Step into a world of wonder. Part of you doesn’t want to look, the part that scares easily, that thinks the best place for bones is in the body, not decorating a church in macabre sculptures. The other part of you can’t stop looking. This mixed feeling runs through most people who visit the spooky Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic, and that speaks to the special attraction we have to strange and mysterious places. In the pages of this magazine, take a can’t-help-but-peek tour of creepy but cool locations around the world, like the island where a tortured man hung broken dolls from every tree, or the isolated Australian spot that every year is invaded by so many crabs marching to the beach that the locals have to set up roadblocks and sweep them off the streets. Take a ride down Nevada’s Extraterrestrial Highway and look out for UFOs, or visit a Texas graveyard where they say an outer space alien is buried. Travel to Pompeii, where the final agonizing moments of ancient volcano victims are encased in plaster casts, step into the dark halls of the Great Pyramid of Giza and brace yourself for its reputed cosmic powers, or wonder at the skyscrapers the people of Yemen erected hundreds of years ago out of brick and mud. And stand upon the banks of California’s Salton Sea and try to imagine the days when this dusty hellscape was a popular Mediterranean-style resort for celebrities. No matter where you go, you’ll swear the mind is playing tricks on you— until you realize, it’s all right there in front of your face.
THE WORLD’S MOST MYSTERIOUS PLACES®
STEP INTO A WORLD OF WONDERS
CREEPY AND FOREBODING • WHEN MYSTERY MEETS GUILTY PLEASURES, EERIE CHURCHES, DARK CATACOMBS AND FORGOTTEN RUINS BOTH FASCINATE AND REPEL.
The Church Decorated With MILLIONS OF BONES • THE SEDLEC OSSUARY IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC EVEN HAS A CHANDELIER ADORNED WITH SKULLS.
Tortured Souls at the SUICIDE FOREST • SOME COME TO JAPAN’S SEA OF TREES TO DIE, WHILE OTHERS MAY FALL VICTIM TO THIS DARK, DISORIENTING WORLD.
Where Broken Dolls Come to LIFE AT NIGHT • A HORROR MOVIE IS IN THE WORKS BASED ON THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE MACABRE TABLEAUX ON MEXICO’S ISLAND OF THE DOLLS.
Haunted by a Creature With GLOWING EYES • A GHOSTLY PRESENCE IN A DANK CELL AT ALCATRAZ RATTLES VISITORS TO THE SHUTTERED CALIFORNIA FORTRESS.
Teens Lost in THE PARIS CATACOMBS • A DARK AND CONFUSING MAZE OF TUNNELS FILLED WITH BONES LURKS UNDER THE CITY OF LIGHTS.
Italy’s Eerie ISLAND OF DEATH • ITALIAN AUTHORITIES FORBID PEOPLE FROM VISITING THIS FORMER QUARANTINE STATION AND MENTAL HOSPITAL.
A Church Filled With FACELESS FIGURES • LIFE-SIZE SCULPTURES SHROUDED IN WHITE SIT IN SOMBER SILENCE AS A HAUNTING REMINDER OF PAST WRONGS.
Millions of Crabs Swarm Across ROADS AND HOMES • RESIDENTS SWEEP THE CRITTERS OFF DOORSTEPS IN THE ANNUAL MIGRATION ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND.
A Virgin Monk Stands Guard Over THE ARK OF THE COVENANT • AN ETHIOPIAN CHURCH IS GUARDED BY A CLERIC FORBIDDEN TO LEAVE THE CHAPEL GROUNDS UNTIL HE DIES.
The Doomsday Vault Where the WORLD’S SEEDS ARE KEPT • THE NORWAY FACILITY SAFEGUARDS MORE THAN A MILLION SEED VARIETIES IN CASE OF NATURAL CATASTROPHES OR WAR.
A Nuclear Bunker Hidden 60 STORIES UNDERGROUND • THE RAVEN ROCK MOUNTAIN COMPLEX IS A U.S. MILITARY INSTALLATION IN PENNSYLVANIA.
The Volcano Where THE FIRES BURN BLUE • NATURE PUTS ON A LIGHT SHOW AT THE TOP OF THIS INDONESIAN MOUNTAIN—JUST BE CAREFUL INHALING.
A Sculpture Garden Where the STATUES HAVE REAL TEETH • HAUNTING LIFE-SIZE HUMAN FIGURES WITH TERRIFYING GRINS POPULATE A FINNISH MAN’S PROPERTY.
5 Spots With UNUSUAL ENERGY • HAVE YOU EVER VISITED A PLACE AND FELT OVERCOME WITH A STRANGE FEELING?
WHERE TO HUNT FOR ETs • IT MAY ONLY BE...
