From a forest of restless souls to a haunted theatre, we count fifteen bone-chillingly convincing accounts of ghosts and the supernatural!
15 – Chained Man in Ancient Athens,
- Told by Pliny the Younger, this famous ghost story originated in Ancient Rome.
- An uninhabited house in Athens was haunted by the spirit of a frail, bearded man. The spirit announced its presence by rattling the heavy iron chains it wore at the time of death, terrifying anyone brave enough to enter.
- The manor developed a bad reputation and could not be rented out. Eventually a bold sceptic named Athenodorus stayed there to disprove the rumours – only to be tormented night after night by the ghostly rattling.
- One night, Athenodorus followed the unbearable noises out to the courtyard. The ghost appeared and gestured to a spot on the ground, then vanished. After what must’ve been the longest night of his life, Athenodorus succumbed to his curiosity and dug up the spot the next morning.
- He unearthed a decayed skeleton bound in chains. The corpse was publicly burned and the ghost at long last departed.
14 – Marie Laveau,
- This New Orlean Voodoo priestess lived sometime in the mid-1800s. In her day job, she cut hair for wealthy white socialites, but was also feared and renowned for her incredible supernatural abilities and widespread influence.
- Incredibly, she once held an audience of twelve thousand during one of her famous voodoo rites. Imagine how many subscribers she’d have if YouTube was around back then …
- Laveau died in 1881 and the crypt she is buried in is considered the most haunted in America. Visitors claim to have seen Laveau’s spirit pacing about, wearing her trademark turban and whispering Santeria Voodoo curses to disrespectful gawkers.
- Visitors today still leave offerings of candles, flowers and Voodoo dolls in the hopes that Laveau will bestow them with supernatural blessings. Or they could do it out of fear.
13 – Exorcism of Roland Doe,
- In 1949, a Maryland boy – known by the alias ‘Roland Doe’ – had an exorcism performed on him by a group of Roman Catholic priests.
- According to diaries kept by Father Raymond Bishop, ‘Roland’ started exhibiting signs of possession at thirteen after messing around with a ouija board, trying to contact his dead aunt.
- Roland was said to possess impossible strength, the ability to speak ancient languages and he could levitate his mattress. Doctors refused to believe Roland had supernatural abilities, evaluating him ‘psychologically troubled’.
- However, a gruesome exorcism still took place, which inspired the 1971 novel The Exorcist and the 1973 film of the same name.
- Nine priests and thirty-nine other witnesses have described moving furniture, scratching sounds in the walls, the words ‘hell’ and ‘evil’ appearing on the boy’s skin, and the sound of an explosion when the exorcism ritual was finally completed.
12 – Aokigahara Woods,
- The Aokigahara Woods – AKA the Suicide Forest – are located at the foot of Mount Fuji and are famously home to the spirits of dozens of suicide victims. The site is infamously the destination of choice for troubled Japanese citizens looking to end their lives.
- Signs have been erected throughout the forest, urging those with suicidal tendencies to seek help, but the phenomenon continues, with over a hundred suicides reported there each year.
- In Japanese culture, those who die in sudden, unnatural or violent manners, or die with strong negative feelings, become restless spirits called Yūrei. Yūrei are said to haunt Aokigahara Forest in large numbers, particularly between two and three am. This is Japan’s ‘witching hour’; i.e. the time when the veil between the physical and spiritual world is at its thinnest.
- Many bodies are never found or are eaten by wild animals. They’re not given a proper burial, so it’s no wonder lost spirits roam the woods in such abundance.
11 – Indiana Haunting,
- In 2011, the Ammons family moved into a rental house in Gary, Indiana where they were harassed by demons. Big black flies swarmed their porch, despite it being winter. They killed them again and again, but the flies kept returning.
- The family recurringly heard heavy footsteps and creaking doors after midnight, but no one was ever there. One family member woke one night to a shadowy figure pacing. She leapt out of bed and found large, wet bootprints on the ground.
- In 2012, family members witnessed the daughter levitating above her bed. Soon after, all three children began behaving erratically. One had morbid conversations with an invisible boy, another claimed she was being choked by invisible forces, and all three cursed in a demonic voice at their family doctor.
- Child Protection Services eventually intervened, but found the mother of the family to be of sound mind. The family insist the incidents were caused by demonic possession, and several professional third parties – including doctors, nurses and several members of the local law enforcement – corroborated their claims.