As it was Hallowe’en earlier this week, we thought we’d test your nerve with some of the world’s creepiest places from the spine-tingling Chapel of Bones to a real African voodoo supermarket. There’s plenty of creepy spots to visit on the shores of the UK too including the spooky Whitby Abbey. The question we’d like to know is would you be prepared to hop on coach holidays to visit any of the places mentioned below or will your nerves get the better of you?
Akodessewa Fetish Market (Lome, Togo)
If you’re feeling brave whilst holidaying in West Africa, why not pay a visit to this
Voodoo Supermarket? Local practitioners of Voodoo replenish their supplies of monkey skulls, mummified bats and elephant feet here. The supermarket is one of the largest in the world and the outdoor tables are stocked high with all manner of animal parts for every type of black magic ritual. It really is out of this world and the stench is unforgettable. Combine it with a visit to a traditional voodoo ceremony where devotees dance and drum with increasing intensity until they become possessed and lose control of their bodies – visit if you dare!
Whitby Abbey (Yorkshire, UK)
Everyone knows that Bram Stoker’s visit to the North Yorkshire seaside resort of Whitby inspired him to write the novel ‘Dracula’ and as you sit in the West Cliff memorial seat (erected in his honour) you can almost imagine the dog-shaped Dracula climbing the 199 church steps to reach the Abbey ruins after his ship is wrecked at sea. Whitby Abbey is particularly spooky looking on dreary days when rolling fog enshrouds the ruins and the ocean waves crash at the cliffs below. If you’re in Whitby during October or November, why not check out the Bram Stoker International Film Festival and the Whitby Goth Weekend? Add to the spookiness of your visit by staying in the historic Bagdale Hall, a Tudor manor house that’s the oldest in Whitby and whose former owner is rumoured to haunt the corridors!
Chapel Of Bones (Evora, Portugal)
If the sight of skeletons doesn’t scare you then you should definitely pay a visit to the Capela dos Ossos in the Church
of São Francisco, Portugal. As you look around you’ll see that the walls and columns are like no other Church interior as they are covered in artistically designs of bones from more than 5,000 exhumed skeletons. You’ll find meticulously placed ribs, skulls, tibia and vertebrae filling every available gap.
Mütter Museum (Philadelphia, USA)
‘Unusual’ will be the last word on your mind, after your visit to the Mütter Museum
as you’ll see a strange display of anatomical oddities from one man’s enormous colon to the body of an 1830s woman whose fat turned soapy and not forgetting a slice of someone’s face suspended in fluid! There are over 20,000 similar items on display to view and visitors can also take a tour of the historic wing of Pennsylvania Hospital where you’ll see the oldest surgical amphitheatre in America. As you take a look at some of the instruments that were used during operations, many without the aid of anaesthesia, you can only imagine the blood-curdling screams of the strapped-down patients that once filled this 180-seat room!
Haunted Galveston Island (Galveston, USA)
This is a bit of a strange one and you have to look back at the history of Texas to fully
understand what happened at Hotel Galvez. During the 1900s, a deadly storm called the Galveston Hurricane, battered the city of Texas killing 8000 people. The stench of bodies could be smelled for miles and giving them all a burial was deemed impossible – even those that were buried at sea, their bodies were soon washed up on beaches. It is believed that spirits have a presence here and they are most likely to be encountered at Ashton Villa (a mansion that survived the storm) and Hotel Galvez (the island’s oldest Hotel). You can see chilling images of what happened on Galveston island at the Texas Seaport Museum and if you’re feeling brave, why not experience a ghost tour where you’ll visit Ashton Villa, the harbour and cemetery – hope you’re not scared of things that go bump in the night?
What did you get up to on Hallowe’en? Do you know of any creepy places that you think we should have mentioned here? We’d love to hear your suggestions so please get in touch!