12 of the world’s most haunted bodies of water
<p><strong>Devil's Pool, Australia</strong></p>
<p><span>Devil’s Pool is a natural pool created by surrounding boulders and a waterfall that feeds it, and as beautiful as it is, people say it’s cursed. </span></p>
<p><span>According to legend, Oolana, a young woman from the Yindinji Tribe, drowned herself in the pool after being separated from her true love. Still searching for him today, she lures young men to their death in the green waters. </span></p>
<p><span>Sixteen young men have died there in the past 50 years, reports News.com.au.</span></p>
<p><strong>Manchac Swamp, USA</strong></p>
<p><span>According to local legend, Julia Brown, a practising voodoo priestess, used to sit on her front porch near the Manchac Swamp in Louisiana and sing, “One day I’m gonna die, and I’m gonna take all of you with me,” reports MentalFloss.com. </span></p>
<p><span>That curse turned out to be true: On the day of Brown’s funeral in 1915, a category 4 hurricane tore through the area, causing hundreds of drowning deaths. </span></p>
<p><span>These days, people say that Brown can be heard cackling on the shores of the swamp. Spooky, right?</span></p>
<p><strong>Truk Lagoon, Micronesia</strong></p>
<p><span>If it’s shipwrecks that make your spine tingle, then look no further than Truk Lagoon in Micronesia. </span></p>
<p><span>That’s where the wreckage of 40 Japanese ships and 25 American aircrafts that went down in the waters lay. </span></p>
<p><span>They went down during Operation Hailstone, the ill-fated WWII battle. The underwater scene is described as a massive “ship graveyard.” </span></p>
<p><span>Photos of the wreckage are absolutely chilling and a haunting reminder of all the lives that were lost in that one battle, alone.</span></p>
<p><strong>Lower Yellowstone Falls, USA</strong></p>
<p><span>In 1870, a group of Native Americans stole pack horses from a group of five militiamen and their guide during the night near the area that’s now known as Lower Yellowstone Falls in Wyoming. </span></p>
<p><span>When they woke up, the men gave chase and caught up with the Native Americans as they were attempting to cross the treacherous falls. </span></p>
<p><span>During the fighting, the Native Americans’ makeshift raft sank and they were swept over the falls and drowned. </span></p>
<p><span>Today, some who stand on the platform at the falls swear they hear the death chant of the brave Native American warriors and the river water is said to turn red on occasion.</span></p>
<p><strong>Bride's Pool, Hong Kong</strong></p>
<p><span>The Bride’s Pool, a natural pool created by boulders with an adjoining waterfall in Hong Kong, is said to have gotten its name because a bride fell into the water and drowned on the way to her wedding. </span></p>
<p><span>If that’s not chilling enough, “today, some people report seeing a woman dressed in a red cheongsam [a traditional Asian wedding dress] brushing her hair near the majestic waters,” reports Time Out Hong Kong.</span></p>
<p><strong>Saco River, USA</strong></p>
<p><span>Sure the Saco River in Maine is a great place for holiday-makers to go tubing, but you may not want to after you find out about its rumoured curse. </span></p>
<p><span>As the legend goes, around 1675, a group of drunken English sailors crossed paths with the chief of the Saco tribe and his family. </span></p>
<p><span>The sailors callously threw the baby in the river to see if he could swim; sadly, the baby died a few days later. </span></p>
<p><span>To enact revenge, the chief put a curse on the Saco River that three white people would drown in it each year. </span></p>
<p><span>Whether or not the body count has held up, the murder of the child actually happened and likely led to further bloodshed in the years following.</span></p>
<p><strong>Loch Ness, Scotland</strong></p>
<p><span>There are some who believe with all their heart that a lake near Inverness in Scotland is haunted by a mythical being, aka the Loch Ness Monster. </span></p>
<p><span>“There are over 300,000 visitors each year and only one to two bona fide sightings,” Gary Campbell, president of the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club tells the Travel Channel. </span></p>
<p><span>But those odds continue to inspire visitors who always carry their cameras just in case “Nessie” decides to make an appearance.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>White Rock Lake, USA</strong><br /></span></p>
<p><span>They say Dallas’s White Rock Lake is haunted by a young woman wearing a soaking-wet evening dress. </span></p>
<p><span>“Apparently, the girl tells people she was involved in a boating accident and needs to get to an address on Gaston Avenue. When she gets into a car’s back seat, she disappears,” the Dallas News reports. </span></p>
<p><span>These encounters have been reported off and on since 1964, although no one knows who the woman is or whether a woman in an evening dress actually drowned there.</span></p>
<p><strong>Changi Beach, Singapore</strong></p>
<p><span>During Japan’s occupation of Singapore during World War II in 1942 tens of thousands of Chinese men who were suspected of having anti-Japanese sentiments, were forced into the waters of Changi Beach and machine-gunned en masse. </span></p>
<p><span>It’s said that the ghosts of these executed men remain trapped on the shores, crying and screaming as they suffer the same deadly fate over and over again.</span></p>
<p><strong>Blackwater River, USA</strong></p>
<p><span>Like the Saco River, Blackwater River in Florida is also a popular tubing spot with a dark past. </span></p>
<p><span>A woman with long black hair smelling of rotting flesh haunts the water and will attempt to drag you to your death if you can’t escape her clutches. </span></p>
<p><span>No matter what is causing people to drown in the river, it would be wise to be careful when taking a dip.</span></p>
<p><strong>Lake Superior, USA</strong></p>
<p><span>In 1985, more than a decade after the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sunk 150 metres to the bottom of Lake Superior – all 29 men on board were lost – it was spotted sailing on the surface of Lake Superior by a commercial crew. </span></p>
<p><span>There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation involving mist and a lighthouse, according to CNN, but there are those who believe that the Edmund Fitzgerald will continue to sail on as a ghost ship in the choppy, icy waters of the lake that took it.</span></p>
<p><strong>The Bermuda Triangle </strong></p>
<p><span>No discussion of haunted water would be complete without including the Atlantic Ocean’s Bermuda Triangle (bounded by Bermuda, Miami and Puerto Rico). </span></p>
<p><span>Countless aeroplanes and ships have dared to enter the 1,300,000-square-km perimeter in perfectly good weather and not the slightest hint of engine malfunction – only to disappear forever. </span></p>
<p><span>Not for nothing, it’s also known as the “Devil’s Triangle.”</span></p>
<p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>
<p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/travel/destinations/12-of-the-worlds-most-haunted-bodies-of-water?pages=1">Reader's Digest</a>.</em></p>
