Spooktacular greetings, Travellers,

I hope your pumpkins are carved, cobwebs are hung, and creepy movie marathon candidates selected.

Or, alternatively, your lights are off, curtains drawn, and there are no signs of life that'll give you away to those pesky trick-or-treaters! 

Whichever way you plan to spend your weekend, make some time to scroll back through this year's Spooky Lake Month destinations and pick your next eerie lakeside getaway. My pick? Gotta be Lake Kaindy and its sunken forest. 

Where's the spookiest place you've ever been? Or is there a spot you're dying to visit? Let us know in the comments!

Happy (broomstick) travels and safe landings,

Something shifts at this time of year. Can you feel it? 

Candles burn slower. Dusk deceives us, casting silhouettes of illusion and ink. The air feels thinner—as if you could almost reach out and peel back the veil separating the living and the lost. 

And in some corners of the world, that’s precisely what they do. 

From the highlands of Madagascar to the cemeteries of Port-au-Prince, the living draw back the curtain a little wider, welcoming those who linger just beyond…

Famadihana in Madagascar

CC image by Hery Zo Rakotondramanana on flickr

“One by one, the dead were brought out of the tomb. The band kept playing, people dancing around them. First, I climbed on top of the tomb to get a bird’s eye view of the scene. Below, a colorful crowd circled the tomb, carrying the dead on top, wrapped in straw mats, before placing them in the sun. I didn’t want to intrude, to get too close to where the dead were lying.” - The Crowded Planet

In Madagascar, the turning of the bones, known as Famadihana, only happens every few years during the dry winter months. The Malagasy believe that so long as the body remains, the spirit does too. It starts when the deceased appears to an elder in a dream, proclaiming that they are cold and need new garments. Then a traditional astrologer, known as an Ombiasy, consults the stars for an auspicious day to open and close the tomb. 

Loved ones and guests often travel days on foot across the highlands to reach their ancestral crypt. And for two days the ceremony commences. Graves are exhumed, bodies are cleaned and wrapped with silk and straw, and they are danced down the streets. 

Relatives tell their troubles to their loved ones and ask for guidance and blessings. Just before the sun sets, the bodies are returned to their resting place but placed upside down. The crypt then closes for the next 5–7 years. 

Fiesta de Santa Marta de Ribarteme, As Nieves, Spain

“One corpse smiles and waves. Another fans herself. They regularly re-hydrate. This is not your average funeral. ”It is 33 degrees in the Spanish shade, but much hotter inside a Spanish coffin.” - Kevin Pilley, The Irish Times

CC image by Jose-Maria Moreno Garcia on flickr

Few international tourists venture off the Camino, into the lush interior of Spain’s northwest, Galicia. But those who do might find themselves among a horde of Spaniards clambering into coffins, eager to be carried by their families through the single-street hamlet of As Nieves every summer. 

Those that willingly curl up in the comfort of a satin casket (sans lid) have had a brush with death and are here to give thanks to Santa Marta for sparing their lives. And if you’re one of the unlucky souls that lacks a family, lugging your coffin down the road comes with a weight that’s both literal and painfully metaphorical.

After the parade, the real fiesta begins with lively brass ensembles and patrons dishing out local delicacies like fresh octopus, white wine, and mountains of barbecued meat. By nightfall, the coffins and wine bottles are empty, and As Neves lives on.

Día de las Ñatitas, La Paz, Bolivia

“Everyone has a personality, and in some cases it might not be a good fit between a person and a skull,” Koudounaris says. “People will say, ‘I got this skull from my cousin who didn’t get along with it, but I’m getting along with it very well. I remember a couple of years ago all the skulls were given ham sandwiches. It was a bizarre touch.”  - Rachel Nuwer, The Smithsonian

Drifting to La Paz, every year the living and the dead share cigarettes, flowers, and — occasionally — the odd sandwich or two. Long before Christianity, the Aymara believed that human skulls called ñatitas (translation: little pug-nosed) hold protective powers, acting as messengers between our world and the next. Families keep skulls in their homes, believing they have special powers. 

Curiously, the collection of craniums are not often family members but heirlooms or obtained through questionable means from archeological sites, medical schools, and cemeteries. And once a year on November 8th, they’re taken to La Paz’s General Cemetery in glass boxes, adorned with sunglasses, flower crowns, cigarettes, and coca leaves to be blessed by a priest. Once the sun sets, parties known as prestas spill into the city’s streets.

Keep reading...

Being a lover of all things macabre and having recently relocated to Barcelona, it only seemed appropriate that I tour the cities most haunted spots this spooky season. So, after many a late hour researching the dark corners of the web and listening to my local friends’ eerie tales, I’ve compiled a list of 5 potentially paranormal places…

1. Rocafort Metro Station

The backstory: Whether it’s down to the unsettlingly high number of accidents on the tracks, or a rumoured mudslide during construction that supposedly claimed the life of a worker, it seems like everyone I speak to has a story about Rocafort. Allegedly, even the metro staff are afraid to stay after hours, with ghostly sounds filling the tunnels and suspicious figures appearing on the CCTV footage.

The station definitely has an older, more dilapidated feel than other more modern stops. The tiles adorning the floors have a scuffed cream and black finish, and the dim lights overhead dress everything in a slight sepia tone. Despite the midday rush of commuters when I visited, this station still felt pretty creepy, and I certainly wouldn’t want to roam the platforms alone in the evening.

/5 spookies

2. Poblenou Cemetery

The backstory: Originally opened in the 18th century, it was briefly destroyed by Napoleon’s troops in 1813, then reopened again in 1819. Aside from being the resting place for thousands of the deceased, it’s the marvellously macabre statues that give this one its spooky points.

At the entrance of the cemetery, I snapped a pic of a large map to help guide my walk, since the place seemed pretty huge. I must say, as someone who appreciates the beauty of a time-worn tomb or two, I was thoroughly impressed. One statue in particular, called ‘The Kiss of Death” really took my breath away. If you ever happen to visit the city on a sunny autumnal day, I thoroughly recommend a peaceful stroll around the grounds. All in all, though, not overly scary.  

/5 spookies 

Keep reading...

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across web this week.

• November 1st marks World Vegan Day, so what better way to celebrate than by planning a trip to plant-based foodie paradise?
  
  
• Fancy travelling between the USA and Tokyo in just an hour... via space?!
  
  
• If you go down to the Japanese woods today, prepare for a growly surprise.
  
  
• Bonus spookies: plan a terrifying US road trip around the country's most haunted states.
  
  
• And finally, I (Editor Katy) sat down with The Independent's Simon Calder for a six-minute grilling on what it is we do here at Jack's Flight Club — and thankfully, I came out unscathed!