The 5 Most Haunted Places in Asia

A trip to Asia is a far-flung event with ancient temples, diverse cuisines, and colorful traditions. But there's also a darker side to experience, one with tales of ghosts and creepy things that go bump in the night.

From a former war prison with a rumored roaming resident to a haunted fort in India where you are forbidden to go at night, there are plenty of places in Asia to go searching for the eerie.

Next time you're in Beijing, take a second look at the Forbidden City, an unbelievably popular tourist attraction that is typically closed — to the living, at least — at night. Or head to some of these other spots (at your own risk), because along with Asia's rich history is a more sinister past that lives on through relics and, if you ask some people, spirits.

These are some of Asia's most haunted places. Are you brave enough to add them to your itinerary?

Bhangarh Fort, India

This impressive 16th-century fort, located in Rajasthan, India, was once home to royalty, but now it is one of the most haunted places in the country. Bhangarh Fort was opened to the public in 1573, complete with temples and a palace, before it was mysteriously abandoned. There are several stories people tell explaining why folks promptly fled this once-great fort. One of them alleges that someone placed a curse upon the fort because it was casting a shadow over their home, while another attributes its ruin to a love potion gone wrong. Whatever the cause, visitors are no longer allowed in after dark, but you can visit during daylight hours — if you dare.

Lawang Sewu, Indonesia

This building has a storied history. It was built in the early 1900s as an outpost for the Dutch East Indies Railway Company before it was taken over by Japanese soldiers and used as a prison during World War II. Later, it became the site of a bloody altercation between Dutch, Japanese, and Indonesian forces. While it's certainly a hotbed for ghosts in general, it's one ghost in particular who gets people's attention: A young Dutch woman who died by suicide is said to roam the property.

The Forbidden City, China

The Forbidden City was the home of Chinese emperors for five centuries, and it is one of the most popular places for tourists to visit in Beijing. The palace complex is typically closed to the public at night, adding to its mystique and spooky allure. One of the most popular legends is that of a ghostly woman in white who can reportedly be heard crying inside the palace. Reports of this specific ghost date back to the 1940s.

Old Changi Hospital, Singapore

There's hardly anything spookier than a derelict hospital. Singapore's old Changi Hospital, in operation between 1935 and 1997, is one such place. Locals know it to be one of the most haunted places in the country, teeming with the ghosts of former patients and victims of the Japanese Occupation, during which it served as a military hospital. Rumored underground bunkers that run beneath the hospital add to the spookiness.

Although it's closed to the public, people find their ways in somehow and leave spray-painted symbols on the walls to show they were there. Some of those symbols are said to be satanic.

Sathorn Unique Tower, Thailand

Bangkok's unfinished Sathorn Unique Tower has been aptly nicknamed the "Ghost Tower" for a couple reasons, the first of them being its eerie appearance. It was meant to be a residential building, but construction on the high-rise halted in the '90s amid a financial crisis and never resumed. Now the skyscraper, only 80% finished, is without exterior walls. Despite the risks involved and the fact that it's off-limits to the public, the open-air structure has attracted many a daredevil, plus an army of stray dogs that are said to occupy the ground floor. The building has even seen at least one death, hence why it's thought to be haunted.