Ghost stories
Jemaa el-Fnaa · After Dark, a Different Crowd
By day the great square in Marrakesh sells juice and spices. Once the sun is down the stalls roll out in sheets: storytellers, snake charmers, monkey handlers, musicians, soup sellers,...
Jemaa el-Fnaa · After Dark, a Different Crowd
By day the great square in Marrakesh sells juice and spices. Once the sun is down the stalls roll out in sheets: storytellers, snake charmers, monkey handlers, musicians, soup sellers,...
Chefchaouen · Why the Walls Are Painted Blue
In Chefchaouen the houses are painted blue all over the town — walls, doors, steps, flower pots. There are at least three explanations: it keeps the mosquitoes off, it keeps...
Chefchaouen · Why the Walls Are Painted Blue
In Chefchaouen the houses are painted blue all over the town — walls, doors, steps, flower pots. There are at least three explanations: it keeps the mosquitoes off, it keeps...
Volubilis · The Edge of Rome
Volubilis was Rome’s city on the African frontier. Stone-paved avenues, a triumphal arch, a basilica and olive-oil presses are still standing, with mosaics on the ground: Neptune, hunting scenes, myths...
Volubilis · The Edge of Rome
Volubilis was Rome’s city on the African frontier. Stone-paved avenues, a triumphal arch, a basilica and olive-oil presses are still standing, with mosaics on the ground: Neptune, hunting scenes, myths...
Aït Benhaddou · People Still Live Behind the Mu...
Aït Benhaddou is a fortress village of rammed earth and straw stacked up the hillside, wall upon wall climbing the ridge — a staging post on the Saharan trade routes,...
Aït Benhaddou · People Still Live Behind the Mu...
Aït Benhaddou is a fortress village of rammed earth and straw stacked up the hillside, wall upon wall climbing the ridge — a staging post on the Saharan trade routes,...
Fez el-Bali · The Nine Thousand Lanes You Canno...
Fez el-Bali is one of the largest car-free urban areas in the world: thousands of lanes pressed together, the narrowest of them barely wide enough for one person to slip...
Fez el-Bali · The Nine Thousand Lanes You Canno...
Fez el-Bali is one of the largest car-free urban areas in the world: thousands of lanes pressed together, the narrowest of them barely wide enough for one person to slip...
Fuxian Lake Underwater Ancient City · The City ...
Large-scale man-made architectural ruins have been discovered underwater in Fuxian Lake, featuring neatly arranged stones that are believed to potentially relate to the ancient Dian Kingdom civilization. The lake reaches...
Fuxian Lake Underwater Ancient City · The City ...
Large-scale man-made architectural ruins have been discovered underwater in Fuxian Lake, featuring neatly arranged stones that are believed to potentially relate to the ancient Dian Kingdom civilization. The lake reaches...
North Head Quarantine Station, Sydney · The Pat...
This place once quarantined patients with smallpox and the plague, and hundreds died on this hillside before they could reach the New World. Today, some of the buildings have been...
North Head Quarantine Station, Sydney · The Pat...
This place once quarantined patients with smallpox and the plague, and hundreds died on this hillside before they could reach the New World. Today, some of the buildings have been...
Mexico City · La Llorona
“The Weeping Woman” wails by the river for her drowned children, and it is said that those who see her are doomed to misfortune. Legend has it that she seeks...
Mexico City · La Llorona
“The Weeping Woman” wails by the river for her drowned children, and it is said that those who see her are doomed to misfortune. Legend has it that she seeks...
New Orleans French Quarter · Voodoo Queen’s Cem...
People still visit the former home and tomb of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau to “mark with an X”—drawing three Xs on the tomb, making a wish, and then wiping them...
New Orleans French Quarter · Voodoo Queen’s Cem...
People still visit the former home and tomb of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau to “mark with an X”—drawing three Xs on the tomb, making a wish, and then wiping them...
Aokigahara Forest · The Forest Where Compasses ...
The lava forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. Rich in magnetic basalt, the terrain causes compasses to malfunction, while the dense canopy blocks out nearly all sunlight. Known as...
Aokigahara Forest · The Forest Where Compasses ...
The lava forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. Rich in magnetic basalt, the terrain causes compasses to malfunction, while the dense canopy blocks out nearly all sunlight. Known as...
Pyramids of Giza · Curse of the Pharaohs
After the opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb, several archaeologists and sponsors died mysteriously, giving rise to the legend of the “Pharaoh’s Curse” worldwide. Lord Carnarvon died of an infection caused by...
Pyramids of Giza · Curse of the Pharaohs
After the opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb, several archaeologists and sponsors died mysteriously, giving rise to the legend of the “Pharaoh’s Curse” worldwide. Lord Carnarvon died of an infection caused by...
Mary King's Close · The Walled-Up Underground S...
Mary King's Close was a street of tall tenements in the middle of Edinburgh, closed off when the city built its new Exchange on top of it in the 1750s....
Mary King's Close · The Walled-Up Underground S...
Mary King's Close was a street of tall tenements in the middle of Edinburgh, closed off when the city built its new Exchange on top of it in the 1750s....
Catacombs of Paris · The tunnel where six milli...
To make room for city cemeteries, approximately six million skeletons were moved into underground quarries in the 18th century, stacked into kilometers of bone walls and arranged in patterns and...
Catacombs of Paris · The tunnel where six milli...
To make room for city cemeteries, approximately six million skeletons were moved into underground quarries in the 18th century, stacked into kilometers of bone walls and arranged in patterns and...
The Tower of London · The Queen Carrying Her Head
After Anne Boleyn was beheaded in the Tower, guards reported seeing her walking across the grounds carrying her own head. For centuries since, accounts of sightings of the “Headless Queen”...
The Tower of London · The Queen Carrying Her Head
After Anne Boleyn was beheaded in the Tower, guards reported seeing her walking across the grounds carrying her own head. For centuries since, accounts of sightings of the “Headless Queen”...
Mount Longhu Mansion of the Celestial Masters ·...
Mount Longhu is the ancestral home of the Zhengyi School of Taoism, where generations of Celestial Masters have resided and passed down their teachings; the Celestial Master Mansion houses ritual...
Mount Longhu Mansion of the Celestial Masters ·...
Mount Longhu is the ancestral home of the Zhengyi School of Taoism, where generations of Celestial Masters have resided and passed down their teachings; the Celestial Master Mansion houses ritual...
Maoshan · The Talismans and Altars of the Shang...
Mount Mao is the ancestral home of the Shangqing School and the namesake of “Maoshan Taoist arts.” According to folklore, these arts encompass the use of talismans, summoning deities, exorcising...
Maoshan · The Talismans and Altars of the Shang...
Mount Mao is the ancestral home of the Shangqing School and the namesake of “Maoshan Taoist arts.” According to folklore, these arts encompass the use of talismans, summoning deities, exorcising...
Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor · The Underg...
Historical records state that the underground palace was built “with mercury to simulate the hundred rivers, the Yangtze, the Yellow River, and the seas,” equipped with crossbows as booby traps,...
Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor · The Underg...
Historical records state that the underground palace was built “with mercury to simulate the hundred rivers, the Yangtze, the Yellow River, and the seas,” equipped with crossbows as booby traps,...
Shennongjia · The Red-Haired Wildman
The Shennongjia “Wild Man” was the most widely circulated report of an unknown creature in the last century. Large-scale expeditions were organized in the area multiple times during the 1970s....
Shennongjia · The Red-Haired Wildman
The Shennongjia “Wild Man” was the most widely circulated report of an unknown creature in the last century. Large-scale expeditions were organized in the area multiple times during the 1970s....
Heavenly Lake, Changbai Mountain · A giant shad...
The Heaven Lake monster is one of China’s longest-standing natural mysteries, with the earliest written records dating back to 1903. For over a century since, eyewitness descriptions have remained remarkably...
Heavenly Lake, Changbai Mountain · A giant shad...
The Heaven Lake monster is one of China’s longest-standing natural mysteries, with the earliest written records dating back to 1903. For over a century since, eyewitness descriptions have remained remarkably...
Mount Kailash · Kora and Lost Time
Mount Kailash is a sacred mountain revered by multiple religions, and the pilgrimage circuit around it spans approximately 52 kilometers. Many pilgrims have described the same phenomenon: while trekking along...
Mount Kailash · Kora and Lost Time
Mount Kailash is a sacred mountain revered by multiple religions, and the pilgrimage circuit around it spans approximately 52 kilometers. Many pilgrims have described the same phenomenon: while trekking along...
Kunming Shalang Lane · A lane with only one exit
Shalang Lane (also written as Shalaxiang) is one of the most famous locations in old Kunming for “ghost walls.” Legend has it that if you walk into it, you will...
Kunming Shalang Lane · A lane with only one exit
Shalang Lane (also written as Shalaxiang) is one of the most famous locations in old Kunming for “ghost walls.” Legend has it that if you walk into it, you will...
No. 81 Chaonei · The Most Haunted House in Beijing
No. 81 Chaonei Street, a Western-style building from the Republican era, is known as “Beijing’s Number One Haunted House.” Legend has it that a concubine of a Nationalist officer once...
No. 81 Chaonei · The Most Haunted House in Beijing
No. 81 Chaonei Street, a Western-style building from the Republican era, is known as “Beijing’s Number One Haunted House.” Legend has it that a concubine of a Nationalist officer once...
High Street Haunted House · The mansion convert...
This old building on High Street was built in 1892 and once served as quarters for expatriate civil servants before being converted into a mental hospital during the Japanese occupation....
High Street Haunted House · The mansion convert...
This old building on High Street was built in 1892 and once served as quarters for expatriate civil servants before being converted into a mental hospital during the Japanese occupation....
Inunaki Tunnel · The Submerged Village
Beyond the old Inunaki tunnel in Fukuoka there was a village, submerged when a dam was built, with graves that could not be moved left under the water. In 1988,...
Inunaki Tunnel · The Submerged Village
Beyond the old Inunaki tunnel in Fukuoka there was a village, submerged when a dam was built, with graves that could not be moved left under the water. In 1988,...