Bran Castle, Romania, the legendary home of Dracula

Bran Castle, Romania, the legendary home of Dracula

IT’S HALLOWEEN!

What better reason to ponder a trip to some of the world’s eerier places for explorers?  From Dracula’s castle to the mausoleums of New Orleans’ evocative cemeteries, there are plenty of places to pursue a little paranormal in your travels. Check out these five possibilities, for starters:

1)  Want to meet a ghost? Visit the World’s Creepiest Castles, from the 14th-century vampire fortress of Bran in Transylvania’s mountains to Berry Pomeroy in Devon, England, where the White Lady, starved to death by her jealous sister, rises from the top of St. Margaret’s Tower.

2)  See saintly remains in Europe’s “bone churches,” or ossuaries. Picture piles of decorated human skulls that once belonged to monks, or wall art made from human bones and crypts filled with relics. Rome’s Crypt of the Capuchin Monks is particularly spectacular.

Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Italy

Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Italy. Gmihail at Serbian Wikipedia [CC BY-SA 3.0 RS] via Wikimedia Commons.

3) London’s East End is the crime scene for the murder spree of one of the most famous serial killers in the world—Jack the Ripper. Take a walking tour through Whitechapel and Spitalfields, where the Ripper’s ghost, as well as those of several victims, is said to haunt the streets.

Jack The Ripper Alley.

Jack The Ripper Alley. Daniel X. O’Neil [CC BY 2.0] via Flickr

4) While New Orleans’ cemeteries are justifiably famous—veritable white-marble cities of above-ground tombs—there are all kinds of evocative graveyards worth a wander. Check out 12 of the world’s most fascinating cemeteries—not all of them are ‘scary,’ some are simply interesting in their uniqueness.

St. Louis Cemetery, New Orleans

St. Louis Cemetery, New Orleans. Photoartel [CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons.

5) Encounter extraterrestrials in Roswell, New Mexico. The town’s UFO Museum documents the crash of an alleged flying saucer and retrieval of debris and bodies, and the subsequent government cover-up. Visit the museum to evaluate the claims for yourself, and while you’re in Roswell, you may just have a close encounter of your own!

Then again, your exploratory preferences may angle more to the straightforward, natural-world sorts of adventure where frightful fun is provided by big rapids, trekking atop glaciers or kayaking in the sea trails of the early polar explorers.  In that case, we invite you to join one of our exciting Natural Habitat Expeditions trips, and get your scare on with a little outdoor adrenaline infusion! Check out our global line-up online.

Yours in the quest for thrills,

Wendy