Skeletons, Ghosts, and Poisons: The Five Most Terrifying and Deadly Caves in the World

The Cave of the Black Devil

Near Abakan in Khakassia, deep within Mount Kashtulak, lies the underground domain of the Black Devil. That is what local residents call the most terrifying cave in the world. It descends about half a kilometer into the depths. Thrill-seekers wishing to set their nerves on edge have to crawl into the cave through very narrow, cramped passages. Only after their adventure, having gotten out, do they discover a layer of black soot on their clothes.

The journey into the cave itself is not without strange and unpleasant sensations. At times it seems as though someone invisible is watching you – and you can even feel their breath. At least, so claim some of the tourists who have dared to visit the underground domain.

In olden times this cave was a favorite spot of sorcerers and shamans, who performed ritual ceremonies here. They made their way into the darkness, lighting their difficult path with birch-bark torches. And for this reason the ceiling, walls, and floor of the underground domain were covered with black soot. The cave, lost deep within Mount Kashkulak, has always enjoyed a bad reputation among the inhabitants. And not everyone dared to approach the underground domain of the Black Devil, fearing to bring misfortune upon themselves. They say that at night a mournful singing and human voices would sometimes drift out of the cave.

The Shulgan-Tash Cave

The mysterious Shulgan-Tash Cave in Bashkortostan is considered a cursed place. People's fear is bound up with its dark corridors, full of sinister secrets. Judge for yourself: scientists have repeatedly drawn up detailed maps of the cave's passages and exits. And they constantly ran into one insoluble problem. A strange picture took shape, one that defied common sense.

The new drawings, for instance, did not match in any way the previously made plans of the cave's layout. Some unknown force seemed to be changing the passages in the corridors, throwing the maps into utter confusion. Specialists were at a loss, trying to explain this mysterious phenomenon. And the local residents were certain that the events taking place in the Shulgan-Tash Cave were the work of evil spirits dwelling in its dark corridors.

The Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave

In 1989, in Belize near San Ignacio, researchers discovered the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave – a picturesque and mysterious underground domain.

Scientists determined that the Maya civilization had once existed here. And the bloody, gruesome rites of this people have been preserved in the form of the remains of unfortunate victims. One of the cave's grim attractions is the crystal maiden. Her skeleton glitters in the light of flashlights, reflecting off the salt crystals on the walls of the underground domain. This sight envelops in fear everyone who enters the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave.

It should be said that archaeologists discovered here the burial of an entire family of ancient Maya. Beside the human remains lay jewelry and kitchen utensils. The Maya were convinced that the underground domain was a kind of door, across whose threshold one could step into another world.

The Umm Jirsan Cave

The ancient lava cave of Umm Jirsan, located in the northwestern part of Saudi Arabia, continues to conceal its grim secrets. Its length is a kilometer and a half, and not every tourist will dare to walk through the labyrinths of the underground domain, which exudes a graveyard atmosphere. And indeed, here at every step you risk stumbling upon the bones of domestic animals and scattered human skulls. Scientists are still racking their brains over the question: why have mountains of human and animal remains accumulated precisely in the Umm Jirsan Cave? There is a rather disputed opinion that this enormous «collection» was gathered over the centuries by striped hyenas. Supposedly, in this way they hid their prey from other predators, keeping it in reserve.

The Cave of the Giant Crystals

This wonder of nature, striking in its unprecedented beauty yet harboring deadly danger, was discovered in a mine at a depth of 300 meters in the Mexican Chihuahua Desert. The Cave of the Giant Crystals, each of which weighed no less than 50 tons and was 15 meters long, hung down from an enormous height.

The tunneling into the underground domain was immediately halted, and the miners were strictly forbidden to climb into its dangerous labyrinths. And yet a daredevil was found among them who climbed  into the cave for a piece of the wondrous crystal. He died from the suffocating heat and lack of air. From that moment on, the study of the Cave of the Giant Crystals was carried out by specialists in special gear. But they could only last 15 minutes in that dangerous vacuum. To preserve this unique work of nature from destruction, all work in the mine was halted. And the Sistine Chapel of Crystals, as the geologists called the cave, became  an object of close study.

There is nothing else like it in the world: where the northernmost nature reserve is located