The WORST episodes of Mysteries of the Abandoned
Every episode of Mysteries of the Abandoned ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Mysteries of the Abandoned!
They were once some of the most advanced structures and facilities on the planet, standing at the cutting-edge of design and construction. Today they are abandoned, dangerous, some of them even deadly. From uninhabited cities to empty factories, these long-forgotten engineering marvels are scattered around the globe. Science Channel uncovers why some of the world's most advanced architectural achievements were eventually left behind in the all-new series Mysteries of the Abandoned.
#1 - The Killer in the Castle
Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 4/30/2020
An abandoned castle is the site of hundreds of horrific murders perpetrated by the mysterious countess who once lived there, a woman alleged to be one of the most prolific killers in history. Stories: 1) Čachtice Castle, Slovakia; 2) WACS, Nome, Alaska; 3) North Korean Labor Party Building, Cheorwon, South Korea; 4) Rabštejn Janská, Czechia
#2 - Psychiatric Ruins of Scotland
Season 9 - Episode 12 - Aired 5/26/2022
Ruins of an imposing mental health institution lie deserted in Scotland. Stories: 1) Hartwood Hospital, Lanarkshire, Scotland; 2) Babylon, Hillah, Iraq; 3) Shakespeare, Hidalgo County, New Mexico; 4) Arzberg Porcelain Factory, Bavaria, Germany
#3 - End Times on Lake Michigan
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/9/2020
An abandoned industrial complex by Lake Michigan was once a top-secret military compound; new discoveries reveal what really happened here and why the government turned its back on this juggernaut. Stories: 1) Nike Missile Sites and Gary, Indiana, USA; 2) Vindolanda, Northumberland, UK; 3) Dire Dawa Railway Yard, Ethiopia; 4) Kaunas Fortress, Lithuania
#4 - The Good, Bad and Abandoned
Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/20/2021
The world's abandoned structures hold new evidence about the lives and deeds of history's greatest heroes and villains, and using the latest discoveries at these mysterious sites, experts count down the ten most significant. Stories: 10) Presidential Compound, Democratic Republic of the Congo; 9) Hellfire Caves, Buckinghamshire; 8) Villa Guardamangia, Valletta, Malta; 7) National School of Art, Havana, Cuba; 6) Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, South Africa; 5) Oakland Auditorium, Oakland, CA; 4) Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; 3) Maestranza de San Bernardo, Santiago, Chile; 2) Fordlandia, Para, Brazil; 1) Nazi Party Rally Grounds, Nuremberg, Germany
#5 - The Nazis' Last Stand
Season 13 - Episode 7 - Aired 3/4/2026
Nazi towers in Berlin, defended to the bitter end by child soldiers; a Chicago institution, once the largest of its kind in the world; an eccentric vision in the Malaysian jungle; and a complex in San Francisco, born from the ashes of tragedy.
#6 - The Desert Pirates
Season 11 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/27/2024
Desert bunkers in Tunisia block Allied victory in Africa; the pride of one Alabama community is born out of a harsh reality; a Lebanese complex is rocked by a massive explosion; the remains of an elite institution still stand in Greece...
#7 - High-Rise Hotel Battlefield
Season 11 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/18/2024
A slice of the Miami suburbs stands out for its style and history; a hotel in Lebanon carries the scars of a civil war; a pirate radio station gets a mixed reception...
#8 - Derelict Housing of Protest
Season 9 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/2/2022
The bizarre remnants of a housing complex lie mysteriously deserted in an Ohio industrial town; experts investigate and uncover the dark, turbulent past of an oppressive steel company and labor strikes that resulted in deadly riots. Stories: 1) Sheet and Tube Company Homes, Campbell, Ohio; 2) Las Pozas, Mexico; 3) Gamsutl, Dagestan; 4) Kupari, Croatia
#9 - Countdown to Armageddon
Season 12 - Episode 7 - Aired 9/24/2025
A remote site in Arkansas plays a major role in a high-stakes Cold War drama, an ancient ruin in Cambodia is ravaged by one man's cruel deception and a French fort becomes the symbol of a heroic but doomed resistance.
#10 - Ghost Skeleton Coast
Season 11 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/4/2024
A fantasy land lies in the heart of Alabama; a place of refuge in Ireland becomes a house of horrors; a South Korean city is scarred by a violent crackdown; traces of a brutal industry remain along the arid Namibian coast...
#11 - The Thing on Hell Mountain
Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/14/2020
A massive, alien-like fortress built into a mountainside is the central node to a network of pipelines that race outwards like tentacles. Stories: 1) Shuinandong Smelter, Jinguashi, Taiwan; 2) Chanute Air Force Base, Campaign County, Illinois, USA; 3) Pidhirtsi Castle, Ukraine; 4) Fort Hermann, Bovec Basin, Slovenia
#12 - Agent Zigzag
Season 13 - Episode 8 - Aired 3/4/2026
An iconic Philadelphia venue that set the stage for era-defining artists; a French compound, where a staggering deception was launched; and a Malaysian mansion, the scene of a baffling crime.
#13 - The Real Shawshank
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/4/2018
An eerie prison with a dark past that became the setting of an iconic Hollywood movie and alien monoliths on a strange and remote island are deserted engineering projects. Stories: 1) Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield, Ohio, USA; 2) Batterie Mirus, Guernsey, UK; 3) Jussarö Island, Raseborg, Finland; 4) Orford Ness, Suffolk, UK
#14 - Desolate Remnants of Agdam
Season 9 - Episode 13 - Aired 6/2/2022
The remnants of a desolate ghost town are uncovered in Azerbaijan. Stories: 1) Agdam, Azerbaijan; 2) City Workhouse Castle, Kansas City, Missouri; 3) Poggioreale, Sicily, Italy; 4) Kreenholm Factory Complex, Estonia
#15 - Ruins of the Nazi Resort
Season 9 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/21/2022
A majestic estate for the rich and powerful now lies abandoned in the highlands of Argentina; experts investigate and uncover a once struggling hotel that was transformed into a luxurious resort outpost for elite Nazi German sympathizers. Stories: 1) Hotel Eden, Córdoba, Argentina; 2) Parthenon, Guerrero, Mexico; 3) Fort Douaumont, Verdun, France; 4) Coco Palms Resort, Kaua'i, Hawaii
#16 - Ruins of Variety Theater
Season 9 - Episode 17 - Aired 7/7/2022
A once majestic theater now lies mysteriously derelict in Cleveland. Stories: 1) Variety Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio; 2) Ponte Dirillo, Sicily, Italy; 3) Hotel Belvedere, Dubrovnik, Croatia; 4) Hierapolis, Denizli Providence, Turkey
#17 - An Island Fit for a Mobster
Season 12 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/1/2025
Palatial ruins in Philadelphia symbolize an industrial golden age, a remote outpost in France is thrust to the frontlines of World War II, and a palazzo right off the Italian coast becomes a prison for mob bosses.
#18 - Remnants of Rocket Complex
Season 9 - Episode 15 - Aired 6/30/2022
The remains of rocket testing facility lie in the Florida Everglades. Stories: 1) Aerojet Dade Rocket Test Facility, Homestead, Florida; 2) Balaroa, Palu City, Indonesia; 3) Festival Club, Ibiza, Spain; 4) Fisheries School, St Kirik, Bulgaria
#19 - Hell on Blood Island
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/16/2020
An island of dense jungle is home to an abandoned complex with a dark past of bloodshed and rebellion, and new discoveries reveal why it was built and the circumstances of its downfall. Stories: 1) Royal Hospital Haslar, Hampshire, UK; 2) Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham, Alabama, USA; 3) Sazan Island, Albania; 4) Cinnamon Bay Plantation Ruins, St. John, US Virgin Islands
#20 - Towers of Blood
Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/7/2020
Abandoned towers in southern Greece are the ruins of a fearsome warrior civilization descended from the Spartans, and new discoveries reveal the role these towers played during generations of violent blood feuds among the clans that lived here. Stories: 1) Antonov AN-225, Kiev, Ukraine; 2) Loch Ewe, Scotland, UK; 3) Kingsbury Ordnance Plant, Indiana, USA; 4) Mani Peninsula, Greece
#21 - Curse of Cowboy Mountain
Season 9 - Episode 18 - Aired 7/14/2022
The bizarre remains of an Old West mining town lie mysteriously deserted high in the mountains of Maggie Valley, North Carolina; experts investigate and discover an abandoned ghost town theme park that some local residents believe carries a curse. Stories: 1) Ghost Town in the Sky, Maggie Valley, NC; 2) Rope Roads, Chiatura, Georgia; 3) Guernsey, Channel Islands; 4) Houtouwan, Shengshan Island, China
#22 - Ghost Village of Nazi Invaders
Season 9 - Episode 9 - Aired 5/5/2022
An eerie ghost village in west-central France, Oradour-sur-Glane, appears as if it were mysteriously abandoned and destroyed all at once; experts investigate and uncover the remains of a derelict settlement left as a memorial to a murderous WWII Nazi raid.
#23 - Ghosts of Mount Fortune
Season 8 - Episode 10 - Aired 7/22/2021
The haunting remains of an isolated ghost town high in the Colorado mountains suggest a once booming mining community left in devastation; experts uncover an inhospitable land of shattered dreams where fortune seekers chased the American dream. Stories: 1) Animas Forks, San Juan County, Colorado; 2) Horse Sand Fort, The Solent, English Channel; 3) Aguirre Sugar Mill, Central Aguirre, Puerto Rico; 4) Foinikas, Paphos District, Cyprus
#24 - Plague on Hell Island
Season 8 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/10/2021
Experts investigate the deadly legacy of an abandoned sea fort. Stories: 1) Peleliu, Palau, Western Pacific; 2) Fort Alexander, St. Petersburg, Russia; 3) Doftana Prison, Telega, Romania; 4) Puerto Cristal, Aysen, Chile
#25 - The World’s Strangest Disaster Zones
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/26/2020
Special access to the world's strangest disaster zones reveals buried secrets. The Top 10 Strangest Disaster Zones: 10) Dallol, Afar Region, Ethiopia; 9) Muynak, Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan; 8) Exclusion Zone, Plymouth, Montserrat; 7) 921 Earthquake Faultline, Nantou County, Taiwan; 6) Vajont Dam, Bellund, Italy; 5) Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan; 4) Centralia, Columbia County, Pennsylvania,USA; 3) Porong District, Java, Indonesia; 2) Villa Epecuén, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina; 1) Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway