Spooky Buildings That Put Us in a Halloween State of Mind

This article was originally published on Natureworldtoday.com

Whether ominous or just downright daunting, many buildings around the world make the alarm bells go off in your head. Some have poor lighting choices that up the creep-out factor by 1000%, and others have unsettling color schemes and building materials that make them downright creepy. If you love architecture as much as we do, you’ll either appreciate these buildings, or you’ll shake your head right along with us at how scary most of them are. We’re not sure what some of these people were thinking when they were planning these structures, especially when they add enough stairs that our calves want to cry just thinking about it. Let’s explore the history behind the buildings that put us in a Halloween state of mind!

#1: Concrete Nightmare

This ominous-looking building is the La Cruz Del Vigia, a cultural center in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The bridge you see is a viewing deck that is seventy feet wide, and the building is constructed out of reinforced concrete, which is what gives it that scary vibe. This cultural center needs a good once over to brighten it up, in my opinion.

One super neat fact is that since opening in 1984, it has survived three major hurricanes. So while it looks unsafe, they did an excellent job constructing it! At night, when it’s well lit, it seems very welcoming, and over 10k tourists a year flock here to see the view.

#2: Anyone Said Fear of Heights?

First of all, for anyone scared of heights, this is a prime example of terrifying architecture. Secondly, I can’t see the bottom or top of those stairs, and what I can see seems impossible to traverse in a single day. I’d perish halfway up from dehydration or a heart attack!

This set of stairs is an actual fire escape for the Copan Building located in Brazil. That adds a whole new level of terror because if this is my emergency escape route, there’s no hope left. It’s 40 stories (that’s 459 feet) of stairs. So many residents live in the building that it has its entire own zip code for mail purposes! If a fire happens, that fire escape encompasses the route for over 2,000 terrified people.

#3: The Two Towers

Does anyone else get TheLord of the Rings vibe looking at this picture? This black monstrosity is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption (Cathedral of our Lady of Assumption) in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Its gothic style is only exacerbated by the fact that it’s entirely constructed from lava rock. Construction was finished in 1248, which means it’s nearly 800 years old. A building that old has to be haunted, right?

The original building was constructed in the 400s but was destroyed three times before the final structure we see today. That said, the facade was reconstructed twice in the 1800s due to civil unrest that damaged much of the outer layout and three of the four spires. This building has a history unlike any other and is a must-see attraction when visiting this part of France.

#4: No. Just No

Say what you will, but there is nothing creepier than faceless babies attached to the side of a building. This will give me nightmares for weeks, and I haven’t even seen it in person. Oddly enough, this isn’t a random art display. This is the Žižkov Television Tower in Prague. Built between 1985 and 1992, this tower was considered pure genius at the time.

The scary “Miminika” (babies) were added in 2000 and are ten sculptures made by David Černý. They were removed later that year and then returned as a permanent fixture in 2001. In 2017 they were removed again, this time for cleaning, and it was found that because they’re made out of 100% fiberglass, they’d sustained some damage. Instead of throwing them out as any sane person would, they had identical copies made and installed after returning the original babies to Černý.