Some places are just spooky. It could be the knowledge of what happened there. Or maybe it’s simply a vibe the place has. Why then are spooky places so attractive? Well, because they’re also thrilling. Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like being constantly scared. And when Halloween rolls around there’s no better way to celebrate (besides eating candy) than giving a nod to that abandoned house in your neighborhood everyone thinks is haunted, because a child died there in the 1920’s. Suffice to say, whether running away or running towards them, the places that spook us are the same ones that fascinate.
The Amityville Horror House
Amityville Horror House Modern Day, Image via Wikipedia
In November 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot and killed his parents and four siblings at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. In December 1975, the Lutz family moved in. Ronald DeFeo claimed in his trial that voices had convinced him to kill his family. In January 1976, the Lutz family fled from the house. Mrs. Lutz had been finding her children each laying face down at night on their beds, in the same positions the DeFeo children had been found after they were shot. Their youngest daughter began speaking of a new imaginary friend, named Jodie, a monstrous pig. Countless other terrifying supernatural aspects allegedly happened throughout the month until the Lutz’s finally fled for their lives. Controversy surrounds this entire event. Numerous families have lived in the house since then without any problems. Certain facts within the Lutz story also did not pan out. Today the house has a changed address and front appearance. Whether the supernatural aspect of this story is true or not, the fact is most people would find living in a house where 6 people were murdered rather spooky.
Poenari Castle
Castle of Vlad the Impaler, Otherwise Known as Count Dracula, Image via wikipedia
What could be so special, let alone spooky about the ruins of a castle up on a hill? Two words, “Dracula’s Castle”. There are other locations attributed to Vlad III, the Prince of Wallachia, also known as “Vlad the Impaler”, but this is the castle mostly associated with him as fact. Suffice to say, the area is considered haunted. It’s located at the end of a trail comprising of some 1500 steps. It is said that when Vlad III was captured at this castle, his wife flung herself from the tower into the river below, choosing suicide over being a captive of the Turks. The river, a tributary of the Arges River, is to this day known as Lady’s River, or Princess’s River. The castle’s ruins are located in Romania.
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame Cathedral, image via Wikipedia
You may be leaning back right now, bemused at this entry. Yes, the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral is a beautiful destination and an absolute “must see” tourist destination in Paris, right up there with the Eiffel Tower. For the most part, there is absolutely nothing spooky about it. However, up on the roof, there are a number of gargoyles, and if one manages to be up there alone, at night, the experience can be, well… spooky. The irony of this is gargoyles by definition are considered to be protectors. Their purpose is to ward off evil spirits. So in a spiritual sense, the area near the gargoyles may be one of the safest places in the cathedral.
Cachtice Castle
Ruins of Cachtice Castle, image via Wikipedia
You may have heard a legend, sometimes affiliated with vampires, of a noblewoman who bathed in the blood of virgins in a desperate attempt to extend her youth. That story is an exaggeration, but the woman did indeed live. Her name was Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Over several years around the turn of the 17th century, Bathory, with the help of a select few servants, would gather up peasant girls to torture them. Why? Not to retain her beauty; that is a myth. The truth is worse. She was a sadist. She did it for fun. Later on, she would work her way up to better off families, promising young women work within her castle. How many did she kill? The estimates go up into the hundreds. While her collaborators were either executed or imprisoned, Countess Elizabeth Bathory was instead put under house arrest, but in an unusual way. She was permanently walled up within a group of rooms inside her castle. Guards would feed her through a small opening. She would die four years later, still in these rooms. Some claim that the accusations against her were pure propaganda. Others say that is wishful thinking. The ruins of her castle still stand in Slovakia, and can even be seen at the beginning of the movie “Dragonheart”.
Lizzie Borden’s House
Lizzie Borden's House, image via Wikipedia
In August of 1892, Lizzie Andrew Borden allegedly took a hatchet and murdered her father and stepmother. Although Miss Borden was acquitted, the stories and speculation surrounding the murders still remain. The killer was never found and many believe Lizzie Borden was indeed guilty even if not convicted. Today the home where the murders took place is a bed and breakfast. Every morning, they serve a breakfast similar to the one the Bordens ate a few hours before they were murdered. Spooky indeed.
Chernobyl
Chernobyl Ferris Wheel
In April of 1986, a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. Chernobyl, a town of some 14,000 people was evacuated along with over 100,000 other citizens from the surrounding area. Today, Chernobyl is an abandoned, radioactive city. Despite this, a few hundred elderly residents have resettled in the area, reclaiming their homes. Most of the area is desolate. The ferris wheel in the city rests like a skeleton. The images, as you can expect, are quite spooky.
A building can be designed, whether intentionally or by accident, to make an occupant feel uneasy. Some also say that ghosts are the impressions people leave behind. We expect to see someone where we are used to seeing them, and so we do. A trick of the mind… supposedly. One could say that this happens with locations as well. When we know what happened, in the very place we’re standing, it leaves an impression. We feel what anyone could expect a sane person to feel if they were in an awful place, even if the event occurred centuries ago and the location is now merely rubble.
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