Buzz
While eerie haunted houses, decaying castles in Transylvania, and forsaken asylums are notorious for their chilling atmospheres, there are some locations that seem perfectly normal at first glance. Yet, hidden beneath their mundane exteriors lie unspeakable horrors that no one could ever expect.
10. The Finnish Museum Overrun by Gigantic Spiders
Located in the heart of Helsinki, Finland's Natural History Museum is one of the city's most popular attractions. But it’s also a place no arachnophobe should venture. The building is home to an enormous colony of incredibly venomous, near-immortal super-spiders.
These creatures, known as Chilean recluse spiders, are typically found only in South America. Unfortunately for Finland, some spider eggs hitchhiked in a shipment of wood chips the museum received in the 1960s. The eggs hatched, and the spiders spread throughout the museum. By 1970, the museum was entirely infested, and as of 2016, the spiders are still there—more numerous than ever.
The issue with the Chilean recluse spider is that it is nearly indestructible. Females have been known to survive without food or water for up to 755 days. They can withstand extreme temperature shifts and can lay up to 2,250 eggs in their lifetime. Adding to the creepiness, they can grow to 10 centimeters (4 inches) in length, and their bite is excruciatingly painful (if it doesn't kill you instantly).
On a brighter note, these recluse spiders are named for their tendency to avoid human contact. Despite the museum's infestation lasting over 50 years, only one bite has been recorded. This is fortunate, considering the museum sits above a network of tunnels that connect several buildings in Helsinki. The BBC has suggested that it’s only a matter of time before the spider colony spreads to other parts of the city center... if it hasn’t already.
9. The American Dam Packed With Corpses
You’ve likely heard the stories about workers' bodies being trapped inside the Hoover Dam. But those are just that: stories, with no truth to them—at least not in relation to the Hoover Dam. Head over to the Fort Peck Dam in Montana, and you’ll find a colossal memorial packed with the bodies of workers.
On September 22, 1938, Fort Peck Dam became the site of a disastrous event. The night before, workers had noticed the dam beginning to bow, shifting 2 meters (6 feet) out of place. At 1:15 PM the following day, just as the district engineer arrived to inspect, the structure collapsed with a deafening roar. Around 4 billion liters (1 billion gallons) of water, mud, and concrete surged into the Missouri River, destroying everything in its wake. Eight men were swept into the mire, with only two bodies ever recovered.
While many dams have witnessed similar catastrophic events, what happened at Fort Peck Dam is especially unsettling. The sludge that buried the men was recycled back into the dam’s construction, and their six bodies were buried within it. To this day, the corpses of the drowned men remain part of the dam itself, like grim secrets concealed within the concrete.
8. The London Picnic Spots Built Over Gruesome Mass Graves
If you find yourself in London during the summer, one of the top activities is to grab a drink and enjoy the city's many picnic areas, relaxing with the locals. That is, of course, as long as you can ignore the horrific history hidden just beneath your feet. A 2014 study of London’s plague pits revealed that many popular picnic spots were built atop centuries-old mass graves.
Like much of Europe, London was devastated by the Black Death. During the outbreak of 1665–1666 alone, nearly 15 percent of the city’s population perished in excruciating pain. Victims would first experience a fever and intense pain, quickly followed by vomiting and delirium. Enormous, painful buboes would form beneath the skin, filled with foul-smelling fluids. Within a week, around 60 percent of those affected would be dead.
With so many bodies accumulating, authorities took the only logical step—they buried the dead in mass graves, many of which were forgotten in just a few short years. A survey from 1598 suggested that as many as 150,000 plague victims had already been buried beneath the city, with more to follow in the coming century. So, the next time you’re basking in the sunshine at Green Park, Shepherd’s Bush Green, Golden Square in Soho, or any of the other picnic spots identified by the study, take a moment to remember the nameless souls resting beneath you.
7. Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields Hotel
If you’re planning a trip to Sri Lanka, you may want to think twice. Although Lagoon’s Edge might not have gigantic Chilean spiders, its history is anything but peaceful. The hotel was constructed atop the site of the Tamil Tigers’ final stand during the brutal conclusion of Sri Lanka’s civil war. In the last government offensive to defeat the insurgents, so many civilians perished that the area has become known as Sri Lanka’s killing fields.
The scale of the atrocities committed here is unimaginable. In the closing weeks of the war, the UN estimated that 40,000 people died, with many of them being Tamil civilians who were used by the Tigers as human shields. When government forces advanced, many of the remaining civilians suffered rape, torture, and execution. The magnitude of war crimes in this region was so severe that both the UN and one of Sri Lanka’s highest-ranking judges have called for a criminal tribunal, similar to those held for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
Perhaps the most startling aspect of all this is how swiftly the hotel began operating on this blood-soaked land. The mass killings occurred in 2009, yet Lagoon’s Edge opened its doors to guests just three years later, in 2012.
6. The Indian Temple Crawling With Giant Rats
Nestled in the searing heat of Rajasthan’s Thar Desert, the Karni Mata Temple in India might initially appear to be just another grand Hindu place of worship. Built in the 1400s, it's the kind of place where backpackers in search of enlightenment may find themselves drawn. However, take a closer look, and you'll discover that the temple harbors a rather unsettling secret: it is overrun by massive black rats.
Referred to as “little children” by the temple’s worshippers, the rats are believed to be the reincarnated caste of a Hindu deity. In practice, this means these rats are given free reign to infest every inch of the temple. Estimates suggest as many as 20,000 black rats roam the grounds. It’s worth noting that India has one of the highest death rates from rabies in the world, in addition to periodic outbreaks of the bubonic plague.
Despite how unsettling a rat-infested temple may sound to many, locals actually consider these creatures to be lucky. It's not uncommon for people to eat food that has already been nibbled by the rats, believing it will bring them good fortune.
5. The New York Streets Built Over Dead African Slaves
Though American slavery is most commonly associated with the Southern states, it’s important to note that many Northern states once permitted the practice as well. New York, in particular, was no exception. In its earlier years, when it was still called New Amsterdam, African slaves were brought in and forced to work under harsh conditions until their deaths. If you take a stroll down Chambers Street in Lower Manhattan today, you're walking over the bones of about 20,000 of those enslaved individuals.
Back then, this street was located on the outskirts of the city. As slaves were forbidden from being buried within the city limits, their bodies were carried just beyond the city’s boundaries and dumped into an unmarked graveyard. As New York expanded over time, no one thought twice about constructing a street over this forgotten resting place. It wasn’t until the 1990s, when 419 bodies were unearthed, that New Yorkers realized how many enslaved Africans had been buried there.
In the years since, a monument has been erected in honor of the forgotten dead. However, the majority of these bodies will remain undisturbed. For the foreseeable future, the buildings along Chambers Street and beyond will continue to stand on top of one of the most disgraceful mass graves in America’s history.
4. The British Building That’s The Most Contaminated In Western Europe
When you hear the phrase “massive European radiation disaster,” what country comes to mind? Most likely, you thought of Ukraine, and understandably so: The Chernobyl disaster is still regarded as the worst nuclear accident ever. However, there is another country that might surprise you. The United Kingdom is home to the most perilous, radiation-soaked building in all of Western Europe.
Sellafield was the UK government's first venture into nuclear energy, and it was a disastrous one. During the 1970s coal miner strikes, the government overworked Sellafield to prevent an energy crisis. In a tragic oversight, they failed to allocate time for proper disposal or cataloging of potentially hazardous materials. Instead, everything was simply tossed into a pool inside two rooms: Building B30 and B38. These rooms are now deemed some of the most dangerous in the world.
From the outside, Sellafield may seem like a regular plant, but New Scientist has labeled it the “world’s riskiest nuclear waste site,” warning that it remains in constant peril of explosions and radiation accidents. The cleanup process, which began in 2009, isn’t expected to be completed until 2120.
3. The Innocuous Houses Used By Serial Killers
One of the unsettling aspects of capturing a serial killer is what to do with their property afterward. While the public and media focus on the trial, local authorities or landlords must decide the fate of the killer’s former residence.
In most cases, it’s a simple decision. Many serial killers commit their crimes away from home, so reselling the house isn’t considered too ethically problematic. In many instances where victims were tortured and killed on the premises, the owners choose demolition—as seen with the former residence of British serial killers Fred and Rose West. But sometimes, landlords opt to continue renting the place out. That’s how you might end up living in a seemingly harmless house that conceals unspeakable horrors.
In 2015, the London flat where serial killer Dennis Nilsen murdered around a dozen young men was put on the market. It’s far from the only property of its kind. The former home of the “crossbow cannibal” Stephen Griffiths is currently rented by a student, who requested the landlord replace the kitchen where he cooked his victims. In an almost ironic twist, the owner of Jeffrey Dahmer’s former residence specifically listed it for rent during the 2016 GOP convention in Ohio.
In conclusion, there are disturbingly many homes where people met gruesome, horrific ends. And these homes could easily be yours to live in. It’s definitely a bizarre world we live in.
2. The Disney Rides With Creepy Secrets
Disneyland promotes itself as the happiest place on Earth. Yet, many of us realize this is more of a marketing gimmick than the absolute truth. Workers have even given the park a dark nickname, referring to it as mousewitz (a cheeky and controversial allusion to Auschwitz). Despite this, some people seem to believe the promotional hype in the most unsettling way. Former employees have shared that Disneyland has long had an eerie issue with mourners scattering the ashes of their deceased loved ones on the rides.
Yes, that’s correct: the very kids you see laughing and playing might be running through the remains of those who have passed. In 2007, a woman was caught pouring what was believed to be human ashes into the water at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, inadvertently triggering a security scare as officials mistook it for a chemical threat. Other incidents have occurred at the Haunted Mansion, which now fittingly lives up to its name.
Disney, of course, denies that this is an ongoing issue. However, many former employees who spoke with the LA Times following the 2007 incident shared that the scattering of ashes had become an unsettlingly common occurrence.
1. The Hospital That Nursed Two German Dictators
Sometimes, a place’s haunted reputation isn’t due to any particular event that took place there, but rather the historical figures connected to it. A perfect example is the Beelitz Heilstatten hospital in Germany. From the outside, it appears as just another dilapidated structure. Yet, this abandoned hospital holds a disturbing historical significance. It was here that Hitler received medical treatment after being injured in a British mustard gas attack during World War I.
To be fair, Hitler passed through numerous locations before making his infamous leap from failed artist to ruthless dictator. If we were to claim that all of these sites held dark secrets, we could easily fill this article with 10 buildings from Berlin and call it a day. What sets Beelitz Heilstatten apart, however, isn’t just that it played a role in restoring Hitler’s sight (a questionable decision). It’s that the staff seemed to have a knack for treating German dictators. Many years after Hitler’s reign ended, another notorious German figure was treated there: Erich Honecker, the East German Communist leader.
Honecker was the leader of the GDR, responsible for both the Berlin Wall and the infamous Stasi. After the wall was torn down by ordinary Germans tired of living divided lives, Honecker sought refuge at Beelitz Heilstatten to recover. If only we could find proof that the Kaiser also sought treatment there, it would complete the trifecta of German despots.
