Creepiest Places On Earth, part 2 of 2

Creepiest places—those words conjure up an image of eerie, disturbing, unnerving, and maybe even spine-chilling. This week's blog is a continuation of last week's list.

Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary In San Francisco Bay, California

Located in San Francisco Bay, California, the island has a long history dating back to the Civil War when it was a lighthouse, a fortress, and military prison. It's also been a bird sanctuary, site of the American Indian Red Power movement, and—most famously—a federal penitentiary. It's now part of the National Park Service with tours open to the public [an interesting tour, I've taken it]. It opened as a penitentiary on August 11, 1934, was nicknamed The Rock, and was considered escape proof due to its location on a 22 acre island in San Francisco Bay surrounded by cold water and treacherous ocean currents and tides. It housed many infamous criminals, but probably the two most famous were Al Capone and Robert Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz). Numerous creepy incidents have been reported over the years, many relating to hauntings, and to this day unexplained happenings still occur. The prison was closed on March 21, 1963, because it was too expensive to operate. Everything, including such basics as drinking water, had to be brought in by boat.

Ed Gein's Home In Plainfield, Wisconsin

Following the death of his mother, Ed Gein started digging up graves of recently buried middle-aged women, taking their bodies home, tanning their skins and using them to make various items. Soon after that, he began to abduct and kill women. Police were eventually led to Gein's farmhouse where they made horrific discoveries—chairs reupholstered with fatty human skin, a soup bowl made from a human skull, a shade pull made of lips, masks made from human faces, and a vest made from a woman's torso. The remains of 11 women were found in his house. His horrendous crimes have been the inspiration for films like Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence Of The Lambs.

The Dakota In New York City

The building was constructed in 1884 on Manhattan's Upper West Side, an area so remote at that time that it was named The Dakota after the vast Dakota Territory. It was the inspiration for the 1967 film Rosemary's Baby included witchcraft, Satanism, cannibalism, and murder. Common occurrences at The Dakota include phantom footsteps, mysterious rumblings, and elevators moving on their own. Over the years, The Dakota has been the home of many celebrities. John Lennon lived there at the time of his murder in 1980.

The Winchester Mystery House In San Jose, California

The sudden smell of chicken soup, apparitions from other eras, and doors that magically unlock are just some of the reported paranormal occurrences in the Winchester Mystery House. After her husband (heir to the Winchester rifle fortune) and only child died, Sarah Winchester consulted a psychic in Boston who said her family was haunted by those killed by the rifles. She was instructed to build a house to appease those spirits and as long as the construction continues, she would be safe. In 1866 she bought an unfinished farmhouse in what is now San Jose, California, and hired a construction crew to work around the clock. The house now has 160 rooms, 2000 doors, 10,000 windows, 47 stairways, 47 fireplaces, and 6 kitchens. Stair that lead nowhere, doors that open to a wall, other doors that open to a drop from the second floor to the first floor. She was also obsessed with the number 13—staircases with 13 steps, windows with 13 panes of glass, she even had a light added to a chandelier so it would contain 13 lights. Sarah Winchester died on September 5, 1922. 

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado

The Stanley Hotel actually enjoys its reputation. Their in-house paranormal investigator called it 'a Disneyland for spirits.' The hotel was built in 1909 and sports a varied roster of spirits including a maid who climbs into bed between unmarried couples, a maintenance man who enforced a strict 11PM curfew, a musical spirit that hums along the concert hall, and an affectionate ghost named Eddie who's known to stroke women's hair and kiss their cheeks. In 1974, author Stephen King and his wife stayed there. That stay was the genesis for his classic 1977 novel, The Shining, where he renamed the Stanley Hotel as the Overlook Hotel for the book. 

The Amityville Horror House On Long Island, New York

The Amityville massacre has become one of the most famous crimes in American history, due in part to the novel and movie depicting the crimes and focusing on demonic forces some believe were involved and responsible. Heroine and LSD user Ronald DeFeo, Jr., was found guilty of murdering his family November 13, 1974. He claimed he heard voices telling him to kill his family. A year after the murder, the Lutz family moved into the house. Soon after, they reported some supernatural occurrences such as red eyes at windows, swarms of flies, the imprint of cloven hoofs in the snow, and voices screaming at them to get out. Less than a month after moving, they fled and left all their possessions behind. Many questioned DeFeo's and the Lutz's claims of paranormal activities. DeFeo later rejected his initial defense. The Lutz's maintained their claim until their deaths.

Hmm…now that I look back over this part 2 list, I realize that all the places mentioned here are in the U.S. rather than international. The American Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775, with the battle at Concord and Lexington. We officially put the British on notice of our intensions on July 4, 1776, when we issued The Declaration of Independence. The Revolutionary War ended October, 1781, when Cornwallis surrendered British troops at Yorktown, Virginia. Two years later, September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris made it official. Our history as an independent country is relatively short compared to many other countries.

I apparently need to look into creepy places in other countries.  😊

Creepiest Places On Earth, part 1 of 2

I recently came across two lists, one that claimed to be the scariest places on Earth and the other said it was the creepiest places on earth. And they were not the same list. These lists weren't a reference to most haunted places. That would have made it a Halloween blog. :)  Although, some of the places on these lists are said to be haunted. Some of these places have been abandoned due primarily to man's misdeeds. This list, in no particular order, is part 1 of a 2-part blog.

1)  Sedlec Ossuary, Czech Republic

When you have the remains of over 40,000 people, what do you do with all those bones? The Abbot of Sedlec went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1278 and brought back some dirt he claimed came from Jesus' burial site. Immediately thereafter Catholics from all over Europe started demanding burial in the Sedlec Ossuary cemetery. The cemetery obviously didn't have the space to accommodate all the continual requests. In the 16^th century, the church staff dug up everyone buried there and used those bones for decoration: there's a chandelier made from one of every bone in the human body, garlands of skulls, and a replica of the Schwarzenberg coat of arms made from bones.

2) Centralia, Pennsylvania

Our incredible natural resources is one thing that has made America such a prosperous country. Unfortunately, those natural resources can occasionally turn on us and that's what happened when a coal mine near Centralia, Pennsylvania, caught fire in 1962. The veins of coal ran under the town which ultimately turned Centralia into a literal hellhole. Temperatures over 1000 degree Fahrenheit accompanied by belching clouds of poisonous gas. Once the initial conflagration settled down, people began to move back but soon discovered that the veins of coal were still burning resulting in blazing hot sinkholes that swallowed people without warning. Most of the residents have moved away.

3)  Pripyat, Ukraine (Chernobyl)

A colossal example of man's ability to really screw up the planet is on display in Pripyat in the Ukraine. The town's former population of 49,000 was evacuated following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 while Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union before it broke up into its original countries. Ukraine declared its independence from Russia in 1991. Now referred to as the zone of exclusion, Chernobyl looks like a freaky ghost town. The few people who have ventured back into the town report an atmosphere of desolation and terror. Dolls on school house floors, vehicles in disrepair on the roadsides, and the skeleton of an abandoned amusement park that's hauntingly scary.

4)  Aokigahara Suicide Forest

The Aokigahara Forest at the base on Mt. Fuji in Japan is associated with multiple demons in Japanese folklore. There's something about the supernatural forest that drives people to suicide. An average of 100 people travel to Aokigahara every year to kill themselves, mostly by hanging or drug overdose. Legend says that in the 19^th century families would abandon their elderly relatives there to die when they couldn't take care of themselves.

5)  Lome Bazaar, Togo

If you've ever been to a street market in a third world country, then you know how crazy things can be. So, take all that energy and put it in a bazaar that sells only materials for voodoo and you have the Lome Bazaar in Togo. The bazaar is a one stop shop for a wide variety of terrifying things used to perform frightening functions. The absolute volume of grisly death that stares at you is enough to make the strongest person weak in the knees.

6)  Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Cambodia

The Khmer Rouge period of Cambodia's past is one of the scariest genocides in history. Millions of innocents were slaughtered and the museum is located where it all happened. In Khmer, "Tuol Sleng" translates as "Strychnine Hill." The museum is housed in a former death camp and notoriously haunted by ghosts of the thousands who died there. Of the 17,000 people who were admitted to the prison, only seven survived.

7)  Body Farm in Knoxville, Tennessee

Sometimes science has to do some pretty disgusting things to make advancements, but we don't make them vacation spots. Studying the decomposition of the human body can give researchers lots of knowledge useful to medicine, forensics, and others. To monitor a body decomposing in real time, you go to the body farm on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. It's a 2.5 acre of land and at any time has multiple bodies laid out in various positions. Over 100 corpses are donated to the Body Farm every year. Several detective/forensics/crime shows, both entertainment programming and documentaries, have used the concept of the Body Farm in their episodes.

8)  Helltown, Ohio

The village of Boston was founded in Ohio's Summit County in 1806 and succeeded until 1974 when something weird happened. President Ford signed a bill authorizing the area to be turned into a national park, the houses were purchased and boarded up, but no park was ever built, resulting in a deserted town in the middle of nowhere. The newly named Helltown spawned some terrifying legends including Satanist sacrifices, mysterious toxic waste spills, and an escaped mental patient who wanders the woods.

9)  Fengdu, China

With China's population, there isn't much room left for a ghost town—except for Fengdu, located on the north bank of the Yangtze River. Fengdu is completely abandoned. It's rumored to be a junction point between Earth and the underworld where rampaging demons grab unaware souls.

10)  La Isla De La Munecas, Mexico

Dozens of small, uninhabited islands dot the canals south of Mexico City. It's not just the polluted runoff from Mexico City that makes the area less than desirable. Fifty years ago, a man named Don Julian Santana lived the life of a hermit on one of the islands. One day he fished the corpse of a young girl out of the water. As a form of protection, he started hanging dolls from the tree limbs and branches on his island. He continued to do this over the next few decades until the entire island was cluttered with broken, weathered dolls giving it the appearance of a terrifying place.

That's part 1 of 2 of the list of creepiest places. Next week I'll share part 2.