World's Most Haunted Places
1. Borley Rectory - The Most Haunted House in England
The most famous case in the career of Harry Price was undoubtedly that of Borley Rectory, a deteriorating house in Essex.
Borley Rectory was a Victorian mansion which gained fame as 'The Most Haunted House in England', before it was destroyed by fire in 1939.
It is Located in the village of Borley, Essex, the big Gothic-style rectory had been the scene of occasional alleged hauntings ever since it was built. But these reports increased suddenly in 1929, after the Daily Mirror published the findings of paranormal researcher Harry Price.
Harry Price got involved in the case after a newspaper carried a story about a phantom nun at the house in June 1929. Price was asked by the paper to investigate and he was told about various types of phenomena that had been reported there, like phantom footsteps, strange lights, ghostly whispers, a headless man, a girl in white, the sounds of a phantom coach outside, the apparition of the home’s builder, Henry Bull, and of course, the spirit of the nun. This spectral figure was said to drift through the garden with her head bent in sorrow.
Local legend had it that a monastery had once been located on the site and that a 13th century monk and a beautiful young novice were killed while trying to elope from the place. The monk was hanged and his would-be bride was bricked up alive within the walls of her convent. Price scoffed at the idea of such a romantic tale but was intrigued by the phenomena associated with the house.
2. Whaley House (San Diego, California)
Photo captured by Kristina
She says " I took this photo this past March at The Whaley House in Old Town, San Diego. This was my first time visiting the house. The bright light on the upper left side is from the flash on my camera, but I've circled what I can't explain. I have no idea what this is. I just thought I'd share this pic with you all. Also, this was the only pic that came out blurry! "
She says " I took this photo this past March at The Whaley House in Old Town, San Diego. This was my first time visiting the house. The bright light on the upper left side is from the flash on my camera, but I've circled what I can't explain. I have no idea what this is. I just thought I'd share this pic with you all. Also, this was the only pic that came out blurry! "
The Whaley House is located in the Old Town San Diego, California. The historic house opened as a museum on May 25, 1960. Now, the Whaley House is one of Southern California's most popular tourist attractions.
Author deTraci Regula relates her experiences with the house: “Over the years, while dining across the street at the Old Town Mexican Cafe, I became accustomed to noticing that the shutters of the second-story windows (of the Whaley House) would sometimes open while we ate dinner, long after the house was closed for the day. On a recent visit, I could feel the energy in several spots in the house, particularly in the courtroom, where I also smelled the faint scent of a cigar, supposedly Whaley’s calling-card. In the hallway, I smelled perfume, initially attributing that to the young woman acting as docent, but some later surreptitious sniffing in her direction as I talked to her about the house revealed her to be scent-free.”
3. Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia
It is Designed by John Haviland and opened in 1829, Eastern State is considered to be the world’s first true penitentiary. Its revolutionary system of incarceration, dubbed the Pennsylvania System, originated and encouraged solitary confinement as a form of rehabilitation. On June 1st, 2007 a television show called “Most Haunted” went live to the penitentiary. Part of the group went to Al Capones cell. Two people passed out while “investigating” the prison. One member of the team, Yvette, stated that “this is the most evil place I have ever been.” They claimed to have had contact with spirits but there was no hard evidence that their claims were legitimate.
4. Raynham Hall, Norfolk, England
Raynham Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. For nearly 400 years it has been the seat of the Townshend family. The hall gave its name to the area, known as The Raynhams and is reported to be haunted, providing the scene for possibly the most famous ghost photo of all time, the famous Brown Lady descending the staircase. However, the ghost has been seen infrequently since the photo was taken. Its most famous resident was Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend (1674–1738), leader in the House of Lords.
5. Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Kentucky
The most haunted area of the ship is the engine room where a 17-year-old sailor was crushed to death trying to escape a fire. Knocking and banging on the pipes around the door has been heard and recorded by numerous people. In what is now the front desk area of the hotel, visitors have seen the ghost of a "lady in white."
Ghosts of children are said to haunt the ship's pool. The spirit of a young girl, who allegedly broke her neck in an accident at the pool, has been heard asking for her mother or her doll. In the hallway of the pool's changing rooms is an area of unexplained activity. Furniture moves about by itself, people feel the touch of unseen hands and unknown spirits appear. In the front hull of the ship, a specter can sometimes be heard screaming - the pained voice, some believe, of a sailor who was killed when the Queen Mary collided with a smaller ship.
7. Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel ,Los Angeles, California
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is a historic Spanish-style hotel located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Named after Theodore Roosevelt and financed by a group including Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Louis B. Mayer, it first opened its doors on May 15, 1927.
Marilyn Monroe stayed in Cabana Suite 229, which overlooked the pool. A mirror which once hung in her room, now in storage following hotel renovations, is said to be haunted by her spirit, though this is just urban myth.
In December 1985 a maid named Suzanne Leonard was dusting the mirror when she saw a blonde woman standing directly behind her reflected in the glass. She turned to speak to the woman, but no one was there. When she turned back, the reflection was again behind her. Two psychics “read” the mirror, and found much sadness in it, but it was inconclusive whether or not the apparition was the famed actress's.
8. Sallie House ,Atchison, Kansas
The house was brought to national attention when Debra and Tony Pickman lived there from 1992 to 1994 and had many distrubing encounters, including physical attacks on Tony, which were documented by the Sightings television show. It's called the Sallie house because the daughter of some previous tenents had an imaginary friend named Sallie, and she is beleived to be one of the spirits haunting the house. When Tony Pickman drew a picture of the ghost Sallie he had seen, the daughter identified it as her friend, Sallie. (Coincidentally or not people who owned the house in the 1940s had a daughter named Sallie, although she did not die in the house or at a young age.)
9. Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh Castle is reputed to be one of the most haunted spots in Scotland. And Edinburgh itself has been called the most haunted city in all of Europe. On various occasions, visitors to the castle have reported a phantom piper, a headless drummer, the spirits of French prisoners from the Seven Years War and colonial prisoners from the American Revolutionary War - even the ghost of a dog wandering in the grounds' dog cemetery.
10. Highgate Cemetery , London
Besides having such famous people buried there as Karl Marx, Douglas Adams, and the parents of Charles Dickens, Highgate Cemetery has long been known for its ghosts, sinister activities, and other strangeness, including:
The most famous spook in this cemetery is The Highgate Vampire, who is not really a vampire in the classic sense, but a phantom that is described as a 7-foot-tall, dark male figure with piercing, hypnotic eyes and wearing a long black coat and high top hat; he seems to vanish into thin air. There have been several dozen sightings and encounters since the late 1960s.
- A man whose car broke down near the cemetery came face to face with a ghoul with glowimg red eyes that peered at him through the graveyard's iron gates.
- The ghost of an insane old woman has been seen racing among the gravestones, her gray hair flowing behind her as she searches for her children, whom she allegedly murdered.
- A dark shrouded figure has been see standing stock still and staring into space. When it is approached, it vanishes then reappears a short distance away, still staring into the void.
- A businessman was terrified by a phantom that jumped over the fence and landed right in front of him. He described it as having pointed ears, glowing eyes, and large nose. This might have been the infamous Spring-Heeled Jack.
- The floating ghost of a nun has been seen passing over the graves.