The 23 Most Terrifying Places on Earth
Visiting the scariest places on earth might not sound like a great use of your PTO at first, but hear us out: Many things that are terrifying at first glance often lead to some of the most fascinating, downright beautiful corners of the planet. We’re talking limestone caves as tall as cathedrals, eternally burning pits in the middle of the desert, and marine lakes filled with millions of golden jellyfish.
And if you’re looking for straight-up creepiness, don’t worry—there are places just for you, too. (Hello, churches made entirely out of human bones.)
Our planet certainly has its fair share of terrifying and mysterious places just waiting for the next morbidly inclined traveler to come visit. From Italy to Antarctica, these are some of the scariest places on earth. Have you started packing your bags yet?
This article has been updated since its original publish date.
Bramdehaan/GettyNorth Yungas Road, Bolivia
The path from La Paz to Coroico, Bolivia, is a treacherous one: The North Yungas Road weaves precariously through the Amazon rainforest at a height of more than 15,000 feet. When you consider that frightening elevation—not to mention the 12-foot-wide single lane, lack of guardrails, and limited visibility due to rain and fog—it’s easy to see why this 50-mile stretch of highway has earned the nickname “The Death Road.”
While the North Yungas Road used to see some 200 to 300 annual deaths, it has now become more of a destination for adventurous mountain bikers than a vehicular thoroughfare.
Carl Court/GettyNagoro, Japan
Nagoro is a tiny Japanese village with one very notable feature: a life-sized doll population that outnumbers the human population nearly 10:1. The toy residents are the work of local Tsukimi Ayano, who began making doll replicas of her neighbors after they died or moved away.
The eerie doppelgängers can be seen in various positions across the town—fishermen sitting on the riverbank, students filling entire classrooms, elderly couples resting on benches outside of buildings. There are now around 350 dolls and 27 breathing humans (the youngest is over the age of 50) in Nagoro, making it a quirky and somewhat terrifying toyland.
Amos Chapple/GettyHill of Crosses, Lithuania
People have been placing crosses on this hill in northern Lithuania since the 14th century. Throughout the medieval period, the crosses originally expressed a desire for Lithuanian independence. Then, after a peasant uprising in 1831, people began adding to the site in remembrance of dead rebels. The hill became a place of defiance once again during Soviet occupation from 1944 to 1991.
The hill and crosses were bulldozed by the Soviets three times, but locals kept rebuilding it. There are now more than 100,000 crosses crowded there, clashing together in the breeze like eerie wind chimes.
NurPhoto/GettyIsland of the Dolls, Mexico
Despite its history and status as a Unesco World Heritage Site, Xochimilco is primarily known for its Isla de las Munecas, or “Island of the Dolls.” Hidden among the borough’s many canals, the tiny island is famous for the hundreds of dolls—and doll parts—hanging from trees and scattered among the grass.
Although it looks more like a horror movie set than anything else, the chinampa (akin to an artificial island) used to be the actual residence of a now-deceased man named Julian Santa Barrera. After finding a dead girl’s body in a nearby canal, Barrera collected and displayed the toys in the hopes of warding off evil spirits. Daring souls can hire their own boat, try to convince the driver to pay the island a visit, and view the dolls safely from the water.
DON EMMERT/GettyCentralia, Pennsylvania
From the late 1800s to the 1960s, Centralia was a quaint but bustling town in Pennsylvania, thanks to its prosperous coal mines. However, when a mine mysteriously caught fire in 1962, the flames began to spread underground via the interconnecting tunnels. Although the citizens were aware of the situation, they weren’t truly troubled until two isolated incidents some years later: a gas station owner reporting abnormally high gasoline temperatures in his underground tanks in 1979, and a young boy nearly falling into a 150-foot-deep sinkhole in his backyard in 1981.
Since those disturbing occurrences, the town’s population decreased sharply. As of 2021, only four residents remain—although Centralia seems like a complete ghost town upon visiting. If you ever find yourself in the deserted city, you’ll find many torn-down buildings, crumbled sidewalks, and the cracked, graffiti-filled Route 61. And just in case you forgot why the town is deserted, you can occasionally see smoke billowing out from the subterranean fires, which scientists estimate will continue to burn for another 250 years.
Anne Seubert/UnsplashBeelitz-Heilstätten Hospital, Germany
If this old German hospital looks disturbing…well, it is. Between 1898 and 1930, the Beelitz-Heilstätten complex (a 50-minute drive south of Berlin) served as a tuberculosis sanatorium. It also housed mustard gas and machine gun victims during World War I, including a young soldier named Adolf Hitler, who had been wounded in the leg. The hospital later went on to be a major treatment center for Nazi soldiers during World War II, and it was used as a Soviet military hospital from 1945 until the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Today, a few hospital wards are used as neurological rehabilitation centers, although the majority of the complex is abandoned. The surgery and psychiatric wards have both been left to decay and give way to nature (and vandals), and the result looks like something straight out of American Horror Story—not exactly an enjoyable day trip for the easily spooked.
Caroline Pang/GettyGomantong Caves, Malaysia
The Gomantong Caves in Malaysia are pure geographical wonders, with limestone walls reaching up to 300 feet in some spots—but visitors often leave the site describing it as one of the most disgusting wildlife experiences they’ve ever had. First things first, Gomantong is home to more than two million bats, which leads to impossibly thick layers of guano (otherwise known as bat poop) covering the ground. And don’t even think about slipping, because the handrails are just as filthy as the floor.
If you can make it through the river of bat droppings, you’ll then encounter several million Malaysian cockroaches scurrying around. Wherever the guano is, that’s where the cockroaches will be (read: everywhere). Finally, if you get past the bat smells and cockroaches crawling up your legs, there are several other wonderful creatures you just might happen upon, including snakes, scorpions, freshwater crabs, and the infamous giant scutigera centipedes—poisonous critters that are at least three inches long.
microgen/GettyChrist of the Abyss, Italy
Although there are several versions of the same Jesus statue scattered around the ocean floor (including Key Largo, pictured), the original version is located in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of San Fruttuoso, Italy. The 8-foot-tall likeness was commissioned by Italian diver Duilio Marcante in 1954—he wanted to place some sort of memorial at the exact spot where his friend Dario Gonzatti died while diving a few years prior. And thus, Christ of the Abyss was born.
The result is vaguely spooky, especially with the deity’s outreached arms and upward gaze. The algae and corrosion only add to the effect, although the statue was removed from its watery home in 2003 for some much-needed restoration (including replacing a hand that a rogue anchor had broken off). Regardless of whether you find the monument eerie or beautiful (or both), it’s certainly worth taking a 55-foot-dive down to snap an underwater selfie with Jesus.
John Crux Photography/GettyHanging Coffins, Philippines
If you want to visit the dead in Sagada, don’t look six feet under—look up instead. The people of this region of the Philippines are known for burying their dead in coffins attached to the sides of cliffs, like an aerial cross-section of your average cemetery.
The tradition goes back thousands of years: Carve out your own coffin, die, and get hoisted up next to your ancestors. Many of the cliffside coffins are hundreds of years old and all look completely different, as they were specially made by the person who now rests inside of them.
Iwanami_Photos/GettyThe Door to Hell, Turkmenistan
While Joss Whedon led us to believe that the entrance to hell could be found in Sunnydale, California, he was actually some 7,500 miles off. Located in the middle of the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan is the “Door to Hell,” a name locals gave to a 230-foot-wide crater that simply won’t stop burning.
When Soviet scientists began searching for oil back in 1971, they accidentally hit a methane reserve and the drilling platform collapsed, thus forming the crater and releasing dangerous gas into the air. The scientists decided to light the crater on fire to burn off the methane, creating a Dante-esque anomaly that has remained lit for the past 50-plus years.
Frédéric Soltan/GettyCapuchin Catacombs, Italy
Of all the catacombs in the world, from Salzburg to Paris, none are quite as creepy as Sicily’s Catacombe dei Cappuccini (Capuchin Catacombs). The macabre space was created back in the late 16th century when the cemetery at the Capuchin monastery became overrun. Religious men were originally intended to be the exclusive residents, but once word got out about the natural mummification processes occurring in the space, it soon became a status symbol for local citizens to earn a final resting spot there (in their best clothing, of course).
As a result, the underground tombs now contain around 8,000 bodies divided into separate corridors, including one for religious figures, one for professional men, one for children, and even one for virgins. The corpses are displayed like a museum exhibit, dressed to the nines and arranged in grotesquely lifelike posts. Sounds like fun, right?
John Mark RoseSnake Island, Brazil
Located about 90 miles off the coast of São Paulo, Ilha de Queimada Grande (also known as Snake Island) is one of the most dangerous islands in the entire world. The site earned its moniker due to its insanely high density of golden lancehead vipers; some studies report an average of one to five snakes per square meter. When sea levels rose some 11,000 years ago and separated Snake Island from mainland Brazil, the newly isolated snakes became hyper evolved—and hyper terrifying—to adapt to their changing environment.
Without any ground-level prey on the island, the snakes learned to hunt in the treetops and strike at birds from the air. And because they couldn’t track down the birds and wait for the poison to kick in, their venom adapted to become five times stronger than that of their mainland counterparts—capable of killing their prey instantly, as well as melting human flesh. Because of their potency, the Brazilian government bans the public from ever setting foot on the island (as if you would want to).
Alexandr Voronsky/UnsplashSedlec Ossuary, Czech Republic
The incredible Sedlec Ossuary is a small chapel located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints, known worldwide for its macabre decor. Back in the early 1300s, an abbot of the Sedlec Monastery brought back holy soil from Jerusalem and scattered it across the church’s cemetery, and suddenly everyone wanted to be buried in that sacred ground. But overpopulation kicked in and the old bodies had to be dug up to make room for fresh corpses.
In true “waste not, want not” fashion, the abbots decided to put the exhumed bones to good use. A local Czech woodcarver named František Rint was given the daunting task of arranging the collection of 40,000+ human remains in a visually impressive way—and he clearly delivered. The bony structures include four candelabras, a family crest, and several streamers of bones cascading down from the ceiling. The most stunning display is probably the church’s massive chandelier, which contains almost every bone found in the human body (plus some creepy cherubs for good measure).
Saddam S Gabrielle/UnsplashKawah Ijen Volcano, Indonesia
The Kawah Injen volcano in Indonesia is equal parts terrifying and spectacular. The Java peak has abnormal amounts of sulfuric gases that reach temperatures of more than 1,000°F and combust as they seep through the cracks and come in contact with the air (terrifying). The gases sometimes condense into liquid sulfur, which then takes on an otherworldly shade of blue and flows down the volcano like lava (spectacular).
While the beautiful lights can only be seen in the dark, Kawah Ijen’s sulfur burns at all hours. As a result, the surrounding air is filled with sulfur dioxide, and the adjacent crater lake has turned green from hydrochloric acid saturation.
John S Lander/GettyHaw Par Villa, Singapore
Haw Par Villa is a 86-year-old theme park located in Singapore—and it’s pretty much the polar opposite of Disneyland. Its colorful entrance of Chinese arches seems innocuous enough, but then you actually step inside and see that Haw Par Villa is covered with more than 1,000 statues, each stranger than the last (yes, it gets stranger than a human head on a giant crab).
The underworld-themed Ten Courts of Hell is the main feature of Haw Par Villa. Intended as a way to teach young children about morality, the dioramas portray severe modes of punishment, accompanied by a placard explaining the sin that warranted such lashings. You’ll find people getting cut in half by a giant saw (crime: “misuse of books”), dismembered (crime: cheating on examinations), or thrown onto a hill of knives (crime: lending money with exorbitant interest rates).
Robert Gilhooly/AlamyAokigahara Forest, Japan
This seemingly serene forest at the bottom of Mount Fuji has an extremely tormented history. Colloquially known as “Suicide Forest,” Aokigahara is the world’s second-most common site for suicides (after the Golden Gate Bridge)—in 2010 alone, 247 people attempted to take their own lives here.
Some blame this tragic phenomenon on the forest’s association with demons in Japanese mythology. Others point towards the density of the trees, which muffles sound and makes it extremely easy to get lost—many hikers even mark their paths with tape or string to make it easier to find their way back out again. This, combined with the sprinkling of clothing and letters throughout the labyrinthine woods, gives Aokigahara a terrifying Blair Witch meets Palace of Knossos vibe that will chill you to your bones.
Esa Hiltula/AlamyVeijo Rönkkönen Sculpture Garden, Finland
Veijo Rönkkönen was one of the most famous contemporary folk artists in Finland during his lifetime, but he was also a recluse, refusing to showcase his pieces in public spaces. Instead, he built his collection of nearly 500 concrete figures in his backyard, forming his own personal sculpture garden in the process. The biggest display on the grounds is a group of around 200 statues arranged in a variety of yoga poses.
While there’s something obviously unsettling about the sculptures (supposedly all self-portraits), they are nowhere close to being the most sinister items in the garden: Rönkkönen’s collection features an array of creepy individual statues, from a nun lurking behind bushes to a cloaked man with long, outstretched arms. The malevolent grins (accessorized with real human teeth) and black, sunken eyes of these figures are exactly what the doctor ordered...provided you have a desire to never sleep peacefully again.
Matej Divizna/GettySt. George’s Church, Czech Republic
Located in the small Czech village of Lukova, St. George’s Church hasn't had the easiest life. The 14th-century church burnt down an unusual number of times throughout the centuries, most recently in the late 1960s—that blaze brought down part of the roof during a funeral, and the congregations finally decided the place was haunted and left it abandoned for more than 40 years.
That all changed in 2012, when an art student named Jakub Hadrava decided to breathe new life into the church—in the creepiest way imaginable, that is. Hadrava built a set of eerie figures (made from applying plaster to live models draped in sheets) and placed them around the sanctuary, giving the appearance of ghosts gathered for midnight mass. The installation ended up being quite a hit with locals, and the site is still open on Sunday afternoons for people wanting to sneak a peek at the “ghost church.”
Xinhua News Agency/GettyMount Huashan, China
It’s hard to find any article or video of Mount Huashan without seeing headlines touting “the most dangerous hike in the world.” Indeed, this attraction in central China is most popular among travelers for its plank walk, a rickety, 12-inch-wide wooden path attached to the side of the mountain—thousands of feet off the ground.
Intrepid visitors are invited to side-step across the pathway while holding on to loose metal chains, all while looking out for broken or missing planks. Some claim the perilous hike is worth the bragging rights, as well as the beautiful temples and views at the summit—while others are perfectly happy reaching the spoils via a 10-minute cable car ride. You can decide for yourself.
Horacio Villalobos/GettyHospital de Bonecas, Portugal
Often considered the oldest surviving doll hospital (aka a place where dolls can get repaired and restored) in the world, Hospital de Bonecas is something of a hidden treasure tucked between storefronts on one of Lisbon’s busiest shopping streets. The “hospital” has been operating in the same spot since 1830, and people can put their name on a four-month waiting list to have their dolls taken care of by the loving staff.
That said, there’s something inherently unnerving about the mere concept of a doll hospital. Chalk it up to cabinets filled with plastic heads, drawers filled with glass eyes, and beds filled with “patients” that we only hope don’t come alive at night. Hospital de Bonecas is certainly worth checking out during your next trip to Lisbon, but maybe save that rewatch of Annabelle until after your visit.
ullstein bild/GettyOngeim’l Tketau Jellyfish Lake, Palau
It might look mildly terrifying at first glance (unless your lifelong dream is to jump into a pile of stinging invertebrates), but Ongeim’l Tketau Jellyfish Lake is actually one of the most delightful places in Palau. Located on Eil Malk Island, this marine lake is home to millions of jellyfish that slowly migrate across the water each day, following the path of the sun. Tourists can obtain a pass to visit the island and snorkel among the golden jellies and moon jellies—all of which are totally harmless.
Josh Brasted/GettyClown Motel, Nevada
While there are plenty of reportedly haunted hotels around the world, the award for “creepiest accommodations” has to go to the Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada. The brainchild of Las Vegas chef Vijay Mehar, the appropriately named motel is hard to miss, complete with a polka-dot facade, brightly colored doors, and two 19-foot clown cutouts bookending the property (which, we must mention, sits adjacent to a cemetery).
But that’s nothing compared to what you’ll find inside—namely a collection of more than 3,000 clown figurines. Guests can browse the collection and pose with life-size clown dolls in the main building, then retreat back to one of many rooms decorated with clown paintings and murals depicting famous horror movie villains (yes, including Pennywise). Sweet dreams!
OSWALDO RIVAS/GettyCerro Negro, Nicaragua
Climbing up Nicaragua’s active Cerro Negro volcano is thrilling enough, but what if you want to bump the excitement level up a notch? Welcome to volcano boarding, an activity where you sit or stand on a piece of plywood and slide your way down the slopes. It’s essentially like wintertime sledding, only you run the risk of being burned by lava or breathing in toxins.
You’ll definitely want to find some way to obtain protective goggles and clothing, as Cerro Negro has erupted more than 20 times since 1850. Bigfoot Hostel is one of many companies offering guided group tours—for $29, you get transportation to the volcano, boards, safety equipment, snacks, and your speed clocked by a radar gun.