FIVE SPOOKY SPOTS FOR HALLOWEEN HAUNTING
Do you like your Halloween candy with a side of goosebumps? Get inspired by these spooky travel spots. Be brave enough to wander through them, or get the creeps from a safe distance. From the hills of Kentucky to the macabre streets of New Orleans (and one requisite haunted castle, naturally), add these haunts to your travel list.
The Waverly Hills Sanatorium A gothic beauty with a ghostly past in Louisville, Ky. Just outside of downtown Louisville, beyond the ponies and the bourbon, sits the Waverly Hills Sanatorium. Opened in 1910 on a picturesque tree-topped hill, the building was designed to safely accommodate 40 to 50 tuberculosis patients. To say it was overloaded is a ghastly understatement. An estimated 63,000 people died in the halls of the sanatorium and it is haunted to the gills. There was a tunnel built to transport supplies to the facilities but, due to the overwhelming death, the chute was used to transport bodies. Ghost tours are regularly organized but get there soon, as there are plans to convert the building into a hotel and convention centre.
The Joshua Ward House The final act of Salem’s witch hysteria in Salem, Mass. In January 1692, a group of girls in Salem, Mass., became inexplicably consumed by disturbing “fits,” letting out blood-curdling screams. Over the next year, accusations of witchcraft spread like a plague through the small, Puritan settlement. Twenty people were executed by the state, branded as witches. An elderly man, Giles Corey, who was accused of witchcraft, was pressed to death with heavy stones after he refused to enter a plea at the hand of Sheriff George Corwin. Swing by the Joshua Ward House, the former home of Corwin, who ordered that those fatal stones be placed on Corey. Both men are rumoured to haunt the residence. In the span of two years, an alarm was triggered more than 60 times without explanation.
Isla de las Munecas (Island of Dolls) Whatever you do, do not touch the dolls in Mexico City, Mexico. Just south of Mexico City, there is a small island that was never intended to be a tourist attraction. In the 1950s, a local farmer found the body of a young girl drowned in mysterious circumstances and, soon after, he saw a floating doll nearby. He presumed the doll belonged to the girl and hung it on a tree, as a symbol of respect. Terrified, he added doll after doll to trees all over the island to, he believed, protect himself from the girl’s ghost. The island is now home to more than 1,500 hanging dolls. Since he died, the farmer’s cousin, Anastasio, has taken over as caretaker. “The spirit of the little girl is still here,” he cautions. “It’s important not to remove the dolls.”
Leap Castle A bloody history to rival Game of
Thrones in Roscrea, Ireland. Leap Castle is said to be the most haunted castle in the world. Built in the early 1200s, centuries of bloody history ensued, including all the trappings of a Game of Thrones- esque coup. In 1922, workers at Leap Castle found a secret dungeon. When they explored the sinister dark hole, they discovered piles and piles of human skeletons on top of wooden spikes. Captives or unwelcome guests of the O’Carroll clan, the castle’s ruling family, would be dropped down through the hidden trap door, where they landed on the wooden spikes below, left to die.
The LaLaurie Mansion Too scary for Nicolas Cage in New Orleans, La. On April 10, 1834, a fire broke out at the LaLaurie home, below the slave quarters. The lady of the house, famed socialite Madame LaLaurie, was more concerned about her furs and jewels than her staff. A judge ordered that the doors of the slave quarters be broken down and what was discovered was horrific: LaLaurie’s torture chamber. In the midst of the chaos, the LaLauries left town, never to be seen again. The home is currently owned by a Texas energy trader (Nicolas Cage briefly owned the home). Despite having the home blessed by a priest, the current caretaker attests to doors continually opening and shutting, faucets mysteriously turning on and freshly made beds soon showing the imprint of a body lying upon them. The house’s landline likes to dial the caretaker’s cellphone, apparently all on its own, when no one is home.