Dizarranged is back with day 11, 12, and 13, 14, and 15, 16, and 17 of 31, exploring haunted places across the globe you can travel to. In case you missed one, check out the full section here.
Locations: West Virginia, Jordan, Panama, Brazil, Ireland, Egypt, Norway
Places: Lake Shawnee Amusement Park, Petra’s Siq, Old Gorgas Hospital, Joelma Building, Leap Castle, Baron Empain Palace, Akershus Fortress
Lake Shawnee Amusement Park History
An abandoned area, known as “one of the most haunted places” on the human planet, featuring rusted swing sets and complicated pasts. Before the Ferris wheels and cotton candy, this patch of Mercer County held meaning far older than ticket stubs. Long before state lines and soda fountains, communities laid their ancestors to rest here; later, in the late 1700s, frontiersman Mitchell Clay settled an 800-acre homestead on the land. Which soon led to the family’s tragedy in 1783 involving two children killed and a third taken and lost, giving a dark history surrounding this land. That’s the ground Lake Shawnee stands on.
Fast-forward to the 1920s, when Conley Snidow rolled in, attempting to turn such an eerie location into a whole-blown family fun atmosphere with circular swings, a swimming pond, a dance hall, calling it the Lake Shawnee Amusement Park. This became a fun place to be for locals until the park went quiet and closed in 1966. In the 1980s, developer Gaylord White tried to reboot the site, only to discover the land was once an area Native American tribes used as a burial ground. After scrapping the idea, the land was left mostly untouched. Today, nature has surrounded what was left of the park; it’s pretty creepy to look at if you dare choose to visit. Read more about its history here.
Petra’s Siq History
Earth has some nice hidden gems, glimpses from varying planets from faraway galaxies, even if you ever get the chance to recreate the extraterrestrial equipment your government has been hiding since the Roswell crash. But now isn’t the time to break that news to you; it’s time to talk about the Siq, which is located at the ancient Nabatean city of Petra in southern Jordan. A natural tectonic split of a mountain, later polished by water, the Siq, meaning “the shaft,” is just over a kilometer long. This dim, rose-colored corridor is the main entrance to the Nabataean city in southern Jordan, funneling you from the Bab as-Siq gateway straight to that cinematic reveal of Al-Khazneh (the Treasury).
The Nabataeans carved an 88-meter flood-tunnel to divert Wadi Musa’s flash torrents, built dams at the mouth, and ran twin water channels along the cliff walls. At one point, a monumental arch crowned the entry (it collapsed in the 1890s), and the Nabataeans initially paved the floor, later repaved by the Romans after AD 106.
While exploring the walls 90 to 180 meters high, the Siq doubles as an open-air gallery of Petra’s past: baetyls (sacred stone shrines) tucked into votive niches, underground chambers likely used by guards, and even near life-size carvings of two merchants leading two camels, once half-buried until the road was lowered. This was the grand caravan entrance, a sacred processional spine where water, commerce, and devotion took place. The Siq is more than a walkway; it’s a pressure chamber of time exploring geology, engineering, and ceremonial history before entering the ancient city of Petra.
Check out an archived 1971 New York Times travelogue for a time-capsule view giving a walkthrough of the Siq. The over-fifty-year-old article mentions some of its darker history, including events from lost centuries, a flash-flood tragedy in 1963 before the modern dam, and Bedouin life tracing back to the natural eeriness when goat herds gave the area vibrations through the canyon walls.
Old Gorgas Hospital History
Located on the hill above Panama City, the French-built L’Hôpital Central du Panama was established in 1882 before it became known today as The old Gorgas Hospital. It was a house of modern medicine at the time, when no one understood that mosquitoes carried yellow fever and malaria resulting in spiked death rates.
New ownership came in and by 1904 it was called the Ancon Hospital, and under William C. Gorgas turned the site into a U.S. Army hospital. By 1915–1919, the hospital was reconstructed from wood to concrete, giving new labs that would train generations of physicians and notch landmark research in tropical disease. By 1928, Congress gave the location its legendary name, Gorgas Hospital. By 1997, the complex shifted to Panamanian hands. Since 1999, the hilltop has served the living in a new way as a home to the Instituto Oncológico Nacional.
Joelma Building History
Standing 25 stories high in downtown São Paulo, the Joelma Building rose in 1971 with the promise of a future that soon turned into a burning failure, three years later. On February 1, 1974, an air-conditioning unit on the 12th floor short-circuited. With a mix of interior elements like wood partitions, cellulose ceiling tiles, curtains, and carpets, it soon fed a fire that expanded within minutes. A time before fire safety protocols, the building had no emergency sprinkler systems, alarms, or protected escape stairs. Smoke flooded the single stairwell, elevators ran only briefly, and rescue ladders reached nowhere near high enough. Helicopters circled a roof that couldn’t safely take those trapped inside. At least 179 people were dead and hundreds injured, marking it the deadliest high-rise fire on record up until 9/11. Fire safety protocols were soon rewritten.
Four years of closure and reconstruction followed. The tower reopened with enhanced safety regulations and a new name. The Edifício Praça da Bandeira, received an update in safety regulations with multiple egress routes, alarms, suppression, and accessibility touches that now exceed requirements. The building changed a city’s laws as the new building remains, and in 2024 marked 50 years since the fire.
Leap Castle History
Leap Castle sits in Roscrea, County Offaly, Ireland, with its core tower tracing back to the 13th century, likely around 1250 AD. Built by the O’Bannon clan (vassals to the O’Carrolls), giving the location its original name, Léim Uí Bhanáin. Across the 1500s, it functioned as an O’Carroll stronghold, saw sieges by the Earl of Kildare, and fell into the clan’s own lethal succession wars. Most notably, 1532’s “Bloody Chapel” murder, when an O’Carroll stabbed his priest-brother at the altar mid-Mass. The location is a landmine for dark history. A oubliette was discovered in the 20th century with a haul of human remains, while tales of poisoned mercenaries (the McMahon men) during a victory feast, showing contrast differences between hospitality and hegemony.
In 1642, the Castle passed by marriage to the Darby family, who expanded and remodeled it over the centuries; then came 1922, when the Castle was burned during the Irish Civil War and reduced to a shell. The 20th century saw attempts at restoration, beginning with Australian historian Peter Bartlett in 1974. Since 1991, musician Seán Ryan and his wife Anne have carried the work forward. Today, Leap is privately owned, lived in, and restored.
Baron Empain Palace History
Baron Empain’s Palace was built in Heliopolis, Cairo, between 1907–1911 for Belgian industrialist Édouard “Baron” Empain, who was simultaneously developing the new suburb. Designed by French architect Alexandre Marcel, it’s a reinforced concrete structure inspired by Indian and Khmer architecture, laid out with a basement for staff, a grand reception level, family rooms above, a spiral stair, and an early elevator.
After Empain died in 1929 and the 1952 revolution, the palace became long neglected. The Egyptian government acquired it in 2005 and listed it as a protected monument in 2007. Working with Belgium, the palace was restored from 2016. Today, it’s open as a museum and cultural venue focused on the founding of Heliopolis and early 20th-century Cairo architecture.
Akershus Fortress History
Construction of Akershus Castle began around 1299–1300 by King Håkon V as a fortified royal stronghold to defend Oslo and serve as a residence. It withstood multiple sieges, most notably Swedish attacks in 1308, 1449–50, 1523, and 1567. After the 1624 city fire, King Christian IV rebuilt it in Renaissance style and enclosed it within a modern bastioned fortress. Through the 1600s, it functioned as a palace and administrative center; parts of the complex also served as a prison (“Slaveriet”), holding well-known inmates and later rebels from the 1852 Kautokeino uprising.
During World War II, the Germans used the fortress for executions; after liberation in May 1945, Norwegian traitors convicted of war crimes, including Vidkun Quisling, were executed there. The Royal Mausoleum (completed 1948) holds medieval and modern Norwegian royals, including Håkon V, Queen Eufemia, Håkon VII, Maud, Olav V, and Crown Princess Märtha.
The castle deteriorated in the 18th–19th centuries, but was later restored in the 20th century. Today, Akershus remains an active military area open to the public daily, housing state ceremonial rooms, the Royal Mausoleum, the Norwegian Armed Forces Museum, and Norway’s Resistance Museum. It is used for official events and government representation, with the fortress guarded by His Majesty’s The King’s Guard and the wider site hosting parts of Norway’s defense administration.
Reported Activity
Lake Shawnee Amusement Park
On a TripAdvisor thread, a traveler blatantly asks, Has anybody actually gotten good evidence that this place is haunted? Two visitors chimed in: a photo of a tall and skinny boy who looked freshly scalped, buckskin jacket and hands in pockets; a mist that built itself from nowhere as they left the burial grounds; an invisible hand on a shoulder. They talked about a “between-dimensions” horse appearing near the river, a phantom “self-recording” on a phone showing a floating orb.
Another person replied by claiming they remember spotting a black figure at the little shed by the swings, a strange photo to match, and gear misbehaving like it had a mind of its own. Reported sightings found in Road Unraveled, Philly Ghosts, and Only In Your State, cite the following:
Being a sacred burial ground alone proves the area is surrounded by paranormal activity. But that’s not all; death itself has reoccurred, leading many humans to believe the location is cursed. The story of Emiline Shrader, who died in 1927 when by was struck by a truck while playing on a swing. Just three years later, in 1930, a boy named George Wythe tragically drowned in the park’s swimming pool. With such horror, the place’s natural surroundings have been the subject of many unexplained reports, beyond the eerie look of Mother Nature growing over the remnants of the rusted old park. Apparitions of whispered voices and unexplained sounds have been picked up during ghost hunting investigations. One paranormal investigation took them to capture a full-bodied figure on camera.
A short list of other findings includes:
Swings with a mind of their own: empty seats start to sway on still days.
Kid sightings: visitors report children on the swings, plus a tall, skinny boy (scalped, buckskin jacket, hands in pockets) caught in a photo.
A different dimension?: Disembodied footsteps, chanting, and a horse’s ripping snort that appears interdimensional.
Electronics acting strange: Random self-recordings with a floating orb, EMF, and cameras have malfunctioned at the shed by the swings.
Orbs, shadows, mists: classic orbs, shadow figures at the shed.
Petra’s Siq
Orbs
Visitors have reported floating lights inside the Siq, watching orbs drifting away like lanterns.
Whispers & Footsteps
There have been reports of mysterious whispers and footsteps echoing throughout the area. However, skeptics blame the natural acoustics, viewing nature as its own instrument.
Drops in Temperature
Even on sweltering hot summer days, visitors have felt a sudden drop in temperature, possibly linked to micro-drafts and pressure shifts.
Laughter & Screams
Local lore ties the Siq’s night echoes of laughter that turn to screams to the 23 Lebanese schoolgirls lost in the 1963 flash flood.
Djinn at the Gate
At the entrance stand the Djinn Blocks, monuments that folklore links to djinn, guardians made of “smokeless fire.” Reports of mysterious whirls of wind and pinprick lights surround the area.
The Treasury’s Edge
Near Al-Khazneh, people note hushed chanting and a perfumed trace. Skeptics believe it’s more vendors lighting incense for tourists, and natural crowd acoustics.
The Siq is widely known as haunted, but skeptics attribute these eerie sightings to the natural acoustics and the unique split of the land itself. With centuries of flash floods, during which many tragedies occurred, it’s evident that more than natural, explained phenomena are happening here.
Old Gorgas Hospital
Rich in dark history, Gorgas Hospital is still very much alive. Despite now being used for Panamanian government offices and a cancer research center, it feels like many who died here never left. Occult World reported the haunted history consisting of sounds of gurney wheels rattling past when no one’s there, an antiseptic-turned-dust smell slipping along the corridors, doors that ease open and shut on their own. You hear faint cries of agony that suddenly fade into nothingness. Elevators “ding” with no car arriving. Footsteps pass the spot where the nurses’ desk used to be. Name a classic hospital haunt, and it’s probably walked these halls.
The most retold encounter is the Crying Child, a small figure in a white gown moving room to room, the soft sobbing always one doorway ahead. Others swear they’ve seen nurses who never clocked out, faces calm, hands efficient, tending to patients no one else can see. Whether those who walked through these halls had a positive or negative experience, their energies remain with overpowering feelings of loss, relief, and agony, running on a continuous loop, like the ward never truly closed.
Joelma Building
Inside Edifício Praça da Bandeira (the rebuilt Joelma Building), most haunt reports focus on classic office-tower oddities rather than urban myths: shadowy figures in stairwells, elevators that stop and open to empty floors, occasional alarm/light anomalies, and cold spots—with many stories clustering on the upper floors above where fire crews could reach in 1974. Security anecdotes also mention car lights blinking in the garage without obvious triggers. In 2004, the owners reportedly invited a Buddhist monk to bless the building; press retellings say the lower floors were deemed fine “for the living,” while unquiet energy lingered higher up. Treat those details as lore, not official findings.
Outside the tower, the better-documented legend is the “13 Souls”—the unidentified elevator victims from the February 1, 1974, fire who were buried together at Vila Alpina Cemetery. Visitors leaving glasses of water at their grave is part of that cemetery tradition, not the building itself. As for a curse on the site: local history ties the lot to the 1948 “Crime of the Pit” (Crime do Poço), when Paulo Camargo murdered his mother and two sisters and hid them in a well on the property; during the recovery of the bodies, a firefighter reportedly died, which helped seed the “cursed ground” reputation. Taken together—an infamous 1974 high-rise disaster, earlier violent crime, and decades of anecdotal experiences—you get Joelma’s modern folklore: a working office tower with a past that some say still taps the glass.
Leap Castle
Dare to search more about Leap Castle, and you will find more haunted reports than its overall history. Some detailed haunted sightings come from Little House of Horrors, European Waterways, and Ireland.
“It” / The Elemental: The castle’s most infamous and worst lore, a creature with sheep-sized, corpse-reeking, sunken eyes lurks around the castle. Most folks treat “It” as the Elemental. Mildred Darby (1867 – 1932) used to perform black magic while residing in the castle, which led to her accidentally unleashing the Elemental spirit. And yes, in 1909, she wrote about that rancid, shoulder-tapping encounter:
“I was standing in the Gallery looking down at the main floor, when I felt somebody put a hand on my shoulder. The thing was about the size of a sheep. Thin, gaunt, shadowy… its face was human, to be more accurate, inhuman. Its lust in its eyes, which seemed half decomposed in black cavities, stared into mine. The horrible smell, one hundred times intensified, came up into my face, giving me a deadly nausea. It was the smell of a decomposing corpse.”
Priest’s House: The Priest’s house was built in 1571 and destroyed by 1922 a fire during the Irish Civil War. People who managed to sleep in the Priest’s home prior to the fire felt a heavy presence, as though a monk still resided there. A woman spirit was also reported, known to scream before disappearing.
Murder Hole Room: A private room within the castle, known as the Murder Hole Room. Legend says another relative murdered another member of the O’Carroll family. The malevolent spirit continues to linger.
The Red Lady: This figure is often spotted in the Blue Room, which used to be a nursery. However, people claim to have seen the Red Lady in other parts of the castle. Regardless of the location, she’s been described as tall and thin, with long brown hair, wearing a long red dress and carrying a dagger, ready to seek vengeance. Tied between two legends, one cites she was a victim of sexual assault by one of the O’Carrolls, leading to pregnancy. When the child was born, the O’Carrolls killed the baby with a dagger, and the lady took the same dagger to end her own life. Others claim that she tried to escape, but the O’Carrolls disapproved and murdered her by stabbing.
Emily & Charlotte: Two youthful spirits of young girls providing mischief around the house with slamming doors, footsteps, and removal of pictures on the walls. Likely, friendly spirits remain playing around the castle.
These are just a few of the restless souls found lurking throughout the Leap Castle. These spirits range from friendly to depressed to evil. The owner likely met them all and learned how to co-exist within the castle.
Baron Empain Palace
The Baron Empain Palace is widely known as haunted, despite locals dismissing the claims, which causes some confusion between myth, fiction, and lore surrounding the location’s dark history. Haunted reports include: screams and footsteps, lights or shadows seen in upper rooms, a “forbidden” basement room tied to séances or occult rites, a “supposed secret tunnel to the Basilica, and the often-repeated myth that the tower once rotated.
The darkest family stories say the Baron’s wife died after a fall inside the palace, the Baron’s daughter later died under unclear circumstances, and events led to visitors claiming to experience haunting disturbances. In the 1990s, the site’s long abandonment and trespassing fueled rumors of satanic gatherings; a widely covered police raid on teens added to the lore even though no formal proof of ritual activity surfaced.
Many Heliopolis residents and current staff deny any paranormal activity. They attribute sounds and lights to echoes, animals, or security checks. They note there’s no verified rotating mechanism or document there and point out that after the state-led restoration and its 2020 reopening as a museum/venue, operations are routine. In short: there are persistent legends and a tragic family backstory. You may have to visit it yourself and do your own paranormal investigation. Haunted sources: Egyptian Streets, Curls en Route, Scoop Empire.
Akershus Fortress
The “Malcanisen”
A ghost dog is said to guard the Maiden/Virgin Tower. Legend says a live dog was entombed during construction, and its spirit now appears with glowing eyes as a death omen for those who meet it.
The “Mantelgeisten” (cloaked woman)
Reportedly seen in or near Margaretasalen, described as a tall figure in a dark mantle with no visible face.
By the drawbridge and main gate
Visitors report battle shouts, sudden breath on the neck, and a phantom gatekeeper; a shot horse from a failed 16th-century charge is also said to haunt the approach.
Common activity
Reports across the fortress include footsteps in empty corridors, disembodied voices, cold spots, and doors moving on their own.
Former prison areas (“Slaveriet”) are linked to moans, chains, and cell door sounds; WWII execution sites are connected to sudden chills or muffled cries.
Haunted sources: Little House of Horrors, Moon Mausoleum, Unexpected Traveller.
How to Visit
Lake Shawnee Amusement Park
The main website offers tours, information and more.
Petra’s Siq
Explore trails, events, and find more things to do, you can learn more about the Siq and experience it in person by checking out the main Visit Petra website.
Old Gorgas Hospital
While the hospital is a place of the past, you can book a tour to see the historic site. Plenty of tours are available. Here’s one.
Joelma Building
Yes, you can visit the building and area that surrounds it. More information available here.
Leap Castle
While Leap Castle is privately owned, you can make arrangements for a tour through the property owner, pre-arranged no random show ups. For more information on how to book, Haunted Rooms has the full details, with more haunted information about the location.
Baron Empain Palace
You may not be able to book a full-blown paranormal investigation but you can visit for a tour, as the location is open to the public. Visit here to learn more.
Akershus Fortress
On Visit Oslo, there are prices, times and more information on the location. You can also take a deep dive about its history here.
Nearby Haunted Sightseeings
Lake Shawnee Amusement Park
The Greenbrier Resort & Bunker (White Sulphur Springs) – 2 hours
Gilded resort with ghost reports (shadow figures, voices, doors) plus tours of the Cold War Project Greek Island bunker under the hotel. More info here.
Thurmond “Ghost Town,” New River Gorge – 2 hours
An almost-abandoned rail town, local guides and park materials note its eerie, “is-it-haunted?” reputation and offer self-guided/walking tours. (Road in is narrow—check NPS notes.)
Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (Weston) – 3 hours
The massive 19th-century hospital is famous for night ghost hunts and paranormal tours.
Petra’s Siq
Shobak (Montreal) Castle – 45 Minutes
A crusader fortress on a lonely hill with ghost-knight lore and odd noises in the vaults.
Karak Castle – 2 Hours
A multi-level stronghold where visitors have said to have seen shadow figures and a sorrowful lady in white amid the dungeons and halls.
Wadi Rum Desert – 2 Hours
Vast sandstone cathedrals and star fields are tied to Bedouin tales of the jinn with reports of strange lights and voices on the wind.
Old Gorgas Hospital
Casco Viejo (Old Quarter) – esp. Central Hotel Panamá – 15 Minutes
The Central Hotel (1874) is often singled out by local guides/blogs for ghost stories, and Casco Viejo as a whole is repeatedly profiled for hauntings.
Cerro Ancón (Ancon Hill) – 10 Minutes
Local legend speaks of an apparition on foggy mornings near the summit, one of the city’s most-cited “haunted” locations.
Gamboa (La Enfermera de Gamboa / The Gamboa Nurse) – 45 Minutes
Canal-Zone folk tale of a spectral nurse who flags down cars or buses near Gamboa, then vanishes.
Joelma Building
Vila Alpina Cemetery – “Túmulo das 13 Almas” – 35 Minutes
Mass grave holding the 13 unidentified elevator victims from the 1974 fire.
Edifício Martinelli (historic rooftop & tower) – 15 minutes
Downtown icon with ghost stories, mysterious elevator activity, and tales of deaths retold on city ghost walks and local features.
Theatro Municipal de São Paulo – 10 Minutes
Grand opera house where staff and night crews whisper about phantom piano notes, footsteps, voices, and shadow apparitions in the galleries and backstage.
Leap Castle
Kinnitty Castle – 15 Minutes
Victorian-Gothic pile with a reputation for the “Monk of Kinnitty,” a chatty robed figure said to pop up with messages, plus assorted footsteps and door games.
Charleville Castle, Tullamore – 35 Minutes
Grand, brooding, and famously linked to the child spirit “Harriet,” along with shadow forms and cold spots in the oak staircase and nursery rooms. It’s another hotspot for Ireland’s most haunted locations.
Clonony Castle, Shannon Harbour – 40 minutes
A Tudor tower house with grim spirits, locals report a gaunt, old-fashioned figure on the battlements and eerie lights. A headless legend tied to the Tudor dead is said to rest nearby.
Baron Empain Palace
Helwan (aka “Helwan Hospital” legends) – 60 Minutes
Stories about a hospital in Helwan with shadow figures in corridors, disembodied voices, and light switching on and off. It’s considered one of Egypt’s Most Haunted places.
Pyramids of Giza – 70 Minutes
Footsteps on empty plateau paths, robed figures vanishing near tombs, and whispers along the causeways. The Giza plateau is a commonly listed haunted location.
Roushdy Building (Alexandria) – 3 Hours
Known as Egypt’s most famous “haunted apartment block” with reports of flickering lights, moving furniture, and tenants who never stay long.
Akershus Fortress
Bærums Verk (Værtshuset & old ironworks), Bærum – 30 Minutes
Reports include a “lady in green” (often linked to former owner Anna Krefting) seen on the restaurant’s upper floor, plus a nightly ringing phone in the admin building with only static on the line.
Nes Church Ruins (Vormsund), Nes – 60 Minutes
Visitors report odd lights/sounds, failing electronics, and a priest’s ghost said to wander the ruins; legends also claim shocking family burials and/or suicide tied to the 19th-century cleric Jacob C. Finckenhagen.
Fredriksten Fortress (Halden) – 2 hours
Longstanding sightings of “The White Lady,” said to appear near the White Tower around midnight after leaping to her death during a siege.
Nearby Accomodations
Lake Shawnee Amusement Park
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Princeton
Brushcreek Falls RV Resort
Petra’s Siq
Petra Venus Hotel
Petra Guest House
Mövenpick Resort Petra
Old Gorgas Hospital
Principe Hotel and Suites
Hotel Riu Plaza Panama
Hotel La Compañía Casco Antiguo
Joelma Building
Hotel Nacional Inn Jaragua São Paulo
SOOZ Hotel Collection
Hotel Cadoro Sao Paulo
Leap Castle
Abbey Court
Dun Cromain Bed and Breakfast
Lackaroe Cottage
Baron Empain Palace
Parkside Boutique Serviced Apartments
The Westin Cairo Golf Resort & Spa, Katameya Dunes
Dusit Thani LakeView Cairo
Akershus Fortress
Hotel Christiania Teater
Amerikalinjen
Sommerro