Spend Spooky Season in Poland title page with bats and a castle on a cloudy day (Stripes Staff)
Fall is spooky season. Whether it’s curling up with my favorite Halloweentown and vampire movies, grabbing a child-age relative to take trick-or-treating so I too can get in on the candy game or donning a costume to various parties, it is one of my favorite times of the year. It is also a great time to travel to some scary spots to really put the “spook” in spooky season.
Transylvania and Frankenstein’s Castle come immediately to mind, but if you want to try an unconventional and less stereotypical themed-travel adventure, Poland has some great haunted and lore-filled spots to explore.
The Vampiric Mass Grave in Luzino
Vampires are my favorite of all of the ‘monsters’ out there. So, of course, the first thing on my list was to try and find some vampires in Poland. Unfortunately, there are no rumors of live vampires there today; however, in 2023, a road crew stumbled upon a massive grave of 450 vampires. Okay, for legal purposes, I cannot say they are absolutely vampires. However, the skeletons were discovered to be buried in a ritualistic style, which ensured the death of the vampires.
According to history.co.uk, in the past, it was believed that vampirism only occurred after death; yet there could be warning signs before death, such as extra teeth or red hair, that indicated you would become a vampire in death. To ensure grandma didn’t return as a vampire, she may be decapitated post-mortem and have her head placed between her legs and a coin placed in her mouth. One may have also stacked some bricks around her, or locked a padlock on her big toe to ensure her vampiric-self did not rise. Luzino is the largest grave of vampires so far; however, similar graves have been found near Gliwice and Bydgoszcz.
The Vampire of Pien
Make your way to Pien to see the hometown of an alleged vampire. Women who strayed from cultural norms were often accused of being supernatural, i.e. witches, fairies or, in this woman’s case, a vampire. “Zosia” was one of dozens of women in her neighborhood accused of vampirism. When her grave was discovered in an unmarked cemetery, she was found buried with an iron sickle on her neck and a padlock on her big toe, both ways to keep a vampire underground.
Thanks to modern technology, we now know what she looked like. According to Reuters, scientists were able to use modeling clay, 3D printing and DNA to rebuild her face. Click here to see what the Polish vampire woman looked like.
Person standing alone in solitude in hazy forest area with obscure water stream. (Tadeusz Marx- Adobe Stock)
Skull Chapel in Czermna
The small town of Czermna in Lower Silesia is home to a chapel interiorly decorated with over 3,000 skulls (human, not vampire) known as Kaplica Czaszek (Chapel of Skulls). These skulls are the victims of the Thirty Years War and the Silesian Wars of the 17th and 18th centuries; they adorn the walls and ceiling of St. Bartholomew’s Church. If the skulls weren’t enough, there are 21,000 skeletons below the chapel. At the end of the 18th century, a local priest and gravedigger took it upon themselves to gather the skeletons from mass graves, clean them and put them on display in the church. Today, you can visit the chapel and see this macabre set-up yourself, but note that they have a no pictures policy.
Haunted Reszel Castle
Barbara Zdunk, a maid, was accused of starting a fire in the Old Town area of Reszel simply because of her reputation of being “strange” and accused of witchcraft, according to TVP World. Zdunk was imprisoned for four years in the dungeons of Reszel Castle before being the last person burned alive as a witch in Europe in the 1800s.
Today, the castle is a three-star hotel, and not only might you encounter Zdunk while you play pool in the former dungeons, but you might also encounter an artist, Pan Franciszek, who haunts the castle bar and likes to sit on the bar stools with fellow patrons.
Medieval castle ruins located in Ogrodzieniec, Poland (kbarzycki- Adobe Stock)
“Wistom” the Abandoned Factory
Located in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, the Zakłady Włókien Chemicznych is an abandoned chemical fiber factory that any scare-searching adventurer would want to check out. While under Soviet control, this factory was used to make insulation panels for submarines, according to Atlas Obscura. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the factory was abandoned and fell into disarray.
Today, graffiti artists hone their talents upon its walls, musicians perform under the summer sun and people throw haunted parties in the dark dreary interior.
Toss a Coin to your Witcher at Ogrodzieniec Castle
Although located in another town than Ogrodzieniec in Podzamcze, this castle has a harrowing past and a Hollywood future.
In the 17th century, aristocrat Stanisław Warszycki supposedly sold his soul to the devil in order to construct his castles. In life, he was well-known for his cruelty of torturing local peasants and in death is believed to still haunt the castle in the form of a black dog.
Despite its past, the Castle garnered fame for being a filming location for the popular show, “The Witcher.” Fans of the show will recognize the castle and surrounding area as Sodden Hill. Whether you want to spot a shot from the show or see a terrifying ghost dog, the castle is open to visitors year-round. Get tickets at zamek-ogrodzieniec.pl.