Haunted Places

The place that inspired Japanese horror film, "The Ring," and its American remake, the Himeji Castle is Japan's largest surviving castle. It's home to not just six hundred years of history, but the ghost of a serving girl still seeking revenge on her master. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trauma takes many forms, like tears, nightmares, and PTSD. But sometimes, you encounter something so terrible that the trauma manifests physically. You may develop a case of white hair overnight… and who knows what you’ll do to feel like yourself again? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Established in 1849, San Diego’s El Campo Santo Cemetery is home to city notables, devious criminals, and unjustly killed Native freedom fighters alike. The spiritual unrest only increased when San Diego paved a streetcar line through El Campo Santo, disturbing its residents’ graves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 1970s and ‘80s, teens in Staten Island were terrified by the legend of Cropsey: an escaped mental patient who roamed the woods and had a penchant for kidnapping and murdering innocent children. Some say Cropsey was merely a campfire tale… but he may actually be based on a terrifyingly real criminal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

High on a hill in Clophill, England lies Old St. Mary’s, a 14th century church now in ruins. Though it was once the center of Clophill’s religious activity, it’s now a place of ghostly apparitions and mysterious occult rituals… lending it the nickname, “Black Magic Church.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You pour the vial of sesame seeds into the running water, ready to relax as you try a new skincare remedy. But as you soak in the hot bath, is it possible that the combination of open pores and tiny seeds adds up to your demise? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alabama’s Maple Hill Cemetery was established in the 1800s and is the burial ground for many controversial figures in the state’s history. But right next door is a small playground, said to be haunted by ghosts of slain children who can’t wait to play with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Gloucester manor house was abandoned midway through construction. The workers left without even bothering to pick up their tools—so it has a strange, unfinished air about it. And that’s before you begin wondering why everyone left in such a hurry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This haunting began with the story of an immigrant arriving in Peru. According to the legend, he caught his wife in bed with another man and murdered them both. This act of violence was only the first in a long line of dramatic—and horrifying—events that changed the house forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The story of Mary's birth is legendary, and that legend has come to rest in the house that bears her name. It's a tale of the high seas, with pirates, buried treasure... and a woman who lingers in her home long after her own demise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Built in the 18th century, this Indian fortress has borne witness to family conflict, death, and betrayal. A structure built for war always shows echoes of its tortured past… Even if the current building is only a hollowed-out husk of its former glory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Kentucky Honky Tonk has had a long and storied history. Rumors say that it was a speakeasy during prohibition, and a slaughterhouse after that. But none of the murders and tragedy surrounding the building explain the horrors that reside in the venue's basement… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Built in the early 20th century, this mental institution for children was founded on the flawed principles of eugenics. The poor hygiene, abuse, and suffering that children endured there left a permanent scar on what remains of this New York facility. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It offers beautiful views of cherry blossoms and the surrounding cityscape… So why is this park in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district known for phantom sightings and eerie voices carried by the wind? Perhaps being the resting place for the anonymous victims of Japan's greatest atrocities has something to do with it... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Once a bustling neighborhood in Edinburgh, Mary King's Close is now a subterranean museum. When your neighborhood is so closed in that you can't even see the sun, it's no wonder that stories of murder and hauntings abound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you take a walk through Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, you'll see the stunning Stow Lake. But this picturesque pool holds many dark secrets of its own, from drowned children to a statue that seems to move all on its own. Watch your step… and never go there at night. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The signature steps in Carpenter's Cemetery, Indiana carry a unique curse: Count the steps on the way up, and count them on the way down. If the numbers don't match… you're doomed to die. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This canyon in Arizona was once desolate and eerie. Now, it's full of slum housing and refuse, a refuge for transients with nowhere else to stay. To make matters worse, the ghosts of frontier tragedy linger in these walls. No wonder it's also called Slaughterhouse Canyon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The walking corpse of a student. A widow dressed in white. A red-eyed monster lurking in the darkness. Dow Hill Forest in West Bengal, India is the scenic home of one of the country’s oldest boarding schools—and its eeriest entities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A monument to the early colonial lifestyle in the Hawaiian islands, Hawaii's plantation village is a beautiful living museum… with ties to the islands' troubled past. Museum employees have reported some unusual goings-on between the lovingly crafted houses. When you build a monument to colonial rule, you should always expect ghosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Wisconsin mansion began its life as the vacation home of Herbert Hoover's Secretary of Commerce. Since Robert Lamont and his wife saw a ghost in the kitchen, Summerwind descended even further into darkness until neighbors realized something would have to be done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s a symbol of the glamor of show business and the allure of being a movie star. But just like the city that it overlooks, this sign has been the site of tragic loss. A young starlet jumped to her death from the "H,” and rumor has it she's still there...repeating her heartbroken final moments forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Halfway up the Oregon coast is a quaint old lighthouse, now converted into a bed and breakfast. Its cozy exterior and interior lead all visitors to a sense of comfort...unless they stay up too late. Then they'll meet the ghost of a lighthouse keeper's wife, who met her untimely end on the rocks below. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This crumbling Italian villa has seen its share of strange occupants. From the original owners, whose tragic demise has become a legend of its own, to one of the most famous occultists in history, everyone loves staying at the Villa de Vecchi. Until the sun falls, that is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This busy street in Prague is always bustling—flooded with locals and tourists from all over the world. When you're among the crowds, it's easy to miss an unsettling figure watching you from a doorway. He'll look like a barber in period clothing. One who's desperate to give you one more fatal shave. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's something off about this covered bridge near Stowe, Vermont… Although it is quite short, every foot of the bridge is steeped in history. A legend persists that after a woman died there, her spirit remained—destined to torment anyone who dares cross the river at night. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s the most iconic landmark in New York City, and once the tallest building in the whole world. From a thousand feet up in the air, everything seems so peaceful on the Empire State Building—until you think about how many people lost their lives falling from the towering structure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 1886 Crescent Hotel and Spa is a campus marked by tragedy. Its history as both a school for young girls and a fraudulent hospital left scars that are still evident to this day. A long dead nurse and a schoolgirl who took her own life have been seen wandering this building in the Ozark Mountains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Since its founding in 1963, the Chinese University of Hong Kong is one of the most celebrated universities in the country. But if you listen to the students, the campus also has a resident not there to teach or study. A woman abandoned by her beloved decades ago, left to die. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are thrilled to bring you a brand new episode of Haunted Places today and for the foreseeable future. We thank you for your patience during this unprecedented time. With white sand and turquoise waters, Changi Beach is a slice of paradise harboring a dark secret. During Japan's occupation of Singapore in World War II, the beach was the execution site of thousands of suspected Allied sympathizers. Their spirits are said to be trapped on its shores—damned to suffer from their horrific fate for eternity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you enjoy the stories told in Haunted Places, check out this episode from our series Mythical Monsters: Hooded and scythe-wielding, he walks the living world collecting the souls of the recently departed. Signifying death, the Grim Reaper is one of the most recognizable mythical figures in the western world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Edisto Island, just off the coast of South Carolina, there sits an imposing mausoleum with the words "J.B. Legare" over the entrance. The doorway stands open, almost inviting. Welcoming you in to meet the woman who was buried alive inside her own grave. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A glamorous hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, the Fairmont Empress Hotel features a number of ghostly residents. Most famously, the man who designed the building himself—Francis Rattenbury. A man whose tragic story had a permanent impact on his masterpiece. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the unfortunate spread of COVID-19, Parcast has decided to halt recording for the time-being. This is a precautionary measure taken to ensure the safety of our hosts and staff. In the meantime, we're excited to share one of our classic episodes that we know you'll enjoy! About one mile off of Highway 78 near Tallapoosa, Georgia is a mysterious winding creek that follows a forest of oak trees. After many twists and turns, the endless creek dives deep into a canyon. But if you visit, be on the lookout for those lost souls left behind. Because not everybody who visits gets to leave the Devil’s Kitchen... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Most well known as the headquarters of social reformer Jane Addams, Hull House was a place of hope for many impoverished individuals living in Chicago after the fire of 1871. Even so, it is also known for a menagerie of ghostly residents, as well as a persistent rumor that a woman gave birth to a cursed child in its attic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Built atop an ancient Thai cemetery, the Suvarnabhumi Airport is a working transportation hub located in an area commonly known as the “Cobra Swamp.” Strange events have occured at the airport since the beginning of its construction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bat-like wings, a horse's head, claws, horns, and hooves. The Pine Barrens are said to be home to one of America's most notorious monsters—the Jersey Devil. But, the Devil isn't the only creature haunting the woods... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is a century-old hotel overlooking one of Yellowstone National Park’s most iconic natural wonders. The “widow’s walk” features prominently in the Old Faithful Inn’s most famous ghost story about a young bride, her cruel husband, and a severed head. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the last Sunday of every month, Parcast Rewind replays a classic episode of Haunted Places that you might have missed! Quiet whispers, distant singing, and hundreds of mutilated dolls staring at those who pass. This is the eerie Island of the Dolls. Along the canals of Xochimilco, legends tell of a drowned girl searching for her doll in the afterlife, a woman who haunts the canals hoping to kidnap children, and Don Julian, a man rumored to have built the shrine of dolls—and who died canalside with them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Few can imagine that a nondescript building housing NYU classrooms was once the stage for a horrific catastrophe. More than a hundred workers lost there lives in this high-rise. And their desperate screams for help can still be heard from the elevator shafts and fire escapes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lizzie Borden’s story has inspired everything from nursery rhymes to a Lifetime television series. The site where her parents were murdered in 1892, a three-story house at what was then 92 Second Street, is now a bed and breakfast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Many people agree that video games are addictive. But what happens when the addiction is deeper than a few nights of insomnia or Tetris-themed dreams? What happens when the symptoms of withdrawal include self harm and suicide, when the players themselves begin to disappear? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s an Irish castle where a star-crossed love story and a cursed lake combine to form the ultimate fairytale gone wrong. Meet the “Black Baron” and his daughter, Sabina, the spirits haunting Ross Castle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Set in the historical Benton Park neighborhood of St. Louis, the Lemp Mansion has it all! You can eat, sleep, hunt ghosts, and even get married in the stately home—all while getting a crash course on the Lemp family history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the last Sunday of every month, Parcast Rewind replays a classic episode of Haunted Places that you might have missed! It’s a manor turned resort that has haunted northern Wales for almost a thousand years. How could a castle birthed in treason not have ended up haunted? Welcome to Ruthin Castle—enjoy your stay! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elizabeth Bathory was accused of the murder and torture of 650 women and girls between 1590 and 1610. The lion’s share of these atrocities are said to have been committed at Čachtice Castle, a 13th-century Romanesque fortress in the former Hungarian Empire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Besides being one of Los Angeles’ most striking historic homes, Sowden House also happens to be the decades-long residence of the man many LAPD officers believe killed the Black Dahlia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For Olive Thomas, it was the only place she was ever truly happy. So it’s no surprise that the showgirl and cinema ingenue would return to the New Amsterdam Theater after a truly horrifying death for an eternal encore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here’s one of our listeners’ most requested episodes of 2019: A bulbous red nose. Tufts of neon hair. A bright red mouth stretched into an unnatural smile. There are few things more unsettling than the visage of a creepy clown... And few things more terrifying than a killer clown loose in your own home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here’s one of our listeners’ most requested episodes of 2019: A beautiful bride, a clumsy porter, a tragic death. The tale of the Bride’s Pool in Hong Kong tells of a terrible accident leading to the drowning of a young bride to be. To this day, she seeks unsuspecting victims she can drag below the surface, hoping to remedy her eternal loneliness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices