The world is full of amazing and mysterious places. But there are some places you should never go and the reasons will make your stomach churn. From a cursed island to an eerie hotel you’d never check out of, there are some forbidden places you should never go.
The Elephant’s Foot
Few places are as haunting as the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in northern Ukraine. The catastrophic disaster of 1986 crippled the plant and made the surrounding 1,600 square miles so irradiated it’s been deemed uninhabitable for the next 20,000 years!
Although radiation levels have dropped enough to visit, one part of the plant is still so dangerous it’s completely off limits, the maintenance corridor below the destroyed reactor. That’s because it hosts a huge, intensely radioactive glob of corium. Corium is nuclear fuel mixed with melted material from the power plant. It formed during the reactor meltdown and burnt through over 6 feet of concrete before reaching its current location.
When it was first discovered, the dense radioactive glob, nicknamed the Elephant’s Foot was emitting 4.5 million chest x-rays’ worth of radiation every hour. Not that you’d last an hour, just 5 minutes of exposure to it would’ve been enough to prove lethal. Over time its intensity has diminished, but it still remains highly dangerous.Just how dangerous, we can’t say since 2016, that part of the power plant has been rendered utterly inaccessible to humans by the erection of a huge containment structure. Comprising nearly 40,000 tons of steel and concrete, the New Safe Confinement is designed to keep all that radioactive badness firmly in and any people firmly out.
Poveglia Island
Over in the seas between Venice and Lido, an area known as the Venetian Lagoon, dwells a small island with a past so stained with suffering that any contact with it has been forbidden since the late 1960s: Poveglia Island.
First settled back in the seventh century, the island’s population steadily grew until the late 14th century, when the outbreak of war meant Poveglia’s inhabitants had to be moved to ensure their safety. Although the Venetians won the war, the island remained desolate for centuries.
Then, in 1645, five octagonal forts were built on it to defend the Venetian Lagoon, only one of which survives today. Poveglia was used for little else for over a hundred years, until it became a checkpoint for people and goods traveling to and from Venice.But everything changed when plague was discovered on two passing ships. The tiny island was converted into a quarantine zone, and in the ensuing years, over 160,000 people were sent to it, even if they displayed only the mildest plague symptoms.
Almost none of them left. Thousands upon thousands were cremated on Poveglia, and it’s said that over half the island’s soil is made from the resulting ash. But the dark history doesn’t end there. Once the threat of the Black Death had passed, Poveglia was utilized as the location of a huge mental asylum in the early 1900s, the remains of which linger hauntingly today. But mental health was poorly understood back then, so barbaric “treatments” like lobotomies and electric shock therapy were employed across the facility. Furthermore, local legends tell of a deranged doctor who worked at the hospital. Supposedly, he sadistically experimented on his patients using crude tools like hand drills unsurprisingly, most didn’t survive.
The facility eventually closed in 1968 and the island has been abandoned ever since, with all visitors strictly prohibited. What imagery we do have is down to wily trespassers. Officially, the island is closed because the crumbling buildings are too dangerous to the public. Unofficially, many people believe it's one of the most haunted places on Earth, home to thousands of agonized souls doomed to wander it forever.
Plutonion: Hierapolis' Gate To Hell
Back in 1965, Italian archaeologists exploring the ancient Phrygian ruins of Hierapolis made a peculiar discovery, a small stone arch with an opening in it. The opening led into a cave just big enough for one person to stand inside. Only, it was emitting toxic fumes, and it leads to the underworld.
That last bit is only true if you believe the ancient city’s former occupants. Contemporaries thought the lethal gas must’ve been sent by the Greek god of the underworld, Pluto, and that the cave therefore led to his domain. So they built a religious site, called a Ploutonion, over it.The structure was finished thousands of years ago, around 100BC, and built into the wall of an open-air arena, though that is all that’s left of it today. Wildly though, it’s not the only one there’s another better preserved ploutonion nearby, leading to an almost identical cave gas and everything. A temple was built atop that one, and in its heyday, it would’ve looked something different.
The lethal gas, which is actually highly concentrated carbon dioxide, would pour from the cave down onto the temple floor and form an asphyxiating lake at night. Any animals unfortunate enough to pass through that invisible terror would suffocate and some were even ritually thrown into it. Still, some early priests descended into the cave and returned alive as a way to prove their divine protection.
As you might’ve guessed, the CO2 emitted by the cave is actually a natural phenomenon. There’s a seismic fault in the earth that both sites are built over. Because of that, there are cracks in the rock in both caves which leak the deadly gas from the earth’s crust.So, rather than divine protection, the priests probably found oxygen pockets inside to breathe from, or simply held their breath. That said, although it’s probably not a real gateway to hell, the cave still emits its deadly payload to this day. However, to stop unwary tourists stumbling to their doom the original entrance was sealed off in 1970, and the second is flooded.
Star Jet Roller Coaster
If you’d gone for a walk along the beach at Seaside Heights, New Jersey in late 2012, you’d have seen something ghostly jutting out from the ocean: the skeleton of a rollercoaster. But who would build a rollercoaster out in the sea? That is the Star Jet rollercoaster, and it wasn’t always in the sea.
It was originally built atop the pier back in 2002. But when the disastrous Hurricane Sandy struck the coastline in October 2012, the pier was smashed and the entire structure thrown into the water. Incredibly, barely any damage was done to the rollercoaster itself despite the path of destruction left in the storm’s wake. Even so, it clearly wasn’t fit for riding. The spooky ride was left condemned for several months and became a symbol of the storm’s horrific consequences. Then, in May 2013 authorities finally tore the eerie structure down once and for all. Which was definitely the right decision, apart from the obvious dangers of having a huge hunk of twisted metal so close to the coast, nobody wanted to be reminded of why it was there in the first place.
Willard Asylum
Old mental asylums are such a worn out horror trope by now that it would be easy to say they’ve lost some of their strange, eerie mystery. Easy but wrong. At least in the case of Willard Asylum for the Chronic Insane. First opened in 1869, the now abandoned and prohibited Victorian asylum in New York has a sad but fascinating history.
Built in a time when little was understood about mental illness, many troubled people were seen as “undesirables” by the rest of society. Indeed, the very first patient, Mary Rote, had been chained inside the cell of an almshouse, a sort of community housing for 10 years prior to her arrival. Another patient arrived in what looked like a chicken crate barely big enough to kneel in.So, to many the asylum must’ve felt like a vacation home in comparison to what they were used to. They were bathed, clothed, fed, and given beds as well as simple jobs, should they want to work. What’s more, they had free reign over most of the grounds and access to a bowling alley and theatre. But the good times wouldn’t last. Thousands ended up in the complex over the years, and accusations of overcrowding and questionable treatment of the patients gradually increased in number. As the decades dragged on, the once respectable asylum’s reputation crumbled around it and patients were increasingly neglected or worse. Eventually, in 1995, it shut its doors for good.
Though tours were run for a time, the now rundown institution is firmly out of bounds to the public. Many of the buildings have been sealed up due to safety concerns, and in those that haven’t urban explorers have reported hearing ghostly whispers or feeling strange cold spots. Could the spirits of the poor people who once lived there still linger on?
Erdstall Tunnels
Some places in this vast world are so mysterious we still know hardly anything about them. Like the Erdstall Tunnels. Found across Europe, over 2,000 of those mysterious underground tunnels exist yet there are no historic records of them whatsoever. Which is made weirder by how completely impractical they seem.
Most of them are super low to the point you’d have to get on all fours to crawl through them. And they’re narrow too, with twists and turns that mean it’d be easy to get stuck inside if you weren’t careful. Because of that, the majority have been strictly closed off to the public.The entrances are found everywhere from the kitchens of old farmhouses to churches, to the middle of forests so there’s not much rhyme or reason to them. Historians think the tunnels probably date back to the Middle Ages, and most of them are near or within settlements. But none of them have exits, so the idea of shuffling through one of those just gets worse and worse.Mystery of the Erdstall Tunnels Ancient Underground Labyrinths of Europe by Ancient Origins
But alas, they probably aren’t entrances to the bowels of hell, or some terrible place to imprison the condemned. It's likely that they were used by locals as temporary places of refuge from raiders and invading armies. It’d explain why they’re utterly absent from the historical record, you’d want to keep them as secret as possible wouldn’t you? And to do so would also mean making them as small and easy to hide as possible.
Runit Island
If you were in a plane flying over just the right part of the north Pacific Ocean, you’d pass this strange sight in the image below. You definitely wouldn’t want to land though because that is Runit Island, and it’s one of the most dangerous places in the world. One of 40 islands in the remote Enewetak Atoll, Runit was chosen by the US after WWII as a testing ground for its nuclear weaponry.
Between 1948 and 1958, 43 nuclear tests were conducted on the site, amounting to some 85,000 cubic meters of highly dangerous radioactive waste being left behind. Which is bad enough, but that waste includes plutonium-239, which has a monumental half-life of 24,000 years!So, what do you do with it all? Well, that huge UFO looking circle has the answer. The US government decided to gather all the sludge up and dump it into a 330-foot wide bomb crater that had been left on the island by one of their tests. Then, they built a huge 18-inch thick concrete lid over it. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Not quite.
They’d originally intended on lining the entire crater with concrete too but decided against it to save money. Because of that, radioactive waste has been allowed to seep out into the surrounding soil. The entire island has been placed off limits to the public, but the US Department of Energy published a report in 2020 assuring there’s no need to worry for at least another 20 years.But settlers on neighboring islands are worried and can you blame them? If the concrete dome were to crack or crumble, the consequences could be devastating for everyone on the Atoll.
The Maunsell Forts
From museums to memorials, the scars of World War II can still be found all over the world. But you’d be forgiven for thinking the sight below was of a more otherworldly nature. Those strange alien-like structures can be seen jutting from Britain’s Thames and Mersey rivers. They’re actually forts built during the Second World War to defend the UK. Called the Maunsell Forts.
The Royal Navy operated the fortresses and used them as vantage points to deter and report German air raids, as well as prevent attempts by enemy aircraft to lay mines. After the war was over, the forts were decommissioned and most were abandoned. But that didn’t always happen immediately.The now-forsaken Shivering Sands Fort near the Thames estuary has a rather more sordid history. Following its abandonment in 1958, the series of interconnected structures lay empty for several years. However, in 1964 eccentric English musician Screaming Lord Sutch setup a pirate radio station at the fort before quickly growing tired of it. His friend Reginald Calvert bought it from him, refurbished it, and renamed it Radio City. All was going well until June 1965, when a rival of Calvert’s called Oliver Smedley sent a group of men to Radio City under cover of darkness. They hijacked the station and demanded £5,000 from Calvert to get it back. Calvert refused and instead visited Smedley’s house to try and negotiate with him. Only, Smedley wasn’t the negotiating type. A scuffle ensued, and tragically, it ended with the loss of Calvert’s life. Smedley was acquitted.
Despite that miscarriage of justice, the incident spurred the government to shut down offshore stations and in February 1967 Radio City went off the air for good. The fort has been in a state of disrepair ever since and, like the vast majority of the Maunsell forts, is off limits to the public due to structural issues.
The Curse of Dudleytown
Very little remains of Dudleytown, Connecticut aside from a few stone foundations hidden amidst the dense trees. If it weren’t for the myriad of signs warning trespassers to keep out, you’d probably have no idea there was anything there. Yet the signs are there. That’s because the isolated area where the town used to stand is supposedly one of the most haunted places in the world.
Dudleytown was first settled back in the 1740s, by the Dudley family, and is situated in the middle of three large hills. Because of that, the whole place is unusually dark and rough terrain meant crops were difficult to grow. Even so, the population steadily grew until by the mid-19th century it’d reached a modest peak of 26 families. Despite some prosperity though, the town was marred by bizarre occurrences and strange deaths.
A grizzly plague swept through barely 30 years after it was first settled, and that was only the beginning. Freak accidents became unusually common, like a barn collapsing on someone and someone else being struck by lightning.
On top of that, one resident was convinced that “strange creatures” came out of the surrounding woods at night. Whether the creatures were real or imagined, we can’t say for sure. Over the years, an inordinate number of the town’s residents were diagnosed insane.In an ordinary town, any case of serious mental illness like insanity is noteworthy. But in that tiny town of just 26 families, there were three cases of insanity in less than 50 years. All of that, plus the town’s awkward location, led to its gradual demise.By 1901, there was almost nobody left. One of the last residents was called John Brophy, and he suffered arguably the worst fate of them all. First, his wife passed away from tuberculosis. Then, his two children ran into the forest and vanished without a trace. Things only went from bad to worse when the family home burned down in a mysterious fire, then John himself fled into the woodland, never to return.
That’s one seriously unfortunate series of events. After that, the town lay abandoned and was gradually consumed by the surrounding wilderness. But the stories lingered on giving rise to a persistent legend that the place is cursed. Indeed, those brave few that have dared to explore the ruins today reported seeing apparitions and feeling sudden pangs of terror.
Not that you’re supposed to explore. In 1999, the whole area was blocked off by authorities, so if caught trespassing you could face a hefty fine. Stories about the town are likely overblown, and the myriad of ghost sightings are impossible to prove. What’s more, the area wasn’t closed off because of any curse, but because people living nearby had become sick and tired of all the ghosthunters!
Creepy Doll House
In a village on the outskirts of Seville lies a strange abandoned house. It looks creepy enough from the outside, but what lies within has terrified locals so much they’ve avoided the place for years. British urban explorer Ben James paid a visit in April 2023. What he found was shocking.
Dolls everywhere. Hanging from lights, nailed to the walls almost every conceivable space was covered with the creepy porcelain figures. After taking a few more snaps, Dan Ben eventually did leave but he had a lot of questions. And the villagers revealed all.
According to them, a mother had lived there with her two children. But after her kids tragically passed away, the woman became inconsolable and began obsessively collecting dolls as a coping mechanism. Supposedly, she became a recluse and was very rarely seen, leading the villagers to think she’d steadily lost her sanity before passing herself in 2017.Since then, the house has lain abandoned and some people even believe it’s cursed, with the children’s souls doomed to haunt the dolls forever. Legend has it that if anybody enters the house and takes something, they’ll become possessed and meet a terrible fate. Either way, it’s a tale as tragic as it is creepy.
Pollepel Island
In the middle of the Hudson River in New York, there’s an island so steeped in history it could have an article all to itself. Yet, in 1969 such a huge disaster struck there that the public were outright forbidden to ever step foot on it again. The island is called Pollepel, and for a long time it stood uninhabited, deemed haunted by local Native Americans.
In 1901 however, Scottish born munitions dealer Francis Bannerman bought it and decided to build a castle there to store his munitions arsenal. All in all, the castle was a grand affair and the island was tended to beautifully.
That all changed after Bannerman’s passing in 1918. Work on the island stopped, and in August 1920 tragedy struck. Some of the shells in the arsenal couldn’t stand the heat of day and exploded, blowing a tower and some of the island itself into the river.
The damage was devastating, but nevertheless the Bannerman arsenal remained on Pollepel until 1950. That year however, tragedy struck again when the ferryboat used to ship ammunition to the island was sunk in a storm. Following that, any remaining active shells and weaponry were relocated from Pollepel and the island was all but abandoned.Until 1968 that is, when New York state bought it something they’d soon regret. Just one year later, a further series of explosions rocked Pollepel and a colossal fire tore through the castle, gutting it and leaving a scolded ruin in its wake. It seemed there had been active ammunition left over after all.That time, the damage was so brutal that the island was closed off completely seemingly, for good. But decades later, a group of passionate people set up the Bannerman Castle Trust a non-profit organization determined to reopen the island for everyone to enjoy. And eventually, in 2004, they succeeded!
Soviet Torpedo Factory Island
Take one look at the odd structure in the image below protruding from the Caspian Sea and you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s photoshopped. The strange, isolated building can only be reached by boat but you do not want to go near it.
It was first built as a Soviet torpedo factory in 1939, to aid the war effort. Engineers first constructed a concrete base for the building to be built upon. Then, they drilled a 60-foot hole into the seafloor and filled it with a solid mass of stones. After that, they transported the concrete base over and anchored it to the stones.Unfortunately, the relentless waves of the Caspian have worn that once important building down to a shadow of its former self. But why was it abandoned in the first place? As technology advanced, the waters around the building soon became too shallow to effectively test more powerful torpedoes in.So, in 1966 the factory was abandoned. Some brave or stupid explorers still dare to go near the crumbling site. However, local rumors purport that live, unstable torpedoes are still in the building, with tourists urged to avoid visiting unless they fancy putting themselves in grave danger.
Holland Island House
Way back in 1910, Holland Island in Maryland was a thriving place to live, with a buzzing community of nearly 360 people and over 70 buildings. Now, almost every last trace of the people and island are gone. So, what the heck happened? When it was first settled in the 1600s, the settlers didn’t consider one huge issue.
Rather than being formed of rock, Holland Island is mainly made from clay and silt which are far softer. For a long time, there were no consequences. But by 1914, the wind and tide were taking their toll on the island’s west side. The residents did everything they could to stop the encroaching erosion, but nothing worked and most of them were forced to leave.Then, in 1918, a furious tropical storm battered the island, nearly destroying the church and prompting the remaining islanders to leave the place too. Slowly but surely the rest of the buildings on Holland Island collapsed into the sea, all bar one.
Yet, still people couldn’t let it go. In 1995, former resident Stephen White purchased the island for $70,000 and spent the next 15 years trying to save it. He tried everything wooden breakwaters, sandbags, rocks even sinking a barge near the house to break the waves.But $150,000 and 15 years later, and nothing had been achieved to stop the water’s tireless advance. In 2010, Stephen fell ill and sold the island to a venture capitalist group. They took the last pictures of the last house on Holland Island before the 125-year old structure finally succumbed to the tide and collapsed.At present, rising sea levels have utterly consumed what remains of the island. All that’s left is dangerous, sunken ruins you wouldn’t want to get near with a bargepole. It’s sad, but the lesson is clear, don’t build your house on a small island made of silt.
Hotel Del Salto
Standing crookedly atop a tall cliff by a waterfall in Colombia is a century-old building with a dark past. Meet Hotel Del Salto. Originally a mansion until it was converted into a hotel in 1928.
From the off, it was plagued by tragedy. According to local legend, back in the 1500s native people would leap from the nearby falls to avoid capture by Spanish forces. Rather than hit the bottom though, they’d transform into eagles mid-fall and soar into the skies.One part of that story is more likely than the other. And by the time 1928 rolled around, it seemed the tradition was ready for a rebirth. Indeed, many visitors and patrons who came to spend the night never checked out by their own volition. Because of that, the building quickly became known as haunted.
Hotel guests swore they saw apparitions and heard voices conversing in a strange language, and one guest was apparently even driven insane. Which, alongside the Great Depression of the 1930s, really wasn’t good for business. By the 1990s, the hotel had been closed and abandoned but its macabre reputation lingered on.
The once illustrious hotel would remain in disrepair until 2013, when it was renovated and turned into a museum. Even though guests are now permitted in the day, past 5pm access is strictly prohibited. As well as the cliff edge being incredibly dangerous, the spirits that haunt the building are said to emerge at night.If you were amazed at these forbidden places, you might want to read about places you can't go and people went anyways. Thanks for reading.