It sounds strange, but people love to be scared. Get a dose of adrenaline, to make the happy hormones run through the veins. People watch horror movies, go to crazy rides, go in for extreme sports and visit mysterious places.
Some places are abandoned, that creates an atmosphere of death and associated fears. Other places are highly visited and even in demand. Yes, thrill seekers want to spend the night in a haunted house. Or they thoughts about seeing the mansion where the brutal murder took place.
Yep, there are a lot of scary and bizarre places in the world. But some of them have overgrown with history, legends and almost a whole cult. They will be discussed today.
1. Winchester House in San Jose, California, USA
When you visit this house, it seems to you that it was built by a crazy or at least very frightened person. Some staircases lead nowhere, the corridors are narrow, the windows are placed chaotically. Everything speaks of the unusualness of the four-story and beautiful building.
Rumor has it that the house was built by the Oliver Winchester daughter-in-law (Oliver Winchester was the "father" of the rifle of the same name). Mrs. Winchester experienced a lot of grief: first her only daughter died, and soon her husband died, who was at a fairly young age.
The woman turned to "knowledgeable people" for help, and one medium told her that the family was haunted by the ghosts of all those who were killed with the Winchester rifle. To remove the curse, she needed to build a house, invite ghosts and make them wander there forever.
So, were the "labyrinths", stairs with 13 steps, doors and windows leading to nowhere, built because of this story? Yes and no.
Skeptics argue that things were different. Widowed, Mrs. Winchester began building a house to distract herself from sorrowful thoughts. She constantly rebuilt and renovated the house, as she was known as a philanthropist. She loved creating jobs for ordinary hard workers.
Narrow corridors were needed so that the suffering from arthritis hostess could easily move around the house. The intricate passages and boarded up doors are an unintentional feature, because the house has been rebuilt several times. Moreover, the building originally had 7 floors, but after the earthquake only 4 floors survived.
What about the 13-step staircase and the famous "spirit room"? These are the tricks of the man who bought the house in order to mystify it. Yes, he was the one who made this number of steps and came up with the whole ghost story.
But the house is still visited by thousands of people, and it has been repeatedly mentioned in horror films. Yes, many say that they personally saw and heard ghosts in the Winchester house. Should you believe them? Who knows.
2. Leap Castle in County Offaly, Ireland
Blood feuds! That is what the Irish O'Carroll clan was famous for. Over the centuries, brothers, uncles, nephews and fathers have murdered each other in very cruel ways. Some of the murders took place in the Leap castle, which belonged to the clan.
Horror stories about the castle are more than enough. Someone is impressed by the legend of a dungeon full of corpses. The O'Carrolls often killed their enemies dishonestly, and the victims bodies were dumped into a small round shaped room. Legend has it that the remains of those killed were stored for several centuries, and then they decided to take crops out and bury them, but...
This gave rise to a new horror. A spirit awakened, taking the form of a sheep (these animals were in abundance in the lands of Ireland). The spirit wandered around the castle and gave off a terrible smell, like a mixture of hydrogen sulfide and decay.
However, the spirit is not the only disembodied resident of Leap Castle. The ghost of a priest lives in the Bloody Chapel, who was killed by his own brother right at the service. Yes, they were from the O'Carroll clan.
The spirit of a woman screams at night. According to legend, one of the O'Carrolls raped her and she became pregnant. The birth of an illegitimate child did not suit the cruel ruler, and he killed the baby. From grief, the unfortunate mother committed suicide with a dagger, but her soul still roams the halls of the fortress.
We don’t even want to mention the “cute” custom of the O'Carrolls. They lured enemies, gave them water and fed them, and when the rivals fell asleep, O'Carrolls killed them all. Usually quiet, they just cut the throats. So Leap Castle remembers as many horrors and atrocities as Stephen King never dreamed of.
3. Dragsholm Castle on the Odsherred Peninsula, Denmark
The castle looks like a nice and clean hotel. But all over Europe there are horror rumors about this building that do not interfere, but, on the contrary, incite fans of mysticism to spend a night in haunted apartments.
The first stones for the castle were laid in the 13th century. Since then, the building has been an abbey, a fort, a prison and noble chambers. During this time, many good things happened inside the stone walls and some bad things...
For example, Bishop Ronnov died in captivity in the dungeons. Brave tourists sometimes hear him singing in Latin.
Another victim of captivity is Earl Bothwell. Legend has it that he went insane and later died inside the walls of Dragsholm. It is he who jumps out from around the corner at the visitors, while emitting hysterical laughter. Sometimes he is seen on a horse, maybe he exercises as he doesn't want to lose skills. The horse, of course, is also a ghost.
Selena Bowles' ghost walks at night and cries. Actually, everyone calls her the White Lady. According to legend, she was imprisoned in white clothes. The story is terrible as the girl was severely punished by her own father. When he learned that his daughter was pregnant by a tradesman, he became angry. The girl died in the dungeon, but her spirit still seeks peace.
But another ghost named the Gray Lady, on the contrary, has a good story. A female servant lived in the castle, she was so dedicated to her work, that she did not want to leave the house even after her death. Now she walks through the corridors looking for someone to help and serve.
4. St. George's Church in Lukova, Czech Republic
'The church is a holy place!' - you can say. There is no place for ghosts and horrors! But it’s not that simple.
In the middle of the last century, the church was abandoned and began to collapse, as there was no money for its restoration. And then the locals turned not to the authorities, but to the artists. Yakub Gadrava responded to the request.
He made 9 sculptures of plaster in white robes and placed them inside the church. The statues personified the Germans who came to the church to pray during the Second World War. And in memory of the fact that everyone and always turns to God, Gadrava put his "friends".
Nowadays it looks creepy. Just imagine, a nabandoned church with a cemetery, light barely penetrates through the broken windows, and there are white figures in folded robes in the semi-darkness... Without preparation you can be very frightened.
Soon interest arose in the St. George Church. Visitors flowed like a stream, and then like a big river. The exposition has expanded to 32 sculptures, and the money raised from tourism would be enough to restore several churches.
However, as everyone understands, that the restored church would no longer attract fans of mysticism and frightening surroundings, nobody reconstructed it. Now it is still in a dilapidated state, and tourists compose stories that sculptures come to life at night. Well, the locals prefer to bypass the church at all. Do you wonder why?
5. Castle in Comcrieff, Scotland
One glance at the castle is enough to understand that there is all sorts of horror going on inside. It probably all started several centuries ago, when the castle passed into the possession of people interested in black magic.
The current owner (by the way, he bought a dilapidated castle for mere pennies) discovered old books on alchemy, witchcraft and other "demonic sciences" in libraries. However, the surprises did not end there for him.
The man walked several times away from the painting, which had smeared and faded paint. So much so that it was impossible to understand what was drawn, only by the outlines he could guess that this was a full-length portrait of a person.
But one day, after sunset, the new owner noticed that the picture glowed with a blue-green tint, and the image became clearer. The man came closer to the gigantic painting, but it fell down. The man could die but fortunately, he got only a leg injury.
But the adventures in the creepy castle did not end there.
Local guys began to take lovers of ghosts and all kinds of devilry on "excursions" for money. Comcriff Castle has gained a certain glory.
One day, two ladies decided to enter the secret room behind the fallen painting. No one saw them after. Police and mediums got involved in the case. The mediums argued that it is a transition to another dimension. But no one dared to follow the two missing women to the other world.
Our bonus: hotel Berengaria in Cyprus
This abandoned hotel in the highlands of Cyprus is one of the beloved local legends. It is told to all tourists.
At the beginning of the 20th century, tourism began to develop on the island. Not beach tourism, but ecological! Famous and wealthy people from all over the world came to the mountains of Cyprus to relax and enjoy the delightful pine air.
And the guests were received by new Berengaria: it was a fashionable hotel, where both kings and presidents stayed. It was owned and operated by a local man and his three sons.
One day, the owner of "Berengaria" fell ill and before his death asked his sons to take good care of the hotel. He insisted that all three should participate in the management and not divide it into shares and parts. The sons made a promise that later ruined their lives.
After the death of their father, the brothers began to quarrel. There is a legend that it was precisely because of Berengaria: the guys did not share the profit and did not want to invest in the maintenance and development of the hotel. Another legend says that all three were courting a poor girl. Their father did not like that girl...
Anyway, soon all three brothers, one after the other, went to another world. And in a very creepy way. The first jumped into the pool and broke his neck. No one could explain how it happened.
The second got big debts and could not bear it. He lost his mind and hanged himself right in Berengaria. The third was unlucky in his personal life and later shot himself... at the hotel. People said that it was the spirit of the father who punished the sons for the unfulfilled promise.
The Berengaria quickly fell into disrepair. All things were stolen by the locals, and the walls were painted with graffiti: creepy and not creepy. For decades, thrill-seekers have made their way to the hotel without fear of collapsing a dilapidated building. It is said that the spirit of the father of "Berengaria" lives here, as well as the ghosts of his disobedient sons.
In 2020, the hotel was finally acquired by Prime Property Group. The company is already drawing up a reconstruction plan. Perhaps the hotel will be able to receive the first visitors of this millennium in a few years!
Yes, even such real estate is in demand. On dom.com.cy you can find great options for buying or renting a home - both for you and for your commercial purposes.
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