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Places you have visited with a strange vibe

963 replies

RevolvingPivot · 02/06/2021 21:59

Hi. I'm off to Saltburn (near Whitby) tomorrow and I feel sick. I visited last March. The weekend before the lockdown.

The place was so eerie. I was actually freaked out on the pier and had to run off it. I actually managed to sleep at night but I honestly didn't think I would.

The cottage was surrounded by cliffs and there was a Victorian lift and a small morgue by the beach. I'm not sure whether these have anything to do with it.

Has anyone else had this feeling from a place they have visited?

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ohnonotyetplease · 03/06/2021 09:55

Yes! Robin Hood's Bay, East Yorkshire, on the coast. It was deserted at the time and the shops were all quiet, dusty and just a eerie tinkle of a bell from the door when you walked in. It felt like we'd gone back in time... Like something from a 'spooky' story from a 1981 Mandy annual!
I still would rather not go there

contrary13 · 03/06/2021 09:56

The church where Florence Nightingale is buried - the name of which I cannot, for the life of me now, remember. We visited on the way back from my daughter's 3-generation-family 18th birthday meal (my parents and I share a love of old churches). The first surprise was the fact that there are medieval wall paintings inside the church (rare in our part of the UK), but as my then 10-year-old son and I were marvelling at the different images shown on the walls of the church, my daughter was standing by the door of the church, rubbing her arms as though freezing (it was a hot summer's day, so we were all in tee-shirts and bare-armed). My parents were still outside at this point looking at yew trees (... don't ask).

As we were leaving the church to go and locate my parents to tell them about the wall paintings, my daughter allowed my son and myself to go through the door (old, heavy, thick wood... probably 18th century) before her. As she walked through it, I turned to say something to her and saw a petrified expression upon her face, as the door literally slammed, pushing her out of the church and into its porch. She swears, to this day (she's 24 now), that she felt a hand in the middle of her back shoving her out of the church itself. The church was now completely empty. She fled the church and its yard and waited in the car for the rest of us.

My mother went inside the church maybe 5 minutes later, though, and whilst we'd all found it a bit heavily aired inside, she said how beautifully cool and airy it was. She also wasn't shoved outside with the door being slammed behind her, though...

Then there was Hever Castle where over several consecutive years both my daughter and I've felt as though we've walked smack bang into a wall - where there isn't one (but there was a few hundred years ago).

And Tintagel, where we holidayed when my daughter was 5 or 6. She and I were going to walk the dog from the church, along the cliff's walking trail, to the monastery/castle, where we were going to meet up with my parents and my grandmother. Unfortunately, my father had "a vision" of us all falling/jumping to our deaths (including the dog) and kicked off. Whilst we did manage the cliff path, it was in tears and involved another family very worriedly getting involved, as my father had grabbed my (small for her age) daughter up and was marching off with her, with the dog snarling and going for him, and me yelling for him to give her back. My father's normally very docile and doesn't behave like that in the slightest, so I have no clue - other than his "vision" - as to why he behaved like an absolute idiot that day. My daughter was so frightened she wet herself, too - and whilst I had a change of clothes for her... he had to wear the shirt she'd pissed on for the rest of the day, with no one else talking to him. He was very lucky that the other family didn't call the police, actually. Anyway, still haven't been "inside" Tintagel. We met my mother and grandmother at the entrance, got yelled at for "not obeying" my father (I was 26 at this point), for "not stopping" the dog from biting him (the dog was my mother's), and for "causing a scene" (he was the one who caused it by randomly grabbing my daughter from behind) and for "ruining the day out". My father's only excuse was that as we strolled off to find the cliff-path, he just had this overwhelming sense of dread and "a vision".

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 03/06/2021 09:56

Tintagel. No matter when we go in the year it always has a depressing vibe. I can’t imagine how ppl ever lived there.

Oh, definitely. I also find the big old Camelot Castle Hotel in the middle of nowhere weird, that (imho) seems to be trying to fool you into thinking that it's THE old castle associated with King Arthur (obviously it wouldn't be, but....) I think that's a base of a minority religious group, too IIRC.

When I first stumbled across brief information online about the Winchester Mystery House - and saw that it was open to visitors - I was absolutely desperate to go down to Hampshire for a weekend.... until I looked more closely and realised that it's actually in California Sad

Eyjafjallajokulldottir · 03/06/2021 09:57

@Jenasaurus

This reminds me, I was talking about looking at properties in East Grinstead and my adult DC all said, "you know thats the weirdest place to live in the UK dont you mum" I know it has a lot of different religions there but is it really so bad?
I've just listened to a really good podcast about this called East Grinstead The town that didn't stare. Has episodes on all of the weird culty stuff that has happened there over the years. But also talks about how the town was really welcoming to the soldiers who came back from the war very disfigured and were treated there. Hence the name. Sounds like a fascinating place.
BroccoliRob · 03/06/2021 09:57

Can't say where as it's too outing, but the place I grew up in has an eerie vibe to me. It's a fairly small place and pretty desirable too but it just gives me the creeps.

BumCat · 03/06/2021 10:00

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 can’t blame the weather on my vibe. It was a glorious day!

It’s funny because every time a “should I move to Hastings?” Thread pops up, loads of people are like “noooo! Vile! Have you considered Battle OP? Much nicer!” And I think WTF!? It’s obviously just got a vendetta against me, then. 😂

CounsellorTroi · 03/06/2021 10:00

Tenby. Shudder at the memory.

Wtf is wrong with Tenby? Why did it creep you out?

SirVixofVixHall · 03/06/2021 10:00

Glastonbury makes me feel sick and headachey.
There is a walk I go on near my house, through a smallish gorge. One section of it, only a few hundred yards, gives me this horrible feeling of fear and dread. I don’t like it even with a group of people , but I have been there with one friend and felt really frightened. I don’t even like driving along there. It is green and beautiful, so I don’t know why I have this feeling, it is peaceful, and not far from my house. I can’t explain it at all. Maybe the land structure ? The road is low down and running between two steep and rocky hillsides. Perfect place for an ambush !
I have wondered if something happened there, or if it is just that animal feeling of being enclosed.

Lj8893 · 03/06/2021 10:01

Oh and Betws-y-coed was just really odd.
Absolutely beautiful place but we just felt really really unwelcome.

Abhannmor · 03/06/2021 10:01

@EstuaryBird

I’m not easily spooked, I live next to a cemetery, but I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned The Colloseum 😳.

I’d already found Rome a bit ‘uncomfortable’ but put it down to too many people but when we went to the Colloseum I never felt a feeling like it.

Went in and all OK, quite interesting. Had a wander about, went early so not many people, then as we were walking across the middle it felt more and more oppressive. I couldn’t even speak to DH, just pointed to a way out and legged it.

We went to Ostia Antica next day which I quite liked but spent the whole time dreading going back to Rome.

We’d been to Italy several times and always loved it but weirdly that one moment has now to an aversion to the whole of Italy and I doubt I’ll ever go back 😢

In other news I love Dungeness and Romney Marsh 😊. I love bleak, flat marshland with endless skies and very few people.

Agree about marshes. Went in a moonlight walk in the Battlebridge area of Essex. Rotting old boats and sluggish streams. An old pub , the Barge , whose patrons were rather Dickensian. In fact we felt as if we were materialising from the opening scene of Great Expectations. Loved it
CheneHetre · 03/06/2021 10:01

I’ve not been to Sandbanks in Poole, but don’t ever want to go there as a work colleague told me his granny who lived there rang him up to tell him she was shocked that a “black person” had moved into a big house near her, then a few days later his mum rang him to tell him granny had calmed down as the locals had discovered it was a famous black person.

It would creep me out to go to a place where the locals are keeping watch on non-white people.

MamaNewtNewt · 03/06/2021 10:02

Saltburn is my favourite seaside. Never found it creepy but it is quite old fashioned ( which I love) so I guess I can see how that might give it a bit of a vibe.

HappyWipings · 03/06/2021 10:02

I agree that blackheath is creepy. I felt scared going there as a child , I ran a race for life there a few years ago too. I went straight home instead of stopping for a picnic like lots of others did.

Also , the Isle of Wight. We stayed in Totland , which was fine. But the cafes and bars we went to towards the centre of the island were very unwelcoming and I just felt generally uncomfortable there.

Ohtheplacesyougo · 03/06/2021 10:09

Burley, New Forest

Mylittleponysuperfan · 03/06/2021 10:12

@Auntienumber8

What some would consider a paranormal experience follows.

Cannock Chase, beautiful day. I was a student at the time visiting my boyfriend who was working that day so went for a country walk alone.

The feeling of utter dread about 15 mins in to walk was overwhelming, it’s something I have never felt at any other time of my life. It was on a sandy quite light coloured path with birch trees down one side. I have never ever been so scared and ran back to my car. I was shaking, felt sick and couldn’t actually drive till I calmed down.

Told BF but he was mystified, he hadn’t lived in Staffs long and had just moved away from Birmingham post graduation, I was still living there.

We had dinner the next day with some colleagues of his. The story was relayed. They told us about a series of murders of young girls that had taken place in I think the 1960’s and the murderer had buried their bodies on Cannock Chase.

I sometimes think people can wind themselves up when they know a place has a history. I had no idea and the place itself was very pretty. It was 25 years ago but just thinking about it even now feels awful.

You might want to look up the black eyed girls of Cannock chase I live near there and I’ve never seen anything Felt it tho in certain parts
TellMeMoreThanThis · 03/06/2021 10:16

Not strange, more amazing - the ancient fortress of Masada in Israel. Talk about stepping into history...

looptheloopinahulahoop · 03/06/2021 10:17

My DH would say the Vyne National Trust place near Basingstoke. He always seems to feel unwell there.

AbstractExpressionist · 03/06/2021 10:18

I was working on a tiny island in the Grenadines. Every day we had to drive over a bridge in the middle of nowhere to get to the village and I had the most terrible sense of something sinister. It felt even scarier at night in the moonlight! I later found out that the locals called it The Jumbie Bridge, which in Caribbean folklore means a malevolent spirit or demon. The bridge was also on the site of an old sugar plantation so I wonder if a restless spirit was trapped there.

QueeniesCroft · 03/06/2021 10:18

@Lj8893

Oh and Betws-y-coed was just really odd. Absolutely beautiful place but we just felt really really unwelcome.
Yes! I spent a week there doing some sort of geography fieldwork as a teenager and I felt terrible the whole time- I stopped eating for a few days (most unusual for me back then!) and just wanted to sleep the whole time.
ScribblingPixie · 03/06/2021 10:18

There was a town in Galicia, northern Spain, that was partially built on very high stilts in a ravine. The road to it went over a narrow bridge. We went to park up for a look around and I completely panicked, had to drive right away from it. It felt like a place no one should be living, as if something terrible would happen if set foot in it. Probably just vertigo!

ConstanceGracy · 03/06/2021 10:20

[quote Lairymary]The Hellfire Caves in West Wycombe. The actual website won't tell you the extent of why it's so creepy but this link will, for anyone that's interested.... en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellfire_Caves[/quote]
Used to go here all the time and knew the history as I was a weird kid ..
Only thing I found creepy about them is the stuffed monkey!
Although, the old cemetery at the top of the hill and the weird monument that’s meant to have Dashwood’s heart in it is definitely a little unnerving!
Was meant to visit weekend just gone but completely forgot .

redcarbluecar · 03/06/2021 10:22

Although I like visiting it, I find the Giant’s Causeway a touch creepy, particularly the organ pipes formation. It might be something about the precise geometry in a natural landscape that is a bit unsettling.

rc22 · 03/06/2021 10:23

I love Saltburn.

I went to Culloden when I was about 12. It's a fascinating place to visit and really sparked my interest in history but the atmosphere was oppressive. It felt to me like ghosts from the battle were still there and they didn't particularly like you if you were English!!

ConcernedAuntie · 03/06/2021 10:23

Jerome, Arizona. Can't really put my finger on it. Just felt like I was being watched all the time.

Staringouttosea · 03/06/2021 10:26

@Springchickpea

Oh and Burley in the New Forest; something there messes with my sense of direction.
Oh gosh, we've just bought a place there! The other half doesn't like being there on his own so maybe there is something in the air!