They exist all over the world, these places where the line between this world and the afterlife becomes blurred. It is precisely there that the transition to the underworld is assumed. These are often places that have achieved dubious fame through the formation of legends or natural phenomena and celebrate their big appearance as dark actors in horror stories.
The list of places where goosebumps are guaranteed is long and ranges from gates to the underworld in various countries to ghost-ridden areas in Germany to estates in Ireland personally visited by the devil. The travel reporter introduces you to eight scary favourites.
1. Houska Castle in the Czech Republic
47 kilometers north of Prague it rises up into the sky on a wooded hilltop on the limestone cliff: Houska Castle. According to legends, it was only built to close the gate to hell, which is said to be located under the castle’s chapel. This is said to have caused creatures to emerge from the underworld to pull innocent victims into the abyss.
According to legend, the Houska Castle is supposed to block the way to this world for beings from the underworld.
The castle was built in the 13th century and, on the outside, hardly reveals anything unusual compared to other medieval palaces and castles, but a closer look reveals some curious things. For example, many windows are just dummies with solid walls hiding behind them.
You will also look in vain for a water source or a kitchen at Houska Castle and the location of the castle lacks any strategic added value.
Maybe that’s why dubious spooky stories about Houska are still circulating today. To this day, visitors report scratching noises and screams under the heavy floor of the chapel.
2. Hierapolis in Turkey
During ancient times, the then Greek city of Hierapolis, now in Turkey, was considered the gateway to hell. Strange events had given Hierapolis this reputation. For example, priests held sacrificial rituals here in a cave called Plutonion.
The sacrificial animals fell dead in this sanctuary of the Greek god of the underworld as if by magic, the priests remained unharmed. Is it possible that the deadly breath of the hellhound Kerberos is to blame for this sad spectacle?
The ruins of Hierapolis with the amphitheater in the foreground. The mystery of the sacrificial rituals was only solved in 2018.
This puzzle was only solved in 2018 by a Study by the University of Duisburg solved. Instead of the presumed death breath, tectonic activity was the reason why the sacrificial animals died seemingly by magic: lethal carbon dioxide erupted from cracks in the floor of the temple cave.
Depending on the time, a deadly gas cloud that was up to one and a half meters high was created. The priests knew that the hellhound’s supposed breath only reached a certain height, and even supposedly stood on stones to avoid worse.
3. Lüneburg Heath in Germany
The picturesque Lüneburg Heath is not thought to have any connection to hell, but there is also a so-called “gateway to the underworld” here, namely in Lüneburg’s Frommestrasse. However, there is no legendary castle or old excavation site there. The supposed gateway to the underworld now consists of only two very crooked pillars that framed a gate.
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The pillars are in the Lüneburg subsidence area. Salt mining, which has been taking place since the tenth century, has led to the subsidence of the ground, which is still a few centimeters a year to this day. The gate has become a symbol of lowering, the ground has dropped almost two meters since it was built.
A theft provided further mystification: in 2016, the gate wings were stolen from the monument. By the way: Up until the 1960s, the lowering of the ground was blamed on the lowering goblin or the devil. Whether he went through the gate is not proven.
4. Taiga in Sibirien
There is said to be a gateway to the underworld in the Siberian taiga too. It is Batagaika Crater, 120 meters deep and 1500 meters long. With these huge dimensions, the crater seems to tear everything down irrevocably.
The scientific justification for the formation of the crater is also creepy: the crater is a man-made nightmare. It was created in the 1960s as a result of deforestation. Due to the lack of trees, the permafrost soil was exposed to the sun without protection. It thawed the upper layers of the earth, causing them to sink.
As a result, environmental experts warn of the possible chain reactions that could occur as a result of the formation of the crater, for example the release of greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide, which in turn would contribute to global warming.
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5. Loftus Hall in Irland
The devil himself is said to have been a guest within the walls of Loftus Hall! Ghosts are said to appear in photos taken by visitors on their guided tours of the mansion. But that’s not all: in the 1980s, a castle ghost is said to have personally spoken to the owner of the house at the time, who had converted the property into a hotel with her husband.
The picture-postcard idyll is deceptive: Loftus Hall is one of Ireland’s spookiest spooky hotspots.
Apparently the words were not very kind, the lady disappeared never to be seen again. In any case, no owner remained loyal to the property for a very long time, and it is currently being sold again. in the „Dark Atlas“ current owner Aidan Quigley describes Loftus Hall as a place where there is always a sense of not being alone.
This unseen fellow occupant seems to have a say in new owners: “I won’t pick the buyer, the house will.” No wonder Loftus Hall is one of Ireland’s most famous haunted places.
6. Spreewald in Germany (at noon)
“Anyone who works in the field at hot midday will be fetched by the midday woman,” the farmers in the Spreewald used to warn. Those who didn’t hear could visit the midday woman in a white dress and with a sickle in her hand on hot summer days between 12 and 2 p.m.
In the idyllic Spreewald, a tryst with the midday woman threatens at midday in summer.
What she does with her victims varies depending on the legend: some talk about fatal heat stroke, others even bring beheading into play. Only those who were able to talk for an hour about flax cultivation and harvesting escaped their fate.
So if you are out and about in the Spreewald, you should beware of a black-haired woman with pale skin and hollow cheeks. If you are not sure whether it is actually the legendary midday woman, you have to look at her feet, because instead of normal anatomy she is said to have horse hooves.
7. Tunnel in Teotihuacán in Mexiko
It was only discovered in 2013 in the ruined city of Teotihuacán near Mexico City: a tunnel that connects the Pyramid of the Sun and the Temple of the Plumed Serpent. Archaeologists found around 50,000 offerings in the 138 meter long tunnel. Its walls are covered with metallic powder, so that when the torches went down the corridor 18 meters below the surface, the surroundings sparkled like a starry sky.
The tunnel to the underworld is 18 meters below the ground of the ruins of Teotihuacán.
That must have been a magical sight. Scientists today agree that the underground passage symbolized the entrance to the underworld for the people of Teotihuacán, also because of its unusual design.
In the fifth and sixth centuries, Teotihuacán was the most important metropolis in Central America and one of the largest cities in the world. From around 650 AD, the residents left the city for an unknown reason. Perhaps one day the solution to this riddle will be found in the depths of this tunnel.
8. Hotel Val Sinestra in Switzerland
Eleven floors high, with pointed and round towers and nestled in the fir forest, the Hotel Val Sinestra provides the ideal backdrop for ghost stories. When the vacant building was bought for hotel use in 1978, the starting signal for paranormal phenomena is said to have been given at the same time: indoor plants are said to move through the room and guests report the feeling of being watched.
The old mountain hotel Val Sinestra is said to be home to several ghosts.
The ghosts said to be wandering around this building may date from when this was Hotel was still a spa. Possibly former patients. At least one man, one woman and one little girl from the afterlife are said to be sneaking through the premises.
And the hotel owner assures that she feels the presence of a hotel spirit. She even gave the non-paying guest a name: Hermann. Falling wall clocks, wobbly keys and suddenly opening windows are said to be his fault.
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