Ghougle Maps Guide to the World's Scariest Places

Take a virtual tour of some of the world's scariest places using Google's Street View, right from the comfort of your couch. Even if you are not a believer of the paranormal, sites with a blood soaked history would still make your hair stand on end. Some of these places, listed in no particular order, have not only the history and legend to make even the bravest shudder, but also have countless eyewitness accounts to add credence to the claim that paranormal entities reside in these spots. Have you been to any of these places? Think we missed one? Let us know your thoughts.

The Queen Mary Hotel- California, USA | Virtual Tour

An unconventional hotel, the RMS Queen Mary was an ocean liner that sailed the North Atlantic between 1936 and 1967. During World War II, the Queen Mary was temporarily converted to a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers through the course of the war. As passengers began to prefer flight, the Queen Mary sailed to Long Beach, California and retired there. The ship was outfitted with restaurants, hotel rooms, and a museum and was designated a place on the National Register of Historic Places.

Hauntings have plagued every floor of this ship and have been reported since the 1980s. The hauntings are not entirely infeasible as at least 49 crew members and passengers have died while the Queen Mary was in service as well as an unknown number of POWs during World War II. Resident ghosts include “Half Hatch Harry”, an 18-year-old firefighter who was crushed to death in 1966 behind a set of heavy doors despite the doors running on a slow 60-second timer, a Lady in White who haunts the Queen's Salon, and William E. Stark on the main deck who died after mistaking cleaning fluid for gin.

The Myrtles Plantation- Louisiana, USA | Virtual Tour

Built in 1796 by General David Braford, the Myrtles Plantation is considered one of the most haunted homes in America. Allegedly built on top of an ancient Native American Tunica Tribe burial ground, the plantation house switched hands several times and was home to one known murder, although rumor has it that at least 10 murders occurred on the estate. William Drew Winter was hired by his mother-in-law, Mary Cobb Stirling, to help manage the estate. William was later shot on the porch for unknown reasons by a man named E.S Webber and later died of his injuries. The estate currently serves as a bed and breakfast owned by James and Frances Kermeen.

As far as hauntings go, the Myrtles Plantation is rumored to house no less than 12 ghosts. The steps of Winter can be heard climbing the stairs inside the house where he stumbled and died on the 17th step. The ghost of a girl is also frequently seen in photos taken by tourists, rumored to be Winter's own daughter who died of typhoid fever inside the house.

Castle of Good Hope- Cape Town, South Africa | Virtual Tour

Built by the Dutch East India Company and completed in 1679, the Castle of Good Hope served as a replenishment station for ships heading to the Dutch East Indies. The Castle was also repurposed to hold prisoners during the Second Boer War. The most infamous cell, the Donker Gat (dark hole) was a windowless torture chamber that flooded during winter rains, occasionally drowning the chained captives inside. Other cells ave been bricked up and some have yet to be discovered.

Paranormal sightings date back to 1915 when a six-and-a-half-foot-tall figure was observed on the battlements of the castle and is reported to pace back and forth between the bastions before leaping over the wall. The footsteps of the figure can still be heard, and some hypothesize that this is the same spirit that rings the castle bell. Other spirits have been spotted including a large black dog, Governor Pieter Gysbert van Noodt who was found dead in his chair after overturning a prisoner's lenient sentence, and Lady Anne Bernard, the first lady of the Castle. Visitors have reported hands tapping them on the shoulder, footsteps, and an all-encompassing eerie presence throughout the entire castle.

Ancient Ram Inn- Gloucestershire, England | Virtual Tour

Located in the small village of Wotton-under-Edge and constructed in 1145, this B&B is considered to be one of the most haunted hotels in the United Kingdom. Guests have been known to run out or escape through the windows in the middle of the night. The hotel is reportedly built on an ancient pagan burial ground where child sacrifices took place, and is home to no less than 20 spirits. These permanent residents include a young girl named Rosie, a priestess, and even a sex demon.

Paranormal activity within the inn include blood curdling screams, a male voice saying “get out”, floating furniture, vibrating beams, and ghost children huddled together and crying in a room. Guests claimed they have been pushed against walls and yanked from their beds in the middle of the night. Despite this, the Inn is a popular destination for ghost hunters and horror writers, and a one-night stay is a mere £25.

Island of the Dolls - Xochimilco, Mexico | Virtual Tour

More than 50 years ago, Don Julian Santana left his wife and child and traveled to the island to live out the rest of his days as a recluse. Upon arriving, he discovered the body of a young girl who appeared to have drowned in a canal with her doll floating nearby. Santana then decided to turn the island into a shrine dedicated to the girl's memory and spent the next 40 years collecting dolls from garbage heaps and canals and stringing them all over the island in order to appease her spirit after he heard footsteps, disembodied cries, and whispers throughout the island. He remained on the island in a small cabin and began charging a small fee to visitors curious about the island and its story.

Old Changi Hospital- Changi, Singapore | Virtual Tour

Built by the British government in 1935, the hospital was meant to support the military occupation in Singapore but instead served as a major prison camp handled by the Kempeitai, the Japanese military police. In true Kempeitai fashion, they repurposed part of the hospital as a torture facility. Old Changi Hospital shut down and ceased all operations for good in 1997 and remains abandoned today. In 2006, plans fell through to turn the property into a luxury resort. Although the company cited financial reasons, some state that the spiritual residents of the hotel were the real reason. Said to be haunted by the victims of the Japanese Occupation, visitors claimed to hear blood curdling screams, see shadow people at all hours, bloody soldiers wandering the halls, and a child that sits and stares at visitors. The mortuary and other hot spots where spirits were usually seen has been demolished.

The Beechworth Lunatic Asylum- Victoria, Australia | Virtual Tour

Constructed in 1867 and spending 128 years in operation before finally shutting down in 1995, the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum was a self-contained institution complete with farmland, gardens, orchards, a piggery, stables and barn, a cricket pavilion, theater, and tennis courts. To seem less imposing to the outside world, Ha-Ha walls were constructed around the perimeter. These walls contained a trench and a slope to one side, and set with bricks on the other side. The patients would see a tall and unscalable wall and outsiders would see a low garden wall on the other. Patients were admitted to the asylum in several ways: committed by a friend or relative with a medical certificate, taken in by the police when committed by a judge, or committed by the Crown. Although two signatures were required for a patient to be admitted, eight were required for release.

An estimated 9,000 people were said to have died while the Asylum was in operation and ghosts are frequently seen throughout the building. A young girl can be seen in the recreational hall trying to approach only women. An elderly man is frequently seen looking out of the tall bell tower. A ghost by the name of Tomym Kennedy haunts the kitchen where he died, and visitors in the kitchen can feel him poking them in the ribs. Parents who brought their ten-year-old son to the Asylum on a ghost tour even spotted him speaking to an unknown figure, who he later said was a boy named James who lived there.

Kloster Oberzell- Bavaria, Germany | Virtual Tour

A convent with a history of witch trials, the Bavarian nun Maria Renata von Mossau was one of the last people to be tried for witchcraft in Germany. Although known for her piety, her room was searched following a wave of hysteria among the convent's nuns where strange robes and bottled substances were found. After confessing a long list of crimes including heresy, sorcery and Satanism, she was decapitated and cremated in 1749. Visitors claim they still see her roaming the halls of the convent where she was killed.

Highgate Cemetery- London, England | Virtual Tour

Established in 1839, Highgate Cemetery is the final resting place of no less than 170,000 people and sits on the Historic England Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. Notables buried here include Douglas Adams, Karl Marx, Henry Gray, and George Eliot. Sightings of the paranormal are surprisingly frequent and include mysterious robed figures gliding between the headstones, red eyed demons, and even vampires. Vampire sightings became so common that the Highgate Vampire has become local legend, and thrill seekers who decide to sleep in the cemetery over night have claimed to see a figure with a hypnotic stare while experiencing a deep and unsettling chill. An old woman has also been sighted running at full speed through the grounds as well as a phantom that simply stares at the sky.

Catacombs of Paris - Paris, France | Virtual Tour

Consisting of dark, winding tunnels that continue for miles lined with the remains of more than six million people, the Catacombs of Paris are one of the most unsettling places on Earth. The catacombs were constructed in 1738 following a crisis of overflowing cemeteries. Bones were transferred from these cemeteries to the Catacombs in the middle of the night and the “world's largest grave” quickly became a tourist attraction starting in the early 19th century. It would only make sense that unexplained phenomena would happen underneath the city of Paris. Although only a small fraction of the 160 miles is available for tourist exploration, some brave explorers have gone rogue and traversed further where they have reported voices, lights in the distance, and phantom hands touching them as they go by. Some of these videos can be seen on YouTube where viewers can judge for themselves if it is ghost activity or simply paranoia.

Cecil Hotel- Los Angeles, California | Virtual Tour

Now known as Stay on Main in an attempt to distance the hotel from its creepy past, the Cecil was built in 1924 to serve tourists and business travelers. During the Great Depression, it became part of Skid Row and a prime destination for transients and criminals.

The Cecil did indeed have a long history of crime, murder, suicide, and unexplained death starting in 1931 with no less than 15 incidences. What brought the Cecil to modern prominence, however, was the mysterious death of Elisa Lam. The Canadian college student stayed at the Cecil and was due to check out on January 31, 2013 but her parents never heard from her. The LAPD were contacted and searched her room and the main area of the hotel with no clues leading to her disappearance. Two weeks later, the LAPD released a surveillance video of Lam stepping in and out of the elevator, peeking around the doorway, waving her arms, and pushing the elevator buttons. She wasn't seen alive again. Complaints concerning the Cecil's drinking water followed, with guests complaining of a strange smell, black coloration, and low water pressure. When staff went to the water tank on the roof of the hotel to investigate, they discovered Lam's body floating in the tightly sealed tank. The case has never been solved.

The Tower of London- London, England | Virtual Tour

Built by William the Conquerer in 1078, the Tower of London held countless prisoners throughout its dark and lengthy history. Prominent figures held there include Elizabeth I, Walter Raleigh, and James I of Scotland. Seven people were executed within the Tower itself, with 112 more executed north of the Castle on Tower Hill.

Countless ghosts are said to reside within the blood soaked walls of the Tower, including several high profile notables. These include Henry VI, who was stabbed to death as he was praying in Wakefield Tower. He is said to appear on May 21st, the anniversary of his death, in the same spot he was killed. Anne Boleyn, one of the unfortunate wives of Henry VIII, can also allegedly be spotted around the Queen's House where she was executed in 1536.

Plague Island- Venice, Italy | Virtual Tour

A tiny island located off the coast of Venice, Plague Island, or Poveglia, was first mentioned as a place of sanctuary for those escaping barbarian invasions in 421. The island remained uninhabited until 1645 when the Venetian government built a fort to protect the Venetian Lagoon. The island became a customs stop for ships entering the region in 1776, and when the black plague was spotted on two ships, the island was on quarantine. Napoleon made this quarantine permanent in 1815, and from 1922 to 1968 an asylum was also stationed there.

Legends about Poveglia are extensive. It is said that 50% of the soil on the island is made up of cremated remains of the plague victims who died there. Bones litter the shore, and fishermen avoid casting their nets anywhere near the island in case they pick up the remains of their ancestors. In a legend that seems right out of American Horror Story, a psychiatrist who experimented and butchered the patients went mad with guilt and jumped from the building's bell tower, only to survive and be strangled from a ghostly mist that floats from the shore. The Italian government attempted to sell Poveglia, but shockingly there were no takers. The island is also off limits to tourists, so the dark history of Poveglia will continue to be remembered through rumor and legend.

Have you been to any of these places? Think we missed any notable locations? Let us know on our social media.