[DiamondSmiles]

Or Early For Next Year...

Candy corn and "Gangnam Style" costumes are all well and good, but the raison d’être for Halloween is much less benign; to scare the pants off you. At the following 10 spots, it’s near impossible not to get creeped out, making them ideal spots to spend at least part of Halloween.

Text by Pauline Frommer | Photo editing by Mike Hipple

Catacombe dei Cappuccini, Palermo, Sicily

Life is fleeting and rotting skeletons are really, really creepy — those are the two lessons one takes away from the Catacombe dei Cappuccini. Since 1599, important Sicilians have been interred here, all purposefully mummified. Visitors head underground and then walk down long aisles, viewing clothed bodies in various stages of decomposition, some with jaws gaping open in a silent scream. Spookiest is the doll-like remains of 2-year-old Rosalia Lombardo, who looks remarkably fresh despite having passed away in 1920. The catacombs are open only in the daytime, unfortunately — or fortunately.


Aokigahara Forest, Japan

Legend has it that evil spirits haunt these woods. That may or may not be true, but what’s indisputable is that few places in the world are as popular for suicides. According to a recent documentary, up to 100 people per year, (since the 1950s), come to these woodlands, at the base of Mount Fuji, to end it all. Japan’s Demon Forest, as it’s been nicknamed, would be an eerie place even without all the deaths; in certain spots, the tree cover is so dense it feels like midnight at noon.


Sedlec Ossuary, Czech Republic

In the 13th century, a local abbot poured dirt from the Holy Land over the cemetery of this small church and from that act came an overload of bones. Over the ensuing centuries, hundreds of people wanted to be buried under this special soil. Flash ahead to 1870 when a local carpenter, Frantisek Rind, was given the commission of “recycling” these human remains to decorate the chapel. What one sees today is his macabre masterpiece, which used the bones of more than 40,000 souls to create chandeliers, coats of arms, piers, monstrances and more.


New Orleans

Voodoo shops, above-ground cemeteries, a gore-drenched history and lots of weeping willows — how could New Orleans not be just a hair frightening? Folks who want to up the ante can stay in one of the city’s 10 reportedly haunted hotels; New Orleans is thought by many to be the most haunted city in the U.S. Or they can just party down at the yearly Vampire Ball, inspired by local Anne Rice’s books, at the Frenchman Street festival or at one of the other seasonal celebrations held here each October.


Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida

Sure, lots of amusement parks drape their roller coasters with fake cobwebs come October. But none goes as far as Universal Studios, which puts on a show that’s far too intense for most children. New for 2012: the zombies from AMC’s "The Walking Dead," an attraction called, “Welcome to My Nightmare,” designed in collaboration with rocker Alice Cooper, and a “magic trick by Penn and Teller, gone horrifically wrong.” Beyond these elements are seven haunted houses, two stage shows and lots and lots of actors waiting to jump out at you when you least expect a chain saw in your face.


Bran Castle, Brasov, Romania

A majestic, hilltop fortress in the Carpathian Mountains, Bran is associated with the life of Vlad the Impaler, the ruler who inspired Bram Stoker’s novel "Dracula." Though there’s no evidence that Vlad sucked anyone’s blood, he is credited by some historians with ordering the deaths of more than 20,000 of his subjects, often burning entire villages to the ground. His reported favorite method of killing was a cruel one: impaling victims on sharp sticks. A number of companies now offer Halloween tours of Transylvania.


Goretorium, Las Vegas

“Splat Pack” director Eli Roth, ("Hostel" and "Cabin Fever"), is the mastermind behind Las Vegas’ new year-round, 15,000-square-foot haunted hotel, and it’s as blood-drenched and disturbing as any of his films. Bleeding bathroom mirrors, human skin draped in the laundry, zombie go-go dancers, body parts strewn willy-nilly — these are just some of the scares at the $10 million attraction. The most frightening thing about the Goretorium? Real, legally binding weddings take place in the on-site chapel. Would you want that couple to move in next door?


Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh, Scotland

Those who are lucky encounter only unexplained noises and patches of cold air when visiting this graveyard. Hundreds more over the years have reportedly come away with bruises and scratches, ascribed to the poltergeist of “Bloody” George Mackenzie, the lord advocate who tortured political prisoners in these parts in the 1600s. During that era, a group called the Covenanters, around 1,200 of them, were imprisoned on these grounds in such horrific conditions that hundreds perished. The graveyard is also famous for Greyfriars Bobby, the loyal dog who refused to leave his master’s grave. Evening ghost tours explore the kirkyard.


Queen Mary, Long Beach, California

Over its years in service as both a luxury liner and transport ship during World War II, around 50 people have perished aboard the Queen Mary. High levels of paranormal activity on board have been reported, including people hearing the screams of a ghostly cook. Legend has it he was burned to death in an oven by troops angered by his lack of culinary skills. Throughout the year, ghost tours are offered along the ship’s claustrophobically narrow corridors, and for Halloween the ship holds its annual Dark Harbor festival with mazes, monsters and other things that go bump in the night.

[BlackRoseImmortal]

I am off to Prague tomorrow and heading to the Sedlec Ossuary on Friday....Can't wait

[DiamondSmiles]

Cool! Have fun!