Atlas of Cursed Places : A Travel Guide to Dangerous and Frightful Destinations

The cases described in this book are a reminder of how much the woesof a place owe to mankind’s overactive imagination. The curses uttered bythe prophets of the past, awe-inspiring as they might be, were alwaysreassuringly abstract: Only those lacking the good sense to simply ignorethem were bound.Not all cursed places are the same. There are three main rationales forawarding this distinctly off-putting appelation. The classic one, the oneclosest to the original sense of the word, is of course bound up withadmonitions of a mystical order. Particularly abundant from antiquity to theMiddle Ages, it has to be said that this category is treading water today dueto a lack of authors capable of reinvigorating the genre. However, thetradition is being maintained in certain regions thanks to the zeal of readersthe good old sacred texts. Edifying examples of this tendency can be foundin the Middle East.Taking all the above into consideration, the reader may well wonderwhat virtue there is in concerning oneself with these unwelcoming places.The following pages will provide unsuspecting tourists with all theinformation they need to avoid being trapped in an impossible location byan unscrupulous tour operator. They also offer inquisitive souls aremarkable summary of the terrifying yet enthralling complexity ofhumanity, enabling them to draw the consoling conclusion that, althoughEverest and the moon may already have been conquered, many mysteriousplaces remain to be explored and understood in the world below. CONTENTS: COVER TITLE PAGE WELCOME INTRODUCTION The Hazards of Traveling AT THE HEART OF OLD EUROPE CHÂTEAU DE MONTSÉGUR Satan’s Synagogue ROCCA-SPARVIERA The Phantom Village NUREMBERG The Sinister Reverberation of Marching Boots BETWEEN THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD AND SOUTHERN AFRICA THE TOPHET OF CARTHAGE Children Burned for the Gods OUMARADI Shipwrecked by Sands POVEGLIA The Island of Death CHARYBDIS AND SCYLLA A High-Risk Cruise KASANKA NATIONAL PARK The Invasion of the Bats VALLEY OF THE KINGS The Curse of Aten GAZA A Territory Adrift BEIRUT Destruction and Construction MORIAH AND GOLGOTHA Spiritual Nightmares KIBERA An Uncharted Cesspool FROM THE BARENTS SEA TO THE INDIAN OCEAN ZAPADNAYA LITSA The Antechamber of Hell GULF OF ADEN Hunting Ground of Pirates GUR-EMIR The Malevolent Mausoleum THILAFUSHI The Toxic Lagoon AROUND THE BAY OF BENGAL JHARIA Underground Inferno JATINGA A Plague of Birds SUNDA STRAIT The Monster of Krakatoa BETWEEN THE ORIENT AND OCEANIA HOUTMAN ABROLHOS Massacre of the Shipwrecked AOKIGAHARA The Suicide Forest CAPE YORK In the Land of the Killer Crocodiles TAKUU An Atoll Living on Borrowed Time NAURU Blighted by Phosphate AMERICA FROM COAST TO COAST MAVERICKS: THE BIG WAVE A Cold-Blooded Monster NEVADA TRIANGLE A Danger in the Sky STULL, KANSAS The Forbidden Cemetery TONINA The Mystery of the Mayas ADAMS, TENNESSEE The Bell Witch Lives On PINE BARRENS The Devil’s Offspring AMITYVILLE The Devil’s Lair AMONG THE ISLANDS OF THE NEW WORLD CITÉ SOLEIL All the Misfortunes on Earth CAPE HORN Sailor’s Nightmare BERMUDA TRIANGLE Empire of Enigmas SABLE ISLAND A Ship Trap in the Atlantic BENEATH THE ATLANTIC BREEZE CUMBRE VIEJA Birthplace of the Tsunami EILEAN MOR Lighthouse Mystery YEUN ELLEZ The Marsh of the Damned TIFFAUGES Castle of a Killer NEWSLETTERS COPYRIGHT Atlas Obscura says this lushly illustrated New York Times bestselling guide to dozens of dangerous, eerie, and infamous locations is the perfect gift for "those who believe the world is still full of mysteries to investigate." Pick up the acclaimed Atlas of Cursed Places and visit the world's most nerve-wracking locations. With pithy historical profiles, vintage full-color maps, and haunting tales that will color your perspective (and send tingles down your spine), this is a clever gift for the intrepid traveler or armchair adventurer who wants to explore destinations both remarkable and daunting. Visit: a coal town where the ground is constantly on fire a Zambian national park where more than 8 million bats darken the skies the infamous suicide location of Aokigahara Forest near Mount Fuji the lesser-known Nevada triangle, in which dozens of aircraft have inexplicably disappeared Beautifully packaged and written with a twisty sense of humor, Atlas of Cursed Places puts your quirky side on the map. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Oliver Le Carrer brings us a fascinating history and armchair journey to the world's most dangerous and frightful places, complete with vintage maps and period illustrations in a handsome volume. This alluring read includes 40 locations that are rife with disaster, chaos, paranormal activity, and death. The locations gathered here include the dangerous Strait of Messina, home of the mythical sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis; the coal town of Jharia, where the ground burns constantly with fire; Kasanka National Park in Zambia, where 8 million migrating bats darken the skies; the Nevada Triangle in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where hundreds of aircraft have disappeared; and Aokigahara Forest near Mount Fuji in Japan, the world's second most popular suicide location following the Golden Gate Bridge