Travel Tuesday - Spooky Places

Take a virtual tour of the Catacombs (directions are in French but there's symbols to move around!).

Learn more about the Parisian Catacombs from this Smithsonian Magazine article, and beware... you enter the "empire of death."

Explore the haunting scenes of the abandoned city of Pripyat, in the exclusion zone after the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in April 1986.

Back in the 1600’s, Mary King’s Close was at the heart of Edinburgh’s busiest and most vibrant streets. Why would this street find itself underground 400 years later?

For years, the hidden Closes of Old Town Edinburgh have been shrouded in myths and mysteries, with blood curdling tales of ghosts and murders, and of plague victims being walled up and left to die. Research and archaeological evidence has revealed a truer story, rooted in fact and, as is so often the case – more fascinating than any amount of fiction. Still, you can read more about one particular ghost, Annie and decide for yourself...

Visit the famous prison where dangerous inmates like "Machine Gun" Kelly and Al Capone were kept behind bars. There are many stories of visitors hearing crying and moaning, and eerie banjo playing thought be Al Capone's spirit, still playing. There's also the malevolent spirit that supposedly killed an inmate in cell 14D in the 1940s. Visitors report cell 14D is significantly colder than surrounding cells, and a strange sense of dread envelops them when they enter.

Learn more about The Rock here.

Want some scary stories from closer to home?

Maybe you've heard of Alice Flagg, who still looks for her lost ring or poor Julia Legare, who was buried alive?

Explore even more ghosts and legends of South Carolina!

Eastern State Penitentiary was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, but stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling cellblocks and empty guard towers. Its vaulted, sky-lit cells once held many of America's most notorious lawbreakers, including "Scarface" Al Capone, whose cell has been restored to look just like it did when he was imprisoned. Explore the penitentiary in this virtual tour, and make sure to click "view on Google maps" to be able to wander around yourself!

Fun Fact: the Penitentiary becomes a massive haunted attraction every Halloween.