Ten Arctic Circle Ghost Tales

From the eerie, icy opening of Mary Shelley's original Frankenstein to the chilling Arctic terror found in John Carpenter’s The Thing, it's clear that the cold, barren tundra biome provides the perfect setting for horror stories. The vast, frost-covered expanses at the planet's poles are terrifying enough, should one ever find themselves lost in them.

But imagine if something supernatural lurked in these wintery landscapes? According to legend, ghost stories abound in the far north. While some claim Antarctica has its own haunted corners, this list will focus on ten ghostly tales from above the Arctic Circle.

10. King William Island Zombies

The first entry on this list deviates from the traditional ghost story, as the Natsilik Inuit of King William Island tell tales of invasions by a different kind of undead: zombies. Originally called “Quikiqtak,” King William Island is located in Nunavut, discovered by British explorers in 1830. However, the indigenous people had been living there long before that.

Living so far north, the Natsilik Inuit had never encountered other indigenous peoples, let alone white European explorers. So when reports of sightings of shambling, blue-skinned figures surfaced, tales of the undead wandering once more emerged. Many expeditions in the Arctic Circle ended tragically, with explorers, especially the ill-fated 1845 British Franklin expedition, often found frozen to death. These “Death Marches” were real, though some stories surfaced when no official expeditions had been documented in the area. Perhaps these lost explorers became ghosts after all.

9. Kola Superdeep Borehole

During the Cold War, many Soviet achievements were shrouded in secrecy, but one known fact was that the USSR succeeded in drilling the deepest man-made hole on the Kola Peninsula, a project that lasted from 1970 to 1994. The hole reached a staggering 40,230 feet (12,262 meters) into the Earth's crust, a depth greater than that of the Mariana Trench. However, this incredible accomplishment was accompanied by numerous rumors.

It is generally believed that the project was abandoned due to a lack of funds, but some speculations suggest that the drill unintentionally broke into a scorching underground cavern. Allegedly, microphones recorded the “screams of the damned,” driving the scientists to madness. There are even claims that they had drilled their way to Hell itself, although this entry is most likely a mere urban legend.

8. Ghosts of Tromsø

With a population surpassing 70,000 in 2022, Tromsø, Norway, stands as the third most populous city above the Arctic Circle. While not the oldest town in Scandinavia, Tromsø was officially founded in 1838, giving ample opportunity for those seeking a long-enough history to uncover ghost stories.

Local legends tell of sea trolls and wraith-like spirits haunting the shorelines, stalking the beach in search of prey under the cover of darkness. Ghostly apparitions have been spotted in every building throughout the downtown area. This could be due to the city center being built upon an ancient burial ground. Historian Aesgir Johansen even leads a Tromsø Ghost Walk through the frosty streets.

7. Arctic Circle Hot Springs Resort

While the hot springs in question are just below the Arctic Circle, parts of the land originally claimed by Franklin Leach in 1906 extend far enough north to count. Circle Hot Springs was a booming town during the Yukon Gold Rush, after being settled by the Athabascan people. Eventually, however, the town became a ghost town when the gold supply ran out.

Much later, a resort was established in the area, and particularly in the 1990s, the owners reported experiencing strange poltergeist phenomena. Objects would fly across the room, footsteps would be heard when no one was around, and a translucent, ethereal figure of a woman was frequently seen. Many believe this to be the ghost of Emma Leach, the wife of Franklin Leach, who is buried on the property.

6. The SS Baychimo

This next tale brings us to the Arctic Ocean, where it is said that the ghostly apparition of a ship occasionally haunts the waters near the Sea Horse Islands, located near Point Barrow in Alaska. The SS Baychimo, a Swedish cargo steamer, had been in service for two decades before it became trapped in ice and was abandoned in 1931. The ship later broke free and drifted aimlessly across the Arctic, unclaimed by any who came to recover it.

Unlike typical ghost ship tales, sightings of the SS Baychimo were genuine accounts of an abandoned vessel, and some individuals even managed to board the ship during the 1930s. Sightings of the ship continued into 1969, reported by Inuit inhabitants or other explorers. However, none dared to approach or attempt to salvage it again. Despite a concentrated effort in 2006 to locate its wreckage, the ship’s remains were never found. Some still claim that the apparition of the SS Baychimo silently floats across the Arctic’s icy waters.

5. Salekhard-Igarka Railway

Between 1947 and 1953, prisoners in Soviet gulags were forced to construct more than eight hundred miles of railway track across the frozen Siberian North. The project was halted after Stalin's death in 1953, leaving only half of the railway completed. However, the Salekhard-Igarka railway’s grim legacy was cemented by the deaths of over 300,000 prisoners during its construction.

Over time, the unfinished railway became known as “Stalin’s Railway of Death,” and the deaths were not only due to grueling labor. Many prisoners succumbed to blood loss from the swarming mosquitoes that infested the area. The ruined, crumbling structures still stand today, and some urban explorers report hearing eerie screams, the sounds of long-lost laborers, and other ghostly phenomena amid the decaying remnants.

4. Qivittoq

The next legend on this list comes from the chilly expanse of Greenland, a land whose name is ironically warmer than the reality it holds. The tale of the Qivittoq isn't about one ghost but a series of spectral beings that wander the frozen wilderness. The people of Greenland speak of enormous, shadowy figures that roam the icy plains, stalking those unlucky enough to encounter them.

The term 'Qivittoq' refers to individuals cast out from their communities, left to perish in the harsh cold. However, over time, rumors began to spread that these exiled people had somehow survived against all odds in the tundra. Some believe their uncanny survival skills—perhaps honed from desperation—explain their chilling tendency to hunt the living. The legend of the Qivittoq gained widespread attention through a 1956 Danish film, aptly named Qivitoq, though it omitted one of the 'T's in the title.

3. The Phantom Trapper of Labrador

In the snowy wilds of Labrador, Canada, a ghost is said to haunt the land, known simply as 'Smoker' to those who recount his eerie tale. The man, whose real name was reportedly Esau, began his life as a trapper in the icy north, but met with little success. He eventually turned to brewing moonshine, which brought him into frequent conflict with the Mounted Police. This only fueled his determination to continue on his dubious path.

He donned a full suit of pure white furs, accompanied by a team of all-white huskies, in order to blend seamlessly with the snow and escape detection. For a time, his plan succeeded, but after a drunken fall, the bootlegger fractured his back in the unforgiving northern wilderness, where he ultimately perished. Yet some claim to witness a spectral trapper, eternally traversing the snow-covered landscapes of Northern Canada. It is said that before his death, he cried out to God, pleading to remain a ghost, fearing he would be condemned to Hell.

2. The Myling

The chilling legend of the Myling is deeply entrenched in Scandinavian folklore, ranking among the darkest tales of Norse mythology. However, these spirits gained greater notoriety as Christianity began to take hold in Scandinavia. The Mylingar are said to be the restless ghosts of children born out of wedlock, abandoned by their mothers in the wilderness to die, as both would face punishment by the church for their transgression.

Many believed that because the child was unbaptized, they were doomed to an existence as a wandering ghost. Unlike typical spirits, however, the Myling does more than haunt a particular place—it cries out incessantly for years, disturbing anyone who comes near, begging for a name. Some of the more vengeful Mylings aim to reveal their mothers’ shame, often manifesting on the day of the mother's wedding to expose the long-hidden secret.

1. The Ghost of Augustus Peers

In 1853, Augustus Peers, a fur trader, passed away in his thirties from natural causes. Before his death, however, he made his wishes known—he did not want to be buried at his place of work, Fort McPherson. In response, a fellow worker and dogsled driver, Roderick Macfarlane, offered to transport Peers's body down the Mackenzie River to a more suitable resting place.

What transpired during the journey, however, would make Macfarlane unlikely to volunteer for such a task again. As recorded in his journal, Macfarlane reported hearing a commanding voice, seemingly from nowhere, instructing the dogs to guard the body from wild animals. The dogs obeyed, but that was only the beginning of the strange events. A ghostly figure would appear outside Macfarlane's tent during the night, terrifying him beyond measure.