50 Creepy Locations Straight Out Of A Nightmare

We often assume that the nightmarish places found in works of fiction are wholly a figment of the creator’s imagination, but to those explorers who have seen some of the darkest and most nightmarish places on earth firsthand, Hell is a very real place on earth.

Here's the Door To Hell in Turkmenistan, a natural gas field that has been burning since it was lit by Soviet petrochemical scientists in 1971:

Of course, we’re not talking about Hell in the biblical sense, just a place that scares the bejeezus out of folks, like the Isla de las Muñecas (Island of Dolls) in Mexico City:

People have been hanging dolls from tree branches there since at least the 90s, claiming they're a dedication to a girl who drowned in the canal decades ago.

And then there are the ruins which surround the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in Pripyat, Ukraine, which needs no explanation as to why it's considered a terrifying place:

There are even a few places that conceal sinister secrets behind their beautiful outer appearance, like Aokigahara, the "Suicide Forest", located at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan:

So many people have committed suicide in this otherwise lush and gorgeous looking forest (57 in 2010 alone) that the mysterious place has earned a nightmarish reputation, and is believed by many Japanese people to be cursed by Demons.

Are you brave enough to venture forth and discover more terrifying travel destinations? Read on to discover 50 Places Straight Out of Nightmares, compiled by The Weather Channel.