Spooky Latin American Haunted Places

Get ready, it’s that time of year again for thrills and shivers down the spine.  We’ve updated our popular 13 spooky South American haunts Guide to include two more bonus places for a total of 15 scary sights.  They are rich in history, culture, and legends as told by locals.

The list of 15 spooky Latin America haunts and their cultural heritage

In Latin America, the end of October through the first days of November is a time of year when the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead becomes so thin, that those above ground may communicate with those underneath or in the next world.

The holiday we refer to in the English-speaking world as All Saint’s Day, and the day following as All Soul’s day, are November 1st and November 2nd, respectively. Latin Americans call these same days as El Día de Los Muertos or El Día de Los Difuntos.

Latin American traditions, with pre-Hispanic roots, are very different than those that the Western world celebrates. Especially in areas with large indigenous populations (Guatemala, southern Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile and Argentina), families gather in the cemeteries to clean and repaint their family graves and decorate them with flowers. On November 2 specifically, they gather at the tomb with the dearly departed’s favorite food and drink, and perhaps even a bit of live music. It is a wonderful cultural experience to witness.

Still, if you are in the mood for creepy and scary thrills during this time of the year, here are some places to add to your Latin American itinerary. There are witches, vampires, demons, and other creatures, as well as a multitude of tortured souls. Those who suffered at many of these sites still leave their vibrations of the horrid chapters of their and the region’s history. Others are infused with legends of mythical beings and mysterious events.

Most of these places you can also visit in the off-season, and still have quite a riveting experience.

And yes …. you can get to all of these by bus or in the case of the island, a local fisherman’s boat!

Spooky South America haunts: Venezuela

1. Civacoa, Yaracuy State

During your travels, if you find yourself requiring help with a romantic relationship or are in need of healing or consultations, then call upon one of Venezuela’s most revered home-grown saints, María Lionza. You won’t find her on any Vatican list of official saints, as many consider her to be a demon incarnate!

María Lionza’s legend dates to pre-Hispanic times. It is said she was the green-eyed daughter of a local chieftain. One day an evil anaconda that lived in the lagoon killed her, but her beauty killed it back. She became the ruler of the local waters, and of all nature: lakes and streams, caves and caverns, fauna and flora.

The ceremonies at her sacred mountain, Santa María de Nirgua near Chivacoa (Yaracuy State), last for several days and include bathing in ritual herbs, dancing, and drumming. The shaman channels María Lionza’s energy when attending to your request.

You can arrange a trip to María Lionza’s sacred mountain with a curandera or curandero anywhere in Venezuela. S/he will accompany you there. Also, you can make it there on your own, and a shaman there will accompany you on your spiritual quest. If you cannot make it to Santa María de Nirgua, then a long-distance ritual may be done.

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Spooky South America haunts: Colombia

2. Cartagena, Colombia

Cartagena is renowned for its colonial architecture, but it has dark sides to its history. One of those facets is that it was a seat of the Spanish Inquisition, the institution that held both the motherland and her colonies in a reign of terror lasting over 300 years. Its targets were “heretics” of the Catholic religion: healers, witches, pagans, Jews, Muslims, and others who were seen as dangers to the “pure faith.”

Related Article: Mompox: the Fantasy Island of Yesteryear

Cartagena’s Museo de la Inquisición (Inquisition Museum) was the seat for the all-powerful Spanish Inquisition for the region. Different galleries recount the tribunal’s actions and the human suffering they executed, as well as documenting persecuted populations.

Inquisition museums exist in other parts of the Americas. The Museo de la Inquisición in Lima, which has detailed accountings of the tribunals’ victims and instruments of torture, is presently under renovation (check their website here). Mexico City hosts a similar museum by the name of Palacio y Museo de la Inquisicion).

Thinking of a side plan? Visit the Colombian Caribe and its beaches with our guide here.

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3. El Salto, Colombia

Back in 1924, a luxury hotel opened at the top of a hill with a stunning view of the 156-meter (512-foot) high Salto de Tequendama (Tequendama Waterfall). It was the place to go for Colombia’s elite.

But the hotel has a lurid past. Legend states that many chose to commit suicide here, leaping from windows into the deep abyss. It took six seconds to reach the churning waters below fittingly named Lago de Los Muertos (Lake of the Dead). At least 20 people chose to end their lives this way. It is said they chose this place because their bodies would never be found. Or perhaps, some express, there is something in this place’s energy that pushes people to jump!

The hotel’s caretakers say they often witness supernatural events in this place and hear heart-rending crying. Visitors may feel a heaviness in the air.

Hotel Tequendama was abandoned in 1990. In this millennium, the old hotel was restored and is now the Casa Museo Salto de Tequendama Biodiversidad y Cultura, which features exhibits on the Tequendama Waterfall’s ecology and history of the area.

Related Article:  11 Sensational (and Sensible!) Destinations of Southern Colombia

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4. Zipaquirá, Colombia

Since before the Spanish conquest, when the indigenous Muisca ruled this area of central Colombia, salt has been mined from the bowels of Zipa Mountain. In order to protect themselves from implosions and other mishaps, Catholic miners constructed altars to the Virgin Mary.

In 1954, a cathedral was inaugurated on the second level of the mines. It was dedicated to the Nuestra Señora del Rosario, the patron saint of miners. Due to cracks appearing in the structural columns, this church was closed in 1992. Sixty meters (197 feet) below, work began on a new cathedral carved into the salt rock. The new shrine opened in 1995.

Who knows how many miners have died in these labyrinths of tunnels? Tourists often encounter a ghost captured in their photos, and locals inform them that the ghost is not that of a grown man, but is actually a small girl. Is the Salt Cathedral hiding some dark secret? Find out by book a train to visit the Cathedral here.

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Spooky South America haunts: Ecuador

5. Quito

Quito has many haunted places, which is not surprising for a city as ancient as it is that predates the Spanish conquest. This town made it to the list of Spooky South American haunts.

Yet, when I asked a close friend about places he would suggest that I include in this article, he stated, “The monument in El Ejido park to ex-President of the Republic, Eloy Alfaro, where he and his compadres were bludgeoned to death. Walking past that always gives me shivers up the spine.”

Over the years, I had heard about the death of Eloy Alfaro, who served 1895-1901 and again 1906-1911. According to the tales, he was drawn and quartered, then burned on 28 January 1912. But searching online provided few details about what precisely happened. I decided to ask don Marco, a native-born Quiteño historian, born and raised in the Centro Histórico. What he recounted to me, much of it told to him by his older relatives who witnessed the event, is worthy of a Hallowe’en terror movie.

Shortly before he was arrested, a woman read Alfaro’s tarot cards. She warned him not to return to Quito. He said he must fulfill his destiny. In Guayaquil, he was detained by those who opposed his plan to increase property taxes (by a mere one-one-thousandth of a percent). He and six of his supporters were sent by train to Quito. Upon arriving at the Chimbacalle station at 9 a.m., they were transported to the García Moreno prison (on Calle Rocafuerte, near the San Roque Market) where they were killed. At 10 a.m., Alfaro was shot in the chest and in the throat (to prevent him from screaming) and fell to Rocafuerte Street below. Still, a cry could be heard, and residents of that barrio say every year on the anniversary of his death, you can hear it at that hour he fell to the street.

Three horses were then tied to his limbs in order to tear his body apart, but the one horse holding his hands suddenly and mysteriously died. The other two horses dragged Alfaro’s body and the corpse of the third horse to Plaza Santo Domingo. At Bolívar and Guayaquil streets, La Pájara (a woman believed by locals to be a witch) cut off Alfaro’s testicles and penis and hung then from the portico on that corner.

Related Article: 12 Fun and Free Things to do in Quito

The entourage of Alfaro enemies continued the procession, dragging the bodies of Alfaro and the six others to El Ejido Park. But something strange happened along the way: Alfaro’s body disappeared – just disappeared! To this day, no one knows what happened to it, or where it may be hidden.

The other six were burned approximately in the vicinity of where the Eloy Alfaro Monument now stands in El Ejido Park. I asked don Marco why, then, does my friend always gets shivers up his spine when he walks past it. He said my friend is feeling the anguish of the common people.

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6. Cueva de Los Tayos, Morona Santiago Province

Deep in the virgin jungles of eastern Ecuador is Cueva de Los Tayos, a cave named for the oilbirds (Steatornis caripensis) that live in it. From the nearest town, it is reached by boat, then by hiking or horseback.

Getting to this cave is not the only adventure you may have. Once you descend into the 63-meter (207-foot) deep Chiminea, a narrow chute, you emerge into a world of large galleries connected by tunnels, all carved by subterranean waters. Stalactites and stalagmites decorate the inner realms. These caves have been sacred to indigenous nations for over 3,000 years and archaeological remains, including burials, have been found.

History of the Cave

But the Cueva de Los Tayos has a mystery. In his 1973 book The Gold of the Gods, Erich von Däniken claimed that Argentinian-Hungarian entrepreneur Juan Moricz discovered gold artifacts, tablets, sculptures, and other objects in a chamber even deeper in this cave. Some say these were part of the lost treasure of Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor.

In 1976, an expedition of Ecuadorian and British military personnel, professional cavers, and astronaut Neil Armstrong extensively explored this cave. Archaeological artifacts were found, but nothing fitting von Däniken’s descriptions.

Related article: Who’s Got the Incas Beat Now

Some say, though, that much of the gold was stolen by Father Crespi, a Salesian priest who worked in the region in the 1920s, and that helicopters were sent in to retrieve much more wealth. The findings were displayed in the Museo Privado de Carlos Crespi Croci in Cuenca. After a fire in 1962, everything disappeared. The archdiocese of Cuenca denies it has the artifacts in its possession, but Shuar guides to the cave claim that much of the gold in Cuenca’s cathedral came from here.

Cueva de Los Tayos may be visited only with permission from the Federación Interprovincial de Centros Shuar (FICSH), whose offices are in the town of Sucúa. A native guide will be assigned to accompany you. Will you be able to discover Atahualpa’s long-missing wealth?

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Spooky South America haunts: Peru

7. Lima – Catacumbas de San Francisco

Iglesia de San Francisco is one of Lima’s oldest churches. The monastery was originally established in the 16th century. The present temple, in a beautiful Spanish Baroque architectural style, was declared sacred in 1673 and its construction was completed one hundred years later in 1774.

The tour of the monastery includes parts of the church and the library containing over 25,000 manuscripts. The big draw, though, is the catacombs, where the earthly remains of estimated 200,000 souls lie in eternal repose. The catacombs were used until the beginning of the 19th century when Lima’s public cemetery opened.

Although the catacombs opened to the public in 1950, the extent of the maze of tombs remains unexplored. How many more bone-strewn galleries are there, and how far beneath this historic city do they spread?

After visiting the tombs, consider visiting hot springs near Lima so you get some time to cool off and continue with the journey of exploring the unknown.

Related article: 10 Fun and Free things you can do in Lima!

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8. Arequipa

Like many old cities, Arequipa has many spooky legends that haunt its night streets. There’s the headless Franciscan monk who wanders the alley behind the Cathedral, and the mermaid at Puente Bolognesi who lures young men to their deaths.

But the most startling tale is of the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. The nuns that lived in this convent – a city within the city – were a mystery to the outside world for over four centuries. It is said vampires disguised as nuns and priests would leave through a secret door in the thick walls, with the mission to drink the blood of unsuspecting night travelers.

Today, you can visit the convent and learn about how the Sisters live here, and wonder if any of the present cloistered residents make any nighttime excursions!

Related article: Moquegua, a Gastronomer’s Delight

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Spooky South America haunts: Chile

9. Pisagua

Once upon a time, Pisagua was a booming port town for the nitrate mines in the interior of the dry Atacama pampas. The town had many beautiful mansions and even a theater, all built of imported Oregon pine. But the importance of nitrate faded, as did the town. Then its history became dark.

In the 20th century, at least eleven times the town served as a detention center for political prisoners. The most famous four of these periods were 1941 (detaining homosexuals), 1942, 1947-48 (memorialized by Pablo Neruda in his Canto General), and 1973-74 (during the Pinochet dictatorship). The Colonia Penal jail was where most prisoners were tortured and executed. Along the coast, less than a kilometer from town, are the ruins of the Pinochet-era detention barracks.

On top of the cliff a few kilometers from Pisagua lies the cemetery. Among the graves of the dead of this village is a mass grave of those who died during the Pinochet dictatorship.

Not many choose to spend the night in Pisagua, but the few travelers I have met who have done so said they heard moans and other strange sounds throughout the night. If you decide to stay, there is one small hotel and a campground next to the Pinochet-era center (if you so dare!)

Related Article: 12 Fun and Free Things to Do in Santiago de Chile

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10. Iquique & surrounding area

Iquique was the major port for Humberstone (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and other nitrate (saltpeter) mines that operated on the pampas east of the city. The city itself was where the rich people lived, but the pampas and the mines were hell on earth for those who worked them.

Untold thousands died, not only from mining the caustic mineral but also on the trek across the desolate pampas in search of work. To this day, many say their spirits roam there. Nobody will pick up a hitchhiker at the side of the road, only at a crossroads. Truckers are known to keep a flask of urine on hand to throw at any suspected ghost.

Hundreds of oficinas, or mines, operated in the area. The most famous is Humberstone, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. The immense complex is now a ghost town and includes the remains of the company store and theater, the mining operations, and the housing for the company executives.

The most spiritually startling corner of Humberstone, though, is the miners’ housing. Several men lived in each of these nondescript, small rooms measuring 5×4 meters (16×13 feet). At the end of each double row of 62 rooms are the outhouses residents shared. Today, the dry desert wind bangs gates and whirls through the vacant buildings with no doors or window panes. You can almost hear the conversations, the groans, and the lives of those men long dead.

The conditions in the mines were so horrific, that in 1907 the workers declared a general strike, and their families marched into Iquique. They encamped in the Escuela Santa María (Amunátegui 902) where on the 21st of December they were massacred. It is said on the anniversary of that horrid event, you can hear the screams of the hundreds killed there.

Related Article: 10 Alternative South American Destinations

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Spooky South America haunts: Bolivia

11. Potosí

Cerro Rico (translation: Rich Hill) in Potosí was the main source of silver for the Spanish Empire during the colonial period. After independence came to this Andean nation and even to this day, the 500-600 mines of this 4,800-meter (15,748-foot) high mountain continue to be mined.

According to historians, some eight million miners have perished in these mines over the centuries. The work conditions are horrific: a labyrinth of over 20,000 low, muddy, dimly lit tunnels held aloft with rotting wooden beams and with walls oozing arsenic. About four miners per month continue to succumb to the dangerous conditions of the mines.

Is it no wonder, then, that at the entrance and scattered throughout the mines are altars to El Tío, the god of the underworld that looks like the devil. The miners honor him with coca leaves and tobacco, beseeching protection from the perils of working in this subterranean hell.

You can take a half-day tour of the mines to learn more about the miners’ hardships, and of their rituals to stave off misfortune. Be sure to make an offering to El Tío to ensure a safe visit!

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Spooky South America haunts: Argentina

12. Formosa, Argentina

Although the duendes of El Bolsón in Argentina’s Patagonia are more famous, there are other mythical beings worth talking about who inhabit the far northern province of Formosa on the opposite end of the country. They are also referred to as duendes and roam the villages and countryside. In case you are in Formosa in the heat of summer when some of these duendes are most active, you may want to take precautions!

Duende is a difficult word to translate into English, as it encompasses a whole range of beings common in northern European folklore: elf, imp, goblin, troll, gnome, pixie, leprechaun, and a host of other manifestations.

In Formosa Province, four principal duendes haunt the local populace. Cara’i Octubre, the goblin of misery, comes to visit on the 1st of October. At this time of year, food is scarce as it is the very end of winter and before the first spring crops come to fruition. People prepare a cauldron of stew for Cara’i Octubre, for if they don’t, he will crack his whip and curse the household with starvation.

As the summer heat begins to swell in November, women have two duendes from which they must protect themselves. Curupí is one of them and he hobbles around on his backward-turned feet during daylight hours, capturing human females with his meters-long penis. At night, the second duende named Pombero wanders around, kidnapping women and leaving them pregnant. If you want to make friends with him, then leave some cane liquor and tobacco in the patio oven.

Children are pursued by Yasí Yateré. This duende with long, blond hair is reminiscent of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Waving his golden wand, he bewitches children, takes them away, and drives them insane.

You can meet up with these wild creatures at the Museo Regional del Nordeste Formoseño in Laguna Blanca.

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13. Córdoba, Argentina

From 1976 to 1983, a brutal dictatorship gripped Argentina. According to human rights organizations, over 30,000 people – mostly youth – disappeared, or were tortured or murdered. Throughout the country, the regime operated “detention centers,” some of which are now museums called Archivo de la Memoria (Memory Archives).

The Archivo de la Memoria in Córdoba, located in an alley next to the cathedral, is an especially potent experience. If you are sensitive to energies, you might find this a rather uncomfortable visit. The walls that hid the torture chambers have been removed, and the cells once more are exposed to the light of day so that the walls expose the inscriptions of the dying words of the political prisoners.

Other former torture centers from the 1976-1983 dictatorship are also now museums, including the Archivo de la Memoria in Resistencia and Rosario, and the ESMA in Buenos Aires (Espacio Memoria Website).

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Spooky South America haunts: French Guiana

14. Devil’s Island, Kourou, French Guiana

Devil’s Island, or Île du Diable, sits just off the coast near Kourou and looks deceptively close enough to reach by a good swimmer. But the waters around it are deep and populated with sharks, and the climate conditions on the island are much more miserably humid than on the mainland. The French government took advantage of all of this in the 19th century to establish the island as a notorious prison colony as well as a leper colony.

For over 100 years, the justice system dumped hardened criminals here where the stranded inmates had to fend for themselves and survive by their wits. Many died from disease or the elements if they didn’t outright turn on each other. When it was finally decommissioned in 1946, the colony buildings were left intact to fade into the jungle, and so visiting their ghostly remains conjures up the buried tales of the island’s inmates who lived and died there.

To make it even more creepy, access to the island is forbidden, but you can reach the neighboring islands by boat from Kourou and they have much the same remnants to give you an idea of what’s on Devil’s Island.  Just get to Kourou, then ask around for boat tours to Îles du Salut, which is a group of three islands.  Tour guides will get you as close as possible to view Devil’s Island, but the currents are strong and forbid them to dock.

Spooky Latin America haunts: Mexico

15. Island of Dolls, Mexico City

If you truly want some nightmares to keep you away from every toy store forever, just make your way to the Parque Ecologico Xochimilco on the southern side of Mexico City.  The park hosts an island called Isla de las Muñecas, or Island of the Dolls.  It’s actually not an island, just a finger of the park, so you can walk there. 

Apparently, a young girl drowned in the lake around the island in 2001, and so a local eccentric resident started hanging dolls in the trees to protect her and the space from evil spirits. Well, one might think the opposite happened, as it is hard to walk through the forest of dolls hanging from tree limbs and poking out from bushes, some decapitated, and not sense the presence of spirits coming alive.  Look closely enough at a doll, and it will certainly look back at you!

Access to the park and island is free, but in all seriousness, don’t visit at night!

Lorraine Caputo is a travel writer, poet, and translator. She has authored 10 guidebooks for South America. Her literary works appear in over 150 journals in Canada, the US, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa; 18 anthologies and 12 chapbooks – including the collections of travel poetry, Caribbean Nights (Red Bird Chapbooks, 2014) and Notes from Patagonia (dancing girl press, 2017). For several decades, she has been traveling through Latin America, listening to the voices of the pueblos and Earth. Follow her travels at her Facebook Page.