13 World’s Most Haunted Ruins and Their Stories
There are thousands of places around the world that time has forgotten. A once bright and happy city can be turned into a ghost town within a few years. The presence of the people who once lived in these places can still be felt, but what about haunted ruins?
I’ve compiled a list of 13 ruins from around the world that some say are haunted. Here’s the history of these locations and the ghost stories surrounding them.
1. Frankenstein’s Castle, Germany
These castle ruins, which overlook the city of Darmstadt, Germany, are known today as Frankenstien Castle. Many of you might be thinking, “Frankenstein’s not real,” but you’d be wrong! This castle belonged to the actual Frankenstein family and a mad scientist who was the subject of the book Frankenstein, aka The Modern Prometheus. This mad scientist’s name was Johann Konrad Dippel.
Dipple was an alchemist known for making potions, being a dark sorcerer, and trying to bring the dead back to life. He would exhume dead bodies from the local cemetery and use the hair and bones to make elixirs that he said would make you live forever. The castle is now abandoned and has been for about 200 years, but people claim that they have seen the ghost of Dr. Dipple and the exhumed bodies he experimented on.
2. Petra, Jordan
The ancient ruins of Petra, Jordan, have been a popular tourist destination since the 1820s, but the city has existed since 7000 BC. The most famous location in Petra is Al-Khazneh, the treasury pharos use to stockpile their immense wealth. This incredible structure is carved into the mountainside and is the most popular tourist attraction in the area. However, the locals try to stay clear of Al-Khazneh because they say it’s guarded by a “Djinn” (meaning ghost in Arabic).
After all the tourists go home at night, the guards say that they can hear djinn whispering inside of Al-Khazneh and shadows moving along the rock walls. There are also djinn blocks placed in front of Al-Khazneh, which are massive stone blocks made to attract djinn that are said to protect the treasury.
3. Chernobyl, Ukraine
Chernobyl is a modern example of haunted ruins. The massive explosion at the Number 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant happened on April 26, 1986. Luckily, most people in the area surrounding the power plant were evacuated before it exploded, but there still were about 30 people who lost their lives. The city of Chernobyl is still abandoned but since 2002 you can take tours of the city (if you don’t mind a little radiation). The most haunting part of this city is the way it was just left exactly how it was when everyone evacuated.
The guards who protect this city and the people who sneak into it at night say they’ve seen strange shadow figures that wander the decaying city. You can even hear the occasional scream coming from inside the abandoned buildings. Whatever you do, don’t come to this city after dark. The ghosts of this ghost town want to be left alone.
Read more about Haunted Historical Sites Around the Globe
4. Bhangarh Fort, India
This 16th-century fort in Rajasthan is one of the most haunted places in India. The city now sits in ruins was once a bustling city filled with villagers and governed by Madho Singh, the son of King Bhagwant Das. You can tour the abandoned castle and village for yourself, but just be aware, it is haunted.
One of the fort’s most well-known stories is about the black magician who fell in love with Princess Ratnavati. He made a potion and mixed it with her makeup, so she would fall in love with him. She caught wind of his plan and dumped the makeup on a boulder, which then crushed the magician to death. However, right before he died, he cursed the fort and everyone who lived in it that they would never live in peace again… even after death.
5. Chateau Miranda, Belgium
Chateau Miranda in Belgium is my favorite place on this list. It was featured on “Hannibal,” one of my favorite shows ever. If you’re a fan of “The Silence of the Lambs” you’ll love it too. It’s a newer chateau, built in 1866, and was the residence of the Liedekerke-Beaufort family.
They lived here until World War 2 when they were forced to evacuate because The Battle of the Bulge was literally happening on their property. After the war, the chateau was turned into an orphanage, but it deteriorated quicker than the caretakers could keep up with. It was abandoned in 1991 and was then demolished in 2016.
It’s sad to say, but the ghosts that haunt this area are the orphans who lived here. It’s said that they were horribly mistreated at the orphanage and that their spirits and energy still linger, never able to move past the trauma and abuse they faced.
Read more about the Horst Castle, Holsbeek, in Belgium one of the Europe’s Haunted Castles
6. San Zhi Houses, Taiwan
Sanzhi, Taiwan was meant to be the city of the future. A large complex of “pod homes” shaped like UFOs were built here but were never sold due to the weird design and maybe some paranormal activity that happened during the building process.
Several of the workers who were building the houses died in car accidents and by suicide. It’s believed that they were either cursed because they split a Chinese dragon statue in half, which is bad luck, or they were driven crazy by the ghosts of Dutch soldiers who were buried under the property. Either way, this place is cursed.
7. Hotel del Salto, Colombia
This hotel is in one of the most beautiful locations in the world. It’s high up on a cliff overlooking Tequendama Falls. However, the hotel and the falls both have a dark history. The falls were where the Muisca natives lived until the Spanish came to colonize Colombia.
However, the Muisca people decided that rather than being colonized, they would leap to their death from the top of the waterfall, hoping that their God would turn them into birds on the way down so that they could fly to heaven. The hotel that overlooks the falls was originally a mansion built in 1923, but was turned into a hotel in 1928 called Hotel del Salto, which translates to Hotel Leap.
When the hotel was open, guests said they would see ghosts in their room and hear voices in the night in a language they couldn’t understand (most likely the language of the Muisca people). This hotel was also the place where many people would go to commit suicide because of the high cliff that the hotel was built on. Also, after the hotel was abandoned in the 90s, screams could be heard from the hotel during the night. In 2013 the hotel was reopened as a museum that you can visit. Just make sure not to get too close to the cliff’s edge!
8. Hashima Island, Japan
This is one of the most famous places left in ruins recently. Hashima Island is located just off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan, and has been abandoned since 1974. From a distance, this small island looks like it could be a bustling city with very modern buildings. However, once you get a little closer and can see the actual state of the island, you can quickly tell that something very wrong happened here.
The island was originally inhabited when coal was found there, and workers were sent to work there. The workers eventually brought over their families, and the tall concrete buildings you can see today were built to house them. Then, World War 2 started, and the island took a turn for the worse.
It became a forced labor camp for captured enemy soldiers, many of whom were worked to death. It’s estimated that between 130-1,300 prisoners died working here. After the war, the Japanese continued with their work, but with petroleum quickly replacing the need for coal, the mine was shut down and the island was cleared of all inhabitants. It’s been deserted ever since. The buildings on the island slowly crumbling.
Some Japanese fishermen in the area have claimed to see lights turn on in some buildings’ windows, even though the island hasn’t had electricity for decades. In 2013, the island opened for tourism. Many people who tour the island say that they hear things, feel cold spots, and feel like they are being watched as they tour the ruins of this once-inhabited island.
9. Bodie, USA
Bodie is a ghost town on the border of California and Nevada, high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. In 1876, gold was found in the area’s hills, and the town was first established. Around 8,000 people moved to this little town, building over 2,000 structures and homes near the mine.
However, by 1915, the town was already considered a ghost town. The gold ran dry, and it’s been left abandoned now for more than a century. The most haunted place in Bodie is the J.S. Cain House, where the ghost of a maid is frequently spotted.
She’s said to love children but hates the parents who accompany them. Parents have claimed that this ghost who lives in the house has suffocated and even pushed them. There are lots of other ghosts in this ghost town, and you can even visit it for yourself.
Read more about Bodie, in California, one of the Ghost Towns in the U.S
10. Kolmanskop, Namibia
Here we have another ghost town, this time in Namibia, an African country. Kolmanskop was once a rich mining village in the Namibian desert. The city was founded in 1908, when Namibia was part of German South-West Africa.
A team of German railway workers found diamonds while laying the railroad, and a town was built in the area so that they could mine them. The city was built in traditional German architecture, which feels very out of place in the middle of the desert. By 1956, the diamonds were gone, and the city was abandoned.
The city is now where photographers take pictures of sand-filled houses and tourists go to see a town that has been trapped in time. Visitors have reported hearing footsteps in the sand, German voices calling out from beyond the grave, and the uneasy feeling of constantly being watched.
11. Leap Castle, Ireland
Leap Castle is said to be one of the most haunted places in Ireland. It is a dilapidated, rundown castle with a haunting history. The O’Bannon clan originally built it in the 12th century and controlled it until the 16th century, when the O’Carroll clan took it over. The O’Carrolls were a ruthless family known for their violent crimes and murders in the area.
The most disturbing story about the family is when the castle was going to be passed on to one of the family’s brothers, a priest. When he was giving a sermon in the castle chapel, one of his brothers stood up, calmly walked up to him, and stabbed him, making him the next in line to receive the castle.
To this day, the chapel’s former site is the most haunted part of the castle and is now known as “Bloody Chapel.” Neighbors of the castle have reported to the current castle owner that lights can be seen inside the chapel, and guests have reported the strong smell of rubber.
12. Beelitz Military Hospital, Germany
This military hospital from the 1800s is known for housing many ghosts and other paranormal entities. Still, the scariest fact of all about this hospital is that Hitler himself once stayed within its walls.
During a battle during World War 1, a young Adolf Hitler was brought into the hospital to recover from the wounds that he received in battle. The hospital was also used during the Second World War but this time by the Soviets who had taken control of it.
The hospital was eventually abandoned in 1995 and has been left to decay since then. In 2016, guards were hired to keep teenagers and ghost hunters out of the abandoned structure who would sneak in at night to see if they could see any of the ghosts that haunt this place.
13. Xunantunich, Belize
These ancient Mayan ruins are from around 700 AD and weren’t discovered until the 1890s. When they were excavated, one researcher said that he saw a woman dressed in traditional Mayan clothing walking up the steps of the Xunantunich pyramid.
She looked back at him right before she reached the top and that’s when the researcher saw that she had red eyes that “pierced his soul”. When he told the other scientists on his team what he saw, they examined the area but found no trace of the woman.
Since then, many visitors to Xunantunich have claimed to see the woman ascending the stairs before disappearing into the top room of the pyramid. There have also been human remains found here which many believe belong to a human sacrifice victim.
