Post‑mortem photography, or photographing the dead, gave rise to some truly gruesome accounts that still send shivers down our spines today. Back in the 19th century, when mortality rates were sky‑high, people turned to the camera to remember loved ones—or to make a quick buck. Below we dive into ten of the most unsettling stories behind those dead‑pan portraits.

Gruesome Accounts of Early Post‑Mortem Photography

10 Profiting From The Dead

A 1900 newspaper article recounted a daring photographer who set up shop on the Antietam battlefield three days after the infamous Civil War clash that left over 22,000 casualties. While navigating the grisly scene, he accidentally planted a camera leg on the chest of a dead Union drummer boy whose shallow burial left only his blouse buttons and a foot visible. He confessed, “It would be useless to go over the scene of that carnage again… I was nervous and excited… when I unwittingly planted one leg of the camera stand on the chest of a dead union drummer boy.” He snapped the picture, printed it, and sold each copy for 50 cents to a dollar, raking in nearly $2,000 in just two weeks.

9 Posing Dead Bodies

In the late 1800s a Chicago photographer, desperate for work, turned to the death columns of local newspapers. He visited grieving families and offered to photograph their recently deceased loved ones. One chilling anecdote describes him waiting until a dying father took his final breath, then arranging the corpse in a chair, holding the eyes open with stiff mucilage, and crossing the legs. In another case he retrieved a body from an icebox, propped it up, and snapped a picture that, despite its ghastliness, pleased the family. To make the subjects look livelier, he stuffed their cheeks with cotton, used pins or mucilage to keep eyes open, and sometimes hired artists to paint over blemishes and add eyes to the final image.

8 Photographing The Eyes Of The Murdered

A 1904 newspaper piece highlighted a popular belief that a murder victim’s eyes might retain the image of the assailant. The theory prompted Kansas City police in 1885 to photograph the eyes of murder victim Katie Conway, hoping that microscopic examination would reveal the killer’s face. The experiment, however, yielded no such revelation.

7 The New York Morgue

By the late 1800s, Bellevue Hospital superintendent invented a system to photograph unidentified bodies before they entered the “dead house.” By autumn 1885, a gallery of over 600 such photographs existed. Negatives were meticulously filed, allowing relatives to potentially recognize a lost loved one and keep a keepsake. In cases where bodies were too mutilated for visual identification, clothing and personal effects were cataloged for up to three months to aid families in their search.

6 One Last Picture

After a woman died on February 8, 1887, her husband became obsessed with capturing a final image of her. Ignoring pleas from her mother, he, along with the sexton and assistants, exhumed the freshly sealed grave in early March. A crowd gathered, the mother wept, and townsfolk threatened the man, yet he persisted. The coffin was opened, the lid lifted, and a photograph was taken before the body was re‑buried. Locals in Avon, Michigan, deemed the husband mad, with one onlooker proclaiming, “We’ll yet make a black bird of him that’ll smell of tar.”

5 Ghouls And Camera Fiends

When the September 8, 1900 Galveston hurricane claimed between 6,000 and 12,000 lives, the military was tasked with eliminating anyone looting the dead. Soldiers shot 125 self‑styled “ghouls.” Even worse were the “camera fiends” who roamed the disaster zone snapping pictures of nude corpses for profit. Two such photographers were caught, shot, and had their cameras smashed, with all negatives destroyed. Survivors later burned the bodies on funeral pyres to stave off disease.

4 Pinning On Clothing

By 1885, the surge in post‑mortem photography turned the trade into a lucrative yet controversial business. A newspaper reported a photographer so accustomed to his craft that when a drapery slipped on a posed corpse, he simply ripped a pin from his waistcoat and nailed the fabric to the flesh, arguing the dead felt nothing. Public discomfort grew, prompting many photographers to advertise compassion for the deceased or to conduct sessions in private.

3 Photographing Death Itself

In 1897, a professor claimed to have captured “death” itself using mysterious “Kritik rays” emitted from a vacuum tube. He asserted that these rays penetrated the body instantly, producing distinct images on photographic plates that differed between living and dead tissue. He imagined a future where hospitals could definitively determine life or death with this technique, a notion that fed contemporary fears of premature burial.

2 Diagnosed With Necrophilism

In 1911, the notorious poisoner Louise Vermilya sparked a media frenzy, prompting doctors to search for a medical explanation for her murders. They posited “necrophilism” (now known as necrophilia) as a possible diagnosis, which, if confirmed, could have spared her criminal responsibility and placed her in an asylum. Prior to her capture, neighbors noted her fascination with the dead: she helped with embalming and kept a “Death Chamber” where walls were plastered with photographs of corpses and cemeteries. The coroner declared her ghoulish delight in death could only be explained by necrophilism.

1 The Innocence Of Babies

Infant mortality in 1900 was a heartbreaking 165 per 1,000 births, starkly contrasting today’s seven per 1,000. One grieving mother, clutching her newborn wrapped in a blue shawl, begged a photographer for a portrait of her child. When the photographer finally saw the tiny, lifeless face, he exclaimed, “Why, good heavens, woman, the child is dead!” Yet the mother persisted, insisting on a photograph to forever remember her baby. Such images became a solemn keepsake for families mourning the loss of their youngest members.

Throughout history, humanity has launched countless spiritual scientific quests to outwit mortality. From laboratory experiments that made hearts thump again to prophetic sermons promising resurrection, the desire to raise the dead has sparked both awe and controversy.

Spiritual Scientific Pursuits Across Time

10 Alexsei Kuliabko

Aleksei Kuliabko, a Russian physiologist stationed at the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg around the turn of the 20th century, was already reviving animal hearts that had been removed for up to five days by 1902. The following year he turned his attention to humans. His first human subject was a three‑month‑old infant who had died of natural causes; two days after the baby’s death, Kuliabko managed to coax the tiny heart back into beating.

While restarting an entire human body was a monumental leap, Kuliabko’s daring experiments captured worldwide headlines. Newspapers praised his achievements and reassured the public that a full‑body resurrection was merely a matter of time. Promotional photographs often featured Kuliabko beside unsettling laboratory apparatus, blurring the line between science fiction and emerging fact.

According to contemporary reports, Kuliabko attempted to reanimate a man who had been dead for a day after a surgical mishap. With the assistance of pharmacist Fyodor Andreyev, he flooded the corpse’s vasculature with a cocktail of calcium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, dextrose, and adrenaline. The heart began to pulse, and the lifeless body allegedly emitted a chilling death rattle that sent assistants fleeing. After keeping the heart beating for twenty minutes, Kuliabko halted the experiment.

9 John Lacy

John Lacy, an English justice of the peace, became entangled with the 18th‑century French Prophets movement, a group that challenged Anglican doctrine by, among other things, claiming black was the Devil’s color while wearing black themselves. Upper‑class supporters like Lacy gave the Prophets a foothold in London, though their radical ideas ultimately alienated many.

Lacy claimed occasional possession by the divine, producing automatic writings he never remembered and delivering prophecies in Latin, Greek, and French. Critics noted his linguistic training and his poor pronunciation, suggesting he was simply reciting learned phrases.

In 1708, Lacy announced plans to resurrect Dr. Thomas Emes, who had died on December 22. A twelve‑year‑old prophetess predicted Emes would rise on May 25. The faithful donned green ribbons to mark themselves as pure, and Lacy continued his healing ministry. On the appointed day, roughly 20,000 spectators gathered, but the miracle never materialized. Emes remained in his grave, and Lacy’s failure turned his followers’ belief into ridicule, even though he later expressed doubt about the resurrection’s feasibility.

8 Lorenzo Snow

In 1889, Lorenzo Snow, a recently released Mormon leader who had served time for violating anti‑polygamy laws, rose to become President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Two years later, his niece Ella Jensen died at 10 a.m. while Snow was delivering a sermon.

Upon learning of her death, Snow rushed to her home, anointed her with consecrated oil, and declared, “Dear Ella, I command you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to come back and live; your mission is not yet ended.” He reassured her parents and left the room. An hour later, Ella reportedly sat up, asked for Snow, and claimed he had called her back to life.

7 Lazzaro Spallanzani And Anton Van Leeuwenhoek

Lazzaro Spallanzani, an Italian scientist famed for his work on spontaneous generation, also investigated regeneration in animals such as worms, frogs, and salamanders. He famously revived microscopic organisms he named “il Tardigrado” (the slow‑stepper) by re‑hydrating them after they had dried out.

Earlier, in 1702, Dutch microscopist Anton van Leeuwenhoek observed rotifers that, when dried, appeared lifeless but sprang back to life upon the addition of water. While rotifers can survive only brief desiccation, later research in the 1940s suggested that tardigrades might endure drying for up to 120 years, though successful revival has been documented for specimens dried for as long as eight years. Scientists believe these creatures enter a cryptobiotic state, reducing metabolic activity to a mere 0.01 % of normal and possibly producing protective chemicals that enable them to cheat death.

6 Elijah Pierson

In the early 19th century United States, religious sects proliferated, and Elijah Pierson, together with his wife Sarah, joined a movement that advocated extreme fasting, constant prayer, and a disdain for the poor. When Sarah contracted tuberculosis, Elijah interpreted her illness as a divine test. He recorded a vision in which God promised her recovery and instructed him to adopt the name Elijah the Tishbite, positioning him as a future prophet.

After Sarah’s death, Pierson gathered his followers to anoint her corpse and pray for resurrection. Witnesses, including her father, Reverend John Stanford, described the experience as “ill and depressed in mind.” Sarah never rose, but a follower claimed her spirit would inhabit another woman, Frances Folger, who was predicted to bear Pierson’s child.

Grief consumed Pierson, and on July 28, 1834, he was mysteriously poisoned and died alongside Sarah. The only suspect was former housekeeper Isabella Van Wagenen—better known today as Sojourner Truth—who later sued Folger for libel and won.

5 The Society For The Recovery Of Persons Apparently Drowned

Founded in 1774 by William Hawes and Thomas Cogan, the Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned—now the Royal Humane Society—sought to combat the tragic loss of life from Thames drownings. Cogan translated a Dutch study demonstrating that forced air into the lungs could revive drowning victims, and he partnered with Hawes to disseminate this knowledge.

King George III endorsed the society in 1783, leading to the establishment of a network of doctors and surgeons stationed in homes and pubs along the river. They supplied resuscitation equipment and offered monetary rewards to both rescuers and pub owners who facilitated life‑saving efforts.

The reward system, however, attracted fraudsters who staged fake rescues by having one participant pretend to drown while another “miraculously” revived him. The scheme became so widespread that the society eventually began issuing certificates rather than cash.

4 Sergei Bryukhonenko

In 1925, Russian scientist Sergei Bryukhonenko unveiled his “autojektor” at the Second Congress of Russian Pathologists. The device circulated blood through a glass chamber, re‑oxygenated it, and pumped it back into an organism. Bryukhonenko famously kept a dog’s head alive for 100 minutes, a demonstration that failed to wow the audience.A year and a half later, the press spotlighted his work, sparking public outrage—not over the gruesome experiments, but over the lack of state funding. The uproar prompted a substantial grant from the People’s Commissariat for the Protection of Health. Rumors claimed Bryukhonenko later attached the autojektor to a human corpse that had been dead for three hours after a suicide, briefly reviving heartbeats, throat sounds, and eye movements before the team shut the machine off after two minutes.

3 The Dead Raising Team

Tyler Johnson leads the Dead Raising Team, a collective of Christian healers who interpret Matthew 10:8—“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons”—as a universal mandate. By 2014, the group claimed to have restored life to eleven individuals through faith‑based prayer.

Johnson boasts that police sometimes clear barricades for him to pray over accident victims, yet he refuses to disclose the identities of those he allegedly resurrected. The team runs a “School of Resurrection” to teach anyone interested in the purported gift.

Other modern groups, such as Global Awakening, also assert the ability to raise the dead, citing cases like an American heart surgeon who allegedly revived a patient through simultaneous prayer and defibrillation.

2 Smith Wigglesworth

In 1907, Smith Wigglesworth transformed from a shy plumber‑to‑be into a charismatic Pentecostal evangelist. He taught that illness represented a spiritual battle between God and the Devil, and that unwavering faith alone could conquer any ailment.

Wigglesworth toured Europe and the United States, drawing crowds of tens of thousands, even as the Swedish government barred him from practicing the laying‑on‑of‑hands. Tragically, both his wife and daughter died young, which he interpreted as a sign that he had not yet attained sufficient spiritual strength.

Believers claim Wigglesworth raised at least fourteen people from the dead, including a man found lying in a coffin at a funeral home. After two failed attempts, the third attempt allegedly caused the man to cough, stand, and exit the funeral home under his own power. Another story recounts him reviving a close friend, who not only survived the near‑death experience but lived a long life thereafter.

1 John Dee And Edward Kelley

John Dee, the renowned Elizabethan astronomer and royal advisor, partnered with the alchemist Edward Kelley in a saga that straddles history and legend. According to Lancashire folklore, the duo was summoned to St. Leonard’s Churchyard late in the 16th century to exhume the corpse of a wealthy man who had taken the secret of his fortune to the grave.

Kelley performed a ritual over the decaying body, prompting the dead man’s eyes to open and reveal the location of his treasure. He also imparted prophetic knowledge about local inhabitants, predictions that allegedly proved accurate.

Centuries later, archaeologists uncovered the Cuerdale Hoard—a massive Viking‑era cache of roughly 8,600 silver coins—near the same churchyard. The hoard, buried between 905 and 910, was eventually divided among the excavation team and deposited in the British Museum, lending a tantalizing historical echo to the earlier resurrection tale.

Necropolises—known as cities dead—dot the globe, from ancient burial grounds to modern megacemeteries. Their layouts, rituals, and buried treasures reveal the hopes, fears, and customs of the living.

Cities Dead: Why They Captivate Us

These silent settlements tell stories that span millennia, showing how societies honored the dead, defended their treasures, and sometimes turned cemeteries into strategic strongholds.

10 Us-Salaam

Wadi‑Us‑Salaam, meaning “Valley of Peace,” sprawls across more than 8 square kilometres and cradles roughly five million graves—making it the world’s largest cemetery. Nestled beside the city of Najaf in Iraq, the necropolis dwarfs its host city, which itself houses about 600,000 residents and ranks as the third‑most sacred city for Shiite Muslims after Mecca and Medina.

Shia tradition holds that every faithful soul should ultimately rest in Wadi‑Us‑Salaam, regardless of where they were first interred. For over 1,500 years, families have layered burials in hopes of proximity to Ali, the first cousin and son‑in‑law of the Prophet Muhammad.

The site continues to expand, and its modern history took a grim twist in 2003 when Iraqi militia used the labyrinth of mausoleums and crypts as cover for hit‑and‑run attacks, unintentionally enlarging the graveyard by about 40 percent.

9 The Scavi

Five stories beneath St. Peter’s Basilica lies the Vatican Necropolis, known as “the Scavi.” This underground city of the dead was built around the bones of St. Peter, martyred under Nero. The complex spans three levels, dating from 27 BC to AD 476, and contains a mix of first‑century pagan graves and fifth‑century Christian tombs.

The streets of the Scavi mirror ancient Roman avenues, only the storefronts are replaced by tombs. In 1965, archaeologists uncovered a Greek inscription reading “Peter is here,” suggesting they had found the saint’s tomb directly beneath the basilica’s altar and dome. Pope Francis became the first pontiff to visit the tomb in 2013.

8 Silwan Necropolis

Perched on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives, Silwan Necropolis holds the title of the world’s oldest continuously used cemetery, with a legacy of three millennia. Its 150,000 graves have become a spiritual mirror of Jerusalem itself.

Jewish tradition prophesies that the Messiah will return from the Mount of Olives, and those resting there will be the first saved. Though the necropolis lies largely in Arab East Jerusalem, it remains a cornerstone of Jewish identity.

During periods of conflict, Silwan expands, and modern technology is now being employed to map every single grave, revealing the depth of its historical layers.

7 Monterozzi

Monterozzi, an Etruscan necropolis east of Tarquinia, Italy, contains about 6,000 rock‑cut graves that replicate an entire Etruscan town. The burial chambers mimic the interiors of contemporary homes, offering a rare glimpse into pre‑Roman urban life.

The site is famed for its 200 painted tombs, some dating back to the seventh century BC, which scholars call the first chapter of great Italian painting. These vivid frescoes not only depict everyday scenes but also attracted ancient Greek painters seeking lucrative commissions, helping us infer the lost styles of Hellenistic art.

6 Kiev Pechersk Lavra

Founded in 1051, Kiev’s Pechersk Lavra Monastery crowns a hill beside the Dnieper River and rests atop a sprawling cave system used as a burial site for over 700 years. The caves house the remains of St. Anthony of the Caves, the monastery’s founder, alongside other monks, ascetics, and saints.

The unique micro‑climate and soil mummify bodies, leaving them on display for visitors. Legends once claimed the catacombs stretched from Moscow to Novgorod—an exaggeration, but the true depth remains a mystery.

Among the subterranean wonders is a museum of microminiatures, where viewers must peer through microscopes to appreciate Mykola Syadristy’s masterpieces, including a hair‑sized rose and the world’s smallest book.

5 Solnitsata Necropolis

North of Provadia, Bulgaria, archaeologists uncovered the Solnitsata necropolis, the oldest known town in Europe, dating to around 4300 BC—well before the rise of Greek civilization. The settlement, home to roughly 300 people, was fortified by a thick wall, suggesting the community guarded valuable resources.

Salt was the town’s lifeblood, serving as both a commodity and a form of currency. The most striking find is a 24‑karat gold pendant that predates the necropolis by 200–300 years, potentially the oldest processed gold in Europe.

Further analysis revealed that Solnitsata’s inhabitants drank cow’s milk long before any other known society, highlighting their advanced agricultural practices.

4 Hal Saflieni Hypogeum

Discovered by a stonemason in 1902, the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum in Malta is the world’s only known prehistoric underground temple, dating from 4000 to 2500 BC. Carved in three superimposed layers, the necropolis was excavated using stone tools and antlers.

Beyond its 7,000 human remains, the site yielded beads, pottery, amulets, and sculptures that illuminate Neolithic Maltese life. Remarkably, it also preserves the island’s only Neolithic rock art—red spirals and figures that would have faded away above ground.

Burials were staged: bodies first decomposed in open chambers, then were moved to side rooms and covered with red ochre. Communal interments stacked bones atop one another, creating a layered tapestry of the dead.

3 Necropolis Of Wari Kayan

Between 1925 and 1929, explorers ventured to Peru’s central Andes and uncovered the Wari Kayan necropolis, built by the Paracas culture. The site, dating back roughly 2,000 years, contained 429 naturally mummified bodies bundled in “fardos.”

The arid Andean climate preserved hair, teeth, and flesh, allowing scientists to determine the diet of these individuals—a mix of seafood and terrestrial crops.

Perhaps the most dazzling discoveries are the embroidered textiles, some requiring 50,000 hours to complete. These masterpieces now reside in museums worldwide, offering a vivid glimpse into the spiritual world of the Paracas people.

2 Ordek’s Necropolis

On the fringes of China’s Taklamakan Desert, Ordek’s Necropolis emerged in 1934, spanning from 2000 BC to AD 300. Roughly 300 mummies were interred in upside‑down boats covered with cowhide, a burial method that, combined with the desert’s salty soil, preserved the bodies remarkably well.

DNA analysis revealed a surprising mix of Eurasian and Siberian ancestry, and the mummies’ light hair and tall stature set them apart from typical Asian populations.

Plaid textiles suggest the use of looms—common in Europe at the time but unknown in China—supporting the theory that this site marks the eastern edge of Indo‑European speakers. The necropolis also yielded the earliest known cheese, found clumped around the mummies’ faces and necks.

1 Orthi Petra

Located 30 km from Rethymnon on Crete, Orthi Petra offers a direct portal into the Homeric world. The necropolis, part of a site inhabited from 3000 BC to the Byzantine era, contains burial chambers that echo verses from The Iliad, including an 800 BC funeral pyre.

Among its highlights is a cenotaph memorial—considered the first tomb of the Unknown Soldier in history—dated to 670 BC.

Excavations uncovered the burial of four related women: a 72‑year‑old priestess and three younger protégés. All were adorned with rich ornaments, reflecting Crete’s prosperous trade with Egypt, Greece, and the Near East, and underscoring the island’s unique gender dynamics.

Further Reading

Morbid topics are a mainstay of our archives, so here are a selection of some of the best from our collections. Memento Mori!

• 10 Incredible Images of Death
• 10 More Incredible Images Of Death
• 10 Disturbing Mass Graves Discovered Recently
• 10 Fascinating Graveyards You Must See
• 10 Horrifying Premature Burials
• Top 10 Creepiest Graves

Abraham Rinquist is the Executive Director of the Winooski, Vermont, Branch of the Helen Hartness Flanders Folklore Society. He co‑authored Codex Exotica and Song‑Catcher: The Adventures of Blackwater Jukebox.

When you hear the phrase “dead house,” you might picture a sterile morgue with neat drawers. In reality, the dead house was a grim, often chaotic place where bodies lingered amid leaky roofs, vermin, and desperate last breaths. Below, we count down the 10 gruesome tales that expose the darkest corners of these forgotten mortuary chambers.

Why These 10 Gruesome Tales Matter

10 Poor Conditions Of The Houses

In Albany, Western Australia, the year 1889 brought a particularly bleak chapter. The deceased were crammed into a tiny shed perched on prison grounds, where a leaky roof turned the interior into a dripping mess. Rainwater fell straight onto the cold bodies, offering no dignity to the “unfortunates.”

Inside that grim structure, a battered wooden table served as the makeshift altar. A threadbare blanket was tossed over each corpse, shielding only the most intimate parts before the bodies were eventually shunted into an unnamed pit in the earth.

Yet Albany’s sad scenario paled beside the horrors reported from Beechworth, Victoria, in 1877. Hospital officials declared their dead house “dangerously unsafe,” citing an accumulation of “putrid matter of the very worst description.” Dr. Dobbyn grimly described it as “merely a place for bottling up the germs of disease.”

A committee eventually resolved to erect a new facility, but doctors warned that tearing up the old floor and disturbing the underlying soil could unleash a deadly plague. The building’s filth was so extreme that some physicians accused the hospital of murder for merely sending workers to dismantle it. Their recommendation? Leave the ground untouched, lest hidden germs escape.

9 Rat Infestation

In Bantry, Ireland, the year 1911 saw a heated debate over the condition of the local dead house, which at the time was a repurposed workhouse chapel. Families could claim their loved ones there, but the building had become a veritable rat haven.

The infestation was so severe that massive stones were stacked atop coffins simply to keep the vermin from gnawing at the corpses. The sight of rats scurrying over fresh graves sent shivers through the community.

The council’s discussion grew heated, with at least one participant arguing that the rats’ feast on the dead was no cause for alarm—a stance that shocked many listeners.

8 Woke Up With Two Dead Bodies

Picture this: San Francisco, 1870. A German patient, presumed lifeless, was whisked away to the hospital’s dead house and placed between two already‑lying bodies. The keeper sealed the case and retired for the night, assuming all was quiet.

At the stroke of midnight, the German abruptly awoke, shrieking and thrashing about. The startled staff roused the dead‑house keeper, begging him to investigate, but he was too terrified to move, hoping the specters would settle themselves.

Finally, under pressure, the keeper opened the lid. There stood the German, pale in his death‑gown, perched atop the two corpses. Overcome, the keeper fainted on the spot.

The frantic German bolted through the corridors, his panic so intense that nurses had to wrestle him to the floor. A physician arrived, administered calming care, and eventually restored his senses.

7 A Place To Finish Dying

Los Angeles’s Chinatown once housed a grim “dead house” that doubled as a final refuge for the terminally ill. An 1888 report described it as a tumbled‑down hovel where afflicted Celestials were tossed to await death.

One chilling incident involved a leprous man discovered by a police officer. The officer found the emaciated figure moaning in agony, his flesh seemingly rotting from within.

Given the contagious nature of leprosy, officials chose to leave the man where he lay, awaiting a decision. No further record follows, but it is likely he perished within those squalid walls.

6 No Running Water

Fremantle, Western Australia, in 1886, faced a glaring omission: its dead house lacked any running water. A concerned citizen penned a letter to the editor, highlighting the dire state of the facility where autopsies were routinely performed.

The letter described a room without a bench, a door that never latched, and a free‑for‑all traffic flow that left bodies exposed, sometimes even intruding upon ongoing autopsies. The lack of basic sanitation was a blatant disregard for the deceased.

Although the colonial surgeon pressed for improvements, budget constraints stalled progress. Public outrage grew as the community realized the dead were being treated with utter neglect.

5 Salisbury Prison

John G. Weaver, a member of the 2nd Ohio Cavalry, recounted his capture during the Civil War and subsequent transfer to Salisbury Prison in North Carolina. The prison’s conditions were harrowing: starvation, dampness, and mud plagued the inmates.

Every morning, guards collected the dying and the near‑dead, shuttling them to the prison’s dead house. Weaver described the sight: bodies piled together “like cordwood,” half‑naked and wasted, awaiting transport.

From the dead house, a “dead wagon” ferried the corpses to mass trench graves. The relentless flow of bodies meant the dead house was perpetually filled, a macabre testament to the prison’s cruelty.

4 Twice To The Dead House

In 1901, Robert Hughes was transported by police cab to Newcastle Hospital in Australia. Upon arrival, a swift examination inside the cab declared him dead on arrival, and his body was wheeled to the dead house.

Placed on a cold slab, Hughes suddenly twitched, gasping for breath. The startled police summoned a doctor, who confirmed Hughes was, astonishingly, still alive.

After a rapid re‑examination, Hughes was moved to a proper hospital bed, where—just five minutes later—he truly passed away. This time, his body made a final trip to the dead house, never to rise again.

3 The Moving Skull

Pranksters in medical schools often staged ghostly hoaxes, but one New Orleans doctor experienced a truly eerie encounter in 1884. After a patient with an aneurysm died, the body was sent to the dead house for autopsy preparation.

Working under a lone gas lamp just before midnight, the doctor heard a shuffling sound from a corner. Assuming he was alone, he turned to investigate and saw five skulls being readied for anatomical cabinets.

He resumed his work, but the shuffling persisted. Suddenly, one skull began to glide across the floor toward him, its hollow eye sockets fixed on the doctor.

He sat, pipe in hand, watching the skull inch forward. The movement grew more pronounced, and the doctor, trembling, finally lunged and seized the skull.

Inside the skull’s cavity, a rat had become trapped, its tiny claws scrabbling for escape. After freeing the rodent, the doctor returned to his dissection, the bizarre spectacle fading into the night.

2 The Grief Was Too Great

Paris’s dead house, perched on the Seine’s bank, served as a somber repository for victims of violent deaths. Families could claim their loved ones, or the bodies would be interred in pauper’s graves.

In 1839, two men ran the establishment, living on the building’s upper floor with their wives. They kept meticulous records: names, causes of death, and dates of arrival.

Among the many tragedies, the story of little Leonore stands out. A winter day found the child’s frail body laid on a marble slab, carried in by a grieving nurse.

The nurse, tears streaming, explained that a stagecoach accident had caused the child to slip from her care and suffocate among luggage. She begged the dead‑house keeper to revive the girl, then pleaded to see the child’s bright blue eyes one last time.

When the nurse realized the impossibility, she departed—only to later be wheeled into the same dead house, her own body dripping onto the floor, placed beside Leonore’s tiny form, awaiting a claim that never came.

1 Makeshift Dead House

When catastrophic accidents occur, authorities often scramble to create temporary morgues. One such disaster unfolded in Victoria, Australia, in 1908 when two trains collided, shredding carriages and igniting flames that trapped victims in a nightmarish blaze.

The wreckage left 43 souls brutally killed and 232 injured. The chaotic scene was littered with mangled bodies: a headless corpse beside a mother clutching her dead infant, and a man suspended between wrecked cars.

Relatives and thrill‑seekers flooded the station, desperate to glimpse the tragedy. Medical staff and railway workers worked feverishly to extract the living and then the dead.

To manage the overwhelming number of corpses, a makeshift dead house was cobbled together from two waiting rooms. All furniture was stripped away, and the bodies were laid side by side on the cold floor, blood seeping from fresh wounds and staining the boards.

Dim lamps cast a grim glow over the scene, revealing torn clothing and pallid faces as families shuffled in, six at a time, to claim their loved ones. The harrowing episode remains a stark reminder of how quickly a dead house can become a temporary mausoleum.

The afterlife has long been a source of both wonder and dread. People keep asking: where do souls wander after death? Could some beings actually pass beyond the veil, glimpse heaven or hell, and then return to share what they saw? Might the living still hold a line of communication with those who have crossed over, receiving messages or signs from the departed? This roundup of the top 10 stories dives into exactly those uncanny encounters.

Top 10 Stories Overview

10 Knock Jokes

Four‑year‑old Jacie O’Brien was still reeling from the loss of her father in the September 11 attacks when her mother, Lisa, walked into an empty room and found her daughter deep in conversation with someone she could not see. When Lisa asked who she was talking to, Jacie answered that she was chatting with “Daddy,” who was busy telling her a series of knock‑knock jokes.

To test the claim, Lisa showed Jacie a photograph of her father alongside his coworkers—many of whom had also perished that day. Remarkably, the little girl recited each full name, even those she had never met. She also mentioned spotting her dad swinging on a playground swing while she was playing with friends.

9 Please Be Careful

Renowned horror novelist Dean Koontz found himself living a plot twist of his own in September 1988. While at work, a faint, garbled voice reached him over the phone, repeatedly whispering, “Please, be careful.”

He pressed for an identity, but the woman only echoed the warning three more times, each iteration growing weaker. The tone sounded unmistakably like his mother’s, yet she had been dead for nearly two decades.

Two days later Koontz visited his father, who was a resident of a care facility and had recently begun displaying violent outbursts, such as punching another patient. Koontz intended to calm him down.

The moment Koontz entered his father’s room, the older man seized a fishing knife and lunged, trying to stab his son. Koontz wrestled the weapon away and hurried out, only to run straight into a group of police officers who, seeing the knife, aimed their guns at him. He dropped the knife, convinced the officers that his father was the true threat, and they stood down.

Reflecting on the eerie phone call, Koontz became convinced that the unseen voice had saved his life by urging extra vigilance. He never received another such call.

8 Tony

In October 2010, twenty‑year‑old Tony Woodmansee survived a catastrophic crash that hurled him through his car’s windshield, only to succumb to his injuries a week later. At his funeral, two close friends disclosed to his mother, Sally, that they had scheduled a session with a medium before Tony’s death, and the appointment date coincided exactly with the day of his burial.

Sally, initially skeptical, was told that Tony was attempting to make contact. Soon after, kitchen utensils began moving on their own and the television and car radio flickered on and off without explanation.

Spooked, Sally consulted the medium, who confirmed a blond‑haired young man—a description matching Tony—wanted to reach her. She was instructed to try automatic spiritual writing. In the darkness of the early morning, she placed a pen to paper, feeling an unseen force guide her hand. When she illuminated the page, the name “Tony” was clearly written.

Four years on, Sally reports having filled twenty A4 notebooks with messages she attributes to her son, insisting that the hand moving the pen belongs to Tony, even as skeptics remain unconvinced.

7 Texting from the Grave

Back in 1988, Frank Jones and his family endured a series of unsettling phenomena in their Blackpool home—covers being ripped from beds, doors slamming, taps turning on without anyone nearby—so intense that they summoned a church to perform a spiritual cleansing.

The poltergeist activity subsided for five years, but tragedy soon struck: Frank’s son passed away, followed three months later by his wife, Sadie, who was buried with her beloved cellphone.

Shortly after Sadie’s funeral, Frank noticed a missed call on his phone that never rang. The call originated from his own landline inside the house, an impossibility since no one else was present. He then caught the scent of Sadie’s perfume and her favorite cigarettes drifting through the rooms.

To his astonishment, Frank also began receiving text messages from Sadie’s cellphone. The messages comprised phrases she habitually used while alive, yet the sender number never displayed on the screen.

6 I’m Watching

Jack Froese, a Pennsylvania resident, suffered a fatal heart arrhythmia in June 2011 at the age of 32, leaving his friends and family reeling from the loss.

Five months later, his best friend Tim Hart was scrolling through his phone when an unexpected email appeared to have been sent from Jack’s own account. The subject line read, “I’m watching,” and the body contained three terse sentences: “Did you hear me? I’m at your house. Clean your f‑ing attic!!!”

Tim was stunned, recalling that he and Jack had been the only ones in the attic shortly before Jack’s death, and they had discussed what to do with the extra space.

Jack’s cousin Jimmy McGraw also claimed to have received a posthumous email, warning that he would break his ankle. Within a week, Jimmy indeed suffered a broken ankle, lending eerie credibility to the message.

5 Purple Flowers

After 64 years of marriage, Vinto Scarabello’s wife passed away in August 2014. Determined to honor her memory, Vinto began visiting her gravesite each Sunday, bringing fresh flowers from his garden or the local florist.

Every time he replaced the wilted bouquet, he discovered that the new flowers had mysteriously turned purple, his late wife’s favorite hue. While florists offered a botanical explanation—flowers can turn purple as they age—Vinto insists the color shift is a miraculous sign from his departed spouse, even prompting him to return to church.

4 The Lad’s Done Well

Actress Maureen Lipman completed the autobiography of her late husband, Jack Rosenthal, after his 2004 death, later portraying herself in the televised adaptation titled Jack Rosenthal’s Last Act in 2006.

Years later, while critiquing a draft of her son Adam’s novel, Maureen advised him on a character named Enk. Soon after, a notification popped up on her phone: a text from Jack that read, “The lad’s done well—Enk.”

Although Maureen acknowledges the possibility that the message could be an old, delayed text, she believes Jack sent it deliberately to reassure her that their son was thriving and needed less parental pressure.

3 Butterfly

Amanda lost her six‑year‑old daughter, Azalee, to cancer in 2013. When Amanda later remarried Chip in 2015, she wanted to honor Azalee’s memory at her own wedding, arranging for a photographer to capture images of her daughter alongside the ceremony.

During the butterfly release meant to commemorate Azalee, dozens fluttered away, yet one radiant butterfly lingered, alighting gently on Amanda’s dress. The moment moved both bride and groom to tears, and Amanda interprets the lingering butterfly as a loving sign from her little girl, affirming her happiness and encouraging Amanda to embrace the new chapter.

2 Smiley Face

The Callaghan family adored their rescue dog Bandit, treating him as a true family member. After enduring multiple health issues and surgeries, Bandit passed away at the age of 15, leaving a palpable void in the household.

Two days later, Catie Callaghan stepped into the backyard and noticed Bandit’s water bowl still sitting. In the remaining water, a perfect smiley face had formed, which Catie took as Bandit’s gentle message that he was at peace and that the family need not worry, despite skeptics attributing it to natural water droplets.

1 Robin

Four‑year‑old Jack Robinson succumbed to a brain tumor in 2014, leaving behind his parents, an identical twin brother, and three sisters. His mother, Marie, visited his gravesite regularly, and on April 1 2017—marking the third anniversary of his death—she asked him for a sign that he was okay.

As she settled on the tombstone, a robin swooped down, landing briefly on her foot, then hopping onto a nearby gravestone before returning to perch on her hand and even her shoulder, all while she filmed the extraordinary encounter.

Marie felt certain that the bird was the unmistakable reassurance she had begged for. Historically, robins have been linked to the afterlife in folklore, symbolizing the bridge between worlds.

Estelle, residing in Gauteng, South Africa, contributed this story.

Welcome to our deep‑dive into the world of 10 outrageous liars who tried to profit from the dead, exposing schemes that range from forged wills to phantom authors.

10 Outrageous Liars Who Tried to Cash In on the Dead

10 Emily Grant Hutchings

When aspiring writers rack up a mountain of rejection letters, the dream of a publishing break can feel hopeless. In the early twentieth century, a handful of opportunists claimed they could channel deceased literary giants through Ouija boards.

Emily Grant Hutchings was one of those charlatans. In 1917 she released Jap Herron: A Novel Written From the Ouija Board, insisting that the spirit of Mark Twain was dictating a fresh manuscript from beyond the grave.

The entire text is accessible on Google Books for the curious, but Twain’s spectral contribution appears to have lost its sparkle after death. The New York Times panned the work mercilessly, even joking that Twain’s ghost should appear in court via the board to defend himself.

Twain’s estate sued Hutchings’s publisher, forcing a halt to further print runs. Although the novel never became a bestseller, Hutchings still secured a New York Times review and managed to rake in cash from the surrounding controversy.

9 Brian Adams

Brian Adams, a 56‑year‑old jobless man, shared a modest home in Green Cove Springs, Florida, with his elderly mother Janell and his own son. Their household relied entirely on Janell’s Social Security checks and pension.

In 2014, Brian learned that Janell had died of natural causes. Reporting her death would have cut off the family’s only source of income, so he persuaded his son to help him move the corpse to the backyard, dig a deep pit, and bury her.

Month after month, the benefits kept rolling in. Brian siphoned the checks into Janell’s account, then transferred every dollar into his own name, eventually amassing $35,345.

Brian’s daughter Brittanie eventually confronted him about the inexplicable cash flow. He confessed, and she swiftly alerted authorities. With a prior criminal record, Brian now faces up to a year in prison for his fraud.

8 Thomas Patrick Morris

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Wendel family dominated New York City’s rental market, amassing a fortune so vast they became multimillionaires.

Paradoxically, the Wendels lived a reclusive, frugal lifestyle, shunning marriage and children. The last surviving member, Ella Wendel, spent her days with a poodle named Tobey and a cadre of servants.

When Ella passed away in 1931, she left behind a jaw‑dropping $100 million estate (roughly $1.6 billion today). Her will directed the bulk of the wealth to charities, with a modest portion for servants to care for her dog. Over 2,300 claimants rushed to the newspapers, asserting kinship.

Thomas Patrick Morris, a Scotsman, journeyed to New York claiming he was Ella’s nephew. He produced a forged marriage certificate alleging he was the son of Ella’s brother, John Wendel, and even fabricated a heartfelt letter supposedly penned by John, describing a secret Scottish elopement.

Thomas bore an uncanny resemblance to John, making the deception plausible. Had his claim succeeded, he would have inherited a massive fortune.

However, the estate’s attorney dug into Scottish records, discovering the forged certificate was penned in Thomas’s own hand. Business documents proved John Wendel was in New York during the alleged Scottish romance, debunking the story. Morris was promptly arrested for fraud.

7 Carel Cody

From 1988 to 1994, Carel Cody operated a licensed elder‑care facility out of her Cottage Grove, Oregon residence. When social services grew suspicious of unusually rapid patient deaths, they investigated.

Inspectors found the home filthy and unfit for caregiving, even noting a pet monkey that added to the unsanitary conditions. As a result, Cody’s caretaker license was revoked, though she continued to siphon money from every resident.

After losing her license, Cody began volunteering at nursing homes, where she seduced a disabled elderly man, “M.B.,” into marriage. The Social Security income from this union proved insufficient, prompting her to lure another patient into her home.

John H. Arnold, a 76‑year‑old orphan with no family, was persuaded to leave his nursing home and move in with Cody. He died in 1996.

Cody clandestinely buried Arnold’s body on her mother’s property. Deprived of official oversight, she claimed Arnold had moved away, deceiving her husband. When M.B. finally realized Cody’s abuse, he divorced her.

For the next sixteen years, Cody continued to collect Arnold’s Social Security checks and accessed his bank accounts, stealing over $200,000. In 2013, she was finally apprehended and sentenced to four years in federal prison.

6 Anna Anderson

In 1920, a striking young woman attempted to leap from a Berlin bridge. A police officer rescued her and placed her in a mental institution, where she spoke only in a thick Russian accent and was labeled “Miss Unknown.” She bore numerous scars, hinting at past trauma, and refused to reveal her identity.

Two years later, a fellow patient informed doctors that Miss Unknown bore a striking resemblance to one of the Romanov daughters, sparking speculation that she might be Anastasia, the youngest daughter presumed dead after the 1918 Bolshevik execution.

The Romanov tragedy had left many hopeful that at least one child survived. Miss Unknown matched Anastasia’s age and appearance, and because she could not recall her past, she never refuted the claim.

The press seized upon the story, and numerous acquaintances who had known the real Anastasia personally met Miss Unknown, posing probing questions only a true princess could answer. Opinions split: some believed she was genuine, while others dismissed her as a fortune‑seeker.

Romanov relatives ultimately denied her any inheritance, yet a circle of aristocrats took her under their wing. Philanthropist Annie Burr Jennings financed her move to the United States, granting her the name Anna Anderson and a lavish Manhattan apartment. Over the years, she lived in various aristocratic homes, supported by generous patrons.

Decades later, DNA testing finally resolved the mystery: Anna Anderson was, in fact, a Polish factory worker who had suffered a grenade explosion, accounting for her scars. While she may have genuinely believed she was Anastasia due to her amnesia, scientific evidence proved otherwise.

5 Marsha Henderson

In her twenties, Marsha Henderson married 76‑year‑old Newton Davies, a retired school crossing guard living in London. Beyond his modest pension, Newton owned a house in a rapidly appreciating London neighbourhood.

When Newton passed away at 85 in 2013, his estate listed a £600,000 inheritance. However, his will allocated only £25,000 to Marsha, leaving the bulk of the money and the property to his daughter, Paulette.

Unwilling to vacate the home, Marsha concocted a forged will that claimed she deserved the house and over £500,000. The falsified document was riddled with spelling errors and even mistakenly referred to Newton as a woman.

She claimed the “new” will had been hidden in an attic crawl space inside an empty Doritos bag, only now discovered. In court, the judge exposed the absurdity of her fabrications and ordered Marsha to pay Paulette £42,000 in back‑rent for refusing to leave.

4 Renee Bowman

In the United States, foster parents receive monthly stipends to cover the costs of caring for children. In Maryland, that amount can approach $800 per child.

Renee Bowman took in three girls, two of whom were sisters fleeing an abusive home. For this arrangement, she collected $2,400 each month, enough to cover rent and personal expenses.

In 2009, a seven‑year‑old foster child leapt from a window and sought help from a neighbor. The incident revealed that Bowman had been starving and abusing the child.

Even more chilling, the other two girls—one sister and a third foster child—were discovered dead, their bodies stored in a freezer that Bowman moved with her during multiple relocations. She kept the third girl alive only to mask the disappearances.

3 Albert Houghton Pratt

In 1918, Albert Houghton Pratt published My Tussle with the Devil and Other Stories, claiming it was dictated by the ghost of O. Henry via Ouija board. He opened the book with a direct address to skeptics, insisting any stylistic differences were due to his after‑life evolution.

Pratt’s work featured interludes where he purportedly recorded dialogues between himself and O. Henry’s spirit, further cementing the supernatural premise.

Public reaction was sparse, but records show Pratt later released other titles, including a treatise on mysticism. By 1922, the New York Times reported his eviction from a New Jersey residence for mortgage default, suggesting his ghost‑writing venture failed to generate lasting profit.

2 Arafa Nassib And Adil Kasim

In 2017, 48‑year‑old Arafa Nassib was apprehended after claiming she had died. She and her 18‑year‑old son, Adil Kasim, had secured a sizable life‑insurance policy on Arafa’s name.

The duo traveled back to Tanzania, where Adil reported that Arafa had perished on Zanzibar. The insurance company paid out £136,000, despite Arafa being very much alive.

Adil initially returned to the United Kingdom, spreading the false news of his mother’s death. The ruse unraveled when Arafa attempted to re‑enter the country; airport officials flagged her passport, which listed her as deceased, leading to her arrest.

1 The Manchester Frauds

GoFundMe is designed for people in need to raise money for medical bills, emergencies, or charitable causes. Anyone can start a campaign, and donors often trust the platform to deliver aid.

In May 2017, Manchester was rocked by a terrorist attack outside an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people. Unscrupulous individuals quickly created fake GoFundMe pages, claiming to collect money for the victims’ families.

These fraudulent campaigns siphoned donations straight into the creators’ accounts. GoFundMe’s policy allows fundraisers to withdraw money at any time, making it easy for scammers to disappear with the cash.

The sheer volume of bogus pages prompted GoFundMe staff to work around the clock, constantly deleting and suspending fraudulent accounts.

One of the fraudsters, Shannon Quinn, a writer and entrepreneur from Philadelphia, was among those caught exploiting the tragedy for personal gain.

When a family member passes away, most societies expect a respectful goodbye—burial, cremation, or another formal rite. Yet, for a handful of individuals, the final goodbye never truly arrived. 10 people who chose, or were forced, to coexist with the lifeless bodies of loved ones for days, months, or even years. Their tales span continents, cultures, and circumstances, ranging from tragic mental health crises to deeply rooted traditions. Below, we rank these extraordinary—and often heartbreaking—cases, from the most recent discovery to the oldest documented instance.

10 People Who Lived With Dead Family Members

10. Robert James Kuefler

Robert James Kuefler, a Minnesota resident, staunchly denied being a “nut ball” after authorities uncovered that he had been cohabiting with the bodies of his 93‑year‑old mother, Evelyn Lucille Kuefler, and his twin brother, Richard John Kuefler, for roughly a year. He claimed the arrangement stemmed from trauma, asking, “What would you do?” Autopsies confirmed both relatives died of natural causes in 2015. In September 2016, White Bear Lake police, drawn by a foul odor, discovered the skeletal remains: his mother upstairs and his brother in the basement. Kuefler admitted moving his brother’s body from a chair to the bathroom, simply because it was “in the way.” To keep friends and other family members at bay, he sent out Christmas cards stating his mother and brother were ill and did not wish visitors or phone calls. He also noted his mother wanted to die at home with no burial plans. Police charged him with interfering with a dead body or a scene of death—a misdemeanor intended to secure psychological assistance, though Kuefler insisted he did not need counseling.

9. Sangeeta Iyer

In Vasai, India, 45‑year‑old Sangeeta Iyer endured a harrowing three‑day stint sharing a cramped Pushpanjali Apartment suite with the corpse of her 42‑year‑old sister, Lalita, before finally alerting the Manickpur police in August 2014. This was not her first encounter with death at home; a year earlier, she and Lalita had cohabited with their deceased mother’s body. After being ostracized by the rest of their family, the trio isolated themselves, leading to the mother and younger sister succumbing to starvation. Sangeeta, once married, lived with her husband until he disowned her. Unable to care for herself, she moved in with her mother and younger sister. A court later ordered her to undergo psychiatric treatment, and her apartment was re‑rented, with the proceeds earmarked for her medical expenses.

8. Partha De

Authorities initially suspected Arabinda De, a septuagenarian, of setting fire to his own house in a suicide attempt. Their June 2015 investigation, however, unearthed a grim tableau: Arabinda’s 44‑year‑old son, Partha De, had been residing with the skeletal remains of his 50‑year‑old sister, Debjani, alongside the corpses of her two dogs. Debjani had starved to death after Partha claimed she fasted to ward off evil spirits he believed haunted their home. She passed on December 29, 2014, while the dogs died in August and September of the same year. Police described Partha’s bedroom as a dust‑laden mess, noting a pile of 50‑60 bones beside cakes and pastries, a small cot bearing a half‑covered skeleton, and stuffed toys near the headboard. Partha insisted the food was for his sister and her dogs, offering them daily meals, and had sealed windows to contain the stench. Though his family lived next door, he largely shunned them; when they visited for his birthday, he barred entry. A maid briefly cooked for him before abruptly leaving. Diagnosed with depressive psychosis, Partha faced charges of spreading disease‑dangerous infection and failing to inform public servants. Police also discovered a suicide note from Arabinda dated June 8, indicating premeditated self‑destruction. After treatment at a mental hospital, Partha was released in February 2017, only to end his own life by setting his residence ablaze, leaving behind petrol and a matchbox beside his charred body.

7. Brookline Woman

In Brookline, Massachusetts, a $1 million mansion earned a reputation for being haunted, yet its true horror remained hidden until a cousin, during a December 2016 visit, uncovered the corpse of a 66‑year‑old sister beneath a kitchen table. The 67‑year‑old resident, a reclusive hoarder, had been sharing the home with her sister’s dead body for over a year. Neighbors had offered yard‑maintenance assistance, but the sisters declined. Dr. Kimberly Glazier Leonte, a hoarding specialist, explained that hoarders often isolate themselves out of embarrassment. The surviving sister may have kept her sibling’s corpse due to fear of involving authorities. Police suggested another factor: the older woman reportedly learned of her sister’s death only after officials informed her. Despite cohabiting, she remained unaware that her younger sibling had passed. The neglectful state of the property prompted the health department to condemn the house as unfit for habitation.

6. Mary Ellen Lyons

Michael “Sonny” Lyons, residing in a rural bungalow in County Mayo, Ireland, shared his home with his two sisters, Agnes and Mary Ellen Lyons. The sisters, who slept in a double bed, were so secluded that Sonny remained oblivious to Agnes’s death until a year later. Agnes, suffering from prolonged ill health, likely spent her final days bedridden. Devoutly religious, Agnes left notes expressing a wish never to be separated from her sister. According to John O’Driscoll, a superintendent with An Garda Siochana, the sisters purposefully limited contact with the outside world, communicating mainly through notes and shopping lists left for Sonny. He last saw Agnes four years before her death, when she returned from a hospital stay. Upon discovering her remains on August 4, 2004—while checking on Mary Ellen’s health—Sonny promptly alerted police. An inquest later concluded that no charges would be filed against either Mary Ellen or Sonny.

5. Lynnette and Shayla Greenop

On November 10, 2016, police in Troon, Scotland, responded to a neighbor’s complaint about a foul odor emanating from a nearby house. Inside, they discovered a bizarre menagerie: two tarantulas, rats, a rabbit, a blind cat, and a three‑legged sheepdog, alongside the decomposing body of 46‑year‑old Sharon Greenop. Evidence suggested Sharon had been dead for months, yet her 19‑year‑old daughter, Shayla (who called herself “Mallak” online), and her 38‑year‑old sister, Lynette, continued living as if nothing were amiss. Shayla posted on Facebook about her mother’s hospitalization after a bathroom fall, noting that Sharon returned home with stitched arm injuries. However, a comment implying Sharon blamed everyone else hinted at familial tension. Lynette refused to answer media inquiries, consistently replying “no comment” when asked about why her sister’s remains lingered for two months, whether they lived with the body, or if candles were burned to mask the odor. Police eventually charged Lynette with murder, alleging she battered and choked Sharon, leaving her to die without seeking medical help. Shayla was also arrested but later released pending further investigation. Forensic experts treated the case as suspicious, and Lynette faced charges of failing to request medical assistance and inflicting fatal injuries.

4. Patrick Lara

In January 2011, 63‑year‑old Adrian Lugo broke his arm, leaving his 45‑year‑old nephew, Patrick Lara, to care for him. When Lugo’s condition worsened, Lara failed to call for assistance. A few days later, Lugo died, and Lara seized his uncle’s ATM card, siphoning money to fuel a gambling binge. Lara cohabited with Lugo’s corpse for roughly 30 days until a relative discovered the moldy remains and alerted Merced County police. Lara was arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and held on a $175,000 bond while awaiting trial.

3. Mamak Lisa

In South Sulawesi, Indonesia, the Toraja people blend Christianity with animist traditions that view spirits as inhabiting all things. Within this cultural framework, Mamak Lisa’s 12‑year‑old father, Paul Cirinda, remains preserved in a formalin‑injected state within a corner bedroom. When asked about him during a family coffee gathering, Lisa replied, “He’s still sick,” despite his death twelve years prior. She tends to his body daily—offering food, drink, cigarettes, bathing him, changing his clothes, providing a bowl for toilet use, and never leaving him alone or in darkness. The Toraja belief holds that neglecting proper care could anger the spirit. Their custom of keeping the dead at home for months or years serves as a prolonged mourning period, allowing families to gradually adjust to loss. Once sufficient funds are gathered for an elaborate “grand funeral”—which can cost up to $50,000—the body is interred in a cave. Even after burial, the deceased is periodically exhumed for ceremonial meals, washing, fresh clothing, walks around the village, and photography, reaffirming the enduring bond between the living and the dead.

2. Travis Butler

In early November 1999, nine‑year‑old Travis Butler faced the grim prospect of entering foster care after his 30‑year‑old mother, Crystal Wells, died of natural causes—high blood pressure and breathing difficulties. To avoid separation, Travis covered his mother’s body with notebook paper and her coat, residing with her corpse for roughly 30 days until family members visited on December 6. At her funeral, Travis received the American flag that had draped her coffin. Following the service, his maternal grandparents, Shirley and H.P. Wilder, took him into their home in Carthage, Missouri, ensuring he was not placed in foster care.

1. Kaling Wald and Family

For half a year, the body of Peter Wald, a 52‑year‑old man who succumbed to a foot infection linked to diabetes, lay in an upstairs bedroom of his family’s Hamilton, Canada home. His wife, 50‑year‑old Kaling Wald, along with their six‑child household (five children residing at home), believed that divine intervention would resurrect Peter. To prevent the odor from permeating the bustling household, Kaling sealed the bedroom. Financial strain led to a mortgage default, and in September 2013, a sheriff arrived to evict the family, discovering Peter’s heavily decomposed corpse attracting rodents. The family’s belongings, including Peter’s, were packed for removal without any attempt to hide the body. Although the Children’s Aid Society investigated, no immediate danger was identified, and the case was closed. Kaling eventually pleaded guilty to failing to notify police of her husband’s death, receiving probation and mandatory counseling.

These ten unsettling narratives illustrate how death can blur the lines between the living and the departed, whether driven by cultural rites, mental health crises, or desperate attempts to avoid institutional intervention. Each story serves as a stark reminder that our handling of loss can sometimes venture into the extraordinary, and often, the tragic.

10 creepy accounts reveal that sharing a bed with a corpse isn’t just a macabre myth—real people have done it. Whether the dead companion arrived by accident, tragedy, or twisted devotion, each story below shows how the line between life and death can blur in the most unsettling ways.

In every case that follows, a living soul curled up on a mattress, a floorboard, or a makeshift shelter next to someone who had already crossed the final threshold. These strange bedfellows range from heroic survival instincts to downright morbid obsession.

10 Creepy Accounts of Sleeping With the Dead

10. Wellman’s Arctic Expedition

Locked away in a stone hut on the desolate Franz Josef Land, explorers Bernt Bentsen and Paul Bjorvik made a solemn pact: if one should perish, the survivor would keep the body inside the hut to shield it from prowling polar bears until a proper burial could be arranged.

True to their word, the bitter winter of 1898 claimed Bentsen’s life. With provisions dwindling and no firewood left, Bjorvik honored the promise, tucking his companion’s form into a sleeping bag and staying by his side in the cramped shelter.

To stave off the crushing loneliness of the endless night, Bjorvik recited verses by Henrik Ibsen aloud, offering the frozen friend a final literary comfort.

Two months later, the rest of the expedition arrived, and Bentsen received a modest burial beneath a cairn of stones, his body finally laid to rest after Bjorvik’s steadfast vigil.

9. All The Houses Looked Alike

Late one night, a weary and slightly tipsy young man from Philadelphia was desperate to locate his boarding house. The street was a blur of identical facades, each doorway indistinguishable from the next.

After a brief search, he chose what he thought was his room, entered, and made his way upstairs. Inside, he fumbled for matches, gave up when they weren’t where he’d left them, stripped down, and collapsed onto the bed, drifting into a deep slumber.

He slept soundly at first, unaware of the hard surface beneath him or the lack of blankets. Somewhere in the night, his body rolled into something cold that pressed against him.

Awakening to moonlight, he saw a neatly dressed corpse lying on what was actually a table, not a bed. Startled, he scrambled to his clothes and fled the building in terror.

Later it emerged that he had entered the wrong house entirely. The dead man he had shared a night with was a recently deceased neighbor, his body prepared for a viewing the following day in the year 1860.

8. Homeless Hazards

During the harsh winter of 1901, a wandering tramp known only as Steerson slipped into a barn in Ohio seeking shelter from the biting cold. Inside, he discovered another figure already occupying the space.

Unfazed, Steerson settled beside the stranger, curling up for a few hours of rest. As dawn’s first light filtered through the barn doors, he awoke to the unsettling realization that his companion was a lifeless body.

The police were summoned, and the corpse turned out to be that of a burglar who had been mortally wounded while fleeing a crime scene.

A similar incident unfolded in 1921 in Yarrawonga, Australia. James Kinno entered a caretaker’s hut late at night, only to find a man curled on the floor. Assuming the man was simply passed‑out, James made space for himself and fell asleep.

When morning arrived, James noticed the fellow’s limbs hadn’t moved. He nudged the leg with his foot, confirming the body was stiff. Authorities later determined the man had been dead for roughly three days, his decay apparently masked by the hut’s stale air.

7. One Of The Lucky Ones

Born in North Wales in 1825, Henry Hughes began laboring in the coal mines at the tender age of eleven, joining countless other boys of his era.

One fateful day, a catastrophic cave‑in trapped Henry and thirty other miners deep underground. With no food or water, the situation quickly grew desperate.

Within three days, twelve of the trapped men succumbed to suffocation. Henry found himself confined to a cramped, mud‑filled enclosure barely over a meter high and wide.

In this dire setting, a younger fellow miner named John Jones cradled Henry, keeping him out of the sinking mud and providing a sliver of safety.

As toxic gases seeped in, the men lost consciousness. While nine perished in the mud, Henry remained alive, sheltered in John’s arms. When rescuers finally arrived, they awoke Henry to discover that John had died while still clutching the boy, his final act a selfless shield against drowning.

6. She Went Through His Pockets

In 1947, a grim tale unfolded in Perth when John Johnstone returned home intoxicated, only to discover his wife rummaging through his pockets. The intrusion sparked a violent outburst.

Enraged, John struck his wife, sending her sprawling unconscious onto the floor. He then, in a twisted display of misplaced chivalry, lifted her onto the bed and collapsed beside her, passing out in his drunken stupor.

When he regained consciousness the next morning, John realized his blow had been fatal. In a panic, he hoisted the lifeless body and carried it to a wooden shed outside their flat.

Later, attempting to conceal his crime, he retrieved the corpse from the shed and dumped it at a railway yard, where police eventually discovered the body. Johnstone was arrested, pled guilty to manslaughter, and received a ten‑year sentence.

5. A Twisted Love Story

Key West, Florida, has long been a repository for oddball stories, but none match the macabre romance of Carl Tanzler, a German‑born bacteriologist and radiologist.

While working at a tuberculosis hospital, Tanzler fell hopelessly in love with patient Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos. Tragically, Maria succumbed to the disease under his care.

Obsessed, Tanzler persuaded her family to allow him to construct a mausoleum for her remains. He visited her body for two years, but the yearning for companionship grew unbearable.

Secretly, he exhumed Maria’s corpse, encasing it in beeswax and applying chemical treatments in a desperate attempt to revive her. He replaced her missing hair with new tresses, turning the once‑living woman into a wax‑like figure.For seven unsettling years, Tanzler kept Maria’s preserved body in his bed, sharing nightly slumbers with the lifeless form.

Rumors eventually reached the authorities. In the autumn of 1940, police raided his home and discovered the wax “doll” lying beside his mattress. Maria’s remains were returned to her family, while Tanzler escaped prosecution due to the statute of limitations, spending his remaining days in quiet obscurity.

4. A Nap In The Park

In 1949, 20‑year‑old Francis Crotty found himself inside a Western Australian fish shop when a heated argument erupted with another patron, devolving into a full‑blown fight.

After being knocked unconscious, Crotty’s friends dragged his limp body to a nearby park, hoping the fresh air would revive him. They lay beside him for several hours, one friend even resting his head on Crotty’s still form.

An autopsy later revealed that the knockout punch had caused Crotty to vomit, and in his unconscious state he choked on his own vomit. His companions, unaware of his medical emergency, mistook his silence for sleep, leaving him to die in the park.

3. Beyond Death

In February 1913, police in Wimborne Minster, England, uncovered a skeleton draped in a cloth within a bedroom. The scene told a haunting story of devotion.

Two women had shared a home for three decades, described as “passionately devoted” to each other. When one passed away, the surviving partner spent two consecutive nights atop the deceased’s body, hoping love could somehow resurrect her.

While the dead never returned to life, the grieving woman kept her lover’s corpse in the bed, intending that when she, too, passed, the two could finally be interred together.

2. After 50 Years Of Marriage

Newspaper archives are filled with sad tales of spouses sharing a final night, but none are as heartrending as the story of 74‑year‑old Evan Williams in 1929, who had been married to Ellen for half a century.

Evan and Ellen, both in their early seventies, lived in Fairfield, New South Wales, never parting from each other’s side. Ellen suffered from recurring heart problems that sometimes left her mute for days.

In May of that year, Ellen became unusually quiet. Assuming she was merely ill, Evan continued his routine, joining her each night in their bed.

For ten or eleven days, he remained by her side, until finally confronting the grim reality that she had passed away. He reported the situation to the police, recounting his growing loneliness and his slow dawning that she was gone.

When officers entered the home, they found Ellen’s body in a decrepit state—eyes missing, nose rotted, essentially reduced to skin and bone. She was taken to the morgue, and a despondent Evan returned to his empty home, spending his remaining days alone.

1. Eastern State Penitentiary

The notorious Eastern State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania, home to infamous criminals like Al Capone, witnessed a gruesome episode in 1903.

Inmate Cornelius Bush, serving time for assault and battery, shared a cell with James Pratt, a burglar. A heated argument over religion erupted between them.

After the dispute, Pratt lay down to sleep, while Bush, still seething, grabbed a stool and bludgeoned Pratt’s head, later decapitating him with a table knife.

Exhausted by his violent act, Bush climbed onto the cell’s bed and fell asleep beside his freshly severed cellmate.

The following morning, a guard discovered Pratt’s mutilated body, wrapped in sheets, his head separately swaddled in an old shirt and placed on a table inside the cell.

When you think of the phrase “rest in peace,” you probably picture a quiet graveyard under a gentle sky. Yet the truth is far messier. Over the decades, the dead have been anything but undisturbed – from wild dogs unearthing remains in early‑1900s Australia to ghoulish figures in men’s clothing hijacking fresh burial plots. Below, we dive into ten bone‑chilling episodes that prove the final curtain can sometimes be ripped away.

10 In The Way

In 1903, a crew in Charleston, South Carolina, was busy trenching for fresh water pipes when a pickaxe sliced through the lid of an old coffin. An arm bone and a fragment of skull peeked out, causing the worker to drop his tool and flee the grisly sight. The foreman, curious, inspected the scene and realized the workers had stumbled upon a forgotten pioneer cemetery.

Unwilling to halt progress, the foreman ordered the men back to work. As digging continued, more skeletal remains surfaced. Rather than treating them with reverence, the bones were tossed onto the street and later carted away as if they were rubbish.

This wasn’t an isolated incident in the United States. As cities expanded, more skeletons emerged. In 1916, Tucson, Arizona, workmen uncovered an old settler burial ground. Instead of preserving the remains, they dumped the skeletons onto the street for children to collect and play with.

9 Playing With Bones

Hull, England, in the 1930s, faced a peculiar problem: local youths, aged nine to seventeen, were raiding an old cemetery and frolicking with the bones of the dead.

The tombs were ancient and crumbling, granting easy access to the skeletal remains inside. Kids were frequently spotted sprinting through the graveyard, brandishing bones like toys. Boys would chase girls, who screamed in mock terror while clutching the macabre trophies.

Neighbors soon lodged complaints. The vicar explained that the cemetery straddled two police jurisdictions, so officers could only pursue the children while they were on their side of the boundary. Once the kids crossed into the other division’s territory, the chase ended.

Eventually, the cemetery fell under a single police department, allowing authorities to finally apprehend several of the bone‑pilfering hooligans.

8 A Piece Of History

Children aren’t the only ones unable to keep their hands off human bones; adults have proven just as eager, albeit for different motives.

In 1929, workers excavating the old jail in Melbourne unearthed the remains of Ned Kelly, the infamous leader of the Kelly Gang, who had been hanged in 1880 and buried in the jail yard alongside other condemned men. Excitement ran high, and many laborers pocketed a bone or two as personal historical souvenirs.

The Melbourne Penal Department reacted swiftly, issuing a notice that anyone stealing a piece of Ned Kelly’s skeleton would face felony charges. They demanded the return of any pilfered bones for proper reinterment.

7 Knights Of The White Death

In 1908, Chicago residents grew uneasy as threatening letters began arriving through the mail. Each missive was accompanied by human bones and, bizarrely, coffin handles taken from old graves. The letters demanded payment, threatening death to the recipients unless they coughed up several hundred dollars. All were signed by the “Knights of the White Death.”

Police and the post office’s chief inspector treated the matter with utmost seriousness. After weeks of investigation, they identified the culprit.

William J. Pollard, a 22‑year‑old butcher and son of a sexton, confessed that he had been inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works, particularly the “Red Hand” motif. He had stolen bones and coffin fittings from Chicago’s Calvary Cemetery to add a chilling flair to his extortion letters. Pollard claimed it was a joke, intended merely to annoy the police and secure a spot in the newspapers – a goal he achieved.

6 Never Threaten The Hard Of Hearing

Some individuals will go to extraordinary lengths for a quick buck. In 1897, a former grave‑robber from Louisiana hatched a scheme that relied on deception and a deaf victim.

The man entered a local Washington, D.C., cemetery, exhumed the freshly buried body of a woman, and transported the corpse to the stable of a wealthy elderly gentleman, waiting for the owner’s return.

When the elderly man arrived, the robber informed him that a woman’s body lay in his stable. He offered to remove the corpse for a price, promising the man would avoid police trouble. The elderly gentleman, being nearly deaf, barely heard the robber’s words, so the crook presented the body directly.

Outraged, the old man threatened to involve the police. The robber, fearing the police might suspect the man of murder, tried to warn him that the authorities would likely blame him. His attempts failed; the deaf man could not understand, and the robber fled, taking the corpse with him.

The body was later dumped into the Potomac River. The robber managed to evade capture until, while incarcerated for an unrelated crime in Baltimore, he recounted the tale to a fellow inmate.

5 Army Allowance Supplement

In 1917, a widow residing in Kassel, Germany, began receiving ominous letters demanding money. Initially dismissive, she grew uneasy as the letters grew more threatening, warning that failure to comply would bring consequences upon the dead.

One particular letter instructed her to deliver the cash to a drop‑off point, threatening that her late husband’s corpse would suffer if she failed. She promptly reported the matter to the police.

Police investigations revealed that, after the deadline passed, the widow’s husband’s coffin had been broken into and his body stripped of the gold trinkets he had been buried with.

Authorities set a sting operation, which led to the capture of Lieutenant Karl Eisler of the 34th Regiment, along with a gang of blackmailers. In court, Eisler claimed his crimes stemmed from insufficient army allowance to meet his personal needs.

4 Bones For The Seance

In 1952, six college students in Virginia were arrested for grave‑robbing.

The group—four men and two women—were conducting seances and needed authentic props. They chose a family burial ground, excavated a casket, and stole a skull along with several bones. After employing the remains in three separate seances, the students were caught and faced legal consequences for their macabre theft.

3 Total Depravity

Sometimes, newspaper archives reveal stories that shatter any lingering faith in humanity. One such account, dated 1875, recounts a grotesque violation of a young corpse in Kentucky.

Miss Eva Mullen, a teenager, suddenly became paralyzed while eating dinner and died shortly thereafter. She was buried two days later. A few days after the burial, a pair of women’s undergarments were discovered near her fresh grave. Initially dismissed, the find eventually prompted authorities to investigate.

Investigators noted a shoe knife nearby and, with spades in hand, began to dig at Eva’s burial site. Five centimeters (two inches) below the soil, they uncovered a full set of women’s clothing. Deeper still, they found her coffin, its lid split and broken in half.

Inside lay Eva’s body, stripped of all clothing except her stockings, covered in dirt, and lying within a compromised coffin. Workers lifted the coffin, rolled Eva’s body onto a board, and cleaned her remains. She was wrapped in a white sheet, the coffin repaired, and she was reinterred.

The case didn’t end there. Police initially suspected local medical students of disturbing the grave, but the suspected youths denied involvement. Further investigation traced the shoe knife to a local shoemaker, revealing a man named Hillis, who previously murdered a prostitute in Indiana and escaped conviction by claiming self‑defense.

Authorities searched Hillis’s property, discovering a dirt‑caked chisel in his toolbox. The chisel’s marks matched those on Eva’s coffin lid. Medical examiners concluded Eva had suffered a vicious assault.

Hillis was arrested, and many believed he would be hanged. However, records of his trial and execution are absent, likely due to public revulsion and fear of a lynch mob.

2 Father’s Ghost

Haunting tales of the dead visiting the living were not uncommon. In 1923, a Bosnian village experienced such a phenomenon after a father’s death.

Following a proper burial, the father’s wife reported nightly visits from his spirit, preventing her from sleeping. The following night, the apparition also haunted their two sons, leaving the entire household sleepless.

Fearing the restless spirit would continue to haunt the village, the brothers exhumed their father’s body, cremated it to ash, and then placed the ashes back into the coffin for reburial. This drastic measure appeared to quell the haunting, and no further reports of the father’s ghost surfaced.

1 Have A Heart

In 1945, a cemetery in Camden, New Jersey, became the scene of a particularly grisly crime.

A perpetrator breached the concrete slab covering a fresh grave of a 60‑year‑old woman who had died only a week prior. The ghoul managed to gouge off the top of the coffin, slice the corpse’s chest open with surgical bone clippers, and extract the heart.

Police concluded the offender was either driven by insane rage or possibly a medical student seeking a fresh specimen. Some speculate the attacker might have known the victim personally.

The chilling episode remains a stark reminder that even the most secure resting places can be violated.

10 Ghoulish Deeds Uncovered

These ten unsettling stories illustrate how the dead have been disturbed, exploited, and even terrorized throughout history. From opportunistic workers to blackmailing bone thieves, the macabre legacy of grave violations continues to haunt us.

What if a phantom was perched beside you right now, eyes fixed on you as you scroll through this list of 10 locations around the world where the dead roam at night? Whether you’re curled up with a novel, binge‑watching the newest Netflix hit, or simply cruising down a highway, the uncanny feeling of a chill down your spine might just be the lingering presence of a restless spirit.

Why These 10 Locations Around the World Keep You Up After Dark

10 Odeon Cinema

Back in 1946, a packed audience of 2,000 souls settled into Bristol’s Odeon to watch The Light That Failed. Mid‑film, the protagonist is blinded by a gunshot—unaware that the cinema’s own manager, Robert Parrington Jackson, was being shot dead in his office at that exact moment. The 33‑year‑old father of four was found with a bullet wound to the head by the café supervisor around 6:45 PM and later died in hospital. Though a Welsh robber confessed on his deathbed in 1989, the case remains officially unsolved.

Today the Odeon still screens movies, but patrons of the third auditorium swear the temperature suddenly plummets for no apparent reason. Legend has it that Jackson’s spirit lingers, manifesting only to female viewers, sending an icy shiver through the darkened rows.

9 Xinhai Tunnel

The Xinhai Tunnel, built to link central Taipei with Muja, sits directly atop a hill that shelters an old cemetery. This eerie placement has sparked countless supernatural reports. Drivers report a sensation called gue dong chiang—the unsettling feeling of endlessly driving without ever reaching the tunnel’s exit, as if the passage itself has become a trap.

Adding to the mystery, some motorists claim to see an elderly woman sweeping the road in the tunnel’s depths. When honked at, she refuses to move, continuing her endless cleaning. The bravest drivers who pull up beside her watch in horror as she vanishes into thin air the moment they confront her.

8 University Of Texas At Brownsville

The campus of the University of Texas at Brownsville reads like a haunted anthology, enough material for two volumes titled The Ghosts of Fort Brown. Formerly a military fort, one dormitory rests atop a 19th‑century cemetery. Nursing student Olivia De La Garza reports a mischievous three‑year‑old boy who loves slipping into her room at night just to yank the bedding off her.

Beyond the boy, the grounds teem with spectral cavalrymen marching in formation, phantom waltzers singing old war ballads, and Victorian‑dressed women and children drifting through corridors. Occasionally, jukeboxes spin on their own and books tumble from library shelves, adding to the campus’s eerie soundtrack.

7 Ballyboley Forest

Ballyboley Forest in Northern Ireland is whispered to be an ancient druidic site and a grim burial ground where countless medieval souls vanished without a trace. This dark history has crowned it one of the world’s most haunted woods.

In 1997, two adventurous men entered the forest and soon heard a woman’s anguished cries. Their search revealed trees smeared with blood, and as they fled, one glanced back to see four hooded figures silently watching from the shadows.

Visitors continue to report a constant sense of being observed, sightings of shadowy silhouettes, and strange lights that flicker between the trunks. Some even speculate the forest serves as a portal to another dimension.

6 Guantanamo Bay

The Bayview complex at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was erected in 1943 as an officers’ club and has since become a hotspot for ghostly activity. One lingering apparition is an elderly woman who perches on the second‑floor window, gazing outward. She is believed to have lived in the club before meeting a tragic end in the bathtub.

Another specter roams the hallways—a man clad in khaki, drifting from one residence to another and lingering near the bathroom. Given the building’s foundation on former Marine camps, many think this phantom was a Marine in life, forever patrolling his former post.

5 Conn Barracks

During World War II, Germany’s Conn Barracks in Schweinfurt served as a Nazi hospital and psychiatric ward before becoming a U.S. soldiers’ barracks. Two soldiers, occupying the same room two years apart, reported identical nightmares: a Nazi soldier standing at their bedside, a blood‑soaked nurse beside him, and the nurse choking the dreaming soldier as the nightmare climaxed.

Later investigations revealed the room sat atop a drainage chamber where bodies were processed for burial. Adding to the horror, a female spirit—once an anti‑abortion activist—now haunts the corridors, forever clutching a fetus as she rushes through the halls.

4 Wroclaw

Wroclaw, Poland’s largest city in the west, is a bustling student hub—but it also houses grisly tales. A grandson, possessed by a demonic dwarf, brutally murdered his grandmother, and her tormented screams are said to echo from the Hansel and Gretel building near St. Elizabeth’s church.

The House Under the Golden Dog, now a restaurant, once sheltered Frederick the Great. Legend claims a mysterious force once snatched a quill from his hand while he wrote a letter. Today, eerie sounds emanate from its cellar. Shadows linger in St. Mary Magdalene’s church, believed to be maids trapped in an eternal prison, while the chambers beneath Partisan Hill reverberate with phantom screams. Even Abram’s Tower, once a workshop of sewing machines, is said to have a ghost that mysteriously powers the machines after hours.

3 Central Philippine University

Central Philippine University (CPU) boasts a specter for nearly every corner. The Roblee Science Hall, once a Japanese‑occupied World War II building, is rumored to vanish at 3 a.m. Students often spot a little girl with chained wrists and feet, wandering the hallways and softly sobbing.

Other hauntings include the Old Valentine Building, where founder Dr. William Valentine allegedly roams at night, brandishing his own severed head. Franklin Hall is visited by the spirit of a young man who took his own life, while a lady in white watches from a neighboring building. Johnson Hall is said to host a doppelgänger that roams classrooms, and the High School Compound sees another little girl darting about, startling anyone she encounters.

2 Macquarie Fields Station

Australia is famed for eerie folklore, from the phantom dancer haunting Wakehurst Parkway to the chilling tale of a teenage girl at Macquarie Fields train station. When the last trains have departed and silence settles, faint cries begin to echo, growing louder until they turn into mournful moans.

At the height of the lament, the ghost of a teenage girl appears—dressed in dancing attire, a blood‑stained chest, floating ethereally while her wails crescendo. Occasionally, she simply sits in the middle of the platform, sobbing loudly; other times, her quiet cries erupt into terrifying screams.

Local legend says the spirit belongs to a young woman who was struck by a train at the station in 1906, condemning her to haunt the tracks forever.

1 Gridley Tunnel

Japan’s ghost lore is legendary—tales of mirrors that trap souls, floating red eyes, and the lingering cries of Hiroshima’s bomb victims. Among these, the narrow, one‑way Gridley Tunnel in Yokosuka harbors its own terrifying phantom.

Drivers who navigate the tunnel often glance into their rear‑view mirrors only to see a samurai standing ominously on the road behind them. The sight has caused several accidents, especially on rainy nights between midnight and 1 a.m. Legend holds that the samurai was murdered within the tunnel while seeking vengeance for his lord, leaving his spirit forever bound to the passage.

Estelle, a writer residing in Gauteng, South Africa, recounts these chilling encounters.