No man is an island, and no island is a safe haven. Here, we explore a few of the world’s most deadly islands—each with its own creepy story. From grounds covered in snakes to swamp sinkholes, these islands will make you think twice about building a bungalow to call your own.
1. Poveglia Island, Italy
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Italy’s “island of the damned” is located in the Venetian Lagoon and has a lengthy dark past. It once served as a quarantine for sufferers during the Black Death of the Middle Ages, where the infected were left to die. Corpses were burned day and night—so much so, that plumes of smoke rose over the city of Venice.
Eventually, the island became home to an asylum for the mentally insane, who were treated brutally by a sadistic doctor. The patients’ spirits are said to haunt the island to this day. Only the brave venture here.
2. Palmyra Atoll, USA
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Just how did one far-flung spatter of uninhabited land become the site of a mysterious and gruesome murder? It started in 1974, when married couple Malcolm and Eleanor Graham, who shared a love of sailing, took to the sea to explore the islands near to Hawaii. They landed on Palmyra, but were not alone for long. Soon, ex-convict Roy Allen and his girlfriend appeared. No one knows for sure what happened, but 11 years later, Allen was found guilty of murdering Eleanor Graham – because Malcolm’s body was never found, his disappearance was never solved.
3. North Sentinel Island, India
Photo Credit: Flickr, Mr Minton
The Sentinelese are one of humanity’s last untouched people. They have literally never been in contact with the rest of the world, ever. Their home is on an island (roughly the size of Manhattan) in the west of the Andaman Islands, a part of modern-day India. Little is known of the tribe, who’ve rejected all forms of contact with modern civilization, but it’s estimated that they number anywhere between 15 and 500 people.
The Indian government has declared the island off-limits in an effort to protect a people who possess no immunity to disease. However, in 2006, a couple of fishermen sailed too close and were killed and buried by the Sentinelese themselves. Attempts to the retrieve the bodies have failed.
4. Ilha de Queimada Grande, Brazil
Photo Credit: Flickr, Prefeitura Municipal Itanhaém
Brazil may very well be home to stretches of beautiful beach, caipirinhas and a host of rich of cultural traditions, but there are some places where literally stepping foot can be a fatal choice. Ilha de Queimada Grande, off the coast of São Paulo, is a mountainous island that’s home to an overwhelmingly large population of an endangered pit viper snake – the golden lancehead viper.
The island is infested at an estimated rate of about one snake per square meter. Over the years there have been stories of fishermen who’ve arrived ashore only to die by way of venom. It’s no wonder this island is called “Snake Island.”
5. La Isla de la Muñecas, Mexico
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Just south of Mexico City is a small island that is dedicated to a young girl whose time came too soon. Her body was found drowned in nearby waters under disturbing circumstances, and soon after, locals began adorning trees with dolls that are said to be hosts to her spirit. Tattered limbs hang from trees, plastic fingers scatter the ground and lifeless eyes hang from the trees. But some claim they’ve seen the dolls move, blink and whisper amongst each other. Creepy, indeed.
6. Ramree Island, Burma
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
In 1945, a unit of 900 Japanese soldiers arrived at Ramree Island, off the coast of Burma. But something wasn’t right. The whole of the island’s coastline was a deep, dense swampland teeming with crocodiles. In order to make it to land, they needed to go through the marshes. Faced with no choice, the soldiers entered the unknown. Only around twenty are known to have survived. In fact, the event goes down in history as the Guinness Book of World Records “most number of fatalities in a crocodile attack.”
Some historians dispute the number of soldiers killed by the saltwater crocodiles, saying that hundreds of soldiers likely just escaped into the swamp, but at this point it seems doubtful we’ll ever know exactly what happened.
This story was first published on The Lineup
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