
Paris hasn’t always been the City of Light. It has also been the scene of some of the most sordid and chilling stories… Some places are still very much marked by these stories, which over the years have become urban legends. Will you come across the rock witch? Will you catch a glimpse of the ghosts that still haunt some of Paris’ homes and streets? As Halloween approaches, here are the capital’s most haunted spots!
Avenue Frochot haunted house – One of the most haunted houses in Paris
For several years now, rumors have been rife about house no. 1 on the plush Avenue Frochot. Ever since the brutal murder of the Folies Bergère director’s cleaning lady, her ghost has haunted the premises. Many locals report hearing strange, terrifying noises at night, such as shrill screams. Some even claim to have seen the house move!
To make matters worse, some of the house’s previous owners have had tragic fates: illness, sudden death, even murder… While its new owner is more amused by the legend than displeased by it, there’s no doubt that this Gothic-style house will continue to frighten Parisians.
📍1 avenue Frochot, 75009 Paris
Le passage de la sorcière – A place of legend
You may have seen it while strolling between rue Junot and rue Lepic. But do you know the story behind this strange rock? In the old days, when Montmartre was still a scrubland, it was a fountain (hence the name “sourcière”). But it’s the house across the street that has made this place legendary and mysterious. Indeed, some of the locals claimed that a witch lived in the house, and that she liked to air out near the spring… Even today, some onlookers are discouraged from approaching the rock for fear of running into her…
📍 23 Avenue Junot or 65 rue Lepic, 75018 Paris
Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Consolation – One of Paris’ most haunted mystical sites
This chapel, inaugurated in 1900, was erected to pay tribute to the victims of the fire at the Bazaar de la Charité, which took place 3 years earlier. This murderous fire, which claimed 125 victims, including 118 women, took place on the same site now occupied by the Chapelle… Bloodcurdling stuff! Since then, many visitors have reported hearing stressful noises in the area. Some even claim to have witnessed paranormal apparitions! The die is cast, we won’t be visiting this place!
📍23 Rue Jean Goujon, 75008 Paris
Rue Erlanger – Paris’s most haunted street?
But what’s going on in Rue Erlanger? Sadly famous for having witnessed the death of singer Mike Brant, it is still at the heart of many sordid stories… In 1981, a Japanese student living at number 10 kidnapped and shot dead a Dutch student with a rifle. Without remorse or empathy, he decided to inflict the worst atrocities on her remains before finally devouring them… In 2019, an arson attack on number 17 of the same street caused the death of 10 people. Not a good place to stay!
📍Rue Erlanger, 75016 Paris
Pavlovich Manor – A paradise for urbex and ghosts
This sublime manor already has all the makings of a horror movie set. Its story is all the more tragic: many years ago, a couple in love were the happy owners of the place. But a tragic car accident left the owner with irreversible injuries… Injuries that would slowly lead her to a painful death, watched helplessly by her husband. Since then, it’s been said that this place is cursed for all couples wishing to settle down. Here, time seems to stand still. Some of the furnishings here, such as the piano and the billiard table, might suggest that the manor was hastily abandoned… We just can’t imagine why!
📍77400 Pomponne (Seine-et-Marne)
Opéra Garnier – one of Paris’s most legendary haunts
Who hasn’t heard of the legend of the ghost of the Opéra Garnier? One evening in 1873, a young pianist and his ballerina fiancée were caught in a fire in the conservatory on rue Le Peletier. The young man escaped with a partially burned face, but his companion, alas, died tragically. The pain of losing his loved one drove the musician mad, and he lurked in the shadows, taking up residence in the basement of the Opéra. His misdeeds? The death by hanging of a stagehand, the death of a ballerina after a fatal fall, and the demise of a spectator killed by a falling chandelier. Since then, the Opéra Garnier has been organizing escapades to unravel the mysteries of Paris’ most popular ghost.
📍Place de l’Opéra, 75009 Paris
Le vampire de Montparnasse – One of Paris’s most gloomy stories
In the “Parisian urban legends” section, we present the vampire of Montparnasse. In 1848, several bodies were found outside their graves. Some showed signs of beating, biting and rape… At Père-Lachaise cemetery, the macabre and sordid scene is repeated. The culprit? A man, or rather a “vampire”, who is spreading terror throughout Paris. After a clever ruse on the part of the police, the couple were finally arrested on the night of March 15 to 16, 1849. The culprit confessed to everything and was sentenced to… a short year in prison. Although after these events, he seemed to have settled down in Le Havre with his new little family, several historians claim that the town’s cemeteries were desecrated between 1867 and 1869. A blood-curdling true story…
📍3 Boulevard Edgar Quinet, 75014 Paris