Ghost-Spotting Destinations to Get You In the Mood for Halloween

13 de October de 2016

It’s only a few more sleeps until All Hallow’s Eve will be upon us. Are you in the mood for a good scare? These 6 destinations around the world are fraught with ghostly encounters … visit them if you dare! 

1. The White House, Washington D.C.

There are many ghost stories surrounding the White House, and one of the most famed is that of the White House Ghost – a.k.a. Abraham Lincoln.

Plenty of notable people, including Theodore Roosevelt, have claimed to have seen, heard or felt the ghost of Abraham Lincoln wandering around the White House. Even Winston Churchill, emerging from a bath one evening, reportedly saw Lincoln’s apparition standing by the fireplace in his room.

2. Ancient Ram Inn, Wotton-under-Edge

Would you sleep overnight in the most haunted B&B in Britain? Built in 1145 on an old pagan burial ground, the Ancient Ram Inn has been terrifying people for decades.

The place is said to be inhabited by up to twenty different ghosts, supposedly of those who are buried beneath it. Travellers have reported hearing screams, seeing spectres, seeing furniture move on its own and even being pushed by invisible beings. Uh … room for two, anyone? 

3. Chaonei No. 81, Beijing

This 20th-century church is said to be one of the most haunted in all of Beijing.

A ghostly woman has often been spotted here and it’s thought she was once the wife or lover of a military officer who left her behind during the war. After he left, she hung herself in the house – and her ghost is apparently still here. If there’s a storm, you might be able to hear her scream.

Thanks to historic preservation, the house is prohibited from being torn down – but given its permanent inhabitant, no one is willing to renovate it, either! 

4. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland

This famous picture on Twitter made headlines last year when the Cleveland Museum of Art, in the midst of preparing for its Monet exhibition, shared this photo showing a hauntingly Monet-ish man looking down over the gallery.

Nobody seems to know who he is or how he got there, and word quickly spread that it could potentially be the ghost of Monet himself! 

5. Poveglia Island, near Venice

It’s no wonder Poveglia is teeming with frightening spirits – it was once a dumping zone for victims of the bubonic plague and later, it housed a mental asylum where many patients met their deaths.

Everything from eerie voices to unexplained music and moving objects have occurred here, and locals and fishermen avoid the place like the plague itself.

Today, the island is abandoned but traveller tours run regularly. Book it in if you’re game! 

6. Tower of London, London

If you’re a Tudor buff, you should put the Tower of London on your bucket list. It’s no secret that dozens of executions were carried out here back in the day, but it’s the ghost of Anne Boleyn – Elizabeth I’s mother and Henry VIII’s second wife – that’s become the centre of popular sightings.

Anne was both beheaded and buried here and visitors and workers have claimed to have seen her ghost floating around the halls, sometimes with her severed head under her arm. Yowser!