Scary

I’ve always been a fan of stories that send shivers down my spine.

When younger, my overactive imagination would imagine monsters and ghosts lurking in every nook and cranny of my house. It took some time to get over certain stories.

Even now, after watching a particularly scary movie, I will end up cautiously walking home, wondering what’s making that bush rustle.

The adrenaline shot is fun.

And so when I travel I also look for scary stories. Hauntings, mysteries, folklore – they all feature in this list of articles of course. Most destinations aren’t as scary as you’d think.

Or maybe not at first ?

1. The Red Tower of Death - In western Czechia, there is a grim reminder of how the Communists treated prisoners. This article explains what the Red Tower of Death is, and why it exists.
2. The occult plot to kill Hitler - Before World War II, Czechoslovak occultists tried to use black magic to kill Hitler. It sounds like the plot to a Hollywood B-movie, and in some ways it is. But it also is 100% true.
3. The results of a nuclear incident in Czechoslovakia - I don't think there's anyone who hasn't heard of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe. The recent Sky drama reanimated people's memories of those days. Few are aware there almost was a similar disaster in Bohunice, in what was then Czechoslovakia.
4. The man who was buried alive - There are many legends of accidental burial. I hadn't encountered a real story about this sort of thing until I saw the tomb of Count Mitrovice in the ⛪️ Basilica of St James in Prague's Old Town.
5. The hidden secret of the Leiden explosion - Standards around handling gunpowder were lax in the early 19th century. In the Netherlands this led to the Leiden explosion that rocked the city. The authorities immediately covered up the truth behind this catastrophe.
6. Do you know about the explosion in Birgu? - One of Malta's worst peacetime disasters took place in 1806. A military gunpowder store exploded in Birgu, across the harbour from Valletta.
7. Houska Castle and the gates to hell - Houska Castle is a thirteenth century castle in the middle of a large unpopulated area in Bohemia. It's only an hour's drive north from Prague which makes it perfect for a day trip if you don't mind visiting the gates of hell ?
8. The Hated and Feared Czech Witch Hunter - In 1678, Jindřich František Boblig arrived in the small town of Velke Losiny in Northern Moravia. It was the beginning of a horrifying nightmare from the region. Boblig was one of the Inquisition's ?witch-hunters.
9. The crazy and odd ghost stories of Oslo Castle - The cold air, buffeted by Arctic temperatures, billowed around me as I strolled across the pedestrianised square in front of Oslo's Rathuset, or City Hall. I dodged one of the clunky blue trams as I headed towards the fortifications of the city's Akershus Castle.
10. The Secret of the Grey Lady haunting Fort St Angelo - There are many ? stories of Grey Ladies that haunt certain places. It's interesting that most of these ghosts that wish to warn the living about something or other. The Grey Lady of Malta's Fort St Angelo is no exception.