6 Suicide Forest, Japan

Aokigahara is a “Suicide Forest” in Japan. It has a historical reputation as a home to ghosts of the dead (yūrei). Since the 1960s, this dense forest is the 2nd most famous place for committing suicide. According to Japanese spiritualists, the large number of suicides have given birth to paranormal activities.

We have heard about many suicide spots around the world, but a suicide forest is scary. Aokigahara forest, famously known as “Suicide Forest,” is located northwest of the mighty Mount Fuji.

It is a dense forest of about 35 sq km. It is said that Aokigahara is the home to yūrei, which means “ghosts of the dead” in Japanese mythology.

The forest is famous for the number of suicides that happen there. In 2003, 105 dead bodies were discovered, some were severely decomposed, and some had been partially eaten by wild animals.

According to Japanese spiritualists, these suicides permeated the forest trees which ultimately gave birth to paranormal activities.

There are various warning signs at the entrance of the forest about suicide and helplines are available.

Also, modern devices like mobile phones and compasses fail to work here due to the magnetic force created by volcanic soil. People can get lost there easily. Still, hikers and adventure lovers visit the forest with necessary precautions. (source)

7 Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital, South Korea

Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital is located in South Korea. This hospital is the home for numerous ghost stories of insane doctors and murderous patients. It was closed and abandoned in the 1990s but still haunts visitors.

Abandoned psychiatric hospitals are scary. One of such hospitals is Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital which is considered as one of the three most haunted places in South Korea.

It was opened in the 1990s to treat mental patients, but in the coming years, the hospital was surrounded by mysterious incidents.

The hospital was closed in 1996 due to unexplained incidents like the sudden disappearance of patients and staff, doctors conducting unethical tests, the director committing suicide, patients dying suddenly, and many more.

Some of the stories may be true and some are fiction. Some people believe there were no such things as the stories claim, and the hospital was closed due to economic downturns. The hospital attracts many tourists, paranormal experts, and ghost hunters searching for paranormal activities. (source)

8 Poveglia Island, Venice, Italy

Poveglia Island where 160,000 people died in agony during the bubonic plague. In the 1900s, this island reopened as a mental hospital with no possibility of the rehabilitation of its patients. Lobotomies were performed on patients using hammers and drills. In 1969, the island was shut down permanently and is known as the darkest place in the Venice Lagoon.

Poveglia Island is a cursed island in Venice Lagoon due to many unfortunate events that happened there.

The island was used to isolate plague victims in the 1700s during the Black Death plague. This was the start of the dark era of Poveglia Island. People showing any sign of sickness were thrown into piles of rotting corpses and set ablaze. Over 160,000 people died in agony. 

In 1922, the island was changed into a psychiatric hospital. It was reported that doctors used to perform lobotomies on their patients using hand drills, hammers, and chisels.

The doctor who used to perform such inhuman activities committed suicide. After these incidents, the hospital was closed. Today, the island is abandoned and tourism is forbidden. (source)

9 Sedlec Ossuary, Czech Republic

Sedlec Ossuary, “The Bone Church,” is a creepy place with a Halloween vibe all year round. The church is covered with the bones of 40,000 to 70,000 people including plague victims. The church contains various decorations and furnishings like a bone chandelier, chalices, and pyramids artistically arranged by a local woodcarver named František Rint.

Churches always have that strange and divine energy, but visiting a church full of human bones will give you creeps.

Sedlec Ossuary, also known as “Bone Church,” is located in the Czech Republic city of Kutná Hora and is decorated with human bones.

The ossuary contains the skeletons of 40,000 to 70,000 humans. The church’s chandelier contains every bone in the human body.

The ossuary also contains two large bone chalices, six enormous bone pyramids, four baroque bone candelabras, a family crest in bone, and skull candle holders.

In the 13th Century, a local scattered sacred soil from Jerusalem across the Sedlec cemetery making it the holy burial place. In the 14th century, around 30,000 plague victims were buried and 10,000 casualties were added from the  Crusades.

Shortly afterward, the space became too full for more burials. In 1870 a woodcarver František Rint was hired to artistically arrange the bones.

He bleached and carved the bones giving a unique look to the holy space. People from all around the world come to visit this dark and spooky Bone Church. (source)

10 Door to Hell, Turkmenistan

The Door to Hell is a burning crater that has been burning for 50 years. In 1971, this hell hole was created after a Soviet drilling rig fell into a natural gas cave leading to the collapse of the cave. To prevent the leakage of toxic methane into the atmosphere, people set fire to the carter, which is still burning even now.

The Door to Hell is located in the expansive desert in Turkmenistan. People call it by different names: “Gate to Hell,” “Door to Hell,” “Hell Hole,” and “Darvaza Gas Crater.”

It was created back in the era of the Soviet Union in 1971. While mining for natural gas, a soviet drilling rig fell into a cave full of gas. The cave collapsed and a huge crater was formed which resulted in leakage of toxic methane into the atmosphere.

To save the neighborhood areas, the environment, and living creatures from this toxic gas, geologists decided to set the hole alight. They through the fire would consume all the gas and it would stop burning in a few days.

Fifty years have now passed and the pit is still burning. The soviet drilling rig is still down there somewhere, maybe on the other side of the Door to Hell.

A Canadian explorer named George Kourounis is searching for signs of life in this burning hole. People come to visit the “Door to Hell” to see this human-made disaster for themselves. (source)