Haunted Forests

[Mighty Darci]

Haunted forests around the world

Thanks to fairy tales and legends of the Blair Witch variety, a dense, dark forest can elicit feelings of dread. And while most spooky moments can be chalked up to our campfire imaginations running wild, some places around the world carry legitimately terrifying histories that are much harder to brush off with a nervous laugh.

From woods with high-pitched screams echoing through the trees to the tragic site of hundreds of deaths, these seven forests are certainly not for the faint of heart.

1. Epping Forest, Essex, England

The size and density of Epping Forest have made it a popular hideout for criminals and an infamous burial spot for bodies. Notorious highwayman Dick Turpin hid there in the early 1700s, and more than a dozen murder victims have been discovered in the woods since the 1960s. It's no surprise then that the forest has developed a reputation for spooky sounds and ghostly apparitions (including Turpin himself). Some people also claim that if you drive to Hangman's Hill and park in neutral, your car will slowly be pulled uphill. Even if you don't believe in the myths, just the appearance of the woods is likely to send a chill up your spine. The pollarded trees haven't been cut since the late 1800s (thanks to the Epping Forest Act), giving them an overgrown and bulbous look that you won't find anywhere else.

2. Aokigahara Forest (aka Suicide Forest), Japan

This seemingly serene forest at the foot of Mount Fuji has a tormented past. Colloquially known as “Suicide Forest,” Aokigahara is the world’s second-most popular site for suicides (after the Golden Gate Bridge): In 2010 alone, 247 people attempted to take their own lives here, and 54 of them were successful. Some blame this trend on the forest’s association with demons in Japanese mythology. Others point towards the density of the trees, which muffles sound and makes it easy to get lost. In fact, many hikers will mark their path with tape or string to make it easier to find their way back out again. The sprinkling of clothing and letters left throughout the labyrinthine woods gives Aokigahara that extra touch that will leave you in a cold sweat.

3. Pine Barrens, New Jersey

The heavily forested Pine Barrens spans over one million acres and seven counties in New Jersey. The area thrived during the colonial era, host to sawmills, paper mills, and other industries. People eventually abandoned the mills and surrounding villages when coal was discovered to the west in Pennsylvania, leaving behind ghost towns—and, some say, a few supernatural wanderers. The most popular Pine Barrens resident is without a doubt the Jersey Devil. According to legend, the creature was born in 1735 to Deborah Leeds—her thirteenth child—with leathery wings, a goat's head, and hooves. It flew up the Leeds' chimney and into the Barrens, and it has been killing livestock and creeping out South Jersey residents ever since.

4. Hoia-Baciu Forest, Romania


From the moment a military technician captured a photograph of a UFO hovering over the forest in 1968, Hoia-Baciu has gained paranormal notoriety around the world. The area has become known as the "Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," as some believe it to be a portal that causes visitors to disappear. Other people who have passed through the forest (without being zapped into another realm) reported rashes, nausea, and feelings of anxiety. The curved trees in some parts of the area further lend to an off-putting aura.


5. The Black Forest, Germany


Hardly any sunlight breaks through the dense fir trees of the Black Forest and the myths surrounding these woods are more fantastical than paranormal: A headless horseman riding on a great white steed, a king who kidnaps women to take them to his underwater lair where he lives among the nymphs, friendly dwarves and lurking werewolves. Is it any wonder the Brothers Grimm set so many of their fairy tales here?

[Mighty Darci]

12 Super Haunted Forests You Never Want To Get Lost In

The Blair Witch Project successfully taps into several fears that exists naturally within most people. The setting itself, for instance, is far more unsettling than the witch; forests are massive, creepy, isolated, and full of countless unknown dangers. And that's without even going into the notion of haunted forests. The excessive or irrational fear of heavily wooded areas is called hylophobia. The fear of wooded areas at night is nyctohylophobia. So, yes, this is an actual, documented, scientific thing. When you break down the risk factor, fearing forests isn’t so irrational; it’s a survival instinct.

From childhood, the dangers of forests are ingrained in the human psyche, mostly through fairy tales. Tales of wild men, Hansel and Gretel, and Little Red Riding Hood are meant to keep children out of the woods, and follow many of us into adulthood. Not that these tales fill heads with nonsense - there really are big bad wolves out there; wild men and pseudo -satanic cults do hide beneath the canopies of some forests. The haunted forest depicted in Blair Witch Project and its remake may be just as fictional as fairy tales, but the spooky woods in this list have seen real-life horrors and developed legends of their own.

Aokigahara Forest, Japan

Nestled at the foot of Mount Fuji you'll find what’s commonly referred to as Japan’s Suicide Forest. Eerily quiet, sprawling Aokigahara is home to more than 100 suicides per year. On any given day, you can enter the woods and find human bones strewn about and dead bodies hanging from trees. Some say the forest is to blame for these suicides; it's allegedly home to a dark energy that amplifies sadness within visitors, beckoning them to end their lives beneath its canopy. Once they do, their souls are doomed to remain there for eternity.

The Black Forest, Germany

Germany's Black Forest sprawls along the Rhine River, and is literally a place of legend. The dense wood of pine and fir is the setting for many Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Sunlight is mostly blocked by trees in the Black Forest, giving it a nightmarish feeling, making it the perfect location for things that go bump in the night. The forest is apparently home to nymphs, a headless horseman, and the ghost of a king who kidnaps young maidens who dare wander alone. Witches allegedly practice their dark arts here, and some believe a pack of werewolves lurks in the depths.

Freetown State Forest, Massachusetts

The Freetown-Fall River State Forest is within the Bridgewater Triangle, an area of southeastern Massachusetts known for a plethora of paranormal happenings. The land was formerly home to the Wampanoag people, who believed the forest was sacred, and it contains several American Indian burial grounds. Some believe it was cursed when settlers began stealing the land. In addition to strange noises, lights, and ghostly apparitions, the area has been host to satanic ritualistic murders and satanic cults.

Pine Barrens, New Jersey

The Pines Barrens are relatively uninhabited (by humans), and stretch over 1.1 million acres of south Jersey. If the extreme isolation weren't enough, the area is also home to the Jersey Devil. According to legend, Pine Barrens native Ms. Leeds gave birth to 12 children, and when it came time to have number 13, she gave birth to the Devil. Whoops! The baby had a goat head and hooves, leathery bat wings, and a forked tail. After slaughtering the midwife, it disappeared into the forest. A priest allegedly performed an exorcism in 1740. There have been sightings of the beast throughout the forest ever since.

Hoia-Baciu, Romania

Hoia Baciu Forest is known as the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania, which, ah, no thanks. Vampires and creepy woods? Pass. No one should ever venture near this place. It's most famous feature is unnaturally curved trees, which supposedly grew normally before a dark presence emitted a force strong enough to warp them.

Locals know not to screw around in Hoia Baciu. Those who enter have experienced extreme nausea, mysterious rashes, vomiting, headaches, and debilitating anxiety. There have been UFO sightings, and some theorize there’s an inter-dimensional portal in the forest, on account of the disturbing number of people who lose track of time in the forest. They vanish into the woods, and have no memory of anything that happened while they were gone.

Epping Forest, England

Epping Forest was a hideout for infamous 18th century highwayman Dick Turpin, who buried his murder victims in the woods. Paranormal encounters reported by visitors to Epping include headless men, the sound of thundering war drums, and a ghostly woman who leaps from the trees and dives in front of cars to cause accidents. It also contains two hotspots of dark lore– Hangman’s Hill and the Suicide Pool.

It’s said, if you park your car at the bottom of Hangman's Hill at night and turn off the engine, the car will slowly roll uphill. According to legend, the car is drawn to an ancient tree, where three witches were hanged. Another legend says an innocent man was strung up there. Perhaps it was both.

As for Suicide Pool, it's said a girl’s father found out she was meeting a boy in secret and killed her at the pool some 300 years ago. Her lover found out and committed suicide at the same spot. There was another suicide there in 1887. Not long after, a woman, Emma Morgan, killed her child and herself at the pond. Now it’s said the pool compels people to take their own lives; an evil force exists within its dark waters. No birds are heard near the spot and no animals wander by.

Pocomoke Forest, Maryland

Pocomoke forest is dense and swampy, with a history of slave abuse and death. There are many tales of slave owners having affairs with, and impregnating, slaves, then drowning the babies to cover up their behavior. Witnesses claim to have seen apparitions of slaves around the Pocomoke swamp. There have also been sightings of beings called elementals. These spirits appear as mist, goblin-like creatures, or light-emitting entities similar to fairies.

Old House Woods, Virginia

After witnessing bloody battles during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, it’s no wonder this stretch of woods in Diggs, VA is riddled with restless spirits. The ghosts of slaves and soldiers can be seen wandering about, and some claim to have seen a mysterious woman of mist, floating and dissipating at will. Many have gone into the woods and never come out.

Those who venture in and live to tell the tale report it to be at least 10 degrees colder in the woods than in surrounding areas. For more than 200 years, people have reported sightings of headless dogs, witches, and even spectral pirates and ghost ships floating through the sky. According to legend, a band of pirates buried treasure in the woods for safe keeping but died in a storm before they could retrieve it (the woods border the ocean, hence all the pirate stuff).

Dering Woods, England

The Dering Woods in England are known to locals as the Screaming Woods. It's said you can hear blood-curdling, banshee-like screams of lost souls crying out in the night. The woods border the village of Pluckley, at one point the most haunted village in Britain.

The bloodcurdling screams emanating from the woods date to the 18th century, when highwayman Robert Du Bois was dragged into the woods by villagers and executed. It's said the vengeful spirit of DuBois haunts the woods. If you hear his footsteps thumping behind you, run, or it’ll be the last thing you hear.

Isla de las Muñecas, Mexico

Isla de las Muñecas (Island of the Dolls) is neither a forest nor an island, but rather a tiny, wooded peninsula in a network of ancient canals in Xochimilco, Mexico City. It's also creepy as all get out. The trees are covered with hundreds of creepy dolls. Decapitated doll heads, severed plastic limbs, and gaping dark holes where plastic eyes once were will great you like a sight from your worst nightmare if you take the famous, idyllic boat trip tourists flock to Xochimilco for in droves.

As the story goes, more than 50 years ago, the Island of the Dolls's only inhabitant, Don Julian Santana, found the body of a drowned girl, along with her doll, in the water. He strung up the doll as a memorial to the girl, and continued to strap thousands more dolls to trees until his death in that same canal in 2001. Many swear they've heard the dolls laughing and whispering. Some believe the dolls are vessels for the dead or they're possessed by evil forces. Others believe the dolls are guardians, and should be respected, not feared.

Ballyboley Forest, Northern Ireland

The Ballyboley Forest, with its distinctive stone arrangements and circular trenches, is supposedly an ancient Druid site, said to hold an entrance to the Celtic Otherworld. As per local legend, an alarming number of disappearances took place from the 15th to the 17th centuries within the forest.

Purportedly, in 1997, two men roaming the woods heard a woman screaming. The men looked for the source of the scream, but found nothing more than a tree streaked with blood. They fled in terror, but braved a look back and saw four figures standing motionless, dressed in brown rags, their heads covered. Much of this history, however, is somewhat suspect, in light of the fact that, according to the British government, Ballyboley Forest was planted in 1957.

Dow Hill, India

One of the most haunted spots in India is a forest called Dow Hill, located in Kurseong, in northeastern India, between the borders of Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. Visitors to the forest have reported the feeling of being watched, and caught glimpses of movement in their periphery. Others reported hearing a screaming woman, and a few claimed to see red eyes peeking at them from trees.

One of the most famous ghost sightings in Dow Hill is a headless boy, who has been seen wandering in the forest and down a street known as Death Road The haunting aren’t confined to the woods, either; they’ve trickled into the halls of a school at the forest’s edge. Laughter, eerie whispers, and footsteps still echo throughout the Victoria Boys High School, even when it’s closed for holidays. There are those who believe the spirits of the area live in the school.

[Mighty Darci]

12 of the most mysterious forests in the world

Does your imagination run wild whenever you see a beautiful picture of an old, secluded forest? Are you the type of person to face your fears and explore hidden, mysterious places? Then this list is for you. Read about some of the most mysterious forests in the world, and why you should put them on your travel list.

1) Black Forest, Germany

The name itself sounds mysterious, and that’s because the Black Forest in Germany is well-known as the home of lots of myths and legends. From ghosts and nymphs to foreboding dark pathways into the woods, the Black Forest conjures an image of fairytales and horror. But fear not: this area in southwestern Germany is actually filled with quaint villages and miles of gorgeous hiking trails.

2) Hallerbos, Belgium

Every spring, the floor of this Belgian forest is covered in bluebells, giving it a blue-violet carpet that makes travelers feels as though they’re walking in a fairytale.

3) Rata Forest, New Zealand

The Rata is a type of tree on New Zealand, and this forest on Enderby Island is filled with gnarled tree trunks and branches. There are plenty of hiking trails in the forest and on the island itself.

4) Crooked Forest, Poland

The Crooked Forest is located outside Nowe Czarnowo in Poland — and to this day, no one knows why the trees are all curved in the same shape. It’s assumed that the 400 pine trees were planted in this grove around 1930, possibly to produce naturally curved timber for boats. But to this day, the forest remains a mystery.

5) Goblin Forest, New Zealand

The name speaks for itself: the creepy Goblin Forest is truly unique and won’t be anything like you’ve seen before. Find the forest by entering Tararua Forest Park, then make your way to the mid-slope to treeline forests on Mount Taranaki, about 600-900m up. The eerie, moss-covered trees in this forest include kamahi, miro, and mountain totara. Because this stretch of land is so misty and prone to rainfall, the trees are blanketed in green moss all the time, giving it the “goblin” glow.

6) Stanton Moor, UK

This beautiful forest is located in Stanton Moor in northern England, which is also home to a moor with mysterious Bronze Age stone circles and stones.

7) Moss Swamp, Romania

This image appears to be of a mossy forest area in Romania, though its location isn’t entirely known. Romania is full of gorgeous mountains and forests, so it’s worth a visit, though you might have to do some searching for this mysterious moss swamp.

8) The Sea of Trees, or Aokigahara, Japan

Aokigahara forest lies at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Japan, and is known as the sea of trees because it’s so vast and mysterious. It’s also very dense, so it naturally shuts out all external noises, and is extremely easy to get lost in so hikers often place their own tape on the trees to avoid getting lost.

9) Otzarreta Forest, Spain

Located in the Basque Country in Spain, Otzarreta Forest is a beautiful part of Gorbea Natural Park. The ancient trees, mixed with the foggy atmosphere, gives this forest a mystical air. These crazy trees definitely deserve a spot on the list of weirdest trees on earth.

10) Hoia-Baciu Forest, Romania

The Hoia-Baciu Forest is considered one of the most haunted forests in the world, and is sometimes referred to as the “Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania.” People have claimed they’ve seen UFOs and/or ghosts near the woods, though no one is sure. Legend says there is a perfectly circular clearing in the middle of the forest that attracts paranormal activity.

11) Chinese Hemlock Trail, Taiwan

This hike is part of Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taiwan. It may look creepy, but don’t worry: It’s quite a short hike, though it may be a bit strenuous due to the altitude and steepness of its path.

12) Tsingy Forest, Madagascar

Known as the Forest of Knives, the Tsingy Forest is an incredible area that is made up of sharp limestone rocks jutting from the earth, up to 70 meters in the air. Though it’s possibly one of the most dangerous national parks you can visit.

[The Bear Hawk]

Those are some great posts Mighty Darci and provide a lot of starting points for forests in a campaign. Great resource, have an exalt.

[mao]

Jul 7, 2017 12:08:58 GMT -5 The Bear Hawk said:

Those are some great posts Mighty Darci and provide a lot of starting points for forests in a campaign. Great resource, have an exalt.

Exalt from me 2 

[mormonyoyoman]

What an amazing virtual rolegaming book this board has become/is becoming! If I ever print it all out (with much reformatting, cutting, & pasting) I would entitle it Recently Unearthed Arcana.

Big ol' foresty Exalt to yuh, Darci!

[mormonyoyoman]

And remember kids - Smokey says only YOU can prevent Haunted Forest Gumps.

[hengest]

Love the idea. Has me thinking. Great set of posts.