Bhanghar Fort in
the Alwar district of Rajasthan. The fort was built in 1573 and remains
today a ruin of several temples, palaces, and smaller .According
to legend, the fort became cursed when a wizard who lived in the town
fell in love with the princess of Banghar. Drawing on his skills in
black magic, rather than on his interpersonal skills, he tried to woo
the princess with a bowl of magic potion. It didn’t work. She figured
out the play and threw the bowl against a large boulder. The boulder was
disturbed enough to start rolling, and it rolled right in the path of
the wizard. As the wizard faced down the boulder, he cursed the town,
saying that it would be destroyed and become uninhabitable. He was
crushed to death. Soon after, the town was invaded and pillaged. Most of
its inhabitants, including the princess, were killed. Those who lived
abandoned the fort.
The wizard’s curse remains, of course, and the
ghosts of those killed continue to haunt the fort. The Archaeological
Survey of India, which manages the site, forbids anyone from staying at
the fort after dark.
4) Aokigahara, Japan
Aokigahara,
Japan’s
globally infamous Suicide Forest. Hundreds of people have journeyed
into the forest to kill themselves amidst its dense trees and vines, so
many people that the local police do annual sweeps to clear away the
bodies. They no longer publicize the number of bodies discovered, out of
fear that those numbers actually encourage suicides. In 2004, 108
people committed suicide there.
5) Iulia Hasdeu Castle, Romania
Iulia Hasdeu Castle was
built by Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu in Campina, Romania after the death
of his 19-year-old daughter, Iulia. Hasdeu dedicated the castle and the
rest of his life to lulia. He became a practitioner of spiritualism in
an attempt to reconnect with her spirit, and designed one room in the
castle solely for the purposes of these daily spiritual
exercises.
Its walls are all black. Iulia reportedly haunts the castle still,
walking through the courtyard in a white dress and holding daisies.
6) Hell Fire Club on Montpelier Hill, Ireland
The
Hell Fire Club on Montpelier Hill was
built as a hunting lodge in 1725 and reportedly became a gathering
place for a small group of Dublin elites who met for debauchery and
devil worship.
Tales
of animal sacrifice, black masses, cloven-hoofed men, and murder
surround the structure. It’s another popular destination for tourists
and ghost tours.
7) Manila Film Center, Philippines
(Michael Francis McCarthy/Wikimedia Commons)
This one doesn’t look like your typical haunted castle, creepy forest, or old ruin, but its story is sad and terrifying.The
Manila Film Center is
reportedly haunted by the ghosts of workers killed during a tragic
construction accident. At 3 a.m. on Nov. 17, 1981, scaffolding at the
site collapsed burying about 169 workers in quick-drying
cement.
No rescue teams were allowed at the site for nine hours. Reports differ
on just how many workers were killed, but it’s possible that several
bodies remain entombed in the structure.
8) Dragsholm Slot, Denmark
(Niels Elgaard Larsen/Wikimedia Commons)
Back to haunted castles:
Dragsholm Slot,
or Dragsholm Castle in Denmark. The original castle was built in 1215.
In the 16th and 17th century, parts of it were used to house prisoners
of noble or ecclesiastical rank. It was rebuilt in a Baroque style after
1694, and is thought to house at least three ghosts: a grey lady, a
white lady, and the ghost of one its prisoners, James Hepburn, the 4th
Earl of Bothwell.
9) Raynham Hall, United Kingdom
The
are lots of haunted places in the United Kingdom. The most famous is
the Tower of London, but that’s kind of played out, so here’s a slightly
less famous haunted spot:
Raynham Hall in Norfolk, which is haunted by the “Brown Lady,” so named because she appears wearing a brown brocade dress.
The
Brown Lady is thought to be the ghost of Lady Dorothy Walpole
(1686-1726). The sister of Robert Walpole (the first prime minister of
Great Britain), she allegedly had an affair with a local lord, Lord
Wharton. According to one story, her husband, Charles Townshend
discovered the affair and locked her in their home
at Raynham Hall. Another story claims that it was Lord Wharton’s wife
who somehow managed to arrange her entrapment. Either way, Dorothy was
locked up. She died, and her soul was freed to haunt the castle.
10) Château de Châteaubriant, France
The
Château de Châteaubriant was
built in the 11th century. The haunting dates to the 16th century, and
the story of Jean de Laval and his wife Françoise de Foix. King Francis I
asked de Laval to assist him at court, and Françoise joined him there,
becoming the lady in waiting to the queen. She also became King Francis’
mistress. She died on Oct. 16, 1537 under mysterious circumstances. It
was rumored that de Laval had learned of her affair and locked her in a
room until he could poison her. Now, every year, on Oct. 16, Françoise
walks the halls of the Château.
