We stopped checking for monsters under our bed when we realized they were inside of us.

Charles Darwin

Nothing is quite as creepy as an abandoned town or area on Halloween. Walking through an abandoned nuclear facility will play tricks on your mind and exploring ruined cities that should be teeming with people will have the hair raised on the back of your neck in no time. What was that noise? Am I really alone here?

If you love that creepy sensation, you’ll love these travel destinations even more. Be careful what you wish for though, you might get more tricks that you bargained for on Halloween. Want more Halloween? Check out my previous post for more creepy travel destinations.

Centralia, PA, United States

What says Halloween more than an abandoned mining town that is constantly on fire? The fire started in the coal mine in 1962 and has been burning ever since. Few homes remain standing and residents have long moved away. If you visit, watch where you step. You can take a stroll down the graffiti highway and see steam rising from the cracks in pavement.

Creep Factor: 7/10

Pripyat, Chernobyl, Ukraine

Until the Chernobyl disaster, Pripyat was a town of 49,000 residents. Once the nuclear disaster struck, residents fled the town and many died due to radiation and the resulting cancer. The site will remain uninhabitable for the next 20,000 years, making it the soon-to-be oldest ghost town on earth. It is a popular tourist destination these days and you can view abandoned schoolhouses and an amusement park. Just don’t linger too long in the area.

Creep Factor: 8/10

Hashima Island, Japan

Located 9 miles out to sea near Nagasaki, Hashima Island was once the most densely populated island in the world. Now, it sits completely deserted and in continual disrepair. The island’s tightly packed apartment complexes held miners whose sole job centered around mining the coal beneath the city. Once the coal ran out, the miners left, leaving the city to decay.

Creep Factor: 8/10

Maunsell Sea Forts, England

These giant sea forts might look like At-Ats from Star Wars, but these were actually used against German air raids during WWII. Located in the Thames estuary, these imposing structures definitely remind you of the threat of the past. The forts can be seen from Shoebury Beach on a clear day, but look creepiest when viewed by boat in a cloudy, misty day as they sit completely alone in the water 8 miles off the coast.

Creep Factor: 4/10

Great Train Graveyard, Uyuni, Bolivia

You probably pass one or more graveyards every single day. You probably have never seen the creepiness that is a train graveyard. Bolivia is known more for its salt flats and red lakes, not abandoned spaces. The country wanted to expand its railroad deeper into the country but lost that battle with the indigenous people. Later, the trains were used to haul minerals to the coast until the deposits ran out in the 1940s. Since then, the trains, equipment, and town has been abandoned in the desert.

Creep Factor: 5/10

Beelitz-Heilstätten Hospital, Germany

Just the phrase ‘abandoned German hospital’ should send chills up your spine. This hospital in particular has quite the creepy history. It began its use as a tuberculosis sanitarium, housed mustard gas and machine gun victims in WWI and even treated Hitler at one point. During WWII it treated Nazi soldiers and served as a Soviet military hospital until the fall of the Berlin wall. Today it is largely abandoned with a wing or two reserved for neurological rehabilitation patients. The rest of the hospital is abandoned, left to nature, and looks like the scariest place on earth.

Creep Factor: 11/10

Nicosia International Airport, Cyprus

From 1930-1974 this airport was the picture of success. When Turkish forces invaded, the airport was abandoned and has been left to the elements ever since. Everything is left exactly the way it was almost half a century ago only it has several layers of dust and bird poop and many more creepy crawly inhabitants. Even the planes were left to rot just outside of the terminal windows.

Creep Factor: 5/10

Deception Island, Antarctica

You’ll have to travel quite a ways to the freezing shores of Antarctica to visit this abandoned attraction. The island used to be home to a whaling and research station which had to be abandoned many times over several decades due to volcanic activity. Today, you can visit the deserted research station and explore the rubble of the boilers, beached boats, and other structures. If the derelict buildings won’t creep you out, the sheer isolation of Antarctica will.

Creep Factor: 7/10

Craco, Italy

This Italian town just might be cursed, making it perfect for this list. Since its construction in the 8th century, this hilltop village has fallen victim to earthquakes, wars, and even the Black Plague. Ultimately, it was a landslide that caused all of the inhabitants to abandon Craco in 1963. Today you can enjoy the sites from the top of the town and wander its eerily abandoned streets.

Creep Factor: 4/10

St. George’s Church, Luková, Czech Republic

Abandoned churches tend to be creepier than most, but this one has an added allure and creep factor. Built in the 1300s, the church has survived several fires and a roof caving in. Afterwards, the congregation became convinced the church was haunted and refused to enter the building. In 2012, an art student had an idea to install ghost sculptures of congregationalists to draw people back to the church. 30 of these ghosts now sit in the church, making it seem more than haunted.

Creep Factor: 9/10