Nothing sends a shiver down your spine quite like a haunted house and we've found some creepy residences prone to paranormal activity from across the globe. Whether it’s a ghostly fort on the windswept Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, the isolated farmhouse on Rhode Island that inspired the film The Conjuring, or an English country rectory haunted by a lovelorn nun, these spooky properties and their terrifying secrets are guaranteed to strike terror into your heart. Click or scroll to take the tour...
The true story that inspired the movie The Conjuring began here on the Old Arnold Estate in Harrisville, Rhode Island. Based on the supernatural experiences of Roger and Carolyn Perron and their five daughters in the 1970s, rumour has it the home is haunted by the ghost of a suspected witch, Bathsheba Sherman, who lived in the house in the 1800s. She and other spirits allegedly terrorised the Perron family while they lived here between 1971 and 1980.
Despite its rather comforting interiors, shortly after the family moved into the farmhouse, which was built in 1736, they became aware of eerie goings on. A broom would move from one place to another or small piles of dirt would appear on freshly cleaned floors in the kitchen/dining room. The eldest daughter, Andrea, wrote a series of three books in which she claims she saw beds being lifted into the air in the attic and witnessed her mother being possessed by a spirit.
Eventually, the family turned to paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren for help and it’s their story that’s picked up in the film. The house features beamed ceilings and hardwood floors, while Ouija boards sit atop the fireplace mantel. Although the movie was not filmed at the 14-room farmhouse, the Perron family’s experiences here formed the basis of the movie, which was turned into a successful franchise, with its next instalment due in 2024/5.
The family stayed away from the dirt-floored cellar, seen here, which was said to be a spirit hotspot that often smelled of rotting flesh. But none of this seems to have put off buyers. The house last sold for $1.5 million (£1.2m) in June 2022, making it the most expensive home ever sold in the area and earning a tidy profit for its previous owners, Cory and Jennifer Heinzen, who bought the house in 2019 for just $439,000 (£354k). The couple turned the property into a business where visitors could conduct overnight paranormal investigations. Would you visit?
The site’s most famous tale is that of the formr governor Pieter van Noodt, who in 1729 unfairly condemned seven soldiers to death for desertion and was cursed by one of them as he met his fate at the gallows. Later that day, van Noodt was found dead in his office, a look of terror across his face. It is said he is still heard to this day, swearing and cursing from within the castle walls.
Other resident ghosts include socialite and first lady of the colony, Lady Anne Barnard who turned the large hall of the Governor’s residence, seen here, into a ballroom. Her curly-headed ghost has been known to appear at parties held here to this day. Another famous ghost, the Lady in Grey, is said to have made an appearance in 1947 when Princess Elizabeth was in Cape Town to mark her 21st birthday.
A prison in the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902, there have been reports of footsteps in narrow corridors and rooms like the one seen here, plus the cries of former prisoners dragged down into the so-called ‘Donker Gat’ (dark hole), a windowless dungeon, where many were imprisoned and tortured or simply left to drown when it flooded in winter. Some enthusiasts of the castle's haunted past have seen and heard more than they bargained for, including a large black hound that leaps at visitors before disappearing and a bell that apparently rings by itself,
Haunted and haunting, Akershus Fortress in the Norwegian capital of Oslo is rife with stories of the supernatural. It may well never have been breached by foreign forces throughout the 700 years it has guarded the city’s inner harbour, but there have been many tales of blood and terror within the walls of its ramparts. For many years it served as a prison for some of Norway’s most notorious convicts and there have been reports of whispers and scratchings along its dark corridors.
Dating from 1299, it withstood many sieges from neighbouring Sweden and was rebuilt into a Renaissance castle and royal residence by King Christian lV between 1637 and 1648. As an infamous prison, it played host to Norway’s Robin Hood, Ole Høiland, who died by suicide in his prison cell in 1848 while in the so-called 'Slavery' section of the fortress, many prisoners sadly died from the cruel hard labour they were forced to endure.
Given its gruelling past, it’s not surprising that it is said to play host to numerous ghosts. During WWII, prisoners of war were executed here by the Nazis and visitors and employees now claim they hear footsteps and disembodied voices and detect strange, pungent smells, while many guards say they have experienced the sensation of being pushed when alone on duty.
Two ghosts are particularly famous at Akershus. The first is Malcanisen, meaning 'the vicious dog', who is the spirit of a hound said to have been buried alive outside the Maiden Tower (seen here) to ward off invaders. Legend says that if you see the spirit of the dog, you will suffer a nasty death within three months. The other is Mantelgeisten, a faceless woman in a full-length robe who emerges from the darkness before running back to her chambers.
Don't be fooled by its fairytale castle exterior; Corvin Castle on the Hungarian-Romanian border has a dark history. It was originally built on Hungarian land, before the borders changed, by the then ruler of Transylvania John Hunyadi, in 1441. Three of its many towers were used as prisons, while its massive dungeon, complete with a torture chamber and bear pit, became the place where some unlucky prisoners were fed alive to the resident bears.
It is sometimes mentioned as a source of inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Castle Dracula in his 1897 horror novel Dracula. In fact, the Irish writer knew nothing of Castle Corvin, and the connection is probably due to the claim that Vlad the Impaler, the Prince of Wallachia, who is often quoted as an inspiration for the character of Count Dracula, was imprisoned here. He allegedly kept himself alive by eating rats and was driven mad and even more blood-thirsty during his stay here.
What is true is that many poor souls suffered unimaginable cruelty imprisoned within its impenetrable walls. In another of its courtyards (similar to this one pictured) near the 15th-century chapel, there is a 100-foot deep well. According to legend, it was dug by three Turkish prisoners who were promised freedom if they reached water. When they did 15 years later, they were cheated of their freedom and thrown back into their cells. One of the prisoners wrote on the wall near the well: "You have water, but no soul."
With so much pain and suffering, it’s no surprise that some say the castle is haunted. However, it is a surprise that the spirit is not that of any of the prisoners, but a monk who was sentenced to death for spying on a nobleman in the council room. As punishment for his sins, he was bricked up in the wall to suffer a slow and painful death. There have been reports of apparitions and shadowy figures stalking the lonely corridors of this 15th-century Gothic fortress, while paranormal enthusiasts have made Electronic Voice Projection (EVP) recordings of alleged poltergeist activity.
From strange apparitions to spooky voices, Casa Loma has earned a reputation as a supernatural hotspot. Financier Sir Henry Pellatt commissioned architect E.J. Lennox to build the Gothic Revival mansion on the brow of a hill overlooking Toronto in 1911. It took three years and cost $3.5 million (£2.9m) which equates to around $338 million (£277m) in today’s money, but he was sadly forced to sell up for a fraction of its cost to the City of Toronto in 1934 following a series of bad investments.
The wealthy industrialist spent a fortune decorating its 98 rooms, including the Oak Room with its wood-panelled walls and ornamented plaster ceiling. He must have been devastated when he was forced to leave, but some say he sometimes returns. A young boy once reported seeing a man at a second-floor window which was supposed to be closed to visitors. The boy later identified the figure as Sir Henry Pellatt from a picture.
Then there’s the lady in white, a mysterious woman who has been seen wandering in the conservatory and the basement of the building. Some say she is the spirit of a maid who worked at the mansion in the early 1900s around the time that more than 60,000 Toronto inhabitants died of influenza. Now, each year around Halloween, the mansion is turned into a huge haunted house and has been used in many movies and TV shows including X-Men and R.L.Stine’s Goosebumps series. We can see why.
Although best known for its 'big hole', a huge crater at the centre of the town’s diamond rush in the 1870s, Kimberley in the Northern Cape is also celebrated for being home to one of the most paranormally active houses in South Africa. Rudd House is the former home of H.P Rudd, the chairman of De Beers Mining Company. Built in 1888, for nearly 100 years it remained in the same family, who have recounted many strange goings on. Let's head inside, with caution.
The low-level building, which was extended over the decades, was the subject of many paranormal investigations carried out by an allegedly renowned clairvoyant Dr P.K Le Sueur, who identified orbs of light that appeared in photographs, which he believed were manifestations of ghosts. The former sick room (pictured) of Percy Rudd, the home’s original owner, is said to be haunted and a woman in white has been known to appear on the balcony, while the servants’ quarters have at least six ghosts in the courtyard, reports Netwerk 24.
On his death in 1961, according to Open Africa, HP Rudd left the house to his widow Emilie, who in turn passed it to her siblings, who were unable to sell it. The property was taken over by the McGregor Museum in 1971 and restored to its former grandeur before being made a national monument in 1990. There have been countless reports of a sudden drop in temperature inside the house and caretakers, none of whom lasted longer than six months, have confirmed the sound of crashing plates in the pantry every night and the screams of a child in pain in the nursery.
If not exactly haunted, the 500-year-old Venetian Gothic Palazzo Dario, also known as Ca’ Dario, could certainly be classed as cursed. According to local legend, anyone who lives or stays within its magnificent rooms has either claimed bankruptcy or been driven to their death. Built in 1479 for Giovanni Dario, the aristocrat’s daughter Marietta is said to have died by suicide in the Grand Canal after her husband Vincenzo was killed. Their son Vicenzo Jr. was also murdered in Crete by assassins.
Split over four floors, the ground floor has a large hall with columns featuring a red marble well and an elegant marble staircase. Despite its beauty, when British scientist Radon Brown resided here, he suffered financial difficulties and legend says he ended his life with his partner in 1842 when their affair was revealed. Charles Briggs, an American millionaire, suffered a similar fate.
Renovated in the 19th century, the second noble floor features elegant halls with Bevilacqua fabrics and antique Murano chandeliers. More recently, in the 70s, the Count of Turin Filippo Giordano delle Lanze bought the palace, only to be murdered by his lover, while the manager of The Who, Christopher Kit Lambert is said to have descended further into drug dependence during his stay here, escaping to a nearby hotel to escape the many ghosts and spirits he claimed infested the house.
It is rumoured that Woody Allen was talked out of purchasing the palazzo in the 1990s due to its cursed past and as recently as 2002, John Entwistle, the bassist from The Who, died from a heart attack a week after renting the property. With so much tragedy in its past, it seems unlikely that anyone would dare stay here, let alone buy the palazzo. It was on the market for $19 million (£15.6m) as recently as December 2022 but it’s still up for grabs... we wonder why?
Loftus Hall, an ominous estate on the wild and windy Hook Head peninsula, overlooking the Three Sisters estuary in County Wexford, is considered Ireland's most haunted house. Dating to the 14th century, the 23,454-square-foot residence, which has 22 bedrooms and 97 windows, has featured in several horror shows and films, including the 2017 Hollywood movie The Lodgers, and has hosted ghostly tours and paranormal nights for the past decade.
The structure was originally built by the Norman Knight, Raymond Les Gros, in around 1350, but the estate's reputation as a spine-chilling home dates back to the mid-1700s, according to former Lord Mayor George Lawlor of Wexford. Legend tells of a dark stranger who approached the hall in a storm looking for shelter and was taken in by the Tottenham family, who lived there at the time. One night during a card game the young Lady Anne Tottenham is said to have dropped a card on the floor and when she went to pick it up, noticed their guest had cloven hoofs instead of feet – a sign of the devil!
When he realised his real identity had been discovered the stranger disappeared through the roof in a ball of flames, leaving Lady Anne in a state of shock from which she never recovered. Driven to madness, she spent the rest of her life locked in the hall’s tapestry room and her ghost is said to haunt the ornate halls of the mansion, according to The Daily Mail. Over the years there have been many sightings of ghosts including the chilling image of a girl in the doorway of this hall which is purported to be the spirit of Anne Tottenham.
From 2011, Loftus was owned by Shane and Aidan Quigley, who secured the structure of the hall from ruin and restored the gardens. Spread across three floors and boasting this stunning hand-carved staircase and tiled entrance lobby, the hall became a venue for paranormal tours and stays for several years, before being put on the market in 2020 with Keane Auctioneers for $2.8 million (£2.3m). According to The Irish Times, the hall was bought by a group called Oakmount, who plan to turn the property into a luxury destination hotel. Will you be booking a stay?
Built in 1863 on the site of a monastery at the behest of the Reverend Henry Bull, Borley Rectory in Essex has long since had a history of hauntings. A ghostly nun, a phantom coach with a headless driver and inexplicable lights and footsteps have all been seen and heard in and around the Gothic-style building. The son of the original rector had a summer house built so that he could sit and watch for the nun and by the time of his death in 1927 the house had already earned the title of 'The Most Haunted House in Britain'.
The next two rectors were not so relaxed about their ghostly companions and were driven out within months. According to reports, the hauntings eventually came to the attention of paranormal investigator Harry Price, seen here, who spent a year at the property, experiencing many frightening phenomena for himself. Over the ensuing years, a range of extraordinary activities were recorded which included strange smells, smashed glass and windows, spirit writing on the wall and ghostly apparitions.
Despite being burned to the ground by a fire in 1939, people still reported ghostly occurrences until 1943, when the remains of a nun were discovered and later interred in the nearby Liston churchyard. According to local folklore, this was a nun from a nearby nunnery who fell in love with a monk from the now-destroyed monastery. The pair attempted to elope but were caught and punished. The monk was reported to have been sent to the gallows, while the nun was sealed into the walls of the nunnery... alive. It is this nun who is said to still haunt the grounds looking for her lost love.
When the house was demolished in 1944, it is said the ghosts moved across the road to Borley Church, which dates to Norman times, where paranormal activity includes 'phantom organ music, ghostly chanting, and the ghost of a nun moving around the churchyard'. Well-known demonologists, Ed and Lorraine Warren, whose case files inspired The Amityville Horror, visited the church, allegedly capturing a shadowy figure in a photo. This image is reported to have inspired The Nun, part of The Conjuring franchise.
Touted as Australia’s most haunted house, The Monte Cristo Homestead in Junee, New South Wales has attracted thousands of visitors with its sinister stories of supernatural sightings and unexplained deaths. Christopher Crawley built the Victorian-style home in 1885 for his wife Elizabeth and their seven children. After his death from an infected carbuncle in 1910, Elizabeth shut herself away and is said to have only left the house twice in 23 years.
The house fell into disrepair after Elizabeth’s death in 1933 until it was purchased by Olive Ryan, seen here, and her husband Reg in 1963. The couple immediately started to notice strange events. There was no electricity or water when the pair moved in but when they arrived home one day they saw bright lights beaming from the windows. Their chickens were discovered strangled in their poultry run and a litter of kittens mutilated in the breakfast room.
The Monte Cristo Homestead is said to have more than ten ghosts haunting its rooms and grounds, many of them members of the Crawley household. A maid who reputedly fell pregnant by Christopher Crawley is said to have jumped from the balcony to her death, while the son of another maid, Harold, was hit by a coach and suffered horrific head injuries. He was chained to a wall and could be heard screaming from the township below. It’s the ghost of Elizabeth Crawley who is most often seen however, wearing a silver cross and ordering people out of the dining room.
The Crawley family suffered their own tragedy in 1917, when the maid dropped their baby daughter Ethel down the stairs to her death. Ethel's body is thought to be buried in the garden. The maid claimed she was pushed by an unseen force and even today visitors to the macabre homestead, which opened to the public in 1971, claim they feel a presence in the hallway or an ice-cold tiny hand slip into theirs when they enter some of the upstairs rooms.
Loved this? Follow us on Facebook for more homes, some even free of ghosts!