Have A Spooky Date: Go On A Walk To 8 Of Kolkata's Most Haunted Places

Besides being home to one of the country’s biggest collection of books, the library also seems to be home to a number of spirits. Numerous accounts of students and bibliophiles tell us of the haunting stories behind the magnificent walls of the library. Everything from tales of the presence of someone breathing down their necks, pages being ruffled, chairs being drawn, ghosts wandering through the corridors, the library has no dearth of supernatural stories.

Some believe that it is the ghost of the wife of Lord Metcalfe who roams the halls (she was known to love both books and cleanliness). Others believe the mysticism comes from a door-less ‘secret’ room that was discovered by the Ministry of Culture and Archeological Survey of India while restoration  in 2010, over 200 years after the building was built. Play it safe and always return the books to the right shelf — just in case!

Locals walking past the Writer’s Building at night claim that they hear shrieks and cries {these claims have just as easy been dismissed}. The unwillingless of caretakers {and actually, anyone!} to do night shifts just adds to the creepiness (or lends value to how lazy Kolkatans can be!). The ‘haunted-ness’ is widely beliveed to come from a shoot-out between three young revolutionaries, Benoy Basu, Badal Gupta and Dinesh Gupta, and the British back in 1930.

Besides being a popular spot for photographers and botanists, one of the city’s oldest burial grounds is also infamous for paranormal activities. Bravehearts who visit the cemetery claim to see shadows moving, feeling the odd presence of the unnatural and even feeling sick upon entering.

Once upon a time, there lived a man named George Williams. George loved horses more than anything, even more than his own family! His pride and joy was Pride, a pearly white horse who won George much fame and fortune. As she grew older, Pride slowed down. Losing her final race also lost George a fortune. She was found dead on the race tracks the next day.But not for long. Some say you can still see William Saheb’s shada ghora galloping across the Race Course at night. Drive past the place at night and check her out for yourself.

The abandoned yet elaborately decorated, ‘house of dolls’, not far from Nimtala ghat, near the Sovabazar jetty, was once home to wealthy owners who once inhabited the building. The rich masters were notorious for sexually exploiting the ‘nautch-girls’. It’s believed that the spirits of the exploited women wait here in search for justice. At night, you may hear a female cry or two combined with the clinking of bangles.

You’ll find many a wary passenger avoiding this particular metro station if they are to resort to travelling beyond the rush hours. Although many of Kolkata’s metro or underground rail system are believed to have their resident spirits, the most infamous of them is the Rabindra Sarobar Metro Station. Local passengers travelling on the last train out claim to have seen supernatural or strange figures on the tracks. The fact that the station has witnessed the maximum number of suicides just lends to the notoriety.

A lesser known ‘haunted location’, the now abandoned Fire Temple on Ezra Street (it was abandoned back in the 1980s) is said to be haunted. It could well be the haunting facade of the place, the pitch darkness of the steps, or the aura of the decaying temple ravaged by banyan tree roots, that lend validation to this assumption. The owner is belived to be an old Parsi man, who walks around the abandoned property carrying a lantern. No one knows why he has not been able to either give up or maintain the temple.

Believed to be haunted by former Governor General Warren Hastings, people claim they have heard and ‘seen’ his ghost in the Hastings House — the first sighting was apparently back in 1884! Some people say they have heard or seen a figure {which is believed to be Hastings} desperately searching for a folder that contained papers that could have prevented him from being impeached in London. Others claim that the house has been haunted thanks to the years of sorrow and misery that took place within its walls.