10 Day of the Dead Destinations
There’s nothing quite like Halloween and Day of the Dead to put even the biggest non-believers and skeptics in the mood for a little scare. So even if you’re not on the bandwagon of folks watching paranormal reality shows and you think Ghostbusters is best left in the '80s, when October rolls around, chances are your point of view takes a little detour to the dark side. That’s why so-called haunted locations are the perfect way to satisfy your need for a little scare, the same way a cupcake settles a sweet tooth.
So drop your cynicism and indulge… allow yourself to be scared, keep an open mind and take a visit to the wild side at any of these ten spooky spots that just may have you second-guessing your gut.
1. Wolfegg Castle, Bavaria, Germany: Dating back to the 14th century, the tales of this castle date back as far as its origin. Strange noises coming from the skeleton-filled cave on the property aren’t nearly as scary as the sightings of the “white woman” who has been seen for hundreds of years. Who is she? Legend has it that she is Klara von Helfenstein who infamously had an affair with the man her husband hired to protect her when he was out of town. Furious by being cuckolded, he hired a neighbor to murder her. Today she roams the castle in all white and as for the cave, it is still unclear where the sounds are coming from — maybe you can find out?
2. Killakee House, Ireland: Hell this place has to be a legit haunted house since even the Irish newspapers covered the story several times, as well as a TV show, right? Stories of a black cat with glowing eyes, bells ringing on site and even a poltergeist all started when the home was sanctioned to be turned to an arts center, but those working on it couldn’t concentrate thanks to all of the scary sounds and disturbances. Since that time, several bizarre and small skeletons have been found on site, so bring a shovel and maybe you’ll unearth one too.
3. Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France: In France cemeteries aren’t quite what they are in many places in the world. Mais non, here locals stroll through them like parks, eat picnics in them and view them not as foggy sites for horror films, but as everyday places to pass by. Even so, at Père Lachaise one can’t deny the haunted connections. Known as being one of the most haunted cemeteries in all of Europe, visitors often complain of feeling an unexplained presence, having the hairs on their bodies stick up, feeling cold and getting the chills and an overall sense of malaise. What’s more, taking pictures here often results in blurry but ghostly shapes appearing in the background. So what are you waiting for, take your own picture and see what you get…
4. LaLaurie Mansion, New Orleans: There isn’t a soul living in New Orleans that doesn’t know the story of the famous socialite Delphine LaLaurie. First known for throwing fabulous soirées in her mansion, she was later known for torturing her slaves. On the night of one of her parties, a fire broke loose and many of her slaves (which she’d had chained down) died in the fire. Delphine fled the city for obvious reasons but today, the mansion remains one of the world’s darkest homes and the feature of haunted tours in N’awlins.
5. Island of the Dolls, Mexico City: Just south of Mexico City lies a swamp with a dark history. After a little girl drowned in the swamp, a local man by the name of Don Julian began going mad and fishing for her remains in the swamp. Low and behold — he got a bite! But it wasn’t a fish that Don Julian reeled in, it was a doll. Over and over again he reeled in dolls. Today dolls hang in the trees here and take over his former house. Visitors claim that the eyes of the dolls open and close and watch over them.
6. Bhangarh; Rajashan, India: This place is so haunted at night that visitors are prohibited to enter the fort any time past sunset or before sunrise. Legend says that visitors that entered the fort after dark never did return. What’s the story? A story of love, attempted poison and revenge of course. And even though you can’t get in there during the peak of its haunting time, if you’re like most visitors, you’ll still feel a weird presence and have a lot of bizarre phantoms appearing in your photos.
7. Borley Rectory; Essex, UK: This house was known as England’s most haunted however, a fire in 1939 destroyed it. Did that stop the hauntings — nope. Sightings of a nun on site are often seen as well as footsteps heard and the feeling of being watched or followed. So much so that the BBC covered the story but, curiously, it never aired.
8. Cementerio el Angel; Lima, Peru: Don’t get in a cab if you want to visit this cemetery – unless you’re already dead that is. Story after story of taxi drivers in Lima swear that a passenger gets in their taxi and asks to be taken to the cemetery. Upon arrival however, the passenger has disappeared into thin air.
9. Ilhobasco, El Salvador: Here's the story from Sayulapa Canyon where a woman drowned her children over a century ago in hopes of marrying her true love sans baggage. Today the cries of her children are heard as well as sightings of them, even going so far as to ask visitors for help.
10. Joelma Building, São Paulo, Brazil: On February 1, 1974 a fire took over the Joelma building sending thirteen poor souls to death by elevator. Today the “Mystery of the Thirteen Souls” continue to haunt the building.
