12 of the Most Haunted Places in the World

It's no wonder the Tower of London has such a haunting reputation. During the 17th century, it was used as a prison for those accused of treason and served as the site of many executions and torture.

In fact, some of the Tower's most famous residents include Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII; and the "Nine-Day Queen" Lady Jane Grey. Both were beheaded on the Tower Green and buried in the chapel—it’s said their headless ghosts roam the halls to this very day. Gunpowder plotter Guy Fawkes is also said to haunt the Tower. You can of course attempt to catch a glimpse of these ghouls for yourself by touring the Tower ... or just go ghost hunting around wider London.

Welcome to perhaps the most haunted house in America. The earliest documented ghost here, "Yankee Jim," was convicted of grand larceny and hung off a wagon on the exact spot where the house now exists, and almost as soon as the Whaley family moved in, they reported hearing heavy footsteps.

Today, museum visitors have seen windows mysteriously fly open, the spirit of family head Thomas Whaley roaming the upper landing, and a creepy little girl in the dining room. (Urban legend has it she's the ghost of a friend of the Whaley children, who accidentally broke her neck on a clothesline in the backyard.) If you're, ahem, dead set on seeing it for yourself, book a Whaley House tour to really explore the supernatural side of San Diego.

There have been hundreds of ghost sightings at Edinburgh Castle over the years, including a headless drummer boy, French and American prisoners of war, and even phantom dogs wandering the pet cemetery. Back in 2001, a team of scientists even spent 10 days investigating the castle, with many reporting paranormal activity such as sudden drops in temperature and the feeling of people tugging at their clothes.

Get spooked for yourself in Scotland by taking a tour of the castle itself or heading out on a self-guided Edinburgh ghost tour. Whichever you choose, definitely stop by Mary King's Close, an underground alleyway beneath the City Chambers, which has been haunted (allegedly) since the 17th century, when residents who had the plague were sealed into their homes and left to die.

This forest is called the “Bermuda Triangle” of Romania due to the rumored supernatural disappearances of visitors, subsequently earning the Hoia-Baciu Forest a reputation for being one of the most ghostly places on earth. So what can you expect when you're wandering through the eerie, twisted trees of this supposedly haunted forest? Unexplainable headaches, rashes, and scratches, as well as feelings of being watched, allegedly.

Some people have even claimed to see ghostly apparitions of soldiers who died there, and as if that wasn’t scary enough, the place is also known for UFO sightings—in the 1960s, two different photographers snapped images that showed disc-shaped objects hovering above the forest. Take a guided night tour of the Hoia-Baciu Forest … if you dare.

Opened in 1829, Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary was once the most famous prison in the world, known for throwing inmates into solitary confinement and housing notorious criminals such as Al Capone. About 1,200 prisoners died there, and when it opened to the public in 1994, many visitors reported hearing strange noises: footsteps in the yards, wails in the corridors, and disembodied laughter.

If you're sure you can handle it, visit for yourself and wander the 11-acre (4.5-hectare) prison, before—if you're there during the summer—hanging out in the beer garden afterward and sharing your own ghost stories.

Located in France’s Loire Valley, the massive, 7-story Château de Brissac dates back to the 11th century, although it's been destroyed and rebuilt several times, receiving its final major refurbishment after the French Revolution. With its long and turbulent history, it’s no surprise there’s a wealth of ghost lore attached to it, all of which adds up to make it into one of the most haunted manors in France.

Château de Brissac’s most famous spirit is the Green Lady, the former lady of the house who was murdered by her husband after he discovered she was having an affair. She's rumored to scare modern-day visitors with her corpselike face and eerie moans. If you’re in the area for a Loire Valley wine tour, add a stop to the Château de Brissac and see if you can see (or hear) the famous Green Lady for yourself.

Built in the 17th century as a refreshment base for Dutch East India Trading Company ships, the Castle of Good Hope is South Africa's oldest colonial building. Over the years, it has also served as a fortress and a prison, and it currently houses a history museum which you can visit in conjunction with other top Cape Town attractions.

Naturally, several specters have also been spotted in the vicinity of this storied edifice over the years, including a soldier who repeatedly leaps from its walls, a woman dressed in gray wandering the castle’s corridors, and a spectral canine or ghost dog seen roaming the grounds. There’s also a bell that reportedly sounds by itself even though no one is around to ring it.

New Orleans is a famed hotbed of supernatural activity, and there are endless ghost tours you can take to explore some of its spookiest landmarks. One of the most famously haunted landmarks is La Laurie Mansion and while you can’t go in, a walk past this 19th-century mansion is enough for most.

To get even closer to NOLA's ghosts, book a table at Muriel’s Jackson Square, a restaurant rumored to be haunted by the spirit of former owner Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan, who committed suicide after losing the restaurant in a poker game; he supposedly appears to visitors as a sparkling light.

Insider tip: The restaurant even has a Seance Lounge upstairs, where you can sip spirits while you wait to see one.

Built in the 16th century in the Indian state of Rajasthan, Bhangarh Fort initially served as a residence for the son of local ruler Raja Bhagwant Das but is now known as one of the most haunted places in India. Multiple eerie stories have been attached to the fort and its surroundings, including one about a priest who was obsessed with black magic and cursed the area after being rejected by a Bhangarh princess.

Some visitors have reported a heavy feeling when visiting the fort, while others have seen apparitions. Keen to find out for yourself? Pay the Fort a visit while you're in the area, but keep in ming that it's closed to visitors before sunrise and after sunset due to numerous people getting lost or dying at the site (locals simply blame the wild animals in the area).

The skeletons of some 40,000 people were used to create this chapel beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints in the town of Sedlec. It's actually the work of woodcarver Frantisek Rint, who was hired by the House of Schwarzenberg to organize the human bones interred at the ossuary in 1870.

The striking centerpiece is a giant chandelier, which contains at least one of every bone in the human body, although the garlands made of skulls, six large bone pyramids, bone candelabras, and skull candleholders and equally as creepy. You can see this masterpiece on many tours to the ossuary that often include (distinctly less eerie) stops at nearby attractions.

From one bony attraction to another, this eerie underground favorite holds the remains of roughly 6 million Parisians whose bones were moved here from overcrowded cemeteries in the 18th century.

Here, visit one of the best subterranean attractions in the world, descending via 130 steps into the chilly tunnels and crypts lined with human bones to explore what's just a small portion of the nearly 200 miles (321 kilometers) of haunted passageways beneath the city's streets.

Related: 9 Amazing Underground Attractions Around the World

Built as a cemetery for the Capuchin friars in the mid-1500s, this catacomb became the eternal resting place for aristocrats in the 17th century, when it was discovered that bodies buried here had naturally mummified. It was believed to be an act of God, so the corpses were hung from the catacomb walls like relics.

Today, five subterranean limestone corridors are lined with 2,000 skeletons, each with a label marking the name and date of death, and you can see them all on guided tours, which sometimes include stops at other nearby attractions.