Paris Catacombs photo © Brian W. Schaller / License: CC-BY-NC-SA-3.0 – or – FAL
There are countless purported haunted locations in the world. In fact, you probably know someone who claims to live in a haunted location or have visited one. These types of reported hauntings are so common as to be almost everyday. In various places around the world, there is a different type of haunting. These locations are steeped in cultural tradition and are typically home to historical tragedies. The most haunted of these have had so many witnesses to their ghoulish activity that it is hard to ignore.
Leap Castle (County Offaly, Ireland)
Leap Castle is interesting in that, not only is it located in one of the most superstitious countries, it reportedly has two types of haunting. The castle was built in the 16th century and has been occupied ever since. There has been a lot of conflict around the castle. According to one legend, the brothers who were to build the castle had a deadly contest. They leapt off the rocks where the castle is now. The one who lived got their clan and the castle.
Within the castle are several supposedly haunted locations and many supposed ghosts. The chapel is said to be haunted by a priest. It also contains an oubliette, which raises the hair on more than a few arms, as oubliettes have a bad reputation for being made into small prisons. (“The Labyrinth,” anyone?) Other ghosts and creepy places include The Red Lady, The Murdered Woman and “The Murder Hole Room.” These are all what you might think of as traditional hauntings. The spirits are those of naturally deceased or murdered people who interact with visitors benignly or maliciously.
Leap Castle is supposedly home to what is known as an Elemental. In other words, there is a spirit in the castle that was never human. Some stories connect it to early Druids practicing at the site. Others say a magician placed the spirit in the castle. Locals seem to think the spirit is actually that of a man who died of leprosy. No matter where it is from, it is a very grotesque being. It is humanoid with big, black, decomposing eyes, greenish skin, loose lips, a jaw that sets back into the neck, claw-like fingers and is quite smelly. Descriptions sometimes vary, but there is no doubt that the creature witnesses have claimed to see for some time is rather disgusting.
Aokigahara Forest (Near Mount Fuji, Japan)
Haunted locations do not all have ancient or even centuries old tales to chill the bones. Some, like Aokigahara Forest, have only recently developed a reputation for ghostly inhabitation. Just in the past few decades, Aokigahara Forest has been the last stop for hundreds of people. It is so bad that the forest needs to be searched regularly for bodies. Between 50 and 100, sometimes more, bodies are pulled out annually. Why do so many people die there? They go there to commit suicide.
Aokigahara Forest is going to feel like a sinister place to many people based on its reputation for death alone. Going for a casual stroll is out of the question for anyone save those purely ignorant of its history. The natural peace of the place is replaced by signs asking suicidal visitors to get help. Instead, dozens of them go into the forest to hang themselves or overdose on drugs. It is hard to say why it is so popular a place to leave life, but the practice has certainly sapped the forest of any other appeal it had, save ghost hunting.
The LaLaurie House and the Sultan’s Palace (New Orleans)
When it comes to New Orleans, it is hard to pin down one place as the most haunted. Between the voodoo practiced in the area, the violent crimes committed there and the natural disaster that partially destroyed it, there is plenty of fodder for spirits. The city itself is one of the most reportedly haunted places on Earth. Two locations within the city highlight its reputation best.
The LaLaurie House was once home to an avid slave owner named Delphine LaLaurie. This woman was evil and cruel, even by contemporary accounts not linked to tourism. Her cook, who was kept chained to the stove, set fire to the house in 1834 in an attempt to get rescued. The locals found despicably injured slaves, about seven of them, within the house. People were outraged and Delphine ran off, apparently to die later in Paris.
The Sultan’s Palace or Gardette-LaPrete House is another corner home in New Orleans with a long balcony and a sinister history. A Turkish man rented the property in the 1830s for himself, his harem and his eunuchs. The man was known for having secretive parties, but it was not his life that would make this haunted location famous. The bodies of himself and his staff were discovered hacked to pieces when someone walked by and saw blood seeping out from under the door of his house. The renter’s identity and that of his killer have never been ascertained.
Danvers State Hospital (Danvers, Massachusetts)
No list of haunted places could ever be complete without an asylum. They are such a part of supernatural lore for two reasons. They were largely abandoned with the changes of mental health care that have come in the past half-century. They were also home to such horrors as the abuse of mentally ill patients and forced lobotomies. Danvers State Hospital may well have been the worst offender of them all, allegedly being the first place lobotomies were used often.
Sadly, this historic building was largely demolished to make way for an apartment complex. Some of its exterior and original tunnels were salvaged, but that is it. Nonetheless, Danvers State Hospital remains a favorite among fans of the supernatural. Moreover, some say the buildings on the property now are as haunted as their predecessors.
The Paris Catacombs (Paris, France)
The Paris Catacombs are a roughly 200-year-old ossuary beneath Paris. These tunnels contain the remains of about six million people, which make them ripe for haunting. Some of the rooms within the catacombs contain the exposed bones of the people laid to rest there. They are often displayed decoratively, such as with the Crypt of the Sepulchral Lamp. To add insult to injury, these displayed remains are largely of bodies exhumed from the cemeteries within Paris and brought into the mines below the city thanks to some very poor burial planning on the part of Parisians.