Spooky “Dark Tourism” Destinations

Suicide Forest, Japan
If it is called “Suicide” anything then it can’t possibly be in honour of anything pleasant now can it? Officially called Aokigahara, the Suicide Forest is a 4 square miles forest that lies at the northwest base of Mount Fuji in Japan. Historically associated with demons in Japanese mythology, the forest has such a dense tree distribution that it literally blocks winds, making it exceptionally quiet and eerie place. There are many signs in both English and Japanese pleading people to reconsider but for whatever reason, this place is a hot spot for suicides.
Oradour-sur-Glane, France
Located in the Limousin region in west-central France, Oradour-sur-Glane is a small village that was a site of horrible massacre by a German Waffen-SS company in the WWII. In June 1944, after the D-Day invasion of Normandy, Oradour-sur-Glane was sealed off by a German battalion, after rumours had circulated that an SS officer was being held prisoner in the area. The villagers were assembled and told their papers were to be examined. Instead, they were slaughtered (men, women and children) as punishment. By order of the French president, the village has never been rebuilt.

Banff Springs Hotel, Alberta, Canada
Built in 1888 as one of Canada’s grand railway hotels, the Banff Springs Hotel is rumoured to be one of the most haunted places in the country. Many people have reported seeing the ghost of a woman dancing gin the ballroom. She lost her life on her wedding day after her dress caught fire from the candles along the hall and she tumbled to her death, breaking her neck as she fell. The most popular story though, is the one about a family that was murdered in room 873. The door to this room has since been bricked up, but the family that lost their lives in there, are still seen to this day, often in the hallway outside the room.
Pripyat, Ukraine
Pripyat is the site of the Chernobyl disaster of April 1986, which was the worst nuclear power plant accident in human history, releasing large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the western USSR and Europe. Only thirty one people died from the accident itself with countless more being affected in the aftermath.

Pompeii, Italy
Today, Pompeii is UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy, as a result of its Roman history. Founded in the seventh or sixth century BC, the advanced and modern town was destroyed and buried under up to 20 feet of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The eruption killed many of the town´s 11,000 population and the site was lost for about 1,500 years until it was rediscovered in 1599. The objects that lay beneath the city have been well preserved for centuries because of the lack of air and moisture. During the excavation, plaster was used to fill in the voids between the ash layers that once held human bodies. This allowed one to see the exact position the person was in when they died.
Built by the Irish O’Bannon clan in the 13th century, the castle is rumoured to be haunted by a vast number of spirits, including a violent, hunched supernatural entity known as the Elemental, most recognizable by the accompanying smell of rotting flesh and sulphur. The site is home to many past atrocities including fratricide and executions. The dungeon housed executions and included spikes on to which bodies were thrown.