10 True Ghost Stories from the Most Haunted Places in the World

Kisiljevo, Serbia

This remote village is home to fewer than 800 inhabitants—and one spooky vampire story. In 1725, a resident named Petar Plogojowitz passed away, and in the next eight days, nine deaths occurred. The nine who died had said on their deathbeds that they had been throttled by Plogojowitz’s corpse. Priests and officials flocked to Kisiljevo to investigate, and roughly 40 days after Plogojowitz had expired, they exhumed his grave. Strangely, his beard and nails still seemed to be growing, and there were signs of new skin. When a stake was plunged into his body, it was reported that fresh blood spurted from his ears and mouth, a horrible scream arose and his skin turned black. At that point, the murders ceased. Some call Plogojowitz “the first vampire,” which may be more chilling than any other true ghost stories.

Forbidden City, China

The beautiful, sprawling Forbidden City in Beijing—made up of 980 buildings on 180 acres—is one of China’s best-known landmarks. Many true ghost stories have also come from within its walls. From the 15th century through the early 20th century, the Chinese emperor lived there, but now it’s rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of concubines. In 1421, Emperor Yongle ordered nearly 3,000 ladies-in-waiting associated with his harem, all of whom lived in the Forbidden City, to be slaughtered, because he thought that a beloved concubine had been poisoned. He spared some of his favorites in the harem, but on the day of his funeral, 16 courtesans were hung with nooses of white silk.

Today, in the Forbidden City, a lady with black hair has been seen running from a ghostly soldier; sounds of screaming, weeping and sword-fighting have been heard; and specters of dead bodies, pools of blood and pieces of white silk have been glimpsed.

The Forbidden City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is open to the public, although it closes before nightfall.

Glamis Castle, Scotland

This castle was first built in the 14th century, and it’s where the queen mother—the late mother to Queen Elizabeth II—grew up. It’s also said to be populated by a bevy of ghosts including the Grey Lady, or the Lady of Glamis, otherwise known as Lady Janet Douglas. Accused of murdering her husband by poisoning him and of using witchcraft to take down King James V of Scotland, the Grey Lady was burned at the stake in 1537 in Edinburgh. Her ghost is said to run up the stairs in the clock tower, leaving a trail of ash in her wake. A woman with no tongue has been seen roaming the park around the castle, and the ghost of an 18th-century boy servant, who had been terribly mistreated, is said to haunt a seat near the door of the queen’s bedroom.

The most famous ghost is Earl Beardie, or the Earl of Crawford. This noble visited the castle in the 15th century, and one night, he got drunk and demanded that someone play cards with him. If no one would, the earl declared, he would play the devil himself. A mysterious hooded man dressed in black showed up at Glamis and offered to play. By the next morning, the earl had vanished, and visitors to the castle have reported hearing swearing, loud voices, dice and clinking glasses.

Cumae Archaeological Park, Italy

Located on the southwestern coast of Italy and settled in the 8th century BC, Cumae was the first Greek colony on the Italian mainland. It is best known for being the seat of the Cumaean sibyl, or prophetess. In the Aeneid, Aeneas went to see the sibyl before he entered the underworld; a passage to hell is located nearby.

Cumae has been the site of much bloodshed. In the 1st century, several brutal battles in the Gothic Wars took place there, and during World War II, German soldiers used a part of it as a bunker and gun emplacement. Modern-day visitors can traverse the dark, womb-like tunnels of the archaeological site and try their luck at consulting the sibyl for guidance.

Monte Cristo Homestead, Australia

Said to be Australia’s most haunted house, this isolated residence was built on a hillside in New South Wales in 1884 by farmer Christopher Crawley. After he died in 1920, his wife, Elizabeth, became a Bible-immersed recluse, leaving the house only twice before she passed away. Her ghost is thought to walk the rooms, and visitors report feeling an ice-cold chill when she shows up, sometimes holding a silver cross.

Elizabeth has quite a bit of company, including several spirits: a maid who had plunged to her death from a balcony in the house, a stable boy who was burned to death by his master, and a mentally disabled man who was chained in the caretaker’s cottage for 40 years. Naturally, the latter ghost makes his presence felt by clanking his chains.

Eastern State Penitentiary, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary was home to some of the country’s most notorious criminals, and 150 years ago, the punishments themselves were enough to give you chills. Not only was this one of the first prisons to institute solitary confinement (which led to insanity), but prisoners were also left wet in the cold until ice formed on their bodies, or given an iron gag that made their tongues bleed.

In the 1990s, a locksmith was helping restore a cell when he says a negative energy overcame him and left him temporarily paralyzed before he saw visions of faces appear on the walls. Since then, countless other true ghost stories have emerged from visitors who have reported seeing shadowy figures, or hearing eerie giggles, whispers and wails.

The Stanley Hotel, Colorado

Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, the Stanley Hotel would seem like a romantic getaway with breathtaking views—if it didn’t also have a reputation for true ghost stories that inspired Stephen King’s book The Shining. In 1911, a housekeeper lit a candle in a room that had a gas leak, causing an explosion that destroyed a tenth of the hotel. The woman survived the blast and lived until her death in 1950, but guests claim her spirit remains at the hotel, unpacking their beds or pulling the sheets around them while they sleep. Others hear piano music without a player, or children’s footsteps on the floor that was once used for childcare. In 2017, a man on a ghost tour supposedly captured two little girls on film … despite there being no young girls in the room.

Rose Hall, Jamaica

According to local lore, Annie Palmer, the wife of plantation owner John Palmer, had a dark streak beyond the black magic she practiced. In the 1800s, she murdered John, her second and third husbands, and numerous male slaves whom she’d taken as lovers. She finally met her match in a slave who also practiced magic and brought her to her demise, ending her killing spree. Although historians have cast doubt on the legitimacy of the story, Rose Hall visitors have claimed to come across the ghost of the “White Witch.” In the early 2000s, one medium visiting Rose Hall reportedly fell into a trance soon after arriving, and the ghost took over her body.

Château de Brissac, France

One night in 1477, a stately castle in France became the site of a double murder. King Louis XI’s half sister Charlotte de Valois was married to Jacques de Brézé, who learned one night from a servant that his wife was in bed with another man upstairs. De Brézé ran upstairs and killed both lovers with a sword, then chose to wear green (his late wife’s favorite color) to the funeral instead of black. Since then, visitors have reported catching sight of a “Green Lady” haunting the halls in her signature color.

Woodchester Mansion, England

Builders hard at work on Woodchester Mansion mysteriously abandoned the project in 1868, leaving tools behind and rooms unfinished. Today, it’s considered one of England’s most haunted places, with rumors of floating coffins, headless horses and feelings of intense déjà vu. Staff claim they’ve felt their hair being pulled by phantom forces before their cameras mysteriously turned off.

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Sources:

• National Geographic Guide to the World’s Supernatural Places
• Mysterious Facts: “The Prisoners Haunting Eastern State Penitentiary”
• NPR: “Is Eastern State Penitentiary Really Haunted?”
• CBS News: “A Visit to the Historic Hotel That Spawned ‘The Shining'”
• Huffington Post: “‘Ghosts’ Caught on Camera at Famed Stanley Hotel in Colorado”
• The Palms Jamaica: “The White Witch of Rose Hall”
• Ancient Origins: “Chateau de Brissac and the Ghost of the Green Lady”
• BBC: “Our Haunted County: Woodchester Mansion”