetery, including Eva Peron and Isabel Walewski Colonna, Napoleon Bonaparte’s illegitimate grandchild.

Rufina Cambaceres, a 19-year-old socialite who was accidentally buried alive in Recoleta in 1902, is perhaps the most famous resident of Buenos Aires. A graveyard worker discovered her coffin’s lid broken the day after her funeral.

When he opened the casket, he discovered markings on the inside of the lid as well as severe bruises on Rufina’s face and hands. They later determined that the young woman had not died at first but had suffered from catalepsy, a condition that can mimic death, and had died while attempting to climb out of a coffin.

In her honor, her family erected a large Art Deco stone statue in the cemetery, and many visitors have claimed to have seen Rufina wandering around the graveyard since then.

Plan your trip to Buenos Aires

#6 Bar Harbor, Maine

Pirate shipwrecks, Indian burial grounds, and unsolved murders are all part of the haunting history of Bar Habor, Maine.

Take a red cloak tour of the town’s Old Burial Ground, enter the haunted Art Deco Criterion Theatre, and try not to cover your ears as you hear terrifying Wabanaki indigenous tales that will keep more than one tourist awake all night.

Plan your trip to Bar Harbor

#7 Rose Hall Plantation in Montego Bay, Jamaica

The White Witch, Jamaica’s most famous ghost, lives in this eighteenth-century Georgian-style mansion in Montego Bay.

Annie Palmer was raised by a Haitian nanny who taught her witchcraft and voodoo spells after her parents died of yellow fever, according to urban legend. She later married and murdered three husbands before being buried in Rose Hall in a tomb.

A voodoo ritual was performed to prevent her evil spirit from ever leaving the tomb, but it backfired and trapped her ghost inside the mansion forever.

Plan your trip to Montego Bay

#8 The Eden Brown Estate in St. Kitts

Take a short ferry ride over to St. Kitts’ sister island, Nevis, and visit a haunted former sugar plantation that is now in ruins.

A wealthy businessman once owned the Eden Brown Estate and intended to give it to his daughter, Julia Huggins, and her fiancé after they married. However, tragedy struck on the wedding day, when a mysterious duel occurred between the groom and his best man, killing both.

Julia Huggins never married or recovered from his death, and she spent the rest of her life on the estate as a recluse. Locals claim they can still feel her sad spirit roaming the property to this day, making it one of the Caribbean’s most haunted places to visit.

Plan your trip to Nevis

#9 Malahide Castle, Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland, like New Orleans, has a rich haunted history that dates back centuries.

If you’re looking for paranormal activity, start at Malahide Castle, one of Ireland’s oldest castles and one of the best medieval castles in Europe. At least five ghosts are said to haunt it, including a court jester and a mysterious lady in white.

Tourists have reported hearing strange voices and feeling cold fingers caressing the back of their necks in the haunted crypt of St. Michan’s Church.

If you want to get a drink while being spooked, go to Dublin’s oldest pub, The Brazen Head, where rebel leader Robert Emmet, who was hanged nearby, is said to appear on occasion; or The Grave Diggers pub, located next to Glasnevin Cemetery, where a resident ghost dressed in tweed has a regular spot at the bar.

Plan your trip to Dublin

#10 Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, Canada

Stop by the Fairmont’s Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City to visit a haunted hotel where two ghosts are said to have never checked out.

Look for a woman in a white nightgown who visits guests while they sleep, or the 17th-century governor of New France, Louis de Buade de Frontenac, who died there before marrying his fiancée and spends the evenings looking for her in the hotel halls.

Plan your trip to Quebec City

#11 The Wall of Tears in Isabel Island, Galapagos

While the Galapagos Islands are well-known for their diverse flora and fauna, the eco-destination also has a haunted site with a dark history on one of its islands.

The Wall of Tears, located in the town of Puerto Villamil on Isabel Island, is a 300-foot-long barrier made of volcanic rocks that was built between 1944 and 1959. Back then, the small Galapagos island housed several criminals who were sentenced to build this seemingly interminable wall.

Many of these criminals died as a result of the torturous forced labor, and locals claim they can still hear their desperate cries at the unfinished wall from time to time.

Plan your trip to Isla Isabela

#12 Mystery Island, Vanuatu

When you first set foot on Mystery Island, a tiny idyllic South Pacific island with crystalline beaches and breathtaking scenery, you might wonder why this slice of paradise is still uninhabited.

Perhaps it’s because the locals from the nearby island of Aneityum don’t like to stay on Mystery Island after the sun goes down.

What’s the reason? They believe the island is haunted by spirits who appear only at night. Unsurprisingly, cruise ships and tourist boats do not remain after the sun sets.

#13 The Paris Catacombs in Paris, France

If you’re looking for a little darkness while visiting the City of Light, the famous Paris Catacombs, where skulls and bones line the walls of a centuries-old tunnel, are a must-see. With approximately six million corpses buried inside, the skeletal maze is rife with urban legends and ghost stories.

While the catacombs stretch for nearly 200 miles, only about a mile of the tunnels are open to the public. Nonetheless, this hasn’t stopped others from attempting to enter the catacombs’ closed-off areas via the catacombs’ numerous secret entrances hidden throughout Paris.

Plan your trip to Paris

#14 Voergaard Castle in Denmark

This striking Danish Renaissance castle, which houses an equally impressive art collection, is one of Scandinavia’s scariest places to visit. According to legend, Ingeborg Skeel, the owner of Voergaard Castle in 1578, still haunts the grounds today.

Skeel, a noblewoman who lived alone, was accused of being a witch, murdering the architect of the castle by throwing him into a moat, and chopping off the hands of one of her farmhands. People were reportedly so terrified of her that after her death, a priest was summoned to perform an exorcism at the castle.

While none of these stories can be confirmed, a look at the castle’s gruesome underground dungeon, which lacks light, ventilation, and enough space for a grown man to sit or stand, is proof that something sinister was going on inside Denmark’s Voergaard Castle.

Accommodation nearby

#15 Bedlam Point in Sydney, Australia

While Sydney has many haunted locations, its first psychiatric hospital, Gladesville Mental Hospital in Bedlam Point, is by far one of the most haunted.

This insane asylum, which was open from 1838 to 1997, allegedly committed numerous violations against its patients, including shock treatments, burnings, and overcrowding. It closed in 1997, but conditions were allegedly so bad that over 1,200 bodies were buried in a mass grave beneath the hospital.

Plan your trip to Sydney

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