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Halloween 2019: The top 5 most haunted places in the world with chilling histories, demons and murders

The world is never short of spirits, apparitions, demons, UFO sightings, being attacked by poltergeists or incidents where you're just swallowed in an overall nauseating feeling that has no explanation
UPDATED FEB 26, 2020
La Isla de las Munecas (Island of the Dolls), Mexico (Source : Getty Images)
La Isla de las Munecas (Island of the Dolls), Mexico (Source : Getty Images)

Trick or treating aside, you know what makes a great Halloween? A really good ghost story. Luckily, the world is never short of spirits, apparitions, demons, UFO sightings, being attacked by poltergeists or incidents where you're just swallowed in an overall nauseating feeling that has no explanation.

The world is full of visitors from other dimensions and some of their histories are so bloody and gruesome, you think no wonder they have souls that need to be heard. 

Check out the five most haunted places in the world and their backstories that will give you the chills:

1. Hoia-Baciu Forest, Romania

Forests are creepy but this one is several levels up that ladder. The Hoia-Baciu Forest is located in an expanse of 729 acres — and has been called as one of the most haunted places in the world.

The spookiest things have been reported here — with one person even claiming that he had met a demon and lost his mind in the process. A section of the forest is called The Clearing and it is said to be the hotspot for paranormal activities.

According to the Independent, whose reporter spent a night at the spot, it is known to defy "the investigations of soil scientists" and has attracted hoards of people who wanted to open a door to another dimension.

There are people who've felt sick, developed rashes and nauseousness after their time in the forest and guides have spoken about hearing hooves in the dark.

The legend goes that hundreds of peasants were killed in the forest years ago and their spirits roam the grounds. There is a story of a UFO sighting in the 1960s and the story of a young girl vanishing and returning five years later with no memory of what happened. 

It is also called the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania and all its trees grow clockwise, by the way.

2. Poveglia, Italy

Ruined kitchen equipment is spread at the now abandoned Hospital of Poveglia on August 27, 2011, in Venice, Italy. The island of Poveglia, with its ruined hospital and plague burial grounds, is said to be the most haunted location in the world. The area is located within a multi-million dollar piece of real estate but is deserted and off limits to the public. The dark and derelict forbidding shores are only minutes away from the glamour of the Venice Film Festival on the Lido. (Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images)

Poveglia Island, off the coast of Venice, Italy, is one of the places whose history makes you pretty sick. According to legend, the island was formed from the ashes of burned plague victims, criminals and mentally ill patients exiled to die on it.

Rumor is that in the 1930s, a doctor performed bizarre medical experiments on the patients in the asylum on the island, including patients' heads with a chisel. 

He eventually threw himself off the bell tower. He is said to have made it but it is rumored to have been swallowed by a mysterious mist. The locals say that chimes can still be heard — even though the bell was removed years ago.

There are plenty of apparitions, incidents of human bones washing up on the shore and bangs and thuds that have been heard at the asylum. 

3. La Isla de las Munecas (Island of the Dolls), Mexico

The Island of the Dolls is a place that only Don Julián Santana Barrera inhabited for more than 25 years in a chinampa of Xochimilco and that today represents a horror scene for tourists, with a large number of dolls hanging from the trees and decorating the cabins. It has become a worldwide attraction that represents folklore, terror and Mexican traditions. on August 19, 2019, in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Eyepix/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

This one is a classically terrifying spot that will give you the creeps, even if you see no ghosts. Hundreds of old and broken dolls hung up on trees that sometimes turn on by themselves? No thanks.

The legend goes that a man named Don Julian Santana Barrera used to live here and was the caretaker of the island. It is said that he once found a little girl drowned in the canal around it under very fishy circumstances.

He couldn't save her and sometime after he found the child, he found a doll. He assumed it to be hers and hung it on a tree nearby to honor her spirit. But, the little girl's ghost is said to have possessed the doll and Don spent his life collecting dolls to string up on the trees. The creepiest part is that in 2001 when he died, he was found in the exact spot where he had said he found the girl — also drowned.  

Some also believe that the dolls come to life at night. 

4. The Bloody Chapel, Ireland

This location is right on the sets of 'Game of Thrones'. The history of the Bloody Chapel may have inspired the episode 'The Rains of Castamere' and its infamous and brutal 'Red Wedding'.

The Chapel is part of the Leap Castle in Ireland and its history has a lot of family drama and macabre. The place was owned by the O'Carroll family and after the death of Mulrooney O'Carroll in 1532, everyone wanted a piece of the pie.

His brother is said to have stabbed his brother who was a priest while he was conducting a mass in the upper hall. His apparition has been sighted as well.

Legend has it that mercenaries have also been mass murdered at the castle after they became useless to the family — some had their throats slit while others were killed in their sleep.

There's also a secret dungeon at the place that was used to keep prisoners who were either dead or dying — then they would forget about it.

Bright lights in the windows and the smell of rubber, both in the upper hall and a ghost of a lady in red holding a dagger are some of the things that have been reported as seen here.

In 2014, Travel Channel's 'Ghost Adventures' filmed at the Chapel and it is said that the place is haunted by a spirit known as just "It". 

5. Devil's Pool, Australia

It's a beautiful view for the 'Gram and its even more picturesque if you're not busy on your phone. But, the Devil's Pool in Babinda, north Queensland has claimed more than 17 lives so far and is believed to be haunted by the angry and heartbroken spirit of a dead woman named Oolana.

Folklore says that she was married to an elder from her Yidinji tribe but fell in love with a man named Dyga from another traveling tribe. While running away, begging for Dyga to follow her, she drowned at the Devil's Pool.

The ghost is known to target mostly young men, who like Dyga, were passing through. Local post officer has also confirmed that the couple by that name were actual tribe members who had fled to the Pool and were caught by elders.

Cries have been heard by locals and a woman who looks like Oolana is said to appear under the water. Some people who enter are never seen again.

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