If you are a travel lover as well as a haunted-place amateur, then keep reading, because I decided to do a list of some places in the world that might interest you.
Čachtice Castle, Slovakia
The Čachtice Castle dates back to at least 1276, but was given around 1575 as a wedding gift from her husband to a Hungarian countess named Elizabeth Bathory. Her husband was a soldier, and so he often was away from home to fight. In the meantime, she hung around the various family properties. Her husband died in 1604, and this is when the real trouble began as she moved permanently back to the castle. The real trigger for the following behaviors is not known today. It may be her husband’s death, or some other unknown event. Still, what follows is quite disturbing. She was aging, and as time passed, she developed an obsession for eternal youth found in the blood of virgins. She was hiring young women to work in the castle, but some doubts were starting to rise in the neighboring villages, due to the young women never returning home. Thus, parents stopped sending their daughters to the castle, but to oppose this change, Elizabeth created a school for young women, which attracted many girls from aristocratic families around the world. In 1610, as the girls were never returning either, the families sent the local authorities to the castle. They discovered injured and dead young women within the walls of the castle, and estimated that around 600 young women were tortured or killed by Elizabeth and her three accomplices. The collaborators were all condemned to death whereas Elizabeth was walled in a tower of the castle for four years where she was found dead in 1614.
Aokigahara Forest, Japan
This forest is found at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan and dates back to approximately 1200 years. This place is also known as the “Suicide Forest” and is one of the world’s most popular suicide locations; in 2003, 105 dead bodies were discovered in it. It is said by Japanese spiritualists that the suicides permeated Aokigahara’s trees, creating paranormal activity and preventing many people who enter from leaving the forest; people entered, but never returned.
Isla de las Munecas, Mexico
In English, this island is called “The Island of the Dolls.” As its name suggests, this island is the shelter of hundreds of dolls, each in a different state of decomposition. It all started when a man named Julian found a little girl on the island, but she was not in good shape; she was drowned. Unfortunately, he was not able to save her and when he looked around, he saw a doll, most probably the little girl’s doll. He decided to hang the doll in a tree to honor the memory of the child. But then, he decided to gather more and more dolls, and it finally developed into an obsession, presumably due to the fact that he was not able to save the girl. It is said that the spirit of the little girl now possesses the dolls since some witnesses reported that they the dolls move their heads, their arms and open their eyes. Moreover, some people said they heard the dolls whispering, and some others said the dolls lured them to come to the island while they were passing near the island on a boat. Strangely, after 50 years of collecting dolls, Julian was found drowned in the same spot where he found the girl many years before.
The Hill of Crosses, Lithuania
The Hill of Crosses is located 12 km north of the county town Šiauliai. The town was founded in 1236 and occupied in the fourth century. In 2006, the number of crosses on the hill already exceeded 100,000. However, no one really knows when or why people started to leave some crosses on the hill, but it is now one of the most popular pilgrimage places in all the country and is a symbol of desire for freedom, national pride and piety. Even though this place is more for religious purposes, it can still be quite creepy to stand in the middle of all those crosses of an unknown signification.
DelphineC
R&D Gothic Discoveries 