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00:00Welcome to Unveiled, and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 20 Scariest Places
00:10on Earth You Should Never Visit Alone.
00:26For this list, we're looking at locations that are frightening, dangerous, or both.
00:31We'll also be taking ghost stories and legends about these unsettling places into account.
00:46Number 20.
00:47The Edinburgh Vaults, Scotland
00:49Inside the arches of South Bridge, built across a valley in Scotland's capital city in the
00:541780s, are dark, damp chambers once used as taverns, workshops, and storage spaces
01:00for the business above.
01:01However, once the businesses left, Edinburgh's poorest residents moved into the vaults, and
01:07they became dens of illegal activity, even being used by body snatchers.
01:12Eventually, the vaults were closed down and forgotten about for over a century.
01:16Today, organized tours take visitors through the chambers, but they should still beware
01:21the malevolent spirits that supposedly roam the halls.
01:25Number 19.
01:26The Great Blue Hole, Belize
01:29Belize's Great Blue Hole isn't the only marine sinkhole in the world, but it is the largest,
01:34at 1,000 feet wide and over 400 feet deep.
01:38Several divers have become lost and died inside it.
01:41In fact, a 2019 expedition to the bottom discovered two bodies of long-lost divers.
01:47Not only is the hole dangerous to inexperienced divers, but also to the sea life around it.
01:53The bottom is so full of hydrogen sulfide that life can't survive inside for long.
01:59Unfortunately, many reef-dwelling crabs learned that lesson firsthand.
02:04Number 18.
02:05Montpelier Hill, also known as the Hellfire Club, Ireland
02:09A sinister, derelict building stands at the top of Montpelier Hill near Dublin, Ireland.
02:15This foreboding location was once the hunting lodge home to one branch of the infamous Hellfire Club.
02:21Hellfire Clubs existed across the British Isles as bases for societal elites in the
02:261700s to engage in all kinds of debauched and potentially even violent practices.
02:32The organization remains somewhat mysterious to this day thanks to the secrecy surrounding it.
02:36So it's not clear exactly what happened during its meetings.
02:40While we don't know whether the darkest tales of horrifying rituals are true or not,
02:44it's been said that this Hellfire Club spot supposedly hosts a number of spirits.
02:50Number 17.
02:51Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, USA
02:55For 30 years, Alcatraz was an ominous presence on a lonely island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay.
03:01Since it was in a relatively isolated position, it was frequently cited as totally inescapable.
03:11That's all they tell me.
03:12And although three people notably did escape in 1962,
03:16they were never seen again after leaving the island.
03:20After squeezing through this cement wall, they climbed up a network of pipes and plumbing
03:25before they made it here to the roof.
03:28Even while it was still in use, Alcatraz was a dangerous, decaying place.
03:32Its prisoners were often mistreated since it was designed to feel as hostile as possible.
03:37Though it's been shuttered for far longer than it was ever in operation,
03:40that hostile atmosphere persists.
03:43Today, you can tour the prison and experience its horrors, and many alleged ghosts, for yourself.
03:57Number 16.
03:58Loftus Hall, Ireland
04:00It's been named the most haunted house in Ireland for a scarily good reason.
04:05Located in County Wexford, its most famous ghost story involves a visit from the devil himself.
04:11He apparently arrived one evening to play cards until his identity was revealed.
04:21Satan supposedly flew up through the ceiling and left a hole that remains today.
04:26For about a decade, Loftus Hall was open to brave souls who wanted to go on a ghost tour.
04:31There were even overnight stays offered for anybody desperate enough to test their mettle.
04:36In 2020, it was put on sale for a hefty sum of around $3 million.
04:42Now, it waits for a new owner to purchase its hallowed halls.
04:46Number 15.
04:47Houska Castle, the Czech Republic
04:49This creepy castle has long been rumored to be built over an actual entrance to hell.
04:55Naturally, this has given the castle a nearly unmatched reputation for supernatural entities.
05:00You'll find it just outside Prague open to all visitors brave enough to enter.
05:04It was built around 800 years ago and has been home to many royals and nobles over the centuries.
05:10The so-called gateway to hell is an enormous, supposedly bottomless pit
05:15that the castle was constructed over the top of.
05:17The pit was deemed so horrific that according to legends,
05:21prisoners were sent to investigate it and returned with stories of indescribable horrors.
05:26Number 14.
05:28The Stanley Hotel, USA
05:30Master of horror Stephen King stayed in this hotel in 1974
05:34when he and his wife were the only guests in the entire place.
05:38This spooky atmosphere served as the inspiration for The Shining,
05:42the novel that was later adapted to film and became one of Stanley Kubrick's scariest movies.
05:58Just knowing that the Stanley was the inspiration behind the Overlook Hotel
06:02will send a chill down your spine.
06:04Located in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado,
06:06the hotel is supposedly haunted by numerous ghosts.
06:19It's become a prime destination for paranormal tourism since the book was released.
06:23Stay the night at the Stanley, if you dare.
06:28Number 13. Poveglia Island, Italy
06:38Known as one of the most haunted spots in Europe,
06:41Poveglia Island has a long and gruesome history that dates back centuries.
06:46It first began to gain its reputation in the late 18th century
06:49when it was used to quarantine victims of various diseases.
06:52It's reported that over 100,000 people passed away
06:56and were buried and or cremated on the island.
06:59To make matters creepier, an asylum was constructed there in the 20th century.
07:03While Poveglia is closed to visitors today, the derelict asylum still stands.
07:08The Venetian government has been looking for someone to redevelop it,
07:12but nobody has yet been bold enough to sign the lease.
07:15Number 12. Bran Castle, Romania
07:18Long before the Stanley Hotel inspired a horror legend,
07:23Bran Castle may have inspired another scary icon.
07:30Located in Transylvania, Romania, Bran Castle has built an entire business
07:35around the claim that it was the basis of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
07:38While there isn't actually much evidence for this,
07:40or the claim that Vlad the Impaler stayed there,
07:43it still can be a terrifying destination.
07:48Many deaths occurred within the castle walls
07:52due to its use as a hospital in the Second World War.
07:54Whether you believe Bran Castle was the true home of Count Dracula or not,
07:58it's still an impressive and intimidating fortress right in the heart of vampire country.
08:04Number 11. Sedlec Ossuary, the Czech Republic
08:08On the outside, the Czech Republic's Cemetery of All Saints
08:11seems like any other quaint small-town cemetery.
08:13But underneath, it looks like a serial killer's lair.
08:18There is a church adorned with the skeletons of at least 40,000 people.
08:22Assembled in the 1800s, each bone was stacked by a single woodcarver.
08:27The bones are of people who wanted to be buried on holy land,
08:30and this peaceful chapel is their final resting place.
08:33The Sedlec Ossuary is located below the Cemetery of All Saints in Sedlec, Czech Republic,
08:38and it contains the skeletons of up to 70,000 people.
08:42The bones are artistically arranged to form various attractions and furnishings,
08:47including a chandelier composed of every bone in the human body.
08:50The area has been a desirable burial site since the 13th century,
08:54and it contains many victims of the Black Death and Hussite Wars.
09:08The ossuary itself was built around 1400
09:11to house the bones of those buried on the property in mass graves.
09:15Number 10. Aokigahara Forest, Japan
09:18This woodland in Japan has an extremely distressing reputation.
09:22It's widely known as a place where people frequently take their own lives.
09:32In an attempt to combat this disturbing trend,
09:35the local authorities have put up messages
09:37encouraging people to think again about what they intend to do.
09:40Dozens of people each year sadly lose their lives when they journey into these woods.
09:45However, it's never been entirely clear why the forest has seen so much tragedy.
09:59Many people believe that it may have roots in Japanese folklore.
10:02While the forest itself is beautiful,
10:05the history of what's happened there is decidedly dark.
10:08Number 9. Chillingham Castle, England
10:11The suitably named Chillingham Castle is certainly chilling all right.
10:29Located in northern Northumberland,
10:31this medieval castle dates back to the 12th century, when it served as a monastery.
10:36It was even visited by King Edward I of England in the late 13th century,
10:40when he was traveling to fight William Wallace.
10:42It's said to be the most haunted castle in all of Britain,
10:46known primarily for its resident blue boy.
10:53Guests would supposedly hear a loud wailing noise
10:55and witness a blue halo floating above their beds.
10:58However, the hauntings have reportedly stopped
11:01after renovation work uncovered the bones of a young boy buried within the walls.
11:06Number 8. Snake Island, Brazil
11:18You can probably guess what occupies Snake Island.
11:20Ilha da Queimada Grande is a small 106-acre island
11:24located off the southeastern corner of Brazil.
11:27It's inhabited by untold number of snakes,
11:30who became trapped on the island once rising sea levels cut it off from the mainland.
11:33It remains the only place on Earth to host the endangered golden lancehead,
11:38a highly venomous pit viper that devours birds.
11:47It's estimated that up to 4,000 golden lanceheads reside on the island.
11:51Snake Island cannot be visited by citizens,
11:53both to protect the endangered snakes from prying eyes
11:56and the humans from becoming snake victims.
11:58The only people allowed there are select researchers and members of the Brazilian Navy.
12:04Number 7. Yungas Road, Bolivia
12:06Health and safety? Psh!
12:08Yungas Road is located in Bolivia,
12:10linking the city of La Paz to the greater Yungas region.
12:18Chillingly nicknamed the Road of Death,
12:21Yungas Road was famous for its complete lack of safety precautions.
12:24The road itself is very thin, which doesn't allow for many mistakes.
12:29There are no guardrails, the slopes are steep,
12:32and the area is regularly hit by heavy rain and fog cover,
12:35making travel an extremely dangerous expedition.
12:41A new road has been built for driving,
12:43but Yungas remains a popular tourist destination
12:46owing to its stellar mountain biking,
12:48even though 18 cyclists have died on the route since 1998.
13:03Number 6. Catacombe de Cappuccini, Italy
13:06Forget the Paris catacombs,
13:08these catacombs located in Palermo, Sicily originated in the 16th century
13:12when monks excavated crypts below the overpopulated Capuchin Monastery.
13:27It soon became a status symbol to be buried within the Capuchin catacombs,
13:30and it was maintained through donations paid by the rich relatives of the entombed.
13:34It's estimated that the catacombs contain 8,000 corpses and 1,252 mummies,
13:40all of which are visible to the public and even set in various poses.
14:01Each of the bodies are categorized into different sections of the catacombs,
14:05including men, women, and children.
14:07The catacombs are also famous for hosting Rosalia Lombardo,
14:10a one-year-old child whose preserved body remains in exceptional condition.
14:14The catacombs received their most cherished saint in 1920,
14:19when the body of a little girl was brought in by her family.
14:23She had been mummified by a secret process which to this day
14:27remains a mystery even to the Capuchin monks.
14:30Number 5. The Door to Hell, Turkmenistan
14:34Turns out the Door to Hell exists, and it's located in Turkmenistan.
14:45The village of Dervaza is home to the Dervaza gas crater,
14:48which was unintentionally created in 1971 while Soviet engineers were drilling for oil.
14:53Fearing the release of dangerous methane gas,
14:55the engineers decided to light the crater on fire in the hopes of burning off the methane.
14:59The crater has continued to burn throughout the decades and shows no signs of slowing down.
15:05So now in the middle of the Catacomb Desert,
15:07there is a 100-foot-deep crater that is persistently on fire.
15:11Naturally, the site is off-limits to both tourists and almost all documentarians.
15:16You wouldn't want to get pulled into hell, would you?
15:23Number 4. Billitz-Heilstätten, Germany
15:27Abandoned and deteriorating hospitals are inherently creepy places,
15:31never mind one with such a rich and disturbing history.
15:42Located in Billitz, Germany,
15:50this large hospital complex encompasses around 60 different buildings.
15:54The hospital was originally used as a tuberculosis sanatorium
15:57before it was converted to a war hospital.
16:00During World War I, it housed injured soldiers of the Imperial German Army,
16:04including Adolf Hitler after he was wounded at the Battle of the Somme.
16:07It was later occupied by the Red Army throughout World War II
16:10and remained a Soviet military hospital well into the 90s.
16:14Most of the complex is now a derelict ghost town,
16:17having been completely abandoned in 1994.
16:27Number 3. Centralia, USA
16:41There's an area of Pennsylvania that has essentially been on fire since 1962.
16:46In the early 60s, Centralia hosted roughly 1,500 residents,
16:50but the area suffered a horrific coal mine fire
16:52that is estimated to keep burning for another 250 years.
16:56Regardless of how it happened, this fire quickly grew out of control.
17:00Remember, this wasn't just a small shaft, too.
17:03The coal mines in the area were all interconnected,
17:05and it was an enormous labyrinth under the town of Centralia.
17:09The major detrimental effects weren't really known until 1981,
17:13when a sinkhole randomly opened and nearly killed a 12-year-old boy.
17:16The government bought out most of the residents and had them relocated,
17:20leaving just 63 people by 1990.
17:23Today, the town hosts under a dozen citizens,
17:26and various signs are littered throughout the area
17:28warning of sudden ground collapse and fatal levels of carbon monoxide.
17:32A graffiti highway that became a destination spot in the area
17:36has been paved over as of 2020.
17:38The former ruins of Highway 61 remain, now known as the Graffiti Highway,
17:43literally covered with spray paint dating back to the 70s and 80s.
17:48Number 2 – The Island of the Dolls, Mexico
17:51Turns out there are many areas throughout the world populated by dolls.
17:55There's a village in Japan called Nagoro,
17:57which has become a famous tourist attraction due to its countless life-size dolls.
18:01It takes two days to prepare and make each scarecrow,
18:04and now there are 350 of these mannequins,
18:07way outnumbering the 10 villages left here.
18:10But perhaps the freakiest of all is Mexico City's La Isla de las Muñecas,
18:14which is located in the canals of Xochimilco.
18:17The island contains hundreds of dolls, most of which are hung from the trees.
18:28Legend states that the spirit of a young girl haunted the island,
18:31forcing its owner to hang dolls from the trees to appease her ghost.
18:37The owner passed away in 2001, and the island became a popular tourist destination,
18:42even though some locals refused to go there owing to superstition.
18:46Number 1 – Pripyat, Ukraine
19:07Now here's a ghost town.
19:14Pripyat is what was called a nuclear city,
19:16housing the employees of the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
19:20It was the home of thousands of citizens,
19:22until the power plant famously exploded on the morning of April 26, 1986,
19:27spreading an unbelievable amount of radiation into the area, including Pripyat.
19:37It combines with hydrogen and superheated graphite.
19:43The chain of disaster is now complete.
19:49The town was not immediately evacuated, despite dozens of people falling ill
19:54and showing signs of acute radiation sickness.
19:56The evacuation was finally ordered 36 hours after the blast,
20:00and the city remains abandoned for long-term residents.
20:02Although governmental authorities still did work in the area,
20:06and there is now limited tourism.
20:08It's now part of the wider Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.