Vladimir Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution who died in 1924, but death wasn’t the end for him. Rather than laying him to rest in the ground, Russia decided to display his body before his funeral before burying, but they received over 10,000 telegrams from the public asking them to preserve his body for future generations. Now, he’s one of Russia’s biggest attractions. His body was embalmed and publically laid to rest in the Red Square, right in the middle of Moscow.
Every now and then when there's a war threat, they'll pack him up and put him in the closet. But for the most part, he's been hanging out in his specially built mausoleum since his death. He can be viewed by small groups for five minutes at a time while under the watchful eye of guards. Russia doesn’t want to risk anything happening to one of their greatest idols.
The Sea of Trees in Japan is a quiet, contemplative place. It's also such a common place for suicide that signs on the main trail urge visitors to think about their families. It's strange to think about in such a serenely quiet place, but in 2004, 108 people killed themselves here.
If you go, be warned: the rate is higher in March when the fiscal year ends. Whether that's an upside or a downside is up to you.
Okay, so it's not spooky scary, but there are a lot of well-to-do dead men and women at Westminster Abbey. There are a ton of monarchs laid to rest here. There is also an entire section, known as Poets' Corner, devoted specifically to poets and musicians.
Chaucer, Shakespeare, Byron, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Milton, Shelley, and Hopkins are all here, along with many others. So what the corpses lack in spookiness, they make up for in quality and quantity. When you're at Westminster, you're in good company.
Paris, France
As it happens, the glowing "City of Light" and of candlelit dinners and romance is built on top of the bones of about six million people. Okay, to be fair, there are a lot of tunnels under Paris, and only a tiny portion of them are used to hold the bones of six million people. The skeletons are from an early overcrowded cemetery, in use from the 12th to the 18th centuries. Tombs would rot and bodies would wash into the street when it rained until the catacombs were opened in 1785.
Palermo, Sicily
The monks at the Capuchin monastery made an odd discovery about 400 years ago—when they buried their friars in the catacombs, the bodies just sort of mummified on their own. Well, you know how it is when you accidentally embalm people: word gets out and soon everyone in town wants their corpse propped up in your basement. Sure enough, it became a status symbol to be entombed here. The remains are some fascinatingly well-preserved mummies.
Rome, Italy
Those wacky Capuchin monks are at it again! This six-room crypt holds the bones of the friars who have passed on, but they've been arranged with a fun twist. The skeletons have been deconstructed and used to adorn the crypt. (Hey, you gotta put 'em somewhere, right?!) Doorways, art installations on the walls, even the chandeliers are made out of human bones. If this is your kind of artwork, you might also try visiting the Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic.
South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Funerals are a big deal for the Toraja people of Indonesia. When someone dies, they are embalmed, and they stay that way for weeks (or even years) while the family raises money for the funeral. The funeral is a massive festival. There's water buffalo meat, ritual pig slaughter, cockfights, and more. Once that's done, the bodies are buried in a stone tomb in the mountain while a wooden effigy is placed on a balcony outside of the crypt.
We're not sure exactly what it is about them, but there's just something very creepy about dolls. However, we'd take a visit to Annabelle's home any day over a vacation to Mexico's Island of the Dolls. This creepy locale is located south of Mexico City and is absolutely covered in hundreds of baby dolls in various states of decay.
Allegedly, the former owner of the island placed the dolls there as a way to ward off the spirit of a young girl who had drowned in the area. Getting to the island requires a lengthy boat ride, and some captains refuse to shuttle passengers there because of superstition. This is one tourist destination we're okay with missing out on!
Countless books and TV series have been created about the horrors of Jack the Ripper—the 19th-century British serial killer responsible for the murders of at least five women in London. Though he is certainly dead now, he was never caught and tried for his crimes, which created a panic for several years in London.
Like all serial killers, people can't seem to get enough of the Jack the Ripper story, and there are numerous walking tours available in London for those who want to retrace the steps of his crimes. Why people would want to spend money on something so dark and depressing is beyond us, but there is no shortage of tour guides willing to tell you everything you want to know about this devious, mysterious man.
The Khmer Rouge is (thankfully) a distant memory these days, but for several years in the 1970s, this communist regime ruled Cambodia with terror and bloodshed. Although estimates vary, the Khmer Rouge is responsible for the deaths of at least 1.5 million people. For those who want to learn more about this dark period in history, tours are available at the Killing Caves of Phnom Sampeau.
These caves served as storage for the bodies of those killed by the Khmer Rouge, where the bones of the deceased can still be viewed. While this place is definitely majorly creepy, don't expect to have any spooky fun here. This is a solemn place meant to commemorate the horrors that took place here decades before.
"I'd just love to spend a night in a Soviet-era prison!" said no one ever. However, despite how bizarre this premise is, that's exactly what you can do at Karosta Prison in Latvia. This former military prison was allegedly harder to break out of than Alcatraz, and, if you're so inclined, you can give it a shot yourself.
While the prison offers more conventional day tours and documentary screenings, for the real thrill seekers, you can actually spend a twelve-hour night there to give you the real prisoner experience, which they describe as "extreme." It might seem like a steal at only 15 euros per person, but don't forget you're only getting meager meals and a wooden bed to sleep on in a prison cell!
Most people are familiar with the Body Worlds tours—a fascinating (if not terrifying) traveling exhibit of dissected humans and animals preserved using an embalming process known as plastination. While incredibly informative about what's going on inside our bodies, this stuff is truly nightmare fuel.
However, if you're into that kind of macabre stuff, you may want to take a trip to the place where plastination got its start—the Plastinarium in Guben, Germany. This museum was the former lab of Dr. Gunther von Hagens, who developed the technique. And in addition to seeing many displays of humans and animals, you can also get a look at the plastination process as it's being done. Creepy!
Towns and cities dying out is a process we've seen throughout the history of civilization, and Nagoro, Japan is no exception to this. At the small town's peak, Nagoro had a population of roughly 300. However, by 2019, that number had dropped to only 27. Then, the creepy dolls started showing up.
A former resident of the town was so dismayed at what was happening that she started to created life-size dolls of residents who had moved away or died. Things started to snowball until more than 400 of these dolls were scattered throughout various parts of the town, which caused it to become something of a tourist destination. If you don't mind sharing space with these creepy, lifelike figures, Nagoro might be the perfect place for your next vacation!
Haw Par Villa is a theme park in Singapore that's centered around classic Chinese mythology. That actually sounds pretty cool, and in reality, most of this place is much more neat than terrifying. However, there's one popular attraction there that's just too creepy not to mention.
The exhibit is a visual representation of the ancient Chinese conception of the Ten Courts of Hell. Even if you know nothing else about Chinese mythology, that name alone is enough to let you know it's gonna be intense. As you pass through the attraction, you're greeted with terrifying dioramas of people being tortured and maimed in hell, along with all sorts of terrifying monsters and demons. Definitely don't expect a family-friendly experience if you try this one!
With a name like "The Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo" you might believe that this attraction is terrifying because the thought of petting alligators just seems dangerously ridiculous. However, when you visit this roadside attraction, the alligators are the least of your worries—although you should probably worry about them a little bit.
In addition to these reptilian man eaters, the zoo is also home to the "Merman", a mummified corpse of...something that they purport to be a mermaid. While we have our doubts that this thing is actually half human, half fish, the image of this thing will definitely haunt our nightmares for a long time to come!
