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A Ghost Hunter's Guide to the Most Haunted Places in the World
Summary
Discover the places that have been deemed the "MOST HAUNTED" in the world. These stories involve the secret police, soldiers, tyrannical emperors, bloody battles, séances, assassinations, sinister rituals, scandals, executions, murder, and more.
There are lots of people—alive and dead—that reportedly live deep inside the Paris Catacombs where tourists are not allowed to go.
No one is permitted to enter Bhangarh Fort after dark. Locals believe the spirits are active from sunset to sunrise and should not be disturbed or they may become angry and vengeful.
The Aokigahara Woods are haunted by Yurei, who were cruelly sacrificed by loved ones in a strange and sinister ritual.
Poveglia has housed an asylum, fort, prison, and quarantine station. As many as 150,000 people have died on this tiny island, which is home to angry spirits who have pushed, kicked, shoved, and struck visitors over the years.
The Winchester Mystery House is haunted by Sarah Winchester, who went mad while building this house, which has spy panels, secret passageways, a séance room, and doors and stairs leading nowhere!
The Imperial Palace (Forbidden City) is the largest ancient palace in the world and it is still inhabited—by the spirits of emperors, eunuchs, and concubines.
...and much more!
Lots of photos, fun facts, and visitor information are included.
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A Ghost Hunter's Guide to the Most Haunted Places in the World - Terrance Zepke
titles).
Introduction
This was a hard book to write. There are so many places around the world that are purportedly haunted that it took a huge amount of time and research to sift through all the data and delete the places I felt didn’t have sufficient research to support the most haunted
criteria. After all, stories do get embellished over the years. I also wanted a good representation across the globe, not just a bunch of old European castles or abandoned asylums. Once I had a good list of many different types of places, such as castles, palaces, museums, prisons, hospitals, fortresses, and cemeteries, I had to make sure they were from many different countries that represented six continents (I couldn’t find any ghosts in Antarctica). I had to narrow down the list to an acceptable number. After all, I wanted to write a book about the most haunted places in the world, not an encyclopedia series.
In some cases, it was merely subjective. If I liked one story more than another or discovered that one place had a more intriguing history—at least to me—than I went with it. Sometimes, I chose to make the less obvious choice so that readers could learn about some different places rather than read the same old stories. However, in some instances, as was the case with the Tower of London, I went with the obvious choice because it was the best choice. There are literally ghosts in every nook and cranny of this marvelous, medieval palace. That shouldn’t be surprising given that twenty-two executions took place here and it has served as a royal residence, prison, and fortress. My research revealed that there was once a royal zoo on site, which explains the sightings of ghost animals.
One of my favorite haunted places is the Winchester House. No one knows how many rooms there are, let alone how many ghosts there are! Every time a room count is attempted, it comes up with a different number than the last count. When the owner died, it took movers six weeks to remove her possessions because they kept getting lost! There are spy panels, secret passageways, a séance room, and doors and stairs that lead nowhere. The design and construction of this house is as fascinating as its history and its supernatural residents. For that matter, I find the history of most of these places to be as compelling as any related paranormal phenomenon.
So read on to learn more about this list I have compiled of the most haunted places in the world and be prepared for some spooky fun stories about a sorcerer spirit, a princess ghost, a dancing ghost bride, a haunted forest, a haunted city, Kuntilanak (a vampire-like ghost), creepy catacombs, a mysterious (missing!) hotel room, and much more.
Be sure to check out the Sneak Peek provided at the back of this book for A Ghost Hunter’s Guide to the Most Haunted Places in America, as well as a fun quiz. Dozens of free downloadable ghost and travel reports are available on www.terrancezepke.com and www.terrancetalkstravel.com.
Paris Catacombs
The Catacombs
Fun facts:
The depth of the Catacombs is equivalent to a five-story building. Visitors must descend 130 steps to reach them.
The consistent temperature in the Catacombs is 57◦F (14©C).
There are lots of people—alive and dead—that reportedly live deep inside the Catacombs where tourists are not allowed to go.
The History
By the 18th century, Paris had a big problem that no city or town wants to have—the dead were quickly becoming the undead. Cemeteries across the city, including the largest, Les Innocents, were out of space. Quite simply, there were too many bodies and not enough burial grounds. This led to improper burials, mass graves, and unearthed corpses. As a result, neighboring residents began complaining about the stench coming from the graveyards. Even worse, exposed rotting corpses created widespread disease.
The solution was to convert the abandoned Tombe-Issoire quarry mines into catacombs. Beginning in 1786, bodies were dug up one by one and moved to the newly created underground burial chamber. Eventually, all the remains had been relocated to the properly consecrated and blessed ossuary. After the French Revolution, all bodies were placed in the Catacombs from the get go.
A man named Louis Etienne Hericart took responsibility for creating the Catacombs. He used classic cemetery decorations and cleverly arranged the skulls and bones in an artistic and respectful manner. Hundreds of thousands have visited the Paris Catacombs since its inception, including French and German soldiers. During WWII, the Resistance used parts of the Catacombs as a hideout. Reportedly, the Nazis also used the Catacombs as bunkers.
Today, there are more than six million skeletal remains in the Catacombs, which has been a popular tourist attraction since 1874. Even royalty has succumbed to morbid curiosity. Charles X, Francis I, and the Ladies of the Court have descended into the dark depths of the city’s underground to glimpse the ossuary. Napoleon III brought his son to Paris to see the world famous underground cemetery.
Over the years, the ossuary has been renovated numerous times to add steps, lights, vaults, and support walls. There are many miles of tunnels that are off limits to visitors. In fact, there are large portions of the tunnels that have never been mapped. Some folks who have sneaked in afterhours have gotten lost and died in the Catacombs. How ironic!
The Hauntings
It is no surprise that a place known as The World’s Largest Grave
is also one of the most haunted places in the world.
Some people have slipped into one of the many secret entrances to practice necromancy. Necromancy is a practice of magic involving communication with the deceased – either by summoning their spirit as an apparition or raising them bodily. This is done for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events or discovering hidden knowledge, or to bring someone back from the dead. Ritual participants used body parts to practice as part of their ceremonies and it is rumored that drugs and sacrifices were involved.
There is a group of people known as ‘cataphiles’ who live in a remote part of the Catacombs. This may not seem possible but given that the tunnels extend more than 200 miles with much of it not even mapped, one can see how it is not only possible, but highly probable. So if Parisian officials do not even know about these tunnels, how did these cataphiles find them?
It is believed that a secret entrance was discovered many years ago by a group of explorers. That led to being able to access the Catacombs freely. This unlimited exploration led to the discovery of previously unknown sections of tunnels and more secret entrances. Eventually, some cataphiles began living in the Catacombs. It is rumored that there are dozens of rooms in a secret section of the Catacombs that have been made into apartments. There is a large, communal space that has been converted into an underground night club!
As you can imagine, this is not all that peaceful for eternal slumber. Spirits have been continually disturbed and disrespected, so it is not surprising that paranormal activity has been abundant over the years. Many visitors swear they have been touched by an unseen presence. Flashlights with fresh batteries often malfunction in the catacombs.
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