Travel Writers Gathered Great Places to Visit with the Spookiest Legends

Bran Castle, Romania (Transylvania) 

Contributed by Steve of The Trip Goes On

The small village of Bran near Brasov in Romania is home to an austere, gothic castle. Bran Castle was (allegedly) the inspiration for the home of Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s eponymous 1897 novel Dracula. 

Bran is a short taxi ride from the beautiful town of Brasov in the Transylvania region of this Eastern European country. It’s easy to see why this wild land has spawned so many legends, and not least as the birthplace of Vlad “Dracul” Tepes, the real-life warlord who inspired Stoker’s bloodthirsty character. 

Bran Castle sits atop a hill overlooking the village and surrounding forested mountains and a river down below. The castle dates back to 1388 and was constructed to help defend the country against the expanding Ottoman empire. 

The castle has been beautifully preserved and inside you can wander through narrow passages and explore the rooms with wooden beams and four-poster beds, shining suits of armour and wall-mounted weapons. There is a small courtyard with fountain, and a gift shop selling Dracula memorabilia. 

Bran is definitely worth a day trip from Brasov, and the journey time is around 40 minutes, with a taxi fare of €25. There are buses from Brasov Station for budget travellers. Don’t make the mistake of staying overnight in Bran, as aside from the castle and one or two restaurants, there is nothing much else of interest in the village.  

Point Nepean Quarantine Station (Australia)

Contributed by Monique at Trip Anthropologist

Australia set up quarantine stations for ships flying the yellow “Q” (Quarantine) flags when the previous pandemic, Spanish influenza, killed between 50 and 100 million people.

At Point Nepean Quarantine Station there was a leper’s colony, a morgue, burial grounds, and even a place for infected animals. The patients stayed in two-story dormitories in rows of beds on a windy headland with stormy seas and strong winds with no one else for miles around.

It’s no wonder the quarantine station is believed to be haunted by the ghosts of people who died aboard the 305 quarantine ships that docked here, or once they reached land, and who are buried in the cemeteries around the station.

Legend has it that the ghost of Adeline Eliza Satchwell haunts the dormitories of the quarantine station. Adeline was 83 when she died in 1943 as a publican in Victoria but returned to her terrible near-death experience at the Quarantine Station. It’s believed that she floats past the upstairs windows in her nightgown. But there is also the ghost of Old George, a cook from a doomed quarantine ship that docked a the Station in the 19th century. He is said to have haunted the army cadets who used the quarantine station as a training base in 1952. Old George roamed around the camp and could be spotted out of the corner of the eyes of the young cadets on dark nights.

Today it is abandoned and you can wander through more than 50 heritage buildings in a beautiful location in Point Nepean National Park. Portsea and Sorrento, two of Australia’s luxury holiday destinations, are at the National Park’s entrance.

Conwy Castle (Wales)

Contributed by Paulina from the UK Every Day

North Wales is well known as one of the most haunted places in the UK  and the medieval town of Conwy is no exception. It is abundant in scary places including Conwy Castle, Plas Mawr, or Conwy Quay. According to one of the spooky stories, Conwy is cursed by Mermaid that was captured by fishermen.

There is also a legend about two monks that are frightening tourists visiting Conwy Castle. Even dogs refuse to enter certain areas of the fortress as they can feel the presence of hooded monks.

As another legend says one of the monks can be also seen in the Liverpool Arms Pub which is located by River Conwy. On the same street, there is also the Smallest House in Britain that was the home of a very tall man, whose feet flew away out of the window.

Winchester Mystery House

Contributed by FittinginAdventure.com

In San Jose, California sits an architectural oddity.  Sarah Winchester built what can only be described as the most curious mansion in the United States.  Having lost both her infant daughter in 1866 and her husband in 1881, she visited the famous Boston medium, Adam Coons. While channeling her late husband, Coons told her to move west. Where the story turns macabre is being told she must continuously build a house for her and the spirits of those lost to Winchester rifles.

Resulting in constant construction 24/7. Endless changes to the plans. Doorways open to nothing. Hallways that lead to nowhere. And a supernatural haunting over everything. This was all just another day of life at Winchester House. Or, was it?

Today the home is the Winchester Mystery House filled with stories of the paranormal and architectural oddities.

Tana Toraja (Indonesia)

Contributed by David & Intan of The World Travel Guy

The remote land of Tana Toraja Indonesia, on the island of Sulawesi, is known for its elaborate and unusual funeral ceremonies, and it’s a culture focused on death and the afterlife.

The local legends and traditional beliefs about death are very interesting and unique (if a bit spooky for outsiders), and foreign tourists are welcome to come and witness everything. Probably the most surprising aspect is the Ma’Nene ceremony, where long-passed loved ones’ dead bodies are brought out of their graves like zombies, cleaned, and dressed in fresh clothes.

Overall, it’s a fascinating cultural experience that has put Toraja on the world map for travelers interested in unique culture and macabre local legends. The nearby town of Rantepao has its own airport now, and there’s plenty of great tropical scenery in the area as well!

Hotel del Coronado

Contributed by Chelsey of Chelsey Explores

One of the most renowned ghost stories in San Diego centers around Hotel del Coronado. A world-famous and one of the most popular beach stays in La Jolla.

The story goes a little something like this… In 1892 a young girl by the name of Kate Morgan checked into her room alone with just one suitcase. Some recounts of the story say she kept asking if her brother had arrived while others say she was expected to meet with her estranged husband.

Either way, she never showed up and a few days later her body was discovered at the bottom of the hotel’s staircase that led to the ocean. After examination, it was determined that the cause of her death was a self-inflicted shot to the head, a suicide.  

To this day, room 3327 has had several guests report hearing odd noises, seeing strange faces, and have noticed a ghost-like figure of a woman dressed in a black lace dress. She’s often referred to as the Beautiful Stranger.

There have also been even more intense claims such as guests’ personal belonging being strewn all around the room. 

Presently, Hotel del Coronado offers ghost tours daily for $30 per adult.

Daliborka Tower (Prague, Czech Republic)

Contributed by Veronika of Travel Geekery

When you stroll through the grounds of Prague Castle, you can be sure the walls around you could tell extraordinary tales. Legends abound and one of them is tied to the tower called Daliborka located at the end of the Golden Lane. 

The tower was built in the 15th century and has become a prison, even though its original purpose was to serve as a fortification structure. The Daliborka Tower with its extremely thick walls of 2-meters got its name after the first prisoner who was held there – Dalibor. Legend has it that Dalibor learned to play the violin while serving his sentence for sheltering revolting servants of a neighbor.

The music was so sad and beautiful that it attracted crowds from afar. People would send Dalibor food and drink. 

However, since the tower was used not just as a prison but as a torture chamber, it’s more likely the legend came about from using a torture tool called Violin and the music was rather Dalibor’s screaming and wailing. 

This legend is so ingrained in Czech culture that even the famous composer Bedřich Smetana wrote an opera named Dalibor, which was first performed at Prague’s National Theatre in 1868. It also belongs to Old Bohemian Legends, a book written by Alois Jirásek, which is compulsory reading material in Czech primary schools.

Sleepy Hollow, New York

Contributed by Megan of Bobo and Chichi

One of the spookiest legends in American literature and folklore that’s had Disney adaptations is the Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.

Located in the Hudson Valley, just about an hour north of New York City is the town of Sleepy Hollow, where author Washington Irving also lived and was an early Dutch settlement in the United States.

Irving used the town of Sleepy Hollow as his inspiration for the story set in 1790, which would go on to be considered the first American ghost story, when he wrote it in 1820 which consisted of a collection of 34 essays.

The legend is especially popular around Halloween and people flock to the sites that inspired the story based the hauntings of the Headless Horseman, a Hessian soldier whose head was blown off by a cannon in battle around Halloween in the year 1776. He is believed to haunt the town of Sleepy Hollow starting a nightly horseback ride in the cemetery towards the battle location. It is believed he is looking for his missing head, and along the way he chucks pumpkins with extreme force at passerbys, including the the local school teacher Ichabod Crane. Unfortunately for Ichabod, in the story he doesn’t make it.

The Headless Horseman wasn’t invented by Irving though, the Headless Horseman was already popular in Northern European folklore, which makes sense as when Irving wrote this story, he was actually living in England.

Visitors to Sleepy Hollow and the neighboring town of Tarrytown can visit the famous cemetery, Headless Horseman monuments, and even Washington Irving’s Sunnyside estate in the area. If you’re visiting in the fall there are all kinds of seasonal, spooky activities happening too.

The legend of the Huldra (Norway) 

Contributed by Melissa from Parenthood and Passports

The legend of the Huldra is Norse folklore that has become more spooky as it has evolved over the years. According to the legend, a hulder, or huldra, is a beautiful and seductive forest creature. At first glance the huldra appears human, typically portrayed as radiantly beautiful with long flowing hair and a captivating allure. The huldra, however, is not human at all. In fact, the creature who resides in the forests has the tail of an ox and her back is like a hollow tree. The fair forest creature is said to lure men into the woods with a song that is just as beautiful as her forward-facing appearance. The most sinister versions of the folktale state that the huldra leads the men to their death in order to gain her own humanity.

The best place to learn about this old Scandinavian legend is along the scenic Flam Railway, which takes you to the enchanting village of Flam, Norway in the heart of the Norwegian fjords. Along the picturesque rail route, the train makes an unexpected stop at Kjosfossen Waterfall where guests exit their railcar to capture a photo of the rushing water. As railway passengers gaze up at the powerfall cascade, a Norwegian folk song starts playing and a woman in a red dress emerges from the forest and dances atop a platform next to the waterfall. The dance is an artistic interpretation of the tale of the huldra, which you get to hear about once you are back aboard the train.  

Misnébalam, Mexico Ghost Town

Contributed by Shelley of Travel To Merida

According to local legend, Misnébalam (pronounced miss-nay-baal-lam) was abandoned because of a curse, as well as enough supernatural phenomena to scare residents away. It is a small town in the Yucatan Peninsula, which in its heyday, had one of the best haciendas in Yucatan, Mexico.

In 2005, Misnébalam was officially declared a ghost town when the population dropped to zero. What remains of Misnébalam today is mostly the sprawling, but decaying Misnébalam Hacienda, which once housed about 125 people.

Like most haciendas in the Yucatan Peninsula, the main export from the Misnébalam Hacienda was sisal. This is a thick rope twine made from fibers of the hennequin plant, which grows wild in Yucatan.

Known as “green gold,” the sisal cash crop made a lot of people in Yucatan very rich. However, after the Industrial Revolution machines could make lower-cost, synthetic goods in a fraction of the time, and the demand for Yucatan sisal disappeared almost overnight.

Layoffs and a general disregard of the hacienda owner, Don Fidencio G. Márquez, led to his murder. It is said his ghost still haunts the property, as well as the ghost of a young boy named Juliancito and a local priest who has been seen in the hacienda’s church wearing a long black robe.

Misnébalam is one of the most famous ghost towns in Mexico. It is located about one hour by car from the city of Merida, Mexico, one of the country’s top travel destinations. It is a remote place, located on an unmaintained dirt road, but for adventure seekers, it’s worth the trek.

Marfa, Texas

Contributed by FittinginAdventure.com

Flickering and dancing along the horizon most nights near the small west Texas town of Marfa are the Marfa Lights. Little about the lights has been confirmed while many possible causes have been eliminated since the lights were first noted in 1883.

The rest of the town is just as peacefully strange. Filled with art and great food the town is worth a road trip detour to visit as the lights (and the town) need to be experienced.

Garita del Diablo/Devil’s Sentry Box (Puerto Rico)

Contributed by Lisa Garrett of Waves and Cobblestones

As you walk along the fortified city walls of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, you’ll see many garitas.  These sentry boxes are part of the historic defenses of Old San Juan.  But one of them has a spooky legend associated with it:  the Garita del Diablo, or Devil’s Sentry Box. 

This garita is part of the fortress of Castillo de San Cristóbal.  It extends out on a promontory into the Atlantic and is pounded with waves crashing loudly against the rocks.  Tales say that odd noises were heard here at night, making the guards leery of having to spend a night stationed here.

Over the night shift, the sentries would call out to each other as a status check.  On one fateful night, a sentry named Sanchez was on duty in this secluded garita.  When his friends called out to him, there was no response.

The other guards were too fearful to check on him until the morning.  And when they did, all they found in the garita were his uniform and his weapon.  And so the legend came to be that he was spirited away by the devil during the night.

Some Puerto Ricans tell a different ending to the tale.  In this version, Sanchez ran off with his true love that night, sneaking away since her family did not approve of their love.  But the world will never know… 

Concha y Toto Winery/Cellar of the Devil (Santiago, Chile)

Contributed by James Ian from Travel Collecting 

The Maipo Valley just outside Santiago is one of Chile’s main wine growing region. One of the largest wineries there, Concha y Toro, gives wonderful tours of their winery, which include a stroll around their beautiful gardens and vineyards, and samplings of some of their premier wines. The highlight of the tour, however, is the visit to a wine cellar there. 

As you enter the cool cellar and peer around rustic stone walls and long rows of barrels of aging red wine, the lights suddenly go out, plummeting you into darkness. Lights flash, lighting up the stone walls, lines of dark bottles, and low ceiling.  Loud claps of thunder may make you jump. As you stare around, a tale is told and an eerie image of a devil floats out of the darkness at the far end of the underground room.  

The spooky legend unfolds of a devil who lives in the cellar. This cellar is one of the original places where barrels of wine were stored when the winery first started. Unfortunately for the owner, as the legend goes, local young men crept into the cellar and stole some of the wine each night.  

Imagine, however, their horror when they later heard tell in the nearby village of a devil that lurked in that very wine cellar and how lucky they were to escape with their lives! They decided then and there to never set foot inside the cellar ever again, and so the thievery stopped and the owner lost no more of his wines. 

Well, it might just be that the devil was a rumor started by the owner himself, but the legend lives on in the spooky sound and light show – and the name of one of their most famous red wine that is still stored there today, the appropriately named Casillero del Diablo (Cellar of the Devil!). 

Michoacán, Mexico

Contributed by Michele Peterson of A Taste for Travel 

The legends and myths of the Purépecha people, the dominant indigenous culture of the state of Michoacán, Mexico, date back to pre-conquest times. And the Isla of Janitzio, the main island in Lake Pátzcuaro located 90 minutes from the state capital of Morelia, is home to one of the spookiest of these legends. 

The story revolves around star-crossed lovers Princess Mintzita and Prince Itzihuapa. They fell in love but when the young prince drowned while searching for a treasure protected by 20 spectral boatmen, he became a ghostly guardian himself.

But during Day of the Dead on Janitzio Island on November 1^st each year his soul — along with those of the other spectral boatmen — rises from his watery grave. Drawn by the bells of the church and carried on the breezes created by fishermen fanning their traditional nets on the lake, his soul climbs the steep stairs on the island to meet that his princess lover. 

Together the two spirits visit the cemetery to receive offerings of sacred marigold flowers, sugar skulls, and ceremonial food left on the gravestones by the faithful. On full moon nights, the legend says it’s possible to see the ghostly lovers embrace beneath the moonlight. 

Moon-Eyed People (Blue Ridge Mountains)

Contributed by Bret Love & Mary Gabbett of Blue Ridge Mountains Travel Guide

One of many examples of Appalachian folklore, the Moon-Eyed People is one of the more common Cherokee legends, dating back several centuries. 

The earliest recorded mention of the Moon-Eyed People is the 1823 book, The Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee, in which author John Haywood described a Cherokee encounter with the “white people” on the Little Tennessee River.

The Cherokee people described a strange race of pale-skinned humanoids with short, round bodies, bearded faces, and large blue eyes that were so sensitive to the sun, that they were forced to be nocturnal, only coming out at night.

Some historians believe that the Moon-Eyed people were simply early European settlers. But the stories about them date back to the time before the first pilgrims from England began to arrive in America.  

The Moon-Eyed People reportedly built caves underground to escape the light. But eventually, the Creek Indians attacked and drove them from their caves, and the pale-skinned people ultimately fled west into the Smoky Mountains, never to be seen again.

Some folks believe that the Moon-Eyed People built the mysterious 850-foot-long stone wall at Fort Mountain State Park in Ellijay GA circa 400-500 CE. The wall, which was 7 feet tall in some places and curves along the edge of the North Georgia mountain’s summit, is said to have been a fortification in the war between them and the Creek nation.

Other stories suggest that there are ruins left by the Moon-Eyed people between the Little Tennessee River and Chickamauga Creek near Chattanooga TN, where various stone walls and structures still stand today. 

Stanley Hotel (Estes Park, Colorado)

Contributed by Erin from Super Simple Salty Life

The historic Stanley Hotel was built in 1909 by Freelan Oscar Stanley of the famous “Stanley Steamer” family. Manufactured originally as a health retreat for patients suffering from tuberculosis, the location of the hotel high up in the Rocky Mountains aided visitors by offering fresh, dry, crisp mountain air. The Stanley sits on a peak overlooking the town of Estes Park in Colorado, the eastern gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park.

The original hotel included 48 rooms and a concert hall, a carriage house, gatehouse, and a smaller bed and breakfast called The Lodge. Geared to entertain wealthy patrons, Stanley designed special steam-powered vehicles to transport guests from the local train station to his hotel. The Stanley is noted to be one of the first buildings in the country to be fully powered by electricity, but there were still gas lighting systems throughout the hotel. This gas created an explosion in 1911, injuring a maid working in the area. It is rumored the ghost of the maid is seen by those staying in the area of the explosion.

Long after Stanley had passed on, horror author Steven King and his wife spent one night at the Stanley Hotel in 1974. Because the resort was closing for the season, they ended up being the only guests in the entire hotel that evening. Rumors are King wrote most of his book The Shining based on this one isolated night. The eerie quiet of the empty hotel, the ornate architecture and winding staircases, and the piped-in orchestra music all led to his vision for the book.

The Stanley has surged in popularity for the paranormal activity observed by guests. Guided ghost tours are led by the hotel staff, and certain “spirited” rooms with high paranormal activity are listed on the hotel website. Shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures have filmed spirits and activities here. For lovers of history and of the paranormal, the Stanley Hotel is a must-see, and stay the night… if you dare!

Alcatraz Island (San Francisco Bay, California)

Contributed by FittinginAdventure.com

Cold air envelopes you regardless of the season, waves crash against the shores, and sharks are known to frequent the area. As unwelcoming as the bay can seem the island holding Alcatraz was/is more unwelcoming. Known to hold the worst of the worst criminals it is only natural for the violence to hold on through legends of hauntings in the shuttered prison.

Today you can grab a boat and head to the island on your own terms to tour Alcatraz Island with the US National Park Service.

La Siguanaba (Guatemala)

Contributed by Bella from Passport & Pixels

The beautiful country of Guatemala in Central America was once home to the great civilisation of the ancient Maya. It has a long tradition of indigenous folklore and many of its spooky legends are still told to this day.  

One story tells of two spirits called Cadejos, a white one that appears at night to protect travelers on their journey, and an evil black Cadejo, often depicted as a black dog with fiery red eyes. At night, the black Cadejo is said to prey upon drunks, following them into dark corners and then stealing their souls.

Another spooky Guatemalan legend is the tale of La Siguanaba, a spirit that punishes men who cheat on their wives. It appears, late at night, as a beautiful woman bathing naked in a pond. But when the man gets close, it reveals its hideous skull face and steals his soul. It’s thought this story was spread about by the Spanish conquistadores to help them control the local population by making them too afraid to go out at night.

Ballugally Castle (Northern Ireland)

Contributed by Janelle of Make the Trip Matter

Ballygally Castle is a 17th-century castle in Northern Ireland that has been named the most haunted castle in the UK. The castle was built in 1625 and is home to the ghost of Lady Isabella Shaw. 

As the legend goes, Lord James Shaw wanted a son, but Lady Isabella delivered a daughter. When the baby was born, he took the baby and locked Lady Isabella in a tower room at the top of the castle. In an attempt to escape and find her baby, Lady Isabella either fell (or was pushed to her death). Today, visitors to the castle report seeing her ghostly figure roaming the halls searching for her baby.

There are a number of other spooky supernatural happenings reported at this castle, however, Ballygally is now actually a fantastic, charming Ireland castle hotel stay located on the beautiful County Antrim coast. Guests can visit the “Ghost Room” where Lady Isabella was locked away to learn about her story and try to spot the friendly ghost.

Cordoba (Spain)

Contributed by Margarita of The Wildlife Diaries

Lying in the heart of Spain’s southern region of Andalusia, Cordoba is home to one of Spain’s most famous haunted houses – the Faculty of Law of the University of Córdoba. This building used to house a hospital for the poor and the dispossessed, and its walls witnessed many tragic incidents over the years, some of which come to haunt the contemporary residents of the university.

The most frequently encountered apparition is that of a long-haired woman in a white hospital gown. The legend has it that this woman was so stricken with grief after losing her baby at childbirth that she threw herself from the hospital’s bell tower. Alarmingly, when the building was renovated and remodeled into a university college, some skeletal remains were uncovered, including bodies of children and babies.

The staff and students at the university encounter all kinds of spooky ghost mischief, from rubbish bins flying across classrooms to hearing children’s voices calling them by their names. Once, a cleaner was locked inside a room when no one else was around. Others reported feeling the touch of a small hand.

To investigate the phenomena, researchers at the university created a heat map of the areas where the incidents occurred. And what they found was that most of them originated from a single office located where the hospital morgue used to be.

So if you are looking for things to do in Cordoba and curious about the city’s spooky secrets, go for a wander on the university campus. Or better yet, join the Mysterious Cordoba tour and immerse yourself in the supernatural realm of enchanted houses and alleyways, sorceresses and witch covens.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Contributed by Moumita & Sankha from Chasing the Long Road

Edinburgh, a medieval city and the capital of Scotland, is home to some of the most spooky places in the world. Edinburgh Castle, one of the most visited castles in Scotland, is believed to be haunted by the Grey Lady. Legend has it she was falsely accused of witchcraft in the 16th century. Another famous ghost of Edinburgh Castle was the Piper. Many believe he haunts an underground tunnel from the castle to the Royal Mile.

Greyfriars Kirkyard at the heart of Edinburgh Old Town is infamous for many paranormal activities. Most of these are believed to be related to a merciless judge, George Mackenzie, who imprisoned and executed1200 Presbyterian Covenanters in the late 17th century. There is an award-winning City of the Dead Tours if you fancy knowing the Upside Down.

The Real Mary King’s Close – a historic dark maze of alleyways beneath the historic Old Town – has many spooky stories. Annie, a little Ghost, is believed to have died in the mid-17th century in the Plague infected narrow close in Edinburgh. A Japanese psychic communicated with her spirit in the 90s. Edinburgh Vaults near the South Bridge is also infamous for many paranormal activities. 

Xunantunich, Belize

Contributed by Sean Lau of Living Out Lau

Belize was once home to the mighty Mayan Civilization, which disappeared mysteriously at the end of the 9th century. Though they are gone, they have left plenty of Mayan Ruins that remind us of the unusual traditions they once had.
One of the most haunted places is Xunantunich Mayan Ruins, an old ruin situated inside the jungles of Belize. The spooky legends began in 1893, when a man from a research team saw a Mayan Maiden climbing up the staircase of Xunantunich’s main pyramid, El Castillo.

The woman was wearing a glowy white gown with long, thick black hair. After seeing the woman climb up the staircase, the man called for a search team to find her at the top of the temple, but no one was found. Since then, multiple people have reported seeing a ghostly woman with a white gown and black hair climbing up the staircase of the main temple.

Matter of fact, the ruin Xunantunich translates to “The Stone Lady” in the Maya language, and it likely received its name because of that. Locals believe that the woman is one of the people that was sacrificed at Xunantunich. To honor the gods, Mayans had a tradition of decapitating human sacrifices and rolling their heads down the side of the temple.

Even without a spooky story, it doesn’t stop Xunantunich from being one of the best things to do in San Ignacio, Belize.

Baba Harbhajan Singh Temple, India

Contributed by Vidyut Rautela of Triplyzer

While backpacking northeast India you’d come across a unique sight known as Baba Harbhajan Singh temple.

Located around 50 km from Gangtok is a poignant shrine cun memorial dedicated to Baba Harbhajan Singh, an Indian sepoy from Punjab Regiment.

He joined the armed forces in 1965 and was martyred in 1968 near Nathu La, bordering China. As the legend goes, the spirit of Baba still lives in the area with the barrack-turned-shrine as his resting place. In the small but well-organized room, you can see his belongings.

As he likely passed away in an accident, his spirit is believed to warn others of impending danger, protecting the soldiers who stand guard at the border of Nathu La.

Harbhajan Singh was awarded the country’s second highest military award, the Mahavir Chakra. He was also promoted upon his retirement in 2016 to the position of Honorary Captain.

Olympic Peninsula of Washington State

Contributed by Jessica Schmit of Uprooted Traveler

The Olympic Peninsula of Washington has plenty of spooky vibes- with its forests, full of primeval ferns and hanging moss, and craggy beaches, it’s no surprise that the beloved Twilight series was set here!

While Forks, Washington, along the Olympic coastline, may be the fictional home of vampires and werewolves, the nearby Lake Crescent, right outside of Port Angeles, is home to an even spookier story. 
In 1937, Hallie Latham Illingworth was violently strangled to death by her husband, who dumped her body in the lake’s blue waters. Ever since then, the shores are believed to be haunted by her spirit, now called the “Lady of the Lake. If you’d like to go on a bit of a ghost hunt, her spirit has been most frequently reported from the Spruce Railroad trails, one of the hikes in Olympic National Park.  Even if you don’t spot a ghost along the way, you’ll get to take in the spectacular views of the gorgeous lake and the surrounding mysterious pine tree forest.

Island of the Dolls, Xochimilco, Mexico City

Contributed by Ashlea J. Russell – She Roams About

Mexico City is known for its vibrancy, history, and culture but underneath the splashes of colour lies an urban legend shrouded in darkness and uncertainty. In the south of Mexico City, the gritty barrio of Xochimilco is home to a system of canals that play host to colourful trajineras. These gondola-like boats are popular with tourists and locals, as a way to spend an afternoon on the canals, but these canals hold a troubling secret: the Island of the Dolls.

Legend has it that many years ago a local man named Don Julian abandoned his life and family in the city to live a reclusive existence on an island in the Xochimilco canals. One day the body of a drowned girl washed up on the island followed closely behind by her doll. Unable to save her, Don Julian hung her doll in a nearby tree as a show of respect for the little girl.

Driven by madness Don Julian spent his days searching for dolls and hanging them in the trees on his island in an attempt to please the spirit of the drowned girl. After 50 years of solitude, Don Julian was found dead, drowned in the exact place he claimed to have found the girl, surrounded by the dolls and doll parts he had sacrificed.

Today, visitors who find a brave captain can visit the Island of the Dolls. Some say they’ve seen the decaying dolls turn their heads and open their eyes. Others claim to have heard the dolls whispering, luring their boats to the island. Anyone who decides to visit might want to bring a doll… Just in case.