Real Places Behind Famously Frightening Stories
Light your pumpkin and read about the real places behind some of the world’s classic spooky tales
- By Robin T. Reid
- Smithsonian.com, October 16, 2009
(Inga Leksina / Alamy)
in The Sealed Angel, Nikolai Leskov
Mikhailovsky Castle, St. Petersburg, Russia
“Buildings have reputations just as people do,” Leskov wrote in 1882. To prove his point, the Russian writer set his ghost story in one of St. Petersburg’s most infamous landmarks: Mikhailovsky (St. Michael’s) Castle. The Italian Renaissance-style castle was built between 1796 and 1801 for Emperor Paul I, a paranoid fellow who believed he’d be safe inside such a fortress from his enemies. But 40 days after he moved in, Paul was killed in his bedroom--the victim of a plot hatched by his own son.
Mikhailovsky gradually became a school for military engineers, who spun yarns about ghostly goings-on in the castle (such as the one Leskov recounted of a shrouded figure whose nocturnal appearances scared several students). Today, the castle is part of the Russian Museum.
Comments (11)
Hi, I'm Romanian and wanted to tell you that the ruler that inspired Bram Stoker's novel wasn't named Vlad Dracula, but Vlad Ţepeş. Dracul (without the "a") was a nickname he got for being a severe, merciless ruler. It literally means devil or demon. Dracula is just the name that Stoker gave his character, probably after mishearing Vlad's real nickname( Romanian is a very odd and difficult language for foreigners). Vlad used extreme measures against his enemies (like impaling them in huge stakes and leaving their bodies there to rot, as a chilling reminder that he is not to be messed with) and in at least one known instance he called all the court's trusted men and their families to a feast and he slaughtered them,because he got word they were plotting against him. Plus, the pronunciation of Poenari you wrote in brackets, is incorrect.
Posted by Diana on January 30,2013 | 09:17 PM
Doesn't sound as if the person who wrote this piece ever read "Rebecca". Manderly was not possessed. Nice photo of Menabilly though.
Posted by Jamie Curtis on January 27,2013 | 10:34 PM
While everyone was reading "The Exorcist", I was not. I was living on Prospect Street in Georgetown, and the thought of reading that scary book about something that took place just a couple of blocks from my house (even though that was not the real location), was too much. I did eventually read the book, and saw the film crew around Georgetown when the movie was being filmed. It is still the scariest movie I've ever seen, and I have seen it multiple times! The man who was thrown out the window in the book was a friend, not a boyfriend, as I recall. I think the house in the movie was for sale a couple of years ago. Who could actually live in it - although it probably has fantastic views? Such a creepy story!!
Posted by Suzy on December 9,2009 | 12:16 PM
Sprague Mansion in Cranston, R.I., should also be of interest. There have been many sightings there by folks who no nothing about this old estate. There have been sightings of children playing and many other things seen too! Murders have been linked to the people who lived there in the past!
Posted by Melvyn G. Tavares on November 19,2009 | 08:59 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article. Like most people when I heard these stories I would imagine what the places looked like. It was really neat to see some of the places look exactly what I had imagined.
Posted by Tracey on November 12,2009 | 11:51 AM
Although the final exorcisims took place in St. Louis, the boy was posessed and first had signs at his home in the Mt. Ranier neighborhood of Northwest D.C. a few miles north of Georgetown.
Posted by Aysha on November 5,2009 | 01:00 PM
Visitors to Cape Point in South Africa will have to enter the Table Mountain National Park (not the Table Rock NP as stated in your article).It is a fantastic place to visit - and the windswept heights and barren mountains lend an espceially romantic atmosphere to the whole Flying Dutchman story too.
Posted by Caroline Voget on October 30,2009 | 03:15 AM
And the exorcisms actually took place in St. Louis, in a hospital that has since been torn down.
Posted by Miles on October 29,2009 | 06:44 AM
The boyfriend took the first tumble, but Karras throws himself down the stairs, too.
Posted by Sara on October 27,2009 | 11:46 AM
Actually it wasn't father Damien in the film that took the tumble down the steps. It was the boyfriend of the mother. Just thought you should know.
Posted by Nathan Branstetter on October 26,2009 | 12:56 PM
At some point or another every historian becomes interested in the real Dracula, Vlad Tepes. It is interesting here to learn that it is open to visitors. Great article.
Posted by Stacy on October 22,2009 | 02:02 PM