7 of the creepiest, scariest places on earth
Millions of spiders ‘rained’ down in Goulburn, Australia this week.
According to reports by local Australian newspapers, residents of the town woke up to an alarming view of thousands of spiders raining down on the land, with most of the area covered in swathes of white silk.
Contrary to initial thoughts that the apocalypse had come nigh, the phenomenon is simply a (terrifying) act of mother nature called “ballooning” or “Angel Hair”.
Live Science reported that the process involves spiders climbing to high areas, releasing silk, and being swept up into the air to travel to different areas.
It is not common for millions of spiders to do it all at once and to land in the same area, however.
With arachnophobia said to affect 6% of the global population, and the rest just “not that keen” on having spiders rain down on them, Goulburn, Australia may now just be one of the most terrifying places in the world.
Angel Hair in Goulburn, Australia
Conde Nast Traveller recently listed some of the most terrifying locations on earth, which could give the land of raining spiders a run for its money.
Snake Island – Sao Paolo
Ilha de Queimada Grande is an island located in Itanhaem, Sao Paulo, has lot of snakes
Photo: JOAO MARCOS ROSA /NITRO
If spiders aren’t that intimidating to you, perhaps snakes will do the trick.
Located about 90 miles off the coast of São Paolo, Ilha de Queimada Grande – otherwise known as ‘Snake Island’ – is one of the most dangerous places on earth.
The island earned its name from the high density of snakes on the site, with studies putting somewhere between one to five snakes per square metre. The island is 430,000 square metres.
These aren’t just any snakes, either – they’re the golden lancehead viper variety (Bothrops insularis), one of the most venomous snakes in the world, though there have been no reported deaths coming from the island’s population.
Gomantong Caves – Borneo
Gomantong Caves
The Gomantong Caves in Malaysia may seem like a natural wonder, but are, in fact, filled with horror.
If the smell of bat guano, which cakes everything in the caves, doesn’t put you off, then perhaps the millions of cockroaches that feed off of the excrement will do the trick.
Failing that, you also have scorpions, snakes, crabs and of course, giant poisonous centipedes to look forward to.
An entomologist’s dream, perhaps – but a big “nope” for the rest of us.
Door to Hell – Turkmenistan
Door to Hell
While for some the idea of “hell on earth” is queuing at South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs, there exists a place where the concept comes in the more biblical sense.
On a natural gas field in Derweze, Turkmenistan, a Soviet oil-drilling set-up collapsed, leaving a massive crater on the surface.
Fearing the release of poisonous gasses, the engineers at the dig decided to burn the gas off. That was over 40 years ago.
To this day, the crater continues to burn, surrounding the area with a pungent smell of burning sulfur, while literally boiling the earth around it amid orange flames.
The location has been dubbed “The Door to Hell” by locals.
Centralia – Pennsylvania
Centralia
Ghost towns are always creepy; often forming due to emergency evacuations taking place, leaving the remnants of a life that once was.
Centralia in Pennsylvania in the US is one such town, that features its very own “door to hell”.
The town was once a coal mining mecca, but was abandoned in 1962 after a coal seam caught fire. The fire has been burning for over 50 years, and current estimates say it could yet burn for 250 more.
The poisonous fumes have made the area a danger to people and wildlife alike, with signage up warning passing travellers of the risks involved.
Adding to the town’s ‘creepy’ legacy, the horror video game series, Silent Hill, is loosely based on the town, playing off of the area’s foggy, abandoned ghost town atmosphere.
Pripyat – Ukraine
Pripyat school
Pripyat was the closest town to the Chernobyl Nuclear reactor, home to many of the plant’s workers before the infamous disaster of 1986.
When the city was evacuated following the worst nuclear meltdown in history, the homes and facilities that served almost 50,000 people were abandoned, left to decay in a radioactive climate.
While the city has since reached levels of radiation that are acceptable for brief tours (but not for long-term living) the area remains exactly as the former citizens left it.
Aokigahara Forest – Japan
Suicide Forest
Japan is home to a quiet forest at the bottom of Mount Fuji which is known as the Sea of Trees.
Spanning about 35 square kilometres, the forest is so dense that it blocks out all sounds but the natural ambiance of the forest itself.
So dense is the forest, that hikers have taken to leaving tape to mark their location to avoid getting lost, as GPS and compass equipment reportedly often fails to function correctly.
The forest is also has historic ties to demons in Japanese Mythology, which has lead to it becoming one of the most popular places of suicide, giving it another disturbing title: Suicide Forest.
A long-standing statistic is that between 50 and 100 people commit suicide in the forest every year. The problem has become so prolific that Japanese officials have put up signs urging suicidal visitors to rethink their decision.
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