As children, many of us sat around the dinner table or a crackling campfire, listening to our parents or friends tell us the creepiest stories. We’d surreptitiously glance over our shoulders, ready to run at the slightest creak of a twig or flutter of a curtain. The characters in these stories haunted us. They brought a prickle to the backs of our necks, a sudden chill in the middle of a stiflingly hot night. They made us sleep with the lights on and never allowed us to dangle a foot or a hand over the edge of the bed while straining our ears for the sound of unfamiliar footsteps.
Let’s see if we can rediscover the nostalgia of those times by taking a peek behind the thin veil that separates our world from the paranormal realm. Pull up a comfortable chair, dim the lights if you’re brave, and let the world of shadows pull you along on a chilling journey through ten terrifying tales.
The ghosts are waiting…
Related: Top Ten Ghosts and Cryptids Based on Witches
10 A Suffering Soul
A couple of years ago, a young woman named Zenny Suarez paid a visit to her mother, who had been admitted to the National Hospital of Itaugua in Paraguay. As she walked the corridor to her mother’s ward, bloodcurdling screams sounded up from an empty hallway.
Believing it to be a patient in pain, Zenny looked around to see if she could find the source of the screaming, only to see what looked like a “suffering soul” suspended In the air.
Zenny ran to the nearest nurse’s station and told them what she had seen and heard. Doctors, in turn, told her that she probably saw the ghost of Maria Soledad. Maria was a former patient who had been admitted to the ICU several years before. She had sustained horrific injuries during a “group fight.”
Maria didn’t survive her hospital stay and, according to the nurses and doctors, has been wandering the corridors and stairways ever since, forever screaming in pain.[1]
9 Scariest Island in the Caribbean
Chacachacare Island is located in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and forms part of the Bocas Islands. Christopher Columbus spotted the island in 1498, and it later served as a base for Santiago Marino to invade Venezuela.
In the 1860s, the island became a leper colony, which was established by the British government. Those banished to the island were forbidden to leave and were cared for by nuns. Two of the French Dominican nuns eventually contracted leprosy, and one of them took her own life.
After the death of the last leper and the departure of the remaining nuns in 1984, the island was abandoned. Today, the island is uninhabited, except for staff members who maintain a single lighthouse. Some locals also visit the island for day trips.
However, most people won’t dare set foot on the island for fear of encountering the spirit of the nun who committed suicide. It is said that she floats around the island cemetery, clutching a lantern to guide her way.[2]
8 Terror in the Maldives
When the sun sinks over the splendor of the Maldives, the ghosts come out to play. And apparently, they like popping up in schools across the archipelago.
Students attending Aminiya School have reportedly experienced a stalking shadow in the hallways. This shadow also appeared in some of the bathrooms. Some reports say that the shadow, believed to be the “ghost of Hareera,” often lurks near the mango trees on the school grounds.
Hareera is said to have been a janitor at the school who was bullied by some of the students. One version of the ghost story says that Hareera hung herself in the girls’ bathroom, while another says that she was murdered by the same students who bullied her.
And then there is the legend of the “aiyyburi,” a disembodied hand that reportedly haunts several schools across the Maldives. The severed hand appears in front of students unexpectedly or creeps up on them inside classrooms or on the playground.[3]
7 The Haunted Anchorage Hotel
It is said that even the most hardened skeptics will start believing in ghosts after a visit to the historic Anchorage Hotel. This hotel is the subject of seemingly endless ghost stories, including the one about Jack Sturgus.
Sturgus was the first police chief in Anchorage, and he was shot to death just a few steps from the hotel. Sturgus’s murder remains unsolved, and it is rumored that the tragic police chief revisits the scene of his murder on the anniversary of his death every year.
Inside the hotel, a long line of guests has reportedly seen the ghost of a young girl walking along the hall on the second floor, while others witnessed the apparition of a bride who hung herself after her groom failed to show up on their big day.
It is also said that employees at the hotel are so distracted by all the ghosts that they’ve taken to keeping a diary in which all the incidents are recorded.[4]
6 The Jinn Cave
The ancient city of Ghat was once a major terminal point and stronghold until Italy occupied it. Located in Libya, Ghat is home to prehistoric rock paintings and the historic Fortress of Ghat, which are all popular tourist attractions.
Around 15.5 miles (25 km) north of Ghat is where you’ll find the Mountain of Ghosts. This mountain has a natural cave carved into it, also known as the Jinn Cave. The Jinn, believed to inhabit this cave, often transforms into a deer. Many have tried unsuccessfully to capture the deer, and during their efforts, they hear voices whispering from the cave.
There are also ongoing reports of encounters with unidentified beings and strange sounds emanating from the mountain. For this reason, most locals refuse to climb the mountain, and tourists will likely have to experience the hike on their own.[5]
5 The Ghosts of Wales
Wales is known for having some of the most beautiful beaches on the planet and is also famous for its rich history. However, in Wales, ghosts tread their own paths, and several creepy stories have originated here.
Llancaiach Fawr, located in Caerphilly, is believed to be one of the most haunted places in the world. A tenant, who lived in this imposing residence for 35 years, claimed to have heard loud footsteps coming from the upper floor at all hours and saw a man dressed in Victorian clothing storm past him while walking in the garden. A little boy also haunts this house, tugging on the clothes and hair of visitors.
Moreover, the Skirrid Mountain Inn has its very own ghosts and aggressive ones at that. The Inn was once a courthouse that served as an execution hall as well. Nearly 200 criminals were hanged here. In modern times, visitors to the building have reported experiencing the sensation of a noose tightening around their necks.[6]
4 Egg Ghosts
Korean folklore provides some of the most chilling ghost stories in the world. An example of this is the story of egg ghosts. Egg ghosts are faceless, emotionless beings that are believed to have been childless women in life.
Because they have no descendants to perform memorial rites, these ghosts lose their “personality” and are doomed to be miserable forever in the afterlife. They also cause instant death to any living person who encounters them.
And then there are water ghosts. People who accidentally drown while swimming in lakes and rivers are said to become water ghosts. They don’t realize they’re dead and try to attract the attention of the living for help. Water ghosts tug on the clothes of swimmers and have unusually long arms and hair that they wrap around the bodies of the living to drag them deeper into the water.[7]
3 Haunted Houses
A haunted house is the cornerstone of many a spooky tale, whether it be a horror novel or a movie. Many homeowners have had their own Bly Manor experience, as is evidenced by the thousands of haunted house stories on the internet.
One of the most infamous ghost-filled houses in the world is the Kasha House of Kaimuki in Honolulu. A few months after Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, police officers arrived at the house after receiving panicked calls from the woman living there. The story goes that the woman was screaming, “She’s trying to kill my children.” When the police arrived, they found the woman and her four children being violently tossed and shoved around, apparently by some unseen force.
And then there is the Castello dal Pozzo on Lake Maggiore’s shore in Italy. This stunning castle is rumored to be haunted by a ghost named Barbara, who was the daughter of Lord Dal Pozzo. Dal Pozzo was irritated by his daughter’s choice of husband and the fact that she chose to elope without his consent. He locked her up in one of the towers, where she eventually died. Today, she still haunts the lonely tower, grieving for the husband she never saw again.[8]
2 The Eerie Side of the Karoo National Park
South Africa has its own treasure trove of spooky tales, the most famous of which is the legend of the Flying Dutchman and the ghost of Maria, who is still hitchhiking alongside a stretch of road near Uniondale.
One of the most popular tourist destinations in South Africa, apart from Cape Town, is the Karoo—a semi-desert area that spans three different provinces. The region is split into Little Karoo and Great Karoo and is known for its well-preserved ecosystem that left behind several valuable fossils.
The Karoo is also a very eerie place to be after the sun goes down. Here, many drivers have reported seeing the apparition of a British soldier in uniform and wrapped in blood-stained bandages standing on the side of the road. Some claimed to have heard the sound of bagpipes emanating from a deserted cemetery.
The Karoo National Park is home to magnificent mountain ranges, which are often covered in thick mist. Locals here believe that a water ghost (water spook) covers the mountain with said mist so that it can move around unnoticed. There are several unmarked graves inside the park, adding to the ghostly atmosphere. It is also a common belief that the ghost causes livestock to drown in a natural pool simply because of its bloodthirsty nature.[9]
1 Hotels of Horror
Flight attendants working for Cathay Pacific Airlines had similar creepy experiences after checking into an unnamed hotel in Bangkok. The first flight attendant to book a particular room in the hotel reported seeing a female ghost storming through the room and flitting through windows and walls. The very next night, another flight attendant from the same airline booked into the same room and had the same experience.
When British Caledonian Airlines was still a thing, flight attendants stayed in the H wing of the Dubai International Hotel. One after the other, they started complaining about insomnia, pressure on their chests, and a specter roaming around their rooms.
In the Hawaiian Regent Hotel, a newly married couple checked into Room 1022 to start their honeymoon. A few hours after their arrival, the bride, who was several years younger than her groom and caught up in an arranged marriage, put her wedding dress back on and leaped from the room’s balcony to her death.
Her husband went back home the same day, and the following day, the room was rented to another couple. The woman woke up late that night and saw the apparition of a woman in a wedding dress flying across the room.[10]