13 Spookiest Ghost Towns on Earth You Don’t Know Exist

Abandoned streets and crumbling homes tell sudden desertion or gradual decline stories of ghost towns as time capsules. Spectral settlements are often left untouched since evacuation and give glimpse into a long gone world. Every visit is like a journey through time, marked by disasters, economic hard times or the brutality of their surroundings.

Lets take look at some the most chilling ghost towns from around the world, where the echoes of the past can still be heard and where the present tread so lightly.

Bodie, California

The legendary Bodie — a classic gold mining boomtown now frozen in the Sierra Nevada mountains — is famous for its ‘arrested decay.’ The homes and buildings in this remote town, where no one now lives, are left as they were left. Visitors can walk the deserted streets, peer in the windows of homes left furnished. The California Park System has recorded times when removed items have been returned along with letters detailing bad luck and strange occurrences.

Pripyat, Ukraine

Just a short stone’s throw from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is Pripyat, a city, which was evacuated overnight following the catastrophic nuclear disaster in 1986. Personal effects mixed with the silent amusement park rides are locked into time. The area won’t be habitable for another 20,000 years, say scientists, making Pripyat a stark monument to nuclear peril.

Craco, Italy

Abandoned in 1980 after a few landslides, floods and earthquakes, Craco sits perched atop a hill in Southern Italy. Now the medieval streets and empty buildings look over the valleys and the echoes of the former inhabitants are all that watch.

Kolmanskop, Namibia

A bustling diamond mining community in the early 1900s, Kolmanskop was consumed by the sands of the Namib desert when the diamond rush ended. Today we have a desolate image of what the desert encroachment has left behind. According to historical records, at the height of its operation, the town produced about 12% of total diamond production of the world.

Humberstone, Chile

Humberstone, in Chile’s parched Atacama Desert, is a ghost town that tells the stark story of how nitrate mining boomed and crashed. With the transition to synthetic nitrate in 1960, the town’s buildings and belongings have retained that mid-century quality. Humberstone was a UNESCO World Heritage Site by 2005 for its historical importance, and for its haunting beauty.

Kennecott, Alaska

An isolated mining camp in Alaska, Kennecott flourished as ore turned up extraordinary copper yields from 1911 until the ore was depleted in 1938. The town is now abandoned, and its buildings – which teeter at the edge of collapse – no longer let in light or fresh air. Accessible to those that are looking for an adventure, the monumental 14 story mill building exists as a monument to human effort and its limits. Kennecott’s isolation has preserved its structures and artifacts, and historians find the company’s buildings and artifacts offer a unique view into early 20th century mining life.

Oradour-sur-Glane, France

Oradour-sur-Glane is a famous memorial to the atrocities of World War II. The village was razed by Nazi massacre in 1944 and 642 residents were killed. The ruins have been left as they were, preserved totally and intact, a powerfully moving reminder of the brutality of war. Thousands make the journey every year to pay their respects and reflect on the past, in streets which echo the tragedy of all the lost lives.

Rhyolite, Nevada

Rhyolite lies in the shifting sands of the Nevada desert, with little remaining of its brief but brilliant Gold Rush boom. The town was founded in 1904 and abandoned by 1920, and its population waned as fast as the fortunes in the hills next to it. Today’s visitors explore the skeletal remains of once bustling buildings under the silent gaze of the encircling mountains.

Glenrio, Texas and New Mexico

Built on the steady stream of mid century American travelers, Glenrio was once a booming stop along Route 66, straddling the border between Texas and New Mexico. According to a travel historian, Glenrio’s decline reflects broader changes in American road travel and the fates of the communities left behind.

Deception Island, Antarctica

A volcanic eruption closed the whaling station in the 1930s and the ruins of the station on Deception Island are somewhat haunting. Also known for its black volcanic beaches and steaming calderas, the island’s preservation challenges are great for such a harsh environment, yet are the reasons it is a ghost town unlike any other.

Hashima Island, Japan

Gunkanjima, or “Battleship Island” as this small island is known near Nagasaki, was abandoned in 1974 when Japan shifted from coal to petroleum. It’s a desolate reminder of how fast that kind of industrialization takes place today, and the crumbling concrete buildings are there as a reminder of how transient industrial booms can be. The island is recognized by UNESCO in 2015 with the aim to highlight achievements and human costs of Japan’s industrial expansion.

Goldfield, Arizona

Goldfield sprang up in the late 19th century, when the gold rush was intense but short lived, and thrived. It’s now a well preserved relic, with reconstructed saloons and jails, and visitors can get a taste of the Wild West, complete with tales of haunted mines to imbue it with a certain amount of mystery.

Fordlandia, Brazil

Fordlandia is located deep in the Amazon rainforest, where in the 1920s Henry Ford tried to create a rubber plantation and a slice of American suburbia. Thanks to mismanagement and environmental challenges, the project failed, and left behind a surreal ghost town, a landscape that includes American style homes and schools perched among tropical foliage.

Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.

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