“Something Bad Is Happening There”: 30 Weird And Cult-Like Towns Across The USA

America’s history is rich with tales guaranteed to send shivers down your spine. Some of its cities have a connection to the eerie and supernatural like Massachusetts, Louisiana, and New Orleans which are known for their witch trials and voodoo subculture (religion connected to nature, spirits, and ancestors).

They are rich in significant and spooky events from the past, but can these places hold onto the negative energy that makes us feel the heebie-jeebies or is it just a figment of our imagination?

It turns out that our surroundings may not be as neutral as we might think, explaining the goosebumps and tightness in the chest one may experience in abandoned homes or sites where violence or hauntings took place.

There are three main theories to explain this phenomenon and the first one is the emotional residue theory. According to it, emotions have the potential to infect the physical environment even when its source is no longer there.

Several psychological studies have found that the human nervous system can pick up on chemical signals left by sweat and tears. For example, a Dutch study in 2012 found that women who smelled sweat from men who felt fear or disgust reported sensing these emotions.

Another hypothesis is called “geopathic stress” which proposes that Earth emits energy that can cause poor health in humans. Supposedly, geological faults, mineral deposits, and underground waters are points where certain vibrations erupt from the ground.

Advocates of this theory say that people should avoid spending too much time near them or they might suffer from fatigue, headaches, insomnia, and overall negative feelings. Hence the uneasiness people may feel when visiting these eerie sites.

But despite the two theories, our expectations and associations could be even more powerful. If we anticipate feeling a certain way (happy or sad), that can influence our perceptions. So the old and empty house across the street might not be haunted, even if it makes you uneasy when you’re near it. It could just mean that you’re from a neighborhood with few neglected buildings and tend to link them with negative connotations.

To learn more about the macabre locations that surround us, Bored Panda reached out to a dark tourism blogger Jenny Miller who has a passion for dark tourism and knows a lot about spooky locations.

Naturally, we were curious to know how she got interested in it. She told us "I've always been interested in the darker side of things. Some people travel to Instagrammable hotspots, and I travel to see old prisons and haunted castles.

I love traveling and exploring places that have a long history. For me, it's the closest you can get to time travel because I believe places hold onto energy from the past - both good and bad."

Miller was also kind enough to share with us her most memorable spot she came across during her dark tourism travels. It's the Ragged School Museum - a Victorian organization for the most impoverished children in the East End. In 1877 it was one of the first ever free schools in London, which changed countless lives. 

She said "Being there right when it opened (hot tip: always go to London museums first thing to avoid the school groups), I was the only visitor in the building except for staff. I was wandering the classrooms when from behind me, I heard the running footsteps of two children, a whoosh of air moved my hair, and I heard a child's laughter. 

I turned around - thinking I planned poorly and the school tour groups had already arrived - but there was no one there. I followed the direction in which the children went, and there was nothing. The docent saw my confusion, smiled, nodded, and simply said, "They were happy here. They're still here." So it's not all doom and gloom."

For those interested in trying dark tourism Miller provided some great advice as well.

"My biggest piece of advice for other "dark tourists" is to be respectful. If you're visiting murder locations, go to remember the victims and not the perpetrator. It's totally normal to be curious about this stuff and where it happened, but when you're visiting dark locations, make sure you remember and respect the impact of those events. 

This applies to posting on social media, too - don't be Justin Bieber at Anne Frank's house. 

I think there is a respectful way to honor the past and be a "dark tourist," and you have to be mindful that these are real people who had very real lives, no matter how their lives ended."