1. Salem, USA
Salem is a neat town near Boston in Massachusetts, founded in the 17th century and full of old mansions, churches and museums. But it was not the architecture that brought him fame, but the ruthless reprisals against witches — or those who were considered such. The puritan mores of the Salem people were particularly cruel, so that women were exterminated for their beauty, resourcefulness and other “sins” that rarely had to do with witchcraft.
The sad past is shamelessly commercialized: shops with magical paraphernalia, exhibitions and performances attract tourists who are greedy for horror.
In Salem, indeed, there are occultists — adherents of the pagan cult of Wicca, but they do not worship the devil, but the forces of nature. And innocent victims of the Inquisition, hanged, burned or tortured, rest in the local cemetery with simple tombstones. They have the most visitors at the end of October, when Samhain is arranged in the city — a grandiose sabbath, more like a costume show, although magicians and witches flock (sorry, not on brooms) from all over the world, they take the event extremely seriously.
2. Poveglia Island, Italy
In the Venetian Lagoon, just west of the Lido, the island of Poveglia drifts, flashing in the annals from the 5th century. At first, the fugitive Paduans lived here, almost 1000 years later they were expelled by the Genoese. Soon, an isolation ward was set up on the island for sailors who were obliged to spend 40 days in quarantine, and after that, a hospital for the mentally ill with very cruel routines.
Legend has it that in ancient times, plague patients were exiled to Povelya, and it is all a giant grave, over which restless souls still hover.
The island has been abandoned for a long time, only the ruins of the church, the bell tower-lighthouse and other dilapidated buildings remind of the troubled times. Despite the lack of transport links and the proximity of a much more luxurious Venice, fans of mysticism are drawn like a magnet. They hire private boats and go to look for traces of patients exhausted by lobotomy, the chief physician who jumped off the bell tower, ancient plague and other phantoms who did not want to leave their last resting place.
3. The Church of St. Jiri, Czech Republic
In the Czech Republic there are not only publicized monuments of the level of St. Vitus Cathedral, Tyn Temple and Charles Bridge. In the quiet village of Lukov, not far from Karlovy Vary, the abandoned church of St. George, in Czech – “Jiri”, is decaying. Since 1352 it served as an ordinary parish church, but in 1968 the ceiling suddenly collapsed, and right during the funeral.
Parishioners considered this a bad sign, and it was expensive to restore the roof, so they forgot about the temple.
A young sculptor Yakub Hadrava found out about the empty church and created an installation inside that makes the blood run cold. Plaster figures sit on benches, covered with veils and flickering in the dark with a weak phosphor light. According to the author, these are Sudeten Germans who once lived in Lukov and were expelled after the Second World War. Their poses are so realistic that it seems as if any figure is about to move and drag them into the dark past.
4. House of Defeo, USA
“The Horror of Amityville” is on everyone’s lips: the 1979 film thundered so that a sequel came out, and then a remake. The plot is based on the resonant case of Ronald Defeo Jr., who shot six members of his own family: parents, brothers and sisters. The crime scene is a chic mansion “Great Hopes” in the most prestigious area of Amityville (New York, USA), the killer confessed to what he had done, but there are too many mysteries and inconsistencies in the case.
According to the official version, the stumbling block was money: Ronald is the lazy son of a rich car dealer who did not want to support him, for which he got shot along with his wife and children.
A year after the murder, the Lats family bought the house, but hastily left it because of greetings from the other world. Parapsychologists gathered at the estate, the filmmakers were interested in the story — and off it went. But neither the scientists nor the subsequent owners noticed anything inexplicable anymore. Although who cares when the legend has already come to life.
5. Hoya Baciu Forest, Romania
There is a similar place in Romania: the Hoya Bachu forest is called the Bermuda triangle of Transylvania. Until recently, we walked here, picked mushrooms, drove safely day and night. But something went wrong: the ground began to be covered with moss, tree trunks bent at unnatural angles, birds and animals disappeared, and locals began to see ghosts.
“Hoya” in Romanian means “forest”, and Bacu is the name of a shepherd who disappeared without a trace along with a flock of sheep.
Stranger things have happened: the disappeared teacher was found sitting on the edge of the forest with a stone face and not remembering anything about the past days, and the 5-year-old girl returned herself, a few years later, not changed at all. Glowing objects, shadows and traces of unknown creatures are observed in the forest. They are visible in almost all the photos and even attracted Nicolas Cage, who shot a documentary about Hoya Bacha and proudly showed it at parties.