There are two kinds of people during spooky season. Half of the population are celebrating with pumpkin spiced lattes and wholesome nights in watching ‘Hocus Pocus’. The other half get a kick out of getting scared silly, seeking out ghosts and watching some truly terrifying movies.
If you fall into the latter group, you’ll be equal parts terrified and thrilled to find out that the UK is home to the spookiest place on the planet. That’s according to research by the travel experts at Planet Cruise. The company dug through TripAdvisor reviews for mentions of ‘haunted’, ‘spooky’ and ‘scary’ to figure out the world’s most haunted spots.
With the highest mentions of ‘scary’ and ‘spooky’ on TripAdvisor, Planet Cruise revealed Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh to be the scariest place in the entire world. A maze-like cluster of dark alleyways off the Royal Mile, MKC was once home to some of the city’s poorest residents, many of whom died from the plague in the 1600s.
It’s also home to infamous poltergeist Annie, who supposedly died of the plague during the seventeenth century and, according to a Japanese psychic who visited in 1992, was abandoned by her family and lost her doll. The psychic apparently felt the ghost child tug her hand, and then went and bought her a new doll. People have been leaving similar gifts to the spirit ever since.
Placing second on the list was Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary, followed by another UK location – Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast, an abandoned prison that now runs regular paranormal investigations.
Halloween with Time Out
Embrace all things haunted and horrifying with Time Out this October. We’ve got a list of the UK’s most haunted spots, London’s most magnificent cemeteries, the best Halloween songs of all time and the capital’s most eerie ghost tours.
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