A waterfall suddenly runs red, sending torrents of blood flying over its precipice. A vast subterranean cavern erupts in flames, burning for forty years straight and attracting thick, black swarms of spiders. Hundreds of dirty, weathered dolls hang in effigy from the trees on a seemingly deserted island.

These all sound like excellent locations for a horror movie, and they would be. Except these aren’t fictional set pieces imagined by horror mavens like John Carpenter or Wes Craven or Dario Argento. No, these are much scarier because these are all places that actually exist on planet Earth. We spend so much time wandering about in vast fictional worlds that it’s easy to mistake the forest for the trees. Nothing is creepier than the world around us, so today we are going to celebrate the terrifying majesty of our planet by cataloging the most terrifying places on Earth. From haunted forests in Japan to chilling churches in the Czech Republic, today’s episode of The Dan Cave is taking you on a jarring journey around the world.

Obviously, this list is just the tip of a supremely unsettling iceberg. What are some of your favorite creepy real world locations? Let us know in the comments below!

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Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of 100 Things Avengers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. You can follow him on Twitter (@Osteoferocious).

Featured Image: Flickr/Kevin53