What is the world's most sinister castle?

Answer 1

Perhaps the castle where the 1932 horror film Castle Sinister was filmed? Actually, little is known about that movie, and no one knows where it was filmed.

Poenari Castle in Romania comes to mind, mostly due to its association with the infamous 15th century Prince of Wallachia, Vlad Tepes, better known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracula. The castle ruins stand over a high cliff in the southern Carpathian mountains.

Some say Hermitage Castle in Scotland is one of the most sinister looking castles with a nasty reputation. It is said that one of the castle's owners, in the 14th century, attempted to kill the King of Scotland, was accused of witchcraft, and then imprisoned and boiled to death in molten lead. In the 16th century, a noble lord named James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, lived at Hermitage Castle, where he was visited by Queen Mary. The two were married shortly after the Earl was implicated in the murder of Queen Mary's consort, leading to unrest in Scotland. Bothwell fled to Norway and eventually found himself imprisoned in Dragsholm Castle in Denmark, where it is said that he was chained to a stone pillar for the last 10 years of his life. Queen Mary is said to haunt Hermitage Castle in Scotland, and the Earl of Bothwell is said to haunt Dragsholm Castle in Denmark.

One of the world's most notorious castles, however, is Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is widely reported to be one of the most-haunted castles in Scotland. This castle certainly has one of the longest and bloodiest histories in the UK, if not in the world, and its position atop the foreboding volcanic Castle Rock lends to a sinister atmosphere. Stories abound regarding what evil deeds have occurred over the centuries in the dungeons below, and how many tortured souls may haunt those sad, dark confines.