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Sure, we all know that creepy old haunted house in the neighborhood, that one street all the kids avoid, the friend’s attic nobody ever, ever dares explore. But around the world, some of the scariest places on Earth are real places you can visit - if you dare. (Unless you prefer to stay home and maybe visit Disneyland or the library or something. You know, like a normal person.)




Aokigahara Forest, Japan




Imagine lush, green, lovely woods where you can hike, bird watch, observe native plants, and maybe come across a corpse or three? Known as the “Suicide Forest,” Aokigahara is the site of some 50 to 100 suicides each year, mostly by hanging or sleeping pills. Volunteers sweep the forest once a year looking for bodies and cleaning up the belongings of the dead. On second thought, that camping trip doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun…


Danvers State Hospital, Massachusetts




In the late 1880s, building giant insane asylums was all the rage. Danvers was one of the biggest, covering a whopping 197 acres and housing 2,500 patients who underwent early experiments with lobotomies and electroshock therapy. Its cemetery contains between 700 and 800 dead crazy people. Oh, and it was turned into apartments in 2008.


Catacombs, Paris




Ever taken a walking tour of the Notre Dame church? Did you know that 20 meters below your feet lay the remains of more than six million Parisians? Built in the late 18th century when traditional cemeteries posed a disease risk to the public, the long, bone-lined tunnels cover some 11,000 square miles.

Fun fact: In 2015, Airbnb held a competition offering two people the chance to stay in the Catacombs on Halloween night.


The Island of Dolls, Mexico




Where childhood comes to die! The island's caretaker, Julian, supposedly found a little girl drowned in a canal with her doll floating nearby. He hung the doll in a tree in her honor, became obsessed with the mystery of who she was (whether real or made up in his head), and continued to hang dolls in tribute for 50 years until HE DIED WHERE SHE DID.

Want to take a leisurely stroll through a forest of beheaded baby dolls covered in spiderwebs who may or may not whisper to each other? Um, no thanks.


The Bell Witch Cave




This place was so haunted, it even scared an American president away. Andrew Jackson had heard of the hauntings in Adams, Tennessee, and after spending a night there once, he vowed never to return. The Bell Witch supposedly set out to kill landowner John Bell and ruin his daughter's life in the mid-1800s. Legend has it that she accomplished both goals. Their house is gone, but the witch is said to haunt a cave on the property, and many still report frightening occurrences in the area.


Leap Castle, Ireland




So you wanna visit a place whose most famous inhabitant is a gray leprosy victim whose rotting appearance is heralded by the disgusting stench of decomposing flesh? Look no further than this castle that was used as a fortress and tomb for various battling Irish clans whose leaders wouldn't hesitate to kill their own family if they were crossed.


The Chapel of Bones, Portugal




This monastic cemetery was built in the late 15th century for purely practical reasons: the monks were out of room for their deceased. Rather than bury the bones, however, the Franciscan monks decided to expose them as a way to remind everyone life is fleeting. And lest you forget that fact, the inscription above the entrance reads, "We, the bones that are here, await yours." C'mon in!


The Dargavs (City of the Dead), Russia




Looks like a nice place to live, right? But kind of like Hotel California, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. Out in the middle of nowhere in Russia (or North Ossetia, as it’s known) are these ancient crypts. Locals and tourists don’t visit, and nobody’s been buried there since the 16th century. The village even has its own watchtower... to look over the souls that can’t escape.


Pripyat, Ukraine




Once home to 50,000 people, Pripyat is only two miles from the nuclear meltdown site Chernobyl, which exploded in 1986. Its inhabitants were given little time to evacuate and left their belongings and pets behind, thinking they would return... now all that you’ll find are abandoned vehicles and crumbling buildings where you’ll see everything from children’s toys to gas masks. If that isn’t scary enough, there’s still plenty of radiation to go around.


Sedlec Ossuary, Czech Republic




Yeah, that chandelier right there contains at least one of every bone in the human body. In fact, this church has the bones of some 40,000 to 70,000 skeletons, many of which were shaped by a local woodcarver into pyramids, crosses, even a coat of arms. Don't turn out the lights...



The Door to Hell, Turkmenistan




This 230-foot wide flaming maw formed 40 years ago when some Soviet scientists' drilling platform collapsed. Believe it or not, a lunatic explorer descended into this blazing nightmare to collect samples of something or other. We dare you to just walk close to the edge.


Hashima Island, Japan




Some 10 miles off Nagasaki's coast lies this decrepit coal mining site built in the 1880s that Japanese engineering company Mitsubishi turned into a huge facility to house workers and their families. By the 1960s this dreary, dank place was "home" to nearly 6,000 people, most of them unhappy to be there. During World War II, it was a far from pleasant home to Korean and Chinese war prisoners, and as many as five workers a month died in accidents.