10 Chilling Stories That Might Keep You Up at Night
As children, many of us sat around the dinner table or by a crackling campfire, listening to our parents or friends tell us the creepiest stories. We glanced furtively over our shoulders, ready to run at the slightest crack of a twig or flutter of a curtain. The characters in these stories haunted us. They brought a tingling to our necks, a sudden chill in the middle of a stifling hot night. They let us sleep with the lights on and never let us dangle a foot or hand over the side of the bed as we strained our ears for the sound of unfamiliar footsteps.
Let's see if we can rediscover the nostalgia of that time by peeking behind the thin veil that separates our world from the paranormal. Grab a comfortable seat, dim the lights if you're feeling brave, and let yourself be drawn into the world of shadows on a chilling journey through ten terrifying stories.
The ghosts wait…
Related: Top ten ghosts and cryptids based on witches
10 A suffering soul
A few years ago, a young woman named Zenny Suarez visited her mother, who was admitted to the National Hospital of Itaugua in Paraguay. As she walked down the hall to her mother's ward, blood-curdling screams came from an empty hallway.
Believing it to be a patient in pain, Zenny looked around to see if she could find the source of the screaming, but saw what appeared to be a “suffering soul” floating in the air.
Zenny ran to the nearest nurse's station and reported what she had seen and heard. Doctors in turn told her that she had probably seen the ghost of Maria Soledad. Maria was a former patient who had been admitted to the ICU several years earlier. She had suffered horrific injuries during a 'group fight'.
Maria did not survive her stay in the hospital and, according to the nurses and doctors, has been wandering through the corridors and stairs ever since, constantly screaming in pain.[1]
9 The scariest island in the Caribbean
Chacachacare Island is located in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and is part of the Bocas Islands. Christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1498 and it later served as a base for Santiago Marino to invade Venezuela.
In the 1860s the island became a leper colony, established by the British government. Those exiled to the island were not allowed to leave and were cared for by nuns. Two of the French Dominican nuns eventually contracted leprosy, and one of them took her own life.
After the death of the last leper and the departure of the remaining nuns in 1984, the island was abandoned. Today the island is uninhabited except for the staff who maintain a single lighthouse. Some locals also visit the island for day trips.
However, most people do not dare to set foot on the island for fear of meeting the ghost of the nun who committed suicide. She is said to float around the island's cemetery, with a lantern in hand to guide her way.[2]
8 Terror in the Maldives
As the sun sets over the splendor of the Maldives, the ghosts come out to play. And apparently they like to show up in schools across the archipelago.
Students at Aminiya School have reportedly experienced a stalking shadow in the hallways. This shade also appeared in some bathrooms. Some reports say that the shadow, believed to be the 'spirit of Hareera', often lurks near the mango trees on the school premises.
Hareera is said to have been a janitor at the school who was bullied by some students. One version of the ghost story says that Hareera hanged herself in the girls' bathroom, while another version says that she was murdered by the same students who bullied her.
And then there's the legend of the 'aiyyburi', a disembodied hand that is said to haunt several schools in the Maldives. The severed hand appears unexpectedly in front of students or crawls over them in classrooms or on the playground.[3]
7 The haunted Anchorage Hotel
It is said that even the most hardened skeptics will come to believe in ghosts after a visit to the historic Anchorage Hotel. This hotel is the subject of seemingly endless ghost stories, including that of Jack Sturgus.
Sturgus was Anchorage's first police chief and he was shot dead just steps from the hotel. Sturgus' murder remains unsolved, and it is rumored that the tragic police chief visits the murder scene every year on the anniversary of his death.
At the hotel, a long line of guests reportedly saw the ghost of a young girl walking through the second-floor hallway, while others witnessed the apparition of a bride who hanged herself after her groom failed to show up for their big day .
It is also said that the hotel's employees have become so distracted by all the ghosts that they have started keeping a diary in which all incidents are recorded.[4]
6 The Jinn Cave
The ancient city of Ghat was once an important terminus and stronghold until Italy occupied it. Located in Libya, Ghat is home to prehistoric rock paintings and the historic Ghat Fort, all popular tourist attractions.
About 25 km north of Ghat you will find the Mountain of Ghosts. A natural cave has been carved into this mountain, also known as Jinn Cave. The jinn believed to inhabit this cave often transform into a deer. Many have tried in vain to capture the deer, and during their attempts they hear voices whispering from within the cave.
There are also ongoing reports of encounters with unidentified creatures and strange noises coming from the mountain. For this reason, most locals refuse to climb the mountain and tourists will likely have to experience the hike for themselves.[5]
5 The Ghosts of Wales
Wales is known for having some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and is also known for its rich history. In Wales, however, ghosts walk their own path, and several spooky stories have arisen here.
Located in Caerphilly, Llancaiach Fawr is considered one of the most haunted places in the world. One tenant, who lived in this imposing property for 35 years, claimed to have heard loud footsteps from upstairs at all hours of the day and saw a man dressed in Victorian clothing rush past him as he walked through the garden. A little boy also haunts this house, pulling on visitors' clothes and hair.
Moreover, the Skirrid Mountain Inn has its own and aggressive ghosts. The inn was once a courthouse that also served as an execution hall. Nearly 200 criminals were hanged here. In modern times, visitors to the building have reported experiencing the sensation of a noose tightening around their neck.[6]
4 Egg ghosts
Korean folklore offers some of the most chilling ghost stories in the world. An example of this is the story of egg ghosts. Egg ghosts are faceless, emotionless creatures who are believed to have been childless women in life.
Without offspring to perform memorial rituals, these spirits lose their “personality” and are doomed to be miserable forever in the afterlife. They also cause instant death to any living person who encounters them.
And then there are water spirits. People who accidentally drown while swimming in lakes and rivers are called water spirits. Unaware that they are dead, they try to attract the attention of the living for help. Water spirits tug at swimmers' clothing and have unusually long arms and hair that they wrap around the bodies of the living to drag them deeper into the water.[7]
3 Haunted houses
A haunted house is the cornerstone of many a spooky story, whether it's a horror novel or a movie. Many homeowners have had their own Bly Manor experience, as evidenced by the thousands of haunted house stories on the Internet.
One of the most infamous ghost-filled houses in the world is the Kasha House of Kaimuki in Honolulu. A few months after Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, police officers arrived at the house after receiving frantic phone calls from the woman who lived there. The story goes that the woman shouted, “She's trying to kill my children.” When police arrived, they found the woman and her four children being violently tossed around, apparently by an unseen force.
And then there is the Castello dal Pozzo on the shore of Lake Maggiore in Italy. Rumor has it that this beautiful castle is haunted by a ghost named Barbara, the daughter of Lord Dal Pozzo. Dal Pozzo was annoyed by his daughter's choice of husband and the fact that she chose to run away without his permission. He locked her in one of the towers, where she eventually died. Today, she still haunts the lonely tower, mourning the husband she never saw again.[8]
2 The spooky side of the Karoo National Park
South Africa has its own wealth of spooky stories, the best known being the legend of the Flying Dutchman and the ghost of Mary, who still hitchhikes along a stretch of road near Uniondale.
One of the most popular tourist destinations in South Africa, apart from Cape Town, is the Karoo: a semi-desert area that spans three different provinces. The region is split into Little Karoo and Great Karoo and is known for its well-preserved ecosystem that has left behind several valuable fossils.
The Karoo is also a very eerie place to be after the sun sets. Here, many drivers have reported seeing the apparition of a British soldier in uniform and wrapped in bloodstained bandages on the side of the road. Some claimed to have heard the sound of bagpipes coming from an abandoned cemetery.
The Karoo National Park is home to beautiful mountain ranges, which are often covered in thick fog. The locals here believe that a water ghost (water ghost) covers the mountain with said mist, allowing it to move around unnoticed. There are several unmarked graves in the park, adding to the spooky atmosphere. It is also a common belief that the ghost causes cattle to drown in a natural pool simply because of its bloodthirsty nature.[9]
1 Horror hotels
Flight attendants working for Cathay Pacific Airlines had similar eerie experiences after checking into an undisclosed hotel in Bangkok. The first flight attendant to book a particular room at the hotel reported seeing a female ghost storming through the room and flashing through windows and walls. The next night, a different flight attendant from the same airline booked the same room and had the same experience.
When British Caledonian Airlines still existed, flight attendants stayed in the H wing of the Dubai International Hotel. One after another, they began to complain of insomnia, pressure in their chests, and a ghost wandering through their rooms.
At the Hawaiian Regent Hotel, a newlywed couple checked into room 1022 to begin their honeymoon. A few hours after their arrival, the bride, who was several years younger than her groom and involved in an arranged marriage, put her wedding dress back on and jumped from the room's balcony to her death.
Her husband returned home the same day and the next day the room was rented to another couple. The woman woke up late that night and saw the apparition of a woman in a wedding dress flying across the room.[10]