SCARIEST PLACES ON THE EARTH

ROMIL KHARIA

Very Very Scary

AOKIGAHARA FOREST ( 青 木ヶ原 森林 )

• AOKIGAHARA ( 青木ヶ原 ), ALSO KNOWN AS THE SUICIDE FOREST OR SEA OF TREES ( 樹海 , JUKAI), IS A 35-SQUARE-KILOMETRE (14 SQ MI) FOREST THAT LIES AT MOUNT FUJI'S NORTHWEST BASE IN JAPAN. THE FOREST HAS A HISTORIC ASSOCIATION WITH "YŪREI" OR GHOSTS OF THE DEAD IN JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY, AND IT IS A NOTORIOUSLY COMMON SUICIDE SITE (IN WHICH 54 TOOK PLACE IN 2010).

PRIPYAT• IN THE 1970S, THE TOWN OF PRIPYAT, LESS THAN 3 KILOMETERS AWAY

FROM THE REACTOR, WAS CONSTRUCTED FOR THE PLANT’S PERSONNEL. ONCE A BEAUTIFUL TOWN BY SOVIET STANDARDS, ITS 50,000 INHABITANTS WERE EVACUATED 36 HOURS AFTER THE ACCIDENT. TODAY A CHILLING GHOST TOWN, ITS BUILDINGS BEAR WITNESS TO THE HASTY DEPARTURE. DOLLS ARE SCATTERED ON THE FLOORS OF ABANDONED KINDERGARTENS; CHILDREN’S COTS ARE LITTERED WITH SHREDS OF MATTRESSES AND PILLOWS; AND IN A GYMNASIUM, WHERE TEENS ONCE TRAINED, FLOORS ROT AND PAINT PEELS.

OVERGROWN PALACE

• IN 1910, THIS GRAND PALACE WAS BUILT AS A HOME FOR POLISH ROYALTY. THE REST OF THE CENTURY PROVED UNCERTAIN FOR THE COUNTRY AND UNDER COMMUNIST RULE THE PALACE BECAME AN AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL, AS WELL AS A HOME FOR MENTALLY HANDICAPPED ADULTS AND CHILDREN. THE FORMER PALACE WAS DESERTED FOLLOWING THE FALL OF THE USSR.

BHANGARH FORT

• BHANGARH FORT / KILA IS LOCATED ON THE WAY TO ALWAR AND JAIPUR IN RAJASTHAN IN INDIA. AS PER A LEGEND THERE WAS A BLACK MAGIC SORCERER WHO CURSED THE RESIDENTS OF THE PALACE THAT THEY ALL WOULD DIE AN UNNATURAL DEATH AND THEIR SPIRITS WILL STAY THERE FOR CENTURIES TO HAUNT THE FORT / KILA FOREVER.

HIGHGATE CEMETERY

• BY THE TIME DUSK SETTLES DOWN THE ULTIMATE HORROR ENVIRONMENT STARTS TO DESCEND ON THE PANORAMA. HIGHGATE CEMETERY IS ONE IDEAL PLACE FOR GHOST HUNTERS. HEADLESS STATUES, CREAKY PATHWAYS, UNMANAGED GRASS PAVEMENTS AND LEST WE FORGET THE TYPICAL HOOTING OF OWLS IS A COMMON FEATURE TO BE FOUND IN THIS PLACE.

CHANGI BEACH• THE CHANGI BEACH IN SINGAPORE IS BELIEVED OF BEING A POPULAR KILLING

GROUND OF THE CHINESE SOLDIERS BY THE JAPANESE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. THOUSANDS OF CHINESE SOLDIERS WERE TORTURED AND KILLED DURING THIS OPERATION AS THEY WERE SUSPECTED BY THE JAPANESE OF GETTING INTO ANTI JAPANESE ACTIVITIES. THIS BEACH STANDS WITNESS TO THE KILLING OF INNUMERABLE INNOCENT CHINESE. TILL DATE BEACH COMBERS THRONGING TO THIS PLACE COULD HEAR THE SCREAMS AND WEEPING OF PEOPLE. OFTEN AT NIGHT PEOPLE COULD ALSO FIND DEEP DIG PITS AS THAT NEEDED FOR BURIALS OF DEAD BODIES. THE MOST HORRIFYING IS THAT SOME BEACH COMBERS HAVE FOUND HEADLESS BODIES OF CHINESE SOLDIERS ON THE BEACH AT NIGHT.

CHURCH OF THE NINE GHOSTS

• THIS MEDIEVAL CHURCH WAS LEFT TO THE ELEMENTS IN 1968, HOWEVER THERE WAS RESISTANCE FROM THE COMMUNITY TO LET THE CHURCH GO TO WASTE. A LOCAL ARTIST PLACED NINE EERIE PHANTOMS IN THE CHURCH TO BRING ATTENTION TO THE SPIRIT OF THE CHURCH, CREATING A HAUNTING EXPERIENCE FOR THOSE WHO GO TO VISIT.

ROSS ISLAND

• THIS ISLAND HAS A MIX OF NATURAL BEAUTY MIXED WITH ARCHITECTURAL BEAUTY. ROSS ISLAND WAS THE ADMINISTRATIVE HEADQUARTERS WHEN INDIA WAS UNDER BRITISH RULE. IN THE 1940’S THE ISLAND WAS ABANDONED BECAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES AND JAPANESE INVASION.

HOTEL DE SALTO

• HOTEL DE SALTO OPENED ITS DOORS TO GUESTS IN 1923. HOWEVER, DUE TO CONTAMINATION IN THE NEAR-BY RIVER, OPERATIONS WERE CUT SHORT JUST A FEW DECADES AFTER WELCOMING THEIR FIRST GUESTS. TODAY, THE HOTEL HAS BEEN RESTORED AND CONVERTED TO A MUSEUM, BUT IT IS RUMORED THAT THERE ARE HAUNTINGS ON THE PROPERTY DUE TO PAST SUICIDES.

 KOLMANSKOP

• IN THE 1900’S, THIS SMALL MINING TOWN WAS CREATED BY GERMANS LOOKING TO FIND DIAMONDS AND PRECIOUS GEMS. THE TOWN WAS ABANDONED IN THE 1950’S, LEFT TO THE ELEMENTS. DUE TO CURIOSITY AND WONDERMENT, THIS BECAME A POPULAR PLACE FOR TOURISTS TO GO EXPLORING, MAKING THIS ONE OF THE MOST WELL-KNOWN GHOST TOWNS.

UNOCCUPIED IRISH HOMES

• AT FIRST GLANCE, THIS LOOKS LIKE A NICE AND QUIET NEIGHBORHOOD THAT ANY FAMILY WOULD LOVE TO LIVE IN. WHEN YOU LOOK A BIT CLOSER, YOU’LL SEE THAT THESE HOUSES ARE NOT OCCUPIED, NOR HAVE THEY EVER BEEN. IRELAND HAS LOTS OF NEIGHBORHOODS THAT WERE BUILT UP, BUT AFTER THE HOUSING COLLAPSE IN 2008, THESE HOMES WERE NEVER SOLD. ALTHOUGH NO ONE HAS EVER LIVED HERE, IT IS CREEPY TO WALK THESE EMPTY STREETS.

SPREEPARK

• IN GERMANY DURING SOVIET RULE IN THE 1960’S, SPREEPARK WAS THE ONLY AMUSEMENT PARK ON THE EAST GERMAN SIDE. ONCE THE WALLS WERE TAKEN DOWN, EVERYONE FLOODED TO THE MODERN DESIGNED AMUSEMENT PARKS, LEAVING SPREEPARK AN ABANDONED WASTELAND.

SIX FLAGS JAZZLAND• AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA DEVASTATED NEW ORLEANS IN 2005, SIX

FLAGS JAZZLAND WAS ONE OF THE MANY VICTIMS OF THE DESTRUCTION. WITH UNCERTAIN PLANS OF REOPENING THE PARK, JAZZLAND TODAY REMAINS AN EERIE AND HAUNTING REMINDER OF WHAT ONCE WAS, WITH SOME AREAS THAT LOOK LIKE IT CAME STRAIGHT FROM A HORROR MOVIE.

J WARD• ARARAT COUNTY GAOL BEGAN ITS OPERATIONS IN 1861, DURING

VICTORIA’S GOLD RUSH. IN 1887, THE GOLD RUSH HAD ENDED AND THE PRISON BEGAN J WARD, A MAXIMUM SECURITY PSYCHIATRIC WARD FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE. TODAY, IT IS ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S MOST HAUNTED PLACES