By Lisa Lee Harp Waugh

I recently retured from an extended trip to the Orient. I visited many haunted locations that locals and paranomal investigators often fear to tread. During a recent tour of Austraila I was asked to come to Japan to investigate and see if I could actually comunicate with spirits and ghost that did not speak the same lanugae as I did. The results actually have me quite perplexed in giving concrete answers to this day.

Aokigahara (青木ヶ原), also known as the Sea of Trees (樹海, Jukai), is a forest that lies at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan. The caverns found in this forest are rocky and ice-covered annually. It has been claimed by local residents and visitors that the woods are host to a great amount of paranormal phenomena. It is an old ancient forest reportedly haunted by many urban historical legends of strange beasts, monsters, ghosts, and goblins, which add to its serious and sinister reputation.

Some in the world will tell you it is one of the actual seven gates to hell! The location is said to haunted by demons as well as ghosts. These demons or those that make you take your life. I found these forest to be very disturbing and in my mind what a hideous place of beauty for a infernal hole to hell to be in.

Below is the video of the actual research for a Swedish documentary about Aokigahara Jukai, a forest near Mt Fuji in Japan. The forest is famous for being a place where people choose to commit suicide. With english subtitles.

I did feel strange from the second I was asked by my new friend in Australia to explore and investigate the actual death haunted forest with them. I did not know much about it, only what I had read on the internet. But that feeling was deep in me for something kept telling me that strange things were in store for me when we got there.

There are so many suicide’s in the dark mountain forest that I counted over 50 or more signs that have been put up for this specific purpose, asking distraught suicidal people to seek out immediate help and not kill themselves. My guide was very frightened and would often cover their eyes in fear of seeing a real ghost.

"The perfect place to die." That's how Aokigahara was described in Wataru Tsurumui's bestselling book The Complete Manual of Suicide. A dense, dark forest bordering Mt. Fuji, Aokigahara is infamous throughout Japan as a popular spot for those taking their final journey.

Reportedly the world’s second most popular suicide location after San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, due in some part to the novel Kuroi Jukai (Black Forest), which ends with the lovers of the novel committing suicide in the forest. Since the 1950s, more than 500 people have lost their lives in the forest, mostly suicides, with approximately 30 suicides counted yearly.

The forest floor consists primarily of volcanic rock and is difficult to penetrate with hand tools such as picks or shovels. There are also a variety of unofficial trails that are used semi-regularly for the annual "body hunt" done by local volunteers, who mark their search areas with plastic tape. The plastic tape is never removed, so a great deal of it litters the first kilometer of the forest, past the designated trails leading to and from known tourist attractions such as the Ice Cave and Wind Cave. After the first kilometer into Aokigahara towards Mount Fuji, the forest is in a much more pristine state, with little to no litter and few obvious signs of human contact. On some occasions human remains can be found in the distant reaches of the forest, but these are usually several years old and consist of scattered bones and incomplete skeletons, suggesting the presence of scavenging animals.

Ghost encounters of the wandering dead are said to be often encountered more then just frequently as well as many ghost photos and EVP's. My personal lack of being able to speak Japanese did not stop many spooks and specters from coming in contact with me.

Many also will tell you to look at the trees carefully because you can see the actual faces and images of the cursed dead in the bark. The photo below has a few strange images in it so I went to investigate it closer. That's when my head began to whirl. I actually blacked out.

Something strange happened to me in the shadows beneath the great Mount Fuji. Something that frightened me deep to my core, and made me think twice about searching for anything living or dead, or something else in this strange very haunted Dark Japanese forest.

A very popular myth also states that the magnetic iron deposits underground cause compasses to malfunction and travelers to get lost in the forest never to be found again. However this myth is largely false. Japan's Self Defense Force and the US Military regularly run training practices through portions of the forest, during which military grade many lensatic compasses have been verified to function properly. Vehicles, GPS equipment, and other electronic devices function properly also.

Some locals do call it the woods of death or even the actual dead's living hell. No one but the bored and the curious seem to be attracted to the area. I was really prepared for this investigation but thought at the time what a freak show the people near by must have thought as they saw me hug a tree.

My interpreter guide Mimi was very helpful in explaining to us carefully that; The actual entire forest is also a popular place for suicides, reportedly the world’s third most popular suicide location after San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge , and (before the installation of the Luminous Veil) Toronto's Bloor Street Viaduct, due in some part to the novel Kuroi Jukai (黒い樹海, lit. Black Sea of Trees), which ends with the lovers of the novel committing suicide in the forest. Since the 1950s, more than 500 people have lost their lives in the forest, mostly suicides, with approximately 30 suicides counted yearly. In 2002, 78 bodies were found within the forest, replacing the previous record of 73 in 1998. The high rate of suicide has led officials to place signs in the forest, urging those who have gone there to commit suicide to seek help and not kill themselves. The annual search, consisting of a small army of police, volunteers and attendant journalists, began in 1970.

I'm glad I had Mimi our local guide with us to tell me these important things, because I do not speak read or understand any Japanese what so ever.

Then it happened! I came upon a thing!

The above photo of me is a ghost image of when I was actually taken, when my body became possessed by one of the many ghost that haunts this tangled forest of death. Those with me a group of 10 people said I spoke beautiful Japanese and my face changes to take on that of the dead mans ghost who took over my body.

He went on to tell them how he had hung himself from this very tree that I am standing by in the photo. The man inside me told them of how he had died and that his hanging was actually botched and he died from starvation and lack of water over a 5 day period until someone came along deep in the woods and found his lifeless corpse.

He went on to say that he would kill himself again if he had to do it over again but would use another method so he would not suffer as he did. He also spoke of the many real ghost that came to watch him die.

His reasons for suicide as he spoke to them in a perfect dialect from the area of Fujikawaguchiko they say was flawless. He told of how his wife had left him to move to another nearby town with another man. And how she disgraced him and his family.

Typically most suicides are men, with over 71% of suicides in 2007 being male. The rate among the over-60 population is also high, but people in their thirties are most likely to commit suicide. Suicide is the leading cause of death for people under 30 in Japan.

I was very weak as the ghost left my body and I fell to the ground shaken by this to my very soul. I was not aware that I was fully taken over. I must tell you all here and now this is the first time something like this ever occurred to me in my life.

They said to look at my ripped clothes from where I tried to tear at my own skin. Four of those present said they had to hold me down to stop me from running away or hurting myself or them.

Railroad tracks are also a common place for suicide in Japan, and the Chūō Rapid Line is particularly known for a high number. And the next day that was our destination.

Aside from those intending to die there, the dense forest and rugged inaccessibility has attracted thrill seekers. Many of these hikers mark their routes by leaving colored plastic tapes behind, causing concerns from prefectural officials for the ecosystem of the forest.

Below is the actual ghost photo I took as we entered the forbidden forest of death. Whether it is a trick of the light or my camera on the fritz I am not sure but the image was the last "I took because my batteries were totally dead at that point."

In 2004, a movie about the forest was released, called Jyukai — The Sea of Trees Behind Mt. Fuji (樹の海, lit. Sea of Trees?), by the director Takimoto Tomoyuki. It told the story of four people who decided to end their lives in the forest of Aokigahara. While scouting for shooting locations, Takimoto told reporters that he found a wallet containing 370,000 yen (roughly $3,760 USD), giving rise to the popular rumor that Aokigahara is a treasure trove for scavengers. Others have claimed to have found credit cards, rail passes, and driver's licenses.

CNN article about the forest

Suicide in Japan is considered to be a major problem nationally. Causes of suicide include unemployment (due to the economic recession in the 1990s), depression, and social pressures. Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates, especially amongst industrialized nations, and the Japanese government says the rate for 2006 is ninth highest in the world. In 2007, the number of suicides exceeded 30,000 for the tenth straight year. - Since 2008, the economic situation worsened in Japan due to the global financial crisis, and this has pushed the suicide rate in Japan even higher. The industries are becoming smaller which is causing higher unemployment. This in turn leads to the Japanese husbands being at home much more and this is causing domestic problems because it has been the traditional role of the Japanese women to be in the home. This situation has been the cause of some marriage breakdown, even divorce. Being unable to cope with these stresses, the Japanese men have turned to suicide.

The rapid increase in suicides since the 1990s has raised concerns, with 1998 having a 34.7% increase over the previous year.

Also, suicide of the youth in Japan is becoming more serious in recent years. The financial crisis has impacted also on the Japanese youth, and they see that there are few possibilities of work. A number of youth in Japan cannot see any improvement for themselves in the near future and because of this they are turning to suicide.

Common methods of suicide are jumping in front of trains, leaping off high places, hanging, or overdosing on medication. Rail companies will charge the families of those who commit suicide a fee depending on the severity of disrupted traffic.

A newer method, gaining in popularity partly to publicity from Internet suicide web sites, is to use household products to make the poisonous gas hydrogen sulfide. In 2007, only 29 suicides used this gas, but in a span from January to September 2008, 867 suicides resulted from gas poisoning.

Over the years, hundreds of people have claimed that this highway is haunted. Since 1978, many lives have been lost due to car accidents on that expressway. The high death toll is blamed on ghosts because they supposedly pop up in the middle of the road when people are driving, thus causing them to make really sharp turns to avoid them and then end up crashing. The ghosts of past victims are said to be seen there at night and some drivers have even claimed that they lost complete control of their vehicle several times.

3. Paris, France

I really love to visiting Paris and the Catacombs. Each year more ghost photos and actual ghost encounters happen underground in Paris then one might imagine. On a recent jaunt I was actually in contact with three ghosts that made it there business to follow me around. though my command of the laungage is rather poor I managed to communicate with them through a enterpeter.

The great haunted city of Paris is in my oppionion one of the most haunted cities you could ever hope to explore in search of real ghosts, Vampires and all that is supernatural.

Is this a real Paris Catacomb Ghost Photo asks Harold Grant Ghost Picture from his recent trip to Paris 2008.

Long ago, as the city of Paris grew, it became necessary to provide more space for the living. To do so, engineers and planners decided to move the mass of humanity least likely to protest: in this case, the dead. Millions of Parisian dead were quietly disinterred in one of the largest engineering feats in history and their remains were deposited along the walls of the chilly, dank passageways lying beneath the City of Light. They lie there to this day, in the eternal darkness, an Empire of the Dead.

The Paris Catacombs are infamous and much has been written about their history and purpose. A million visitors a year are said to walk the dank corridors and to stare at the bones and gaze fixedly into the empty eye-sockets of the long dead. Many of these same visitors, and some of their guides, have encountered more than just the silence in the catacombs: they have had encounters with ghostly inhabitants that roam the empty passageways and mutely follow the tour groups around.

Ghost Photos and erie feelings or often reported through out the internet from the many visitors to the locations. Ghost are often said to be felt more the witnessed eye to eye. Many have reported to us that they have been grabbed or have felt ghost touching them even grabbing their hands and clothes.

A Real Paris Catacomb Ghost Photo sent to us by Brian Lundsguard

Several report seeing a group of shadows in one area of the catacombs; as the living walk along, the dead follow in complete silence. To some the experience is completely overwhelming and tours have been cut short by the growing sense of unease. Photos have revealed orbs and ghostly apparitions, and EVP's have been recorded throughout the vaults. And many, many ghost photos happen all the time.

The catacombs were first cleared in Roman times, with succeeding generations of Gauls and Frenchmen perfecting the Roman engineering. Now the catacombs are a veritable rabbit’s warren, and though many boldly enter without a guide, to do so puts one at risk of being lost there forever. There have been many reports of rash individuals who wandered into the catacombs for a laugh and who have never been seen again.

Ghost Photo of Paris Catacombs sent to us by Linda Graham

This, and many chilling tales of experiences in this Empire of the Dead, put the Paris Catacombs on our list of most haunted places.

ALSO PLEASE SEE: THE TOP TEN MOST GHOST HAUNTED PLACES IN FRANCE

4. Sydney, Australia

"Home to the Most Haunted Cemetery in Australia and in the World"

Welcome to Rookwood

Victorian Rookwood necropolis in Sydney, but it is the grave of the notorious Davenport Brothers, famous spiritualists. Rookwood Cemetery (officially named The Necropolis and named when it opened as The Necropolis, Haslams Creek.) is the largest multicultural necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, close to Lidcombe Station in Sydney, Australia. It is also thought to be home to one of the lost or hidden gates to hell.

Located in this huge cemetery is also one of the many Devil's chairs. a supposed seat where the Devil is said to appear sitting on when someone wishes to make a deal with him. the actual cemetery is said to have several Devil Chairs and one special wishing bench.

The wishing bench of Rookwood is said to be very special and if you sit and pray on it your prayers will be heard in heaven and answered immediately. There is also an old tale that tells that between midnight to 3am An angel appears and sits on it. they say this is to ward off and guard it against the devils from hell that would come to destroy it.

The ghost face in Rookwood Cemetery

No 1 Mortuary Receiving Railway Station - Rookwood Cemetery Ghost face at the Necropolis Cemetery, Lidcome, NSW, Australia This strange dark ghost photo sent to us by Craig Chapman.

The name Rookwood came some 20 years after the establishment of the actual great necropolis, it was a means to differentiate the local village of Haslams Creek from the association of the burial ground, the village changed its name to Rookwood, and naturally the cemetery was soon known as Rookwood, the village changed its name again in the early 20th Century to "Lidcombe" (a combination of two Mayors names, Lidbury and Larcombe - Larcombe was also a Monumental Stone Mason). The actual haunted cemetery retained the name Rookwood.

Approximately one million people have their final resting place within the boundaries of its almost 3 km². The "Friends of Rookwood Inc" raise public awareness of the cultural and historical value of the cemetery and also the need to ensure its preservation.

Some older sections of Rookwood are overgrown with a riot of plants, early horticultural plants, some now large trees or groves, as well as an interesting array of remnant indigenous flora. This results in quite an eclectic mix of flora to be found within the necropolis. Many say that since so many are interred here it can't just help being one of the most haunted places where the dead are buried.

Many ghost photos, EVP's and actual documenting of what many call the most real encounters of actual paranormal activity in the world occur here daily. Many say that the ghost are more restless here in this down under haunted city of the dead then any other location documented.

5. Walachia, Transylvania, Land of Dracul, Romania.

I recently traveled to Romania and knew as we all know that I would wind up listening and meeting a few real ghosts and paranomal legends I also was in search of the King off the Dead... Dracula!

“Beyond the green swelling hills of the Mittel Land rose mighty slopes of forest up to the lofty steeps of the Carpathians themselves. Right and left of us they towered, with the afternoon sun falling full upon them and bringing out all the glorious colours of this beautiful range, deep blue and purple in the shadows of the peaks, green and brown where grass and rock mingled, and an endless perspective of jagged rock and pointed crags, till these were themselves lost in the distance, where the snowy peaks rose grandly . . .

“Just then a heavy cloud passed across the face of the moon, so that we were again in darkness . . . This was all so strange and uncanny that a dreadful fear came upon me, and I was afraid to speak or move. The time seemed interminable, as we swept on our way, now in almost complete darkness, for the rolling clouds obscured the moon.

“We kept on ascending, with occasional periods of quick descent, but in the main always ascending. Suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that the driver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light, and whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the sky.”

-- “Dracula” by Bram Stoker.

“Perhaps the only place I felt Dracula’s presence was on a long, curving road that twists over the Transylvanian Alps. The area is so remote and impenetrable that no major road crossed this often stormy mountain pass until 1974. As my car climbed into the mist, traffic disappeared, and the radio stopped working. The road passes a dam and a hydroelectric plant guarded by a handful of soldiers standing alone in the gloom. And at the bottom of the road are the ruins of a castle.

Dracula’s castle.

Dracula created this fortress as a refuge. When the Turkish army surrounded him, he is said to have escaped through a tunnel and disappeared into the mountains.

His young son was strapped to the side of his horse but slipped off and was left for dead. His wife didn’t even try to flee. She threw herself to death from a tower window.

I stepped out of the car to take a look. But it was night now, and the climb to the castle would be difficult. I looked up at the dark mountains and started to shiver, glad to have a car to spirit me away.”

--Larry Bleiburg, The Dallas Morning News, January 2, 2005

Far below the busy streets of modern Edinburgh lies a dark, forgotten corner of history. Discovered in the mid-1980’s, the Edinburgh Vaults had been abandoned for nearly two hundred years. Lying beneath the South Bridge, a major Edinburgh passage, the rooms were used as cellars, workshops and even as residences by the businesses that plied their trade on the busy bridge above.

 

Abandoned soon after they were built due to excessive water and moisture, the vaults remain, unaltered, never illuminated by the light of day.

6. Kutna Hora's 'Bone' church, Sedlec Ossuary

7. London, England UK

Often counted as the number one of the most haunted Castle in Great Britain. Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress The Tower of London, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically simply as The Tower), is an historic monument in central London, England on the north bank of the River Thames. It is located within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and is separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill.

The Tower of London is often identified with the White Tower, the original stark square fortress built by William the Conqueror in 1078. However, the Tower as a whole is a complex of several buildings set within two parallel rings of defensive walls and a moat.

The Tower's primary function was a fortress, a royal palace, and a prison (particularly for high status and royal prisoners, such as the Princes in the Tower and the future Queen Elizabeth I). This last use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower" (meaning "imprisoned"). It has also served as a place of execution and torture, an armoury, a treasury, a zoo, a mint, a public records office, an observatory, and since 1303, the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

Inside the torture chambers of the tower various implements of torture were used such as the Scavenger's daughter, a kind of compression device, and the Rack, also known as the Duke of Exeter's Daughter.

Prisoners in the Tower
The Tower of London was used as a prison for those of high rank and for religious dissidents. Those of high rank, including prisoners of royal status, were housed in relative comfort. Religious dissidents were however much more severely treated and were often tortured.

The first prisoner was Ranulf Flambard in 1100 who, as Bishop of Durham, was found guilty of extortion. Ironically he had himself been responsible for various improvements to the design of the Tower after the first architect Gundulf moved back to Rochester. He escaped from the White Tower by climbing down a rope, which had been smuggled into his cell in a wine casket.

Other prisoners include:

John Balliol King of Scotland
David II King of Scotland
John II King of France
Charles I de Valois, Duke of Orléans was one of the many French noblemen wounded in the Battle of Agincourt on October 25, 1415. Captured and taken to England as a hostage, he would remain in captivity for the next twenty-five years, at various places including Wallingford Castle. Charles is now remembered as an accomplished poet owing to the more than five hundred extant poems he produced, most written when a prisoner.
Henry VI of England was imprisoned in the Tower, where he was murdered on the 21 of May 1471. Popular legend has accused Richard, Duke of Gloucester of his murder. Each year on the anniversary of Henry VI's death, the Provosts of Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, lay roses and lilies on the altar which now stands where he died.
Margaret of Anjou, wife of the above
Sir William de la Pole. A distant relative of King Henry VIII, he was incarcerated at the Tower for 37 years (1502-1539) for allegedly plotting against Henry VII thus becoming the longest serving prisoner here.
Queen Elizabeth I, imprisoned for two months in 1554 for her alleged involvement in Wyatt's Rebellion.
John Gerard, S.J. (1564-1637) an English Jesuit priest, operating undercover during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, when Catholics were being persecuted. He was captured and tortured and incarcerated in the Salt Tower before making a daring escape by rope across the moat.
Sir Walter Raleigh spent thirteen years (1603-1616) imprisoned at the Tower but was able to live in relative comfort in the Bloody Tower with his wife and two children. For some of the time he even grew tobacco on Tower Green, just outside his apartment. Here he wrote The History of the World.
Niall Garve O'Donnell Irish nobleman, ironically a one-time ally of the English against his cousin, Red Hugh O'Donnell.
Guy Fawkes, famous for his part in the Gunpowder Plot, was brought to the Tower to be interrogated by a council of the King's Ministers. However, he was not executed here. When he confessed he was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered in the Old Palace Yard at Westminster, however he escaped his fate by jumping off the scaffold at the gallows which in turn broke his neck - killing him.
Johan Anders Jägerhorn, a Swedish officer from Finland, Lord Edward FitzGeralds friend, participating in the Irish independence movement. Spent two years in the Tower 1799-1801, but was released because of Russian interests.
Lord George Gordon, instigator of the Gordon Riots in 1780, spent 6 months in the Tower while awaiting trial on the charge of High Treason.
Rudolf Hess, deputy leader of the German Nazi Party, the last state prisoner to be held in the tower, in May 1941.

The Kray Twins, the last prisoners to be held, for a few days in 1952, for failing to report for national service.

8. EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

One of the largest ghost hunts ever conducted results in dozens of strange experiences, unexplained photos... and perhaps more questions than answers. The most haunted abode in Scotland is the Close of Mary King in Edinburgh. It was built in the 1600s, and it contained hundreds of people during the plague of 1645 when they were quarantined. Voices, dogs, and a lady clad in black have all been recorded.

Edinburgh Castle, suspected to be one the most haunted spots in Scotland, is appropriately judged considering Edinburgh has been said to be the most haunted city in all of Europe, and possibly the world. The castle is a historical fortress and parts of it have withstood its 900 year history. A battleground of countless deaths, Edinburgh Castle can easily be thought of as an eternal spot of unrest for fallen soldiers. Other ghosts said to haunt the castle are a phantom piper, a headless drummer, the spirits of French prisoners from the Seven Years War and colonial prisoners from the American Revolutionary War and even a dog that wanders the castle's cemetery. Other areas of Edinburgh also have ghostly reputations: the subterranean vaults of South Bridge and a disused street called Mary Kings Close where victims of the Black Death plague were sealed up to die. What also makes Edinburgh Castle so noteworthy among the paranormal community is that in 2001, Dr. Richard Weisman took a group of 240 volunteers, ignorant of the castle's past, on a walk-through of the castle and its surroundings in order to gather paranormal data. Armed with every ghost busting tool imaginable, almost all the volunteers reported experiences such as drops in temperature, shadowy figures, burning sensations in the limbs, physical touching, and tugging at clothes. One woman was even brave enough to stay the night alone in a South Bridge vault. She reported hearing heaving breathing from the corner of the cell that got louder throughout the night and she saw strange flashes of light. What is most intriguing about the whole experiment is that even though none of the volunteers had any previous knowledge of what rooms had haunted reputations and which ones didn't, they reported the most amount of activity from the reputed locations and saw many of the same things as other tourists. Click here to read more about Edinburgh's grisly past, and here for more about Dr. Weisman's investigation.

Greyfriar’s Cemetery has been considered haunted for generations. Its history is filled with the horrific, from deliberate headstone removal and desecration, bodysnatching and live burial, to witch burnings and use as a mass prison. Around 1998, however, a new and inexplicable phenomenon began occurring in the graveyard where visitors claimed to have encountered cold spots, nauseating smells, loud noises coming from empty tombs, and even physical injury. Many visitors and tour guides have been the victim of attack by unseen entities who leave bruises, cuts, and scratches on the unwary. People were routinely knocked unconscious and overcome by debilitating nausea and vomiting. Homes near the graveyard became plagues by poltergeist activities such as smashed china and glassware, moving objects, shadowy figures, and menacing, guttural laughter.

 

There are two areas of the cemetery where activity is extremely dense, one being the area around the MacKenzie Mausoleum (also called the Black Tomb) and the other in the gated area known as the Covenanter’s Prison.

It is said that George MacKenzie is the shadowy entity haunting the area near his family tomb. In the 17th century, MacKenzie, a loyal subject to Charles II of England, is said to have ruthlessly persecuted and imprisoned “unrepentant” Scottish Presbyterians who formally entered into what they called a “Covenant Between God and Country.” This act of Scottish loyalty excluded the authority of Charles II and it is said that MacKenzie soundly punished all those Covenanters he could round up. Many were imprisoned in harsh and unforgiving conditions in a small area inside Greyfriar’s and most of the Covenanters died there rather than revoke their oath. Since that horrible event, the Covenanter’s Prison as well as the MacKenzie Mausoleum have both been fearsomely active, although it was not until recently that the spirits said to inhabit the area have begun to strike out against visitors and nearby residents.

Currently, the Covenanter’s Prison area is only accessible to visitors accompanied by a tour guide; the MacKenzie Mausoleum is nearby and can be visited and photographed – at one’s own peril, evidently.

9. The Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt

Wadi Biban el-Muluk; "Gates of the King")is a valley in Egypt where for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the kings and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom (the Eighteenth through Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt). The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile, across from Thebes (modern Luxor), within the heart of the Theban Necropolis. The wadi consists of two valleys, East Valley (where the majority of the royal tombs situated) and West Valley.

Some Beleive it is the Ghosts of The great dead Kings and Royal Families that lead to these modern discoveries. And many who visit the Vlley say they are overcome by the feeling of something really supernatural.

 

Stories of "the mummy's curse" or "King Tut's curse" excited the world after the discovery in 1922 of the ancient pharaoh's tomb in Egypt. Lord Carnarvon, a British sponsor of archaeology in Egypt, died shortly after attending the tomb's opening, inspiring speculation that supernatural forces were at work.

Royal Necropolis
The official name for the site in ancient times was The Great and Majestic Necropolis of the Millions of Years of the Pharaoh, Life, Strength, Health in The West of Thebes, or more usually, Ta-sekhet-ma'at (the Great Field).

The Valley of the Kings has been a major area of modern Egyptological exploration for the last two centuries. Before this the area was a site for tourism in antiquity (especially during Roman times). This areas illustrates the changes in the study of ancient Egypt, starting as antiquity hunting, and ending as scientific excavation of the whole Theban Necropolis. Despite the exploration and investigation noted below, only eleven of the tombs have actually been completely recorded.

The area has been a focus of concentrated archaeological and egyptological exploration since the end of the eighteenth century, and its tombs and burials continue to stimulate research and interest. In modern times the valley has become famous for the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun (with its rumours of the Curse of the Pharaohs, and is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. In 1979, along with the rest of the Theban Necropolis, it became a World Heritage Site.

On February 8, 2006, the Supreme Council of Antiquities announced that an American team led by the University of Memphis had uncovered a pharaonic-era tomb (KV63), the first uncovered there since King Tutankhamun's in 1922. The 18th Dynasty tomb included five mummies in intact sarcophagi with coloured funerary masks along with more than 20 large storage jars, sealed with pharaonic seals. It is located close to the tomb of Tutankhamun. KV63, as it is known, appears to be a single chamber with five or six sarcophagi and about 20 large funerary jars. The chamber is from the 18th dynasty and it appears to have been a deposit of funerary preparation materials, rather than a tomb.

KV 62

Valley of the Kings East Valley, Thebes West Bank, Thebes New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, Tutankhamun

On 31 July 2006, Nicholas Reeves announced that analysis of ground penetrating radar for the autumn of 2000 showed a sub-surface anomaly in the area of KV62 and KV63

10. PRAUGE

Prague is one of the most haunted cities in Europe. There are water goblins under the Charles Bridge, a headless horseman, a huge fat ghost and a fiery coach. A golem made of clay ran amok in the Jewish Quarter and Emperor Rudolph II invited magicians, astrologers and alchemists from all over Europe to his court.

One of the most popular tourist sights is the Charles Bridge and this has its fair share of ghosts and folklore. For ten years the heads of ten lords executed in the Middle Ages were stuck on poles on the bridge. Their ghosts are said to haunt the bridge today - even singing melancholy songs around midnight to terrify passers by. Prague is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and belongs to the most visited cities on the continent

On the bridge stands a statue of the mythical prince Bruncvik. It is said that his magical sword is buried in his statue: a sword so deadly that it could cut off heads without any help from its owner. Under the bridge lives a water goblin who eats the souls of those drowned by jumping off the bridge.

The city flourished during the 14th century during the reign of Charles IV, of the Luxembourg dynasty. The 17th century is considered the Golden Age of Jewish Prague. The Jewish community of Prague numbered some 15,000 people (approx. 30 per cent of the entire population), making it the largest Ashkenazic community in the world and the second largest community in Europe after Thessaloniki. In the years 1597 to 1609, the Maharal (Judah Loew ben Bezalel) served as Prague's chief rabbi. He is considered the greatest of Jewish scholars in Prague's history, his tomb in the Old Jewish Cemetery eventually becoming a pilgrimage site.

There is also a wonderful ghostly coaches. Seen and heard as the hooves and wheels clatter over the cobbles. In one of them sits a monk with his head in his lap. His particular ghostly coach is drawn by huge black billy goats. The monk asks anyone he sees for a coin. One woman threw him a counterfeit coin and ran off. Unfortunately the monk came and found her and she was found dead the next morning with the shape of a coin branded into her forehead.

" The Ghost Capital of England."

The Haunted City site brings together all the information available on the city's spookiest places, where ghostly presences are felt and where things actually do go "bump in the night, and in the day!" Derby Ghosts.

Derby Gaol is a working museum which is open to the public. It was acquired in 1997 by Richard Felix, paranormal investigator and dedicated historian who later became famous, as one of the members of the popular television programme 'Most Haunted'. Starting at 11pm and finishing at 4am with breakfast, night vigils at Derby Gaol enable the visitor to get a real taste of hunting ghosts. A main course meal is included in the price and there is a bar for those wanting to settle their nerves!

Room 29 at the Bell Inn, Sadler Gate, which used to be a hotel, is said to be haunted by young servant girl murdered by the Jacobite army in 1745.

At the Dolphin Inn, Queen Street, the gas taps in the cellar are mysteriously, turned off making the staff think the barrels are empty.

For many Cairenes the City of the Dead is a mysterious, foreboding area. Many Cairenes are aware of its existence but few understand this group of vast cemeteries that stretches out along the base of the Moqattam Hills.

Cairo is facing a housing problem. The lack of satisfactory and affordable housing for the rapidly growing population has forced many poor Egyptians to live in houses amongst cemeteries called The City of the dead. Among these cemeteries live a community of Egypt’s urban poor, forming an illegal but tolerated, separate society. More than five million Egyptians live in these cemeteries, and have formed their own enterprises.The population of the City of the Dead is growing rapidly because of rural migration and its complicated housing crisis is getting worse.

“There are five major cemeteries in this city there, the Northern Cemetery, Bab el Nasr Cemetery, the Southern Cemetery, the Cemetery of the Great, and Bab el Wazir Cemetery,” The historic belief in Egypt is that the cemeteries are an active part of the community and not exclusively for the dead. <amy say the living cannot tell themselves who is alive and who is dead.

Stockholm, Sweden

The capital and largest city of Sweden, and consequently the site of the national Swedish government and parliament as well as the official residence of the Swedish monarch. Stockholm has been the political and economic centre of Sweden since the 13th century. Stockholm is one of the most crowded museum-towns in the world with some 70 museums, visited by over 9 million people per year.

The Palace of Scheffler is the most famous "haunted house" in Stockholm and is often simply known by its nickname, the Haunted Mansion, (Spökslottet).

The Royal Palace in Stockholm is supposedly haunted by several ghosts, including the so called White Lady (vita frun) and the Grey Man (grå mannen). The White Lady is said to appear when someone in the royal family is about to die, and old King Oscar II even writes about her in his memoirs. Some believe that the Grey Man is the ghost of Birger Jarl, the founder of Stockholm.

The Stockholm Metro is reputed to be haunted by the ghost train Silverpilen.
Borgvattnet is a very small village in northern Sweden, but it has been made famous for its old, reputedly haunted vicarage

Reichenstein Castle

Dietrich von Hohenfels and his nine sons were robber barons who used the castle as a stronghold. His sons were caught by the authorities and killed; Hohenfels was captured the next day. He asked that he be hanged and his sons' lives be spared, but upon seeing that they were already dead, his head fell from his body. All ten bodies were buried in St. Clement Chapel, in the castle, and the ghost -- headless -- is said to haunt the castle.

It is difficult to say exactly how old Reichenstein really is. The oldest building indications date the foundations from the early 11th century: Reichenstein is almost 1,000 years old. At that time the region belonged to the distant abbey "Kornelimünster" near Aachen which was received as a gift from Ludwig, the Pios. The Abbey appointed bailiffs for the administration and for the safeguard of its rights. One of these bailiffs for was the knight Rheinbodo (1151-1196) and his descendants. Gerhard of Rheinbodo who resided in the castle raged as robber-knight through the region and demanded goods violently from the travelers and shipmen. In 1213, he was disposed of. The first documentary writings of the castle originate from that year. Knight Philipp became his successor. He came from the powerful family "von Bolanden." In 1218 his son Werner took the name "von Reichenstein," but since he died without an heir, the castle feared robber-knights of his time. He did not follow the instructions of his feudal lords in Kornelimünster and overpowered more and more tradesmen who were traveling the Rhine River Valley.

In 1253, the archbishop of Mainz and the army of the town association conquered and destroyed Reichenstein. Philipp von Hohenfels had surrendered and promised good conduct so that he could live. He used the following period to rebuild Reichenstein stronger and more defensive than ever before. He carried on with robbing during these politically unstable times and ascended to the high office of Imperial Vicar and began to steal church property. As a consequence the Archbishop of Mainz banned him from the church. All this happened during the times of "Interregnum," and came to an end when the imperial power was once again strengthened. The times of robber knights on the Rhine was over.

In 1282 the new king besieged the castle. Nevertheless he did not succeed to storm the stronghold, but forced the garrison to surrender by means of starvation. These battles were better fights, raging during the 13th century around Reichenstein. Many arrow points have been found on the castle grounds and can be seen in the museum.

Contrary to the legend, Dietrich of Hohenfels was not decapitated, but actually escaped. His companions were hung on the trees in the valley by order of Rudolf von Habsburg. The castle was burnt down in 1290. The king had forbidden that Reichenstein and the neighboring fortress (also a nest of robber knights) be rebuilt, but both were restored.

Haiti

Officially the Republic of Haiti, is a Latin American country on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti also includes many smaller islands such as La Gonâve, La Tortue (Tortuga), Les Cayemites, Île de Anacaona, and La Grande Caye. The uninhabited island of Navasse is claimed by both Haiti and the United States. Any one who looks at the history of voodoo and its profound impact on this island nation knows this spot is very haunted.

Roman Catholicism is the state religion, which the majority of the population professes. An estimated 20 percent of the population practices Protestantism. A large percentage of the population in Haiti also practices the religion of Vodou (Voodoo), almost always alongside Roman Catholic observances (in most sects, it is required to become Roman Catholic first). Many Haitians deny the recognition of Voodoo as a stand alone religion and some claim it is a false religion.

"One common saying is that Haitians are 70 percent Catholic, 30 percent Protestant, and 100 percent voodoo," said Lynne Warberg, a photographer who has documented Haitian voodoo for over a decade.

In April 2003 an executive decree by then president Jean-Bertrand Aristide sanctioned voodoo as an officially recognized religion.

"It is a religion in the same way Judaism or Christianity is," said Bob Corbett, professor emeritus of philosophy at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. "Voodoo doesn't have a sacred text, a church, or a hierarchical structure of leaders, but it is very similar culturally."

Voodoo, meaning "spirit," may be one of the world's oldest ancestral, nature-honoring traditions, according to Mamaissii Vivian Dansi Hounon, a member of OATH, the Organization of African Traditional Healers in Martinez, Georgia.

Some anthropologists estimate that voodoo's roots in Benin—formerly Dahomey—West Africa may go back 6,000 years. Today an estimated 60 million people practice voodoo worldwide.

During the ceremony, the houngan or mambo—priest or priestess—sacrifices a sanctified chicken or other animal to the Loa. Participants then ask the spirits for advice or help with problems. More than half the requests are for health.

It is said that the Loa sometimes communicate prophecies, advice, or warnings while the believer is possessed. Other messages are sent through the priest or priestess, or sometimes come later in dreams.

These disembodied spirits are believed to become tired and worn down—and rely on humans to "feed" them in periodic rituals, including sacrifices. "It's not the killing of the animals that matters, It's the transfer of life energy back to the Loa."

Ballygally Castle - Ballygally Bay, Ireland

Though now a newly renovated hotel, Ballygally Castle was built in 1625 by James Shaw. True to most castles in Europe, it is, of course, haunted. The most notable ghost in Ballygally is that of Lady Isobel Shaw, who was locked in a room by her husband James and starved to death. Said to be friendly, she amuses herself by knocking on doors and then disappearing. Another apparition is Madame Nixon who can be seen and heard walking around in her silk dress. When Ballygally was actually a castle it came under attack several times and many soldiers lost their lives. Consequently, their restless souls frequent the castle grounds in military uniform toying with guests, and perhaps searching for their enemies. This genuine 1625 Castle has all the facilities to be expected from an International Hotel, although it still maintains its links with its historical background. It can also cater for functions and conferences.

Hellfire Caves

Located just outside of West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. Built around 1750 by the second Sir Francis Dashwood, the Earl of Rosse (1708-1781), they are an intriguingly named site… named after the Hellfire Club, founded by the same earl… and for more than two centuries linked with an awful lot of intrigue and ghost stories.

West Wycombe Caves, located in the Chiltern hills, Buckinghamshire, England, are most famous for being used as a meeting place for members of The Hellfire Club. The caves were extended by Sir Francis Dashwood (later Lord le Despencer) between 1748–1752 to provide work for unemployed farm workers following a succession of harvest failures, and lie close to Dashwood's country house, West Wycombe Park (now owned by the National Trust).

The Hellfire Club was the popular name for what is supposed to have been an exclusive English club established by Sir Francis Dashwood which met irregularly from 1746[citation needed] to around 1760 as an extension to his Society of Dilettanti. There is no evidence that they referred to themselves by this name, rather it is likely they used the names of a number of mockingly religious titles, beginning with the Brotherhood of St. Francis of Wycombe. Other titles used included the Order of Knights of West Wycombe and later, the Monks of Medmenham. Other clubs using the name "Hellfire Club" were set up throughout the 18th century, most notably the "Hell-Fire Club" founded around 1719 in London by Philip, Duke of Wharton.

The members called each other "Brothers" and Dashwood as "Abbot". Female "guests" (prostitutes) were "Nuns". Unlike the more determined Satanists of the 1720s the club motto was Fait ce que vouldras (Do what thou wilt) from François Rabelais, later used by Aleister Crowley. Though they may have indulged in pseudo-Satanic rites, a Monk named Horace Walpole said the " practice was rigorously pagan: Bacchus and Venus were the deities to whom they almost publicly sacrificed; and the nymphs and the hogsheads that were laid in against the festivals of this new church, sufficiently informed the neighbourhood of the

The chalk mines that were extended to form the caves had existed near High Wycombe for a considerable time. The mines are said to have a prehistoric origin, and were presuambly created to extract the flint found in the chalk to make hand tools. Locally, flint is used as a building material. The entrance to the caves is built from flint, and St Lawrence's church, above the Inner Temple, is also built using flint. Due to the extensive alterations made by Dashwood, all evidence of the caves' earlier history seem to have been destroyed.

The underground "rooms" are named, from the Entrance Hall, through the Circle, Franklin's Cave (named after Benjamin Franklin, a friend of Dashwood who stayed with him at West Wycombe), the Banqueting Hall, the Triangle, to the Miner's Cave; finally, across a subterranean river named the Styx, lies the final cave, the Inner Temple.

The caves were refurbished and made suitable for visitors during the 1950s by the late Sir Francis Dashwood, Baronet. They are now open as a tourist attraction, with life-sized waxwork figures in period costume illustrating the life of the caves in the 18th century. The caves have attracted over 2 million visitors since 1951.

The caves were investigated by the Sci-Fi Channel original series, Ghost Hunters which aired on June 13, 2007.

Charleston, South Carolina

As one of the most venerable "Old Ladies" of the Confederacy, Charleston, South Carolina, has much in common with its haunted "sister city" of Savannah, Georgia. And real ghost videos Happen here al the time.

Both these cities were pivotal in the Civil War, with Charleston perhaps the more significant of the two, at least to invading Union soldiers who saw her as the Birthplace of the Rebellion. The first shot of the great conflagration that became the Civil War was fired just outside the city at famous Fort Sumter, and it was a shot that has echoed through all the long years since.

Charleston is filled with an almost storybook beauty. Classically styled homes reminiscent of the great plantations still peek from behind romantic tangles of jasmine and bougainvillea or stand proudly under the moss-hung shadows of the great old oaks. Its rich history as one of the great port cities of the young republic is readily explored in the oldest sections of this fabled Southern town; centuries of history have drifted past her, too, in the lazy waters of the nearby river which pirates used to ply their contraband trade all along the coast of the Eastern United States.

In the earliest days of American colonies, Charleston became a haven for many of Europe's persecuted and deprived, especially the French Huegenot who fled the religious persecution of the French Civil War and found a home in the lush and verdant acres of what would become Charleston. The Huegenot Church is one of the oldest houses of worship in America and can still be visited to this day.

At the height of his power, in May 1718, Blackbeard blockaded Charleston, South Carolina for a week. Shortly afterwards the Queen Anne's Revenge ran aground and was wrecked. Blackbeard sailed on to Bath, North Carolina which was then the state capital. The Governor, Charles Eden (with whom, it was rumoured, Blackbeard was in league) granted him a pardon and even officiated at his wedding - to what was reputed to be his 14th bride! SOME LOCALS SAY HIS GHOSTLY HEAD STILL HAUNTS THE AREA!

No event forged the character of this old city more than the great rebellion that was the American Civil War, and seemingly no event has supplied more ghosts to the streets and historic areas of Charleston than this dramatic and tragic event.

Fort Sumter is among the most visited historical sites in the United States, and is among the most haunted sites anywhere. Guided tours are available, and occasionally after-hours tours are offered. Many visitors have reported encounters with the paranormal and unexplained while touring this fabled location. Ghosts of both Confederate and Union soldiers seem to be on eternal sentry, and completely unaware of each others' presence, as they walk the stones of this old bastion of war. The first shot of the Civil War was fired here, and it did not bode well for the Federal soldiers who were stationed there. In 1861 the Union troops were forced to surrender. In 1865 the fort was occupied by men of the famous 54th Massachusetts (Colored) Regiment who, under the command of Bvt. Brig. General Edward N. Hallowell had the distinction of occupying many of the famous "symbols" of the rebellious South. Hallowell, in command of the city from his quarters at No. 8 Meeting Street, placed his colored infantry in such significant locations as Sumpter, Morris Island, and the infamous Battery Wagner where the regiment received its trial by fire. Many visitors to some of the historic sites that still remain have reported seeing the strong and erect images of these brave colored soldiers to whom victory over the South meant so much more. Others who have visited the area where Battery Wagner once stood have reported hearing cries and explosions coming to their ears over the waves under which the old fort sank long ago.

Many of the oldest and most famous buildings in the old city boast numerous hauntings from all eras of the city's past. Church Street, Chalmers Street, Queen Street, old Meeting Street -- in almost every area of the old town there are ghosts to be found.

Paranormal experiences occur with such regularity that many Charleston residents are proud to call Charleston home. Charleston offers historic and haunted walking tours, cemetery tours, buggy and trolley tours. Some include tours of underground passages that criss-cross the city: used by pirates to transport treasure long ago and later by sympathetic Southerners as passages on the Underground Railroad, this is a Charleston "don't miss." Boat tours along the historic waterways also include numerous tales of ghostly paddlewheel steamers and the wafting strains of calliope music from long silenced pipes. And there are any number of graveyards and cemeteries to add to the overall ghostly gallivanting that is a highlight of any visit to this famous town.

With such a rich and tragic history there is no reason to doubt that Charleston is truly one of the most haunted cities in America! Don't miss it!

ALSO SEE: Blackbeard’s Pirate Treasure

ABOUT LISA LEE HARP WAUGH

LISA LEE HARP WAUGH Is a necromancer in the 21st century. She is by what may call a real conduit to the world of the dead. She dressers in ceremonial robes, draws magical circles on the floor and commands spirits from Heaven, Hell and all places in between to appear before her and communicate with the living. As a teenager she studied heavily The Black Arts by Richard Cavendish and The Grand Grimoire by A.E Waite, the Malleus Maleficarum and anything she could get her hands on by the great by Eliphas Levi, John Dee and the great beast, Aleister Crowley.

Waugh is what many have defined as the Most international traveling ghost hunter Necromancer to date.