The idea of the afterlife and what it holds has puzzled the human race for many years and so of course someone at some point thought “What if we never actually leave this planet when we die? What if some of us stay behind because we CAN’T move on?”

And so, ghost stories were born. For thousands of years, stories of ghosts and wandering or lost spirits roaming the Earth have circulated around the cultures of the world. Tales of star crossed lovers cursed with an inability to be together in this world jumping to the next instead and losing each other yet again, war heroes that still wander the battlegrounds protecting the cities and countries they gave their lives for, and even children who were taken too soon from illness or corruption out to have some fun and be a child are just a few of the kinds of stories that ghost stories seem to center around. These are six ghost stories that I personally found interesting and relate back to real places that you can go visit yourself to see the spirits.

1. Loews Don CeSar Hotel, St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA

Loews Don CeSar Hotel stands today as a very large and grand historic hotel near the shores of sunny Florida. The hotel is affectionately called the “Pink Palace” and was built around the height of the Jazz Age, seeing completion in 1928. It has been said that the hotel is haunted by its original owner, Thomas Rowe and his lover Lucinda.

Rowe studied in London in the 1890s and during his time there he would visit the opera. During his favorite play, Maritana, he became infatuated with the woman in the lead role, named Lucinda. After the play he found her and the two soon started to meet on a regular basis. Her parents were disapproving, as all tragic love stories entail, and they forced her to return to Spain on the grounds that Thomas was of a different religion which was just simply not acceptable.

The two tried to write to each other, but Thomas’ letters were always returned to him unopened. It’s said that Lucinda died of a broken heart, which can actually happen, and Thomas received only one letter from her before she passed that read “I wait for you by our fountain.” So, when Thomas built the hotel, after vowing to never love again, he had a replica of the fountain where he and Lucinda met made for the hotel.

People have claimed over the years that they’ve seen Thomas and Lucinda holding hands, sitting on the fountain together. Others claim to have been greeted by a smiling man at the door, only to see that’s he’s vanished upon questioning him. The two lovers can also be seen in the gardens holding hands together.

2. Petropolis Museum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Farther South in Brazil, there is a museum called The Imperial Museum of Brazil. In 1845, one of Emperor Dom Pedro II’s elegant palaces was converted into a museum. Dom Pedro was Brazil’s last emperor and reigned for over 58 years. His rule ended when he was overthrown-- despite being highly regarded by the people and at the height of his popularity-- and though he was exiled, he was used as a model for the new republic.

During his exiled, he and his family moved to France where, three weeks after arrival, his wife died and his daughter and her family moved away. Pedro first settled in Cannes, France and later in Paris where he spent his time, lonely and melancholic, living in hotels without money and writing in his journals about how he dreamed of being allowed to return to Brazil, but not as a king.

He caught pneumonia one day and finally died in December of 1891 surrounded by his family. It’s said that his ghost can be seen roaming the gardens of the summer palace in the night.

3. Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town, South Africa

Built in the 17^th Century by the Dutch East India Company, the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa is the country’s oldest colonial building, which originally served as a replenishment stations for ships passing the waters of the Cape.

Paranormal activity was first reported here in 1915 when the apparition of a tall gentleman was seen on one of the castle’s ramparts. He was not seen again until 1947 and was from then seen on a regular basis over a two week period, jumping off sides of the castle walls and walking between Leerdam and Oranje bastions.

It’s also believed that former governor Pieter Gysbert van Noodt haunts the castle still. He was found dead in April of 1728, slouched dead at his desk with a look of horror stuck on his face. It’s believed the governor had a curse placed upon him by a soldier after he sentenced him and six others to death. The soldier in question is said to have placed the curse on him when he demanded the governor be at the execution and he was not.

Lastly, sometime in the 1700s, a soldier was found hanging from the bell rope in the bell tower overlooking the castle entrance. The tower was sealed off after the soldier’s untimely demise but to this day the bell has been known to strike of its own accord.

4. Chateau de Brissac, Anjou, Loire Valley, France

In the 15^th century, the castle walls saw a double murder that resulted in a renowned ghost called la Dame Verte, or the “Green Lady”. Charlotte of France was married to Jacques de Breze, the grand seneschal of Normandy.

Charlotte was the illegitimate daughter of Charles VII and Agnes Sorel, a former employee of King Rene. Despite this she was loved by her family, specifically by her brother, Charles’ son, King Louis XI. Her marriage with Jacques was not happy and she did not remain faithful to him. One day, upon his arrival home, he found her in the arms of one of her huntsmen. There are two main versions that describe the next series of events. Some say that Jacques ran Charlotte and her lover through with his sword over 100 times. The other version says that he strangled Charlotte in the Chapel Tower at Brissac later that same day. Regardless of what happened, Charlotte and her lover were never seen again.

The Cosse family took ownership of the chateau later in the 15^th century and the family still resides in the chateau to this day. They’ve encountered the apparition of the Green Lady for generations. She’s seen walked in the tower room of the chapel and has been known to moan in the early morning hours. She appears to people wearing a green dress, the cause of her namesake, and has, what has been described as, the face of a corpse with holes where the eyes and nose should be.

5. Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg, Russia

Russia has been made famous for its long and bloody history, including the fall of its last royal family, the Romanovs. Not quite as famous as the Romanovs is the story of Countess Tarakanova who is rumored to still haunt the cells of the old prison.

Countess Tarakanova (aka. Princess Tarakanova) claimed to be the daughter of Alexei Razumovsky and Elizabeth of Russia. Her real name and place of birth are unknown but it is known that she traveled to multiple cities in Western Europe and even became the mistress of a count hoping that he would marry her and live off his money.

She was finally arrested in Livorno, Tuscany by a soldier who seduced her and lured her aboard a Russian ship in February of 1775. She was taken to the fortress where she died of tuberculosis in December of the same year, buried in its graveyard. Some say that you can still hear her sobbing into one of her silken handkerchiefs.

6. phrá ká nhǒng district of Bangkok, Thailand

A young couple in Thailand were expecting a child when one day, the husband was called off to war. Thoroughly upset, his wife waited for him, weeping profusely. Several months passed as she waited for him to return but no signs of such luck were given to her. During the birth of her child, she and the baby both died, but she was so devoted to her husband that her ghost and the ghost of her baby remained on the Earth. People who walked past her house claimed to hear lullabies and see her ghost holding a child from the distance.