Eerily Beautiful: The 5 Spookiest Places in Austria

Night falls early, streets are shrouded in fog, and branches crackle in the wind - the dark season is here again, teaching us to be fearful. About 60% of all Austrians take this as an opportunity to celebrate Halloween. But alongside creepy horror movies and glowing pumpkins, Austria has even more frightful attractions to offer.

Between gruesome real crime scenes, abandoned cemeteries, and eerie dark alleys, Travelcircus has identified 5 sinister places in Austria that are sure to leave visitors breathless.

Travelcircus has set out to find scary places in Austria that will make your blood run cold. The 5 spookiest hotspots are mystical, mysterious, and above all: dark! Travelcircus has also captured these 5 dark locations on an interactive map. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/at-grusel-karte

The infamous Blood Alley is one of the oldest and eeriest streets in the Austrian capital. By day, it appears like any other romantic cobblestone alley with many beautiful courtyards. But as soon as the sun sets, the Blood Alley is haunted by spirits.

The Blood of the Knights Templar The eerie alley has carried its name since an incident that allegedly occurred in 1312. According to legend, numerous Knights Templar were brutally murdered here. So much blood flowed through the alley that from then on it was called Blood Alley.

Later, Blood Alley also became a path that all condemned criminals had to take to reach their execution site. Some of those executed, it is rumored, never left the Blood Alley and continue to walk their sad path to death for eternity.

Elisabeth Báthory: The Most Notorious Serial Killer of All Time Even today, people still report encounters with ghosts in the alley - even during broad daylight. The eeriest ghost of Blood Alley is perhaps Lady Báthory, also known as the Blood Countess. The Hungarian countess lured numerous young women to her and tortured them to death for hours. She was said to bathe in the blood of her victims to remain eternally young and beautiful. Some she killed in her castle and others in her city apartment in Vienna, which was just a few meters from Blood Alley.

In total, the Blood Countess is thought to have had 650 victims. This makes her the most notorious serial killer of all time. To this day, it is said that she prowls Blood Alley looking for new victims.

The Cemetery of the Nameless is undoubtedly one of the eeriest places in Vienna. In the 19th century, 478 corpses were buried there, often with no names attached. Many of the dead were washed up on the banks of the Danube and buried there. The bodies were usually so badly mutilated that it was impossible to identify them. All received the gravestone inscription 'unknown'.

The cause of death of these bodies is also unknown. Whether they drowned, were murdered, or committed suicide was of no importance. Thus, all were buried in the Cemetery of the Nameless. Today the cemetery is abandoned and not easy to find. It is overgrown and particularly a spooky place during the evening hours, which many horror fans like to visit.

The Restless Spirits of the Cemetery It is believed that some of the dead are bound to the cemetery and haunt the living during their nightly wanderings in the form of misty apparitions. The former caretaker of the cemetery is also said to still wander between the graves as a ghost.

The imposing Castle Bernstein in Burgenland usually makes the hearts of big and small knights soar. However, especially children are taught to fear at night here.

A Cruel Nightly Observer Today, Castle Bernstein houses an exclusive hotel. However, there is a ghost said to give many visitors sleepless nights. It is said that parents have repeatedly been awakened at night by their screaming children. The children awoke to find a terrible man standing beside their bed watching them. This man had glowing red hair and a truly frightful laugh.

The Red Ivan The nightly observer is the ghost of Count Ivan of Güssing, also known as the Red Ivan. In the 13th century, he was a particularly ruthless bandit. He slaughtered anyone who crossed his path and made no exceptions for members of the clergy.

The most gruesome witch trials in Austria Between 1675 and 1690, Castle Moosham in Lungau was the center of the Salzburg witch trials. The trials were not only held at the castle; it was also the place where the accused were subsequently tortured and executed.

More than 1,000 people were accused of witchcraft or involvement in witchcraft. 156 of them were executed at Castle Moosham. Of those, 39 were between 10 and 14 years old. Unusually, 130 of the murdered were men.

The witch trials at Castle Moosham were known for being particularly brutal. The accused were slowly and painfully tortured. Only when they were nearly dead were they hanged or beheaded. Those who did not die still had to endure hellish torment. Their hands were chopped off, and they were branded with a hot iron so that everyone would know they were accused of witchcraft. This was meant as a warning for all other citizens.

The torture chamber and the witch burning site can still be visited today. Some visitors claim to be touched by ghostly hands, or to hear the victims pleading for mercy in the torture chamber.

The Werewolves of Castle Moosham However, Castle Moosham also has a dark past involving werewolves. In the early 19th century, there were several finds of dead cattle and wild animals around the castle. The animals were found to be mutilated. As a result, it was suspected that they were killed by werewolves or some wolf-like creature.

Voices emerged claiming that the castle's residents were the werewolves, and thus they were tortured and executed in the dungeons of the castle. However, there are also stories saying that it was not the residents of the castle, but the villagers who were the werewolves. In today's howls of wolves in the area, it is never quite clear whether they are werewolves or just wolves.

A vacation in a castle hotel sounds dreamy at first. However, at Castle Hotel St. Georgen in Carinthia, one should be careful about which room one gets. In one of the hotel rooms, there is said to be an immense haunting.

Uncanny Occurrences in Room 35 We are talking about Room 35. Former guests report that strange things happen in that room. Some say they felt like they were being watched. Others even claim to have felt as if something sat on their bed beside them.

There have also been frequent reports of noises and voices coming from the room, or the shower turning on and off as if by ghostly hands. All these guests are convinced that a ghost must be the cause of the eerie occurrences.

The Restless Spirit The ghost seems to be Baron Kulmer. He enjoyed drinking a lot and had numerous affairs during his lifetime. He is said to have murdered both a jealous husband of one of his lovers and one of his illegitimate children at the castle hotel.

He apparently was walled up in the wall of the castle. During renovations, his skeleton was discovered along with the skeleton of a woman and a baby in the masonry. Shortly after this discovery, the paranormal activities in the room began.