The World's Creepiest Vacation Spots Have You Booked Yet?
A burning crater in Turkmenistan that has been ablaze for 50 years. A church built from human bones near Prague. A tiny village in Japan with more life-sized horror dolls than inhabitants.
While we live in a vast, beautiful, and modern world today, our past has given birth to numerous terrifying and mysterious places. These are the places eagerly awaiting the next intrepid tourist to visit. From amusement parks with hellish motifs to islands covered in snakes, we have compiled the creepiest places in the world for you. Have you started packing your bags?
North Yungas Road Bolivia
The journey from La Paz to Coroico, Bolivia, is treacherous: The North Yungas Road snakes through the Amazon rainforest at an altitude of over 15,000 feet. With its narrow 12-foot single-lane track, absence of guardrails, and limited visibility due to rain and fog, it's easy to understand why this 50-mile stretch of highway earned the nickname "The Death Road."
While the North Yungas Road used to witness around 200 to 300 fatalities annually, today it is more of an attraction for adventurous mountain bikers than a thoroughfare for vehicles.
Nagoro Japan
Nagoro is a tiny Japanese village with a very remarkable feature: a life-sized population of dolls outnumbering the human residents almost 10 to 1. The toy inhabitants are the work of local artist Tsukimi Ayano, who began crafting doll replicas of her neighbors after they passed away or moved away.
These eerie doppelgangers can be seen in various places throughout the town – fishermen sit by the riverbank, students fill entire classrooms, elderly couples rest on benches outside buildings. There are now around 350 dolls and 27 living people (the youngest being over 50 years old) in Nagoro, making it a quirky and somewhat creepy doll land.
Hill of Crosses Siauliai Lithuania
Since the 14th century, people have been placing crosses on this hill in northern Lithuania. During the benevolent times of the Middle Ages, the crosses expressed the desire for Lithuanian independence.
Then, after a peasant uprising in 1831, people began expanding the site to commemorate fallen rebels. The hill became a place of defiance again during the Soviet occupation from 1944 to 1991. The hill and the crosses were bulldozed three times by the Soviets, but the locals rebuilt it each time. Now, over 100,000 crosses stand, clashing like eerie wind chimes in the breeze.
Island of the Dolls Xochimilco Mexico
Despite its history and UNESCO World Heritage status, Xochimilco is primarily known for its Isla de las Munecas or "Island of the Dolls." Hidden among the many canals of the district, the tiny island is famous for its hundreds of dolls – and doll parts – hanging from trees and scattered in the grass.
Although it looks more like a horror movie set than anything else, the chinampa (similar to an artificial island) was once the actual residence of a now-deceased man named Julian Santa Barrera. After Barrera found the body of a dead girl in a nearby canal, he began collecting dolls and displaying them in the hope of warding off evil spirits. The daring can rent their own boat, try to convince the driver to pay a visit to the island, and safely view it from the water.
Taylor Glacier Antarctica
It may look like a geological crime scene, but the five-story, purplish-red waterfall of Taylor Glacier, also known as "Blood Falls," is a natural wonder. This phenomenon dates back approximately five million years when the glacier sealed off a microbe-rich lake beneath it.
Isolated from light and oxygen, the water became increasingly concentrated, both in terms of salt and iron content. The water's high salt concentration (about three times saltier than the ocean) prevents it from freezing, while the iron gives it its color. Then, it seeps through a fissure in the glacier, and we witness this blood-like spectacle.
Centralia Pennsylvania
From the late 19th century until the 1960s, Centralia, Pennsylvania, was a picturesque but bustling town thanks to its flourishing coal mines. However, in 1962, a mine mysteriously caught fire, and the flames began to spread underground through connecting tunnels.
Although the residents were aware of the situation, they were not truly alarmed until a few years later when two incidents occurred: In 1979, a gas station owner reported unusually high gasoline temperatures in his underground tanks, and in 1981, a young boy narrowly avoided falling into a 150-foot-deep sinkhole in his backyard. Since these unsettling events, the town's population has significantly declined. As of 2014 (the date of the last census), only seven residents remain, although Centralia appears as a complete ghost town when visited.
Beelitz-Heilstatten Hospital Germany
If this old German hospital looks disturbing, that's because it is. Between 1898 and 1930, the Beelitz-Heilstätten complex (located 50 minutes south of Berlin) served as a tuberculosis sanatorium.
It also housed mustard gas and machine gun casualties during World War I, including a young soldier named Adolf Hitler, who was wounded in the leg. The hospital later became a significant treatment center for Nazi soldiers during World War II and was used as a Soviet military hospital from 1945 until the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Gomantong Caves Sabah Malaysia
The Gomantong Caves in Malaysia are geological wonders, with limestone walls reaching up to 300 feet in height. However, visitors often leave the site describing it as one of the most disgusting wildlife experiences they have ever had.
First things first: Gomantong is home to over two million bats, leading to incredibly thick layers of guano (also known as bat droppings) covering the ground. The handrails are just as filthy as the floor, so slipping is not an option. If you manage to make your way through the river of bat droppings, you will then encounter several million Malaysian cockroaches scurrying about. Wherever the guano is, the cockroaches will be (which is pretty much everywhere). Finally, as you pass by the bat smells and the cockroaches crawling up your legs, there are some other delightful creatures you might happen upon, including snakes, scorpions, freshwater crabs, and the infamous giant scutigera centipedes – poisonous creatures that are at least three inches long.
Christ of the Abyss San Fruttuoso Italy
Although several versions of the same Jesus statue are scattered on the ocean floor (including Key Largo, pictured), the original version lies in the Mediterranean off the coast of San Fruttuoso.
The two-and-a-half-meter-tall image was commissioned in 1954 by Italian diver Duilio Marcante. Marcante wanted to erect a kind of monument precisely at the spot where his friend Dario Gonzatti died while diving a few years earlier. And so, Christ of the Abyss was born. The result is vaguely eerie, especially with the outstretched arms and upward gaze of the deity. The algae and corrosion only enhance the effect, although the statue was removed from its watery home in 2003 for much-needed restoration (including the replacement of a hand that had broken off due to a rogue anchor). Regardless of whether you find the monument eerie or beautiful (or both), it's definitely worth making a 55-foot dive to take an underwater selfie with Jesus.
Prypjat Ukraine
If there ever was a poster child for eerily abandoned places worldwide, it would have to be Pripyat. The city was founded in 1970 and had nearly 50,000 inhabitants until its complete evacuation following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
Since the evacuation, Pripyat has remained an uninhabited city, although the buildings, furniture, and all other signs of life are exactly where its former citizens left them. Weathered books can be found in classrooms, decaying dolls lie abandoned in cribs, and photographs remain in their original frames. The most famous landmark is the Pripyat amusement park's Ferris wheel – a skeletal reminder of what once was. And now, after the airing of HBO's Chernobyl series, the Ukrainian government has announced that the site will become an official tourist attraction.
Hanging Coffins Sagada Philippines
If you want to visit the dead in Sagada, you have to look up – instead of two meters underground. The people of this region are known for burying their dead in coffins attached to the sides of cliffs, creating an aerial cross-section of an average cemetery.
The tradition dates back millennia: Carve your own coffin, pass away, and be lifted next to your ancestors. Many of the coffins on the cliffs are hundreds of years old and all look completely different, as they were specifically made by the person now resting inside.
The Door to Hell Derweze Turkmenistan
While Joss Whedon led us to believe that the entrance to Hell could be found in Sunnydale, California, it was actually about 7,500 miles away. In the middle of the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan lies the "Door to Hell," a name given by the locals to a 70-meter wide crater that just won't stop burning.
In 1971, Soviet scientists began searching for oil and accidentally stumbled upon a methane reserve, causing the drilling platform to collapse, forming the crater, and releasing dangerous gas into the air. The scientists decided to set the crater on fire to burn off the methane, creating a Dante-like anomaly that has been burning for over 40 years.
Capuchin Catacombs Palermo Italy
Of all the catacombs in the world, from Salzburg to Paris, none are as creepy as Sicily's Catacombe dei Cappucini (Capuchin Catacombs). The macabre space was established in the late 16th century when the cemetery of the Capuchin monastery became overcrowded.
Originally, religious men were supposed to be the exclusive residents, but as word spread about the natural mummification processes in the space, it soon became a status symbol for local citizens to earn their final resting place there (of course, dressed in their finest attire). As a result, the underground tombs now hold around 8,000 bodies, divided into separate corridors, including one for religious figures, one for professionals, one for children, and even one for virgins. The bodies are displayed like museum exhibits, finely dressed and arranged in grotesquely lifelike poses.
Snake Island Sao Paulo Brazil
Ilha de Queimada Grande (also known as Snake Island) is located about 90 miles off the coast of São Paulo and is one of the most dangerous islands in the world. The place earned its nickname due to its insanely high density of golden lancehead vipers.
Some studies report an average of one to five snakes per square meter. When the sea level rose about 11,000 years ago, isolating Snake Island from the Brazilian mainland, the newly separated snakes became hyper-evolved – and hyper-terrifying – to adapt to their changing environment.
Sedlec Ossuary Kutna Hora Czech Republic
The incredible Sedlec Ossuary is a small chapel beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints, known worldwide for its macabre decoration. In the early 14th century, an abbot of the Sedlec Monastery brought holy soil from Jerusalem and spread it across the church cemetery, making everyone want to be buried on this sacred ground.
However, overpopulation became an issue, and old corpses had to be exhumed to make room for fresh ones. In a true "waste not, want not" fashion, the abbots decided to put the exhumed bones to good use. A local Czech woodcarver named František Rint was tasked with arranging the collection of over 40,000 human remains in a visually striking manner – and he certainly delivered.
Kawah Ijen Volcano Java Indonesia
The Kawah Ijen Volcano in Indonesia is both terrifying and spectacular. The Java summit has unusual amounts of sulfur gases that reach temperatures of over 1,000°F and ignite when they seep through the cracks and come into contact with the air.
The gases sometimes condense into liquid sulfur, which takes on an otherworldly blue hue and flows down the volcano like lava (spectacular). While the beautiful lights are only visible in the dark, Kawah Ijen's sulfur burns around the clock. As a result, the surrounding air is filled with sulfur dioxide, and the adjacent crater lake has turned green due to acid saturation.
Haw Par Villa Singapore
Haw Par Villa is an 82-year-old theme park in Singapore – and it is pretty much the complete opposite of Disneyland. Its colorful entrance of Chinese arches may seem harmless enough, but then you actually enter and see that Haw Par Villa is covered with over 1,000 statues, each one stranger than the last (yes, it gets weirder than a human head on a giant crab).
The underworld Ten Courts of Hell is the main feature of Haw Par Villa. The dioramas, intended to teach young children morals, depict severe forms of punishment, accompanied by a sign explaining the sin that justified such lashings. You will see people being sawn in half by a giant saw (crime: "abusing books"), dismembered (crime: cheating in exams), or thrown onto a hill of knives (crime: borrowing money with exorbitant interest).
Belize
The Lighthouse Reef, located about 60 miles off the coast of Belize, offers beautiful coral and shallow turquoise water... oh, and a vertical abyss that is over 400 feet deep. Meet the Great Blue Hole, a 1,000-foot wide, perfectly circular hole in the middle of the atoll.
Divers flock to the site to witness the unique geology, which includes massive underwater stalactites and stalagmites that formed during the last ice age. The limestone shelf surrounding the vertical cave lies about 40 feet below the surface, and then it's a direct plunge into the unknown. The deeper divers descend, the clearer and more stunning the rock formations are said to become. Watch the viral video of world champion Guillaume Nery free diving directly into the Blue Hole to understand just how eerie this experience can be.
Aokigahara Forest Yamanashi Prefecture Japan
This seemingly peaceful forest at the base of Mount Fuji has an extremely troubled history. Popularly known as the "Suicide Forest," Aokigahara is the world's second most popular place for suicides (after the Golden Gate Bridge). In 2010 alone, 247 people attempted to take their own lives here, and 54 of them were successful.
Some attribute this phenomenon to the forest's association with demons in Japanese mythology. Others point to the density of the trees, which muffles sounds and makes it extremely easy to get lost. Many hikers even mark their path with tape or string to find their way back more easily. This, combined with scattered clothing and letters in the labyrinthine woods, gives Aokigahara a bone-chilling Blair Witch meets Palace of Knossos atmosphere that freezes you to the core.
Veijo Ronkkonen Sculpture Garden Parikkala Finland
Veijo Ronkkonen was one of Finland's most famous contemporary folk artists during his lifetime, but he was also a recluse and refused to exhibit his works in public spaces. Instead, he built his collection of almost 500 concrete figures in his backyard, creating his own personal sculpture garden.
The largest exhibition on the grounds is a group of around 200 statues arranged in various yoga poses. While the sculptures (reportedly all self-portraits) have something eerily unsettling about them, they are by far not the creepiest objects in the garden: Rönkkönen's collection includes a series of eerie individual statues, from a nun lurking behind bushes to a veiled man with long, outstretched arms. The malevolent grins (equipped with real human teeth) and sunken black eyes of these figures are exactly what the doctor ordered... provided you have a desire never to sleep peacefully again.
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