---
title: "Dark Tourism in Bruges: Ghost Stories and Gr... | Inn Bruges"
url: https://www.innbruges.be/blog/bruges-halloween
description: "Bruges has a darker side — torture, execution, and a museum dedicated to suffering."
lang: en
---

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Culture · 3 min · 1 October 2026

# Dark Tourism in Bruges: Ghost Stories and Gruesomeness

Bruges' medieval charm comes with medieval darkness. The city's history includes public executions, torture, plague, and all the other delights of pre-modern life.

The Torture Museum on Wollestraat — which we recommend — houses a collection of instruments used for punishment and interrogation across Europe. It's not for the squeamish: iron maidens, thumbscrews, pillories, and detailed explanations of how they were used. But it's genuinely educational, showing how justice and punishment worked in the medieval period.

The Burg square, now a graceful civic space, was historically the site of public executions. The stone platform where sentences were carried out stood roughly where the tourist information office is now.

The plague hit Bruges repeatedly between the 14th and 17th centuries. The worst outbreak, in 1666-68, killed roughly a third of the population. Mass graves were dug outside the city walls. Some were discovered during construction work in the 20th century.

For ghost stories, several evening walking tours offer 'Dark Side of Bruges' themes, visiting sites associated with hauntings, crimes, and tragedies. The quality varies — some are theatrical, others are genuinely informative about the city's grimmer history.

The Sint-Janshuis Mill area near the Kruispoort has a reputation as one of Bruges' most haunted spots. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, the old windmills against a twilight sky are undeniably atmospheric.

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