Dizarranged is back with day 28, 29, and 30, of 31, exploring haunted places across the globe you can travel to. In case you missed one, check out the full section here.
Locations: France, Japan, Spain
Places: Château de Brissac, The Devil’s Sea/ Dragon’s Triangle, Belmez Faces
Château de Brissac History
Château de Brissac, often known as the Giant of the Loire Valley, began as an 11th-century fortress built by the Counts of Anjou to secure their territory in what is now Maine-et-Loire. After King Philip II of France defeated the English in the region, he granted the site to Guillaume des Roches. The fortress was almost entirely rebuilt by the 15th century in grander style by Pierre de Brézé, chief minister to Charles VII. The estate underwent another change when Francis I, who granted it to René de Cossé, ancestor of the dukes, took over. Its most dramatic turning point came during the French Wars of Religion when the château was seized in 1589 by Henry of Navarre and left severely damaged. When Charles II de Cossé backed Henry IV, the new king, Henry IV rewarded him in 1611 with the title Duke of Brissac and enough money to rebuild. That 17th-century rebuilding is what gave Brissac its height at seven stories, making it the tallest château in France.
The château did not escape the upheaval of the French Revolution. The Brissac family began restoring it in 1844, a lengthy process going well into the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, it is still the private home of the Cossé-Brissac line. However, large parts are open to visitors. Listed as a Monument historique, it also hosts cultural events such as the Val de Loire festival and even occasional overnight stays.
The Devil’s Sea / Dragon’s Triangle History
The Devil’s Sea, also known as the Dragon’s Triangle or simply the Pacific Bermuda Triangle, lies off the coast of Japan, roughly in the Philippine Sea between Tokyo’s Izu Islands and the Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands, and westward toward Taiwan. The stretch of ocean Japan has called Ma no Umi, meaning the ‘troublesome’ or ‘dangerous’ sea. These waters would bring Japanese sailors through extreme conditions, including sudden storms, shifting currents, and frequent volcanic activity. Such activity may be invisible or suddenly appear from undersea volcanoes like Myōjin-shō, which can emerge, erupt, and perhaps vanish once again. That volatility is what sank the Japanese survey vessel Kaiyo Maru No. 5 in 1952 while it was studying an undersea eruption. Earlier, in 1281, part of Kublai Khan’s invading Mongol fleet was destroyed by what the Japanese later called kamikaze, “divine winds,” typhoon systems that are typical of this sector of the Philippine Sea.
What gave this location the names Devil’s Sea or Dragon’s Triangle is the geologically young maritime region where typhoons, undersea eruptions, and heavy fishing traffic all overlap. Japanese newspapers in the 1950s did map a broad “special danger area” after several small vessels were lost. Still, later researchers showed most of those losses were explainable from bad weather, poorly equipped boats, or activity too close to erupting seamounts. Today, the area is routinely crossed by commercial shipping, fishing fleets, and Japan’s own oceanographic surveys.
Belmez Faces History
Heading to Spain with this bizarre story that began in August 1971. A housewife in the small Andalusian town of Bélmez de la Moraleda, María Gómez Cámara, noticed a dark stain on her kitchen floor, which she believed formed the outline of a human face. The woman tried to scrub the stain away, but it became impossible, leading her husband to break it up and soon replace the floor, only to find a clearer face appear in the same spot just days later. News of the formed face spread, and the family was ordered to keep the image, while calling it “Casa de las Caras.” Over the following decades, new faces of both men and women have emerged, fading in and out. Paranormal researchers proposed “thoughtography,” suggesting María herself, or spirits tied to the property, were imprinting images from the other side. Local lore was further fueled when excavations reportedly uncovered human remains beneath the house.
From the 1970s through María’s death in 2004, the Bélmez Faces became one of Europe’s most talked-about alleged hauntings, but they also became one of its most scrutinized. Chemists and skeptics argued the images could be made with pigments, acids, or other concrete-reactive agents, and investigative journalists later suggested the family benefited from the tourism, accusing the family of creating a potential hoax. The original images have aged and faded. New faces have emerged, as it’s said the house still stands.
Reported Activity
Château de Brissac
The Château de Brissac is most famous for the legend of La Dame Verte, the Green Lady. Most reports suspect her of being Charlotte de Brézé, the illegitimate daughter of King Charles VII and Agnès Sorel, who was sent off into an arranged marriage to Jacques de Brézé for political convenience. Charlotte took a lover, rumored to be one of her husband’s huntsmen. When Jacques caught the two together in the tower room above the chapel in 1477, he killed them both in a fit of rage. Not long after, he fled the castle. Over the centuries, only Charlotte seems to have remained. Witnesses describe a tall woman in a green gown, her face mutilated or hollowed where her eyes and nose should be, drifting through that same tower room or appearing at dawn with sorrowful moans.
The current Brissac family treats her like part of the house. Guests, however, aren’t always so calm. Reports of cold spots, footsteps in empty corridors, and a watching presence near the chapel staircase are most common. The atmosphere tends to intensify in the early morning. Because the murder was domestic, fueled by jealousy over war, the haunting gives a more intimate presence.
The Devil’s Sea / Dragon’s Triangle
Devil’s Sea holds quite a few legends mixed with skepticism: is it undersea volcanic activity or a site “where dragons feed?” There are reports that the area is cursed as it has a history of swallowing ships, bending compasses, and sending ships drifting off to somewhere else. The legend dates back to 1000 B.C.E., when people claimed that sea dragons churned the water, dragging boats under and suddenly causing storms to emerge. In modern times, witnesses have issued warnings about the ma no umi, seeing ghostly lights within the waves, misty “phantom islands” appearing and vanishing beneath the Sea, and voices calling out in unrecognizable languages.
The Devil’s Sea earned a reputation as the Pacific twin of the Bermuda Triangle. There have been additional reports of magnetic fields spiking, time feeling wrong, and the ocean levels thinning. Skeptics point to undersea volcanoes and destructive storms, but the lore persists.
Belmez Faces
The natural horror behind the Bélmez Faces gives you Poltergeist vibes, as the house sits over what was likely a centuries-old burial ground. When officials dug beneath the kitchen, they reportedly uncovered human bones thought to date back to the 13th century. That discovery gave the village its favorite explanation on how the dead used the kitchen floor as their medium to connect with the living. Each time the floor was smashed and relaid, new faces emerged as if disturbing the ground only stirred more of them.
Paranormal researchers leaned on the theory of trauma imprinting itself onto the concrete material or on María herself, who discovered these faces, as a psychic conduit. However, the burial-ground theory remained most convincing because the activity didn’t stop after the bones were moved.
How to Visit
Château de Brissac
Available to the public, it also offers bed and breakfast. Dare to check in?
The Devil’s Sea / Dragon’s Triangle
While there aren’t many findings on how to visit the Devil’s Sea, a nearby tourist location is the Devil’s Washboard, where you can likely ask the locals there about how to rent a boat and set sail, or get as close to the area as possible.
Belmez Faces
The house is currently privately owned and no tours are available. However, you can visit the interpretation center.
Nearby Haunted Sightseeings
Château de Brissac
Château de Châteaubriant (Loire-Atlantique) – 1 hr 45 minutes
Famous for the apparition of Françoise de Foix, the onetime mistress of King Francis I, who is said to walk the gallery every October 16 dressed in white, reliving the night she was allegedly imprisoned and poisoned by her jealous husband.
Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud (near Saumur) – 1 hr 10 minutes
Best known as the burial place of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II, and Richard the Lionheart, it has acquired a reputation for “restless” presences tied to its royal dead and for its centuries as a prison.
Château de Fougeret (Queaux, Vienne) – 2 hr 10 minutes
Often called “the most haunted château in France,” it’s known for séances, reported full-body apparitions, and voices captured during paranormal vigils.
The Devil’s Sea / Dragon’s Triangle
Oiwa Inari Tamiya Shrine (Yotsuya, Tokyo) – 1 Hour
The shrine was built in respect for Yotsuya Kaidan, who was murdered, and her spirit is said to appear at this site devoted to her, seeking vengeance.
Aoyama Cemetery (Minato, Tokyo) – 45 Minutes
Tokyo’s oldest Western-style cemetery has long been the site of reports of late-night apparitions along its tree-lined paths.
Aokigahara / Sea of Trees (northwest of Mt. Fuji) – 3 Hours
Featured in Dizarranged, the forest is most associated with the lore behind yūrei.
Belmez Faces
Parador de Jaén / Castillo de Santa Catalina (Jaén) – 50 Minutes
The former fortress-turned-parador is one of Jaén’s best-known haunted spots.
Arco de San Lorenzo (historic center, Jaén) – 50 Minutes
Local tales say voices and shadowy figures have been heard/seen around the medieval arch.
“Casa del Miedo,” Plaza de San Bartolomé (Jaén) – 50 Minutes
This ordinary-looking house picked up a reputation for apparitions and “fantasmas” in 20th-century Jaén lore.
Nearby Accomodations
Château de Brissac
You can always check into the Château de Brissac
Hotel De Champagne
Markus
Château de Briançon, The Originals Relais
The Devil’s Sea / Dragon’s Triangle
Noboribetsu Grand Hotel
Oyado Kiyomizuya
Noboribetsu Guest House AKA & AO – Hostel
Belmez Faces