Forests are deep, dark thickets of unknown elements – most of which are dangerous. Hylophobia or the irrational fear of heavily wooded areas, is actually quite rational – it’s a survival instinct. The dangers of what lurks in the woods have been ingrained into our psyches since childhood (mostly through fairy tales).
Stories of the Wild Man, Hansel and Gretel, and Little Red Riding Hood were all meant to keep children from wandering off the path and into the unknown. That’s not to say these tales are filling kid’s heads with nonsense because the big bad really is out there. Wild men, hungry animals, and even satanic cults can be found beneath the canopy of some forests. The forests depicted in fairy tales may be home to fictional evils, but the woods in this list have seen real-life horrors and have inspired their own spooky legends.
Aokigahara Forest, Japan
Settled at the foot of Mount Fuji is what’s commonly referred to as Japan’s Suicide Forest. The Aokigahara forest has had an estimate of 500 self-inflicted deaths occur within its eerily silent depths since the 1950s. On any given day one can enter these woods and find human bones were strewn about and dead bodies hanging from its trees. Some say it’s the forest itself, that it contains a dark energy that amplifies sadness in people. It beckons them to end their life beneath its canopy and their souls are doomed to remain there with that evil for all eternity.
Freetown State Forest, Massachusetts
This stretch of forest is within the Bridgewater Triangle, an area known with a plethora of paranormal happenings. The land dates back to the Wampanoag tribe, they believed the forest was sacred and it contains several American Indian grounds. Some believe it was cursed after settlers began acquiring the land for themselves. In addition to strange noises, lights, and ghostly apparitions, the area has been the location of satanic ritualistic murders and satanic cults.
Carl Drew, a pimp and cult leader, slaughtered women as sacrifices in these woods. On October 13, 1979, he brutally murdered and mutilated a prostitute named Donna Levesque. Another prostitute and cult member named Karen Marsden witnessed the murder and wanted out. She was tortured and killed as a satanic sacrifice as well on February 8, 1980. She was savagely beaten and had her hair and fingernails pulled out while she was still alive. Drew decapitated her, kicked her head around like a ball, and raped her corpse.
The Black Forest, Germany
The Black Forest of Germany sprawls along the Rhine River and is literally a place of legend. This immensely dense woods of pine and fir has been the setting for many of the original Grimm Brothers fairy tales. Much of the sunlight is blocked out by the trees, giving it a nightmarish feeling and making it the perfect location for things that go bump in the night. Apparently, the Black Forest houses nymphs, a headless horseman, and the ghost of a king who kidnaps young maidens who dare wander the grounds alone. Witches allegedly practice their dark arts here and some believe a pack of werewolves lurk in its depths.
Pocomoke Forest in Maryland
Pocomoke Forest is dense and swampy with a history of slave abuse and deaths on its soil, making it an ideal environment for a multitude of strange ongoings. There are many tales about slave owners having sexual affairs and impregnating their female slaves and drowning the resulting baby. Witnesses claim to have seen apparitions of slaves around the swamp area in addition to sightings of beings called “elementals.” These non-human spirits appear in the forms of mist, goblin-like creatures, or light emitting entities best described as fairies.
Pine Barrens, New Jersey
Pines Barrens is relatively uninhabited (by humans) and stretches over 1.1 million acres-which is terrifying enough on its own- but it’s also home to the legendary Jersey Devil. According to legend, Ms. Leeds gave birth to 12 children, but her 13th was the Devil himself. The baby has the head of a goat and hooves, leathery bat wings, and a classic forked tail. After slaughtering the midwife it disappeared into the Barrens. A priest allegedly performed an exorcism in 1740, but there have been sightings of the beast throughout the forest ever since.
Hoia-Baciu, Romania
Hoia Baciu Forest is often referred to as the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania, which is basically taking two intrinsically creepy places and smushing them together to create a horrific hybrid of a forest that no one should ever venture near. Its most famous feature is its oddly curved trees that once grew normally until a dark presence (supernatural or extraterrestrial) emitted a force strong enough to warp them and they’ve grown at a curve ever since. Most locals know better than to do so much as toe the line, but those who enter have experienced extreme nausea, mysterious rashes, and vomiting, headaches, and debilitating anxiety. There have been UFO sightings and some people have theorized that there’s an inter-dimensional portal within this forest because of the disturbing amount of people who lose significant chunks of time here. They simply vanish and have no memory of anything that happened while they were gone.
Old House Woods, in Virginia
After witnessing bloody battles during the Revolutionary War and American Civil War, it’s no wonder this stretch of woods in Diggs Virginia is riddled with restless spirits. The ghosts of slaves and soldiers can be seen wandering about, and some have claimed to see a mysterious woman made entirely of mist floating and dissipating at will. Many have gone into those woods and never came out.
Those who do venture inside and live to tell the tale report it to be at least ten degrees colder within the thicket than outside. For over 200 years now, people have been reporting sightings of headless dogs, witches, and even spectral pirates and their ghost ships floating through the sky. According to legend, a band of pirates buried their treasure in the woods for safe keeping but they died in a storm before they could retrieve it.
Dering Woods, England
The Dering Woods in England is known to locals as the Screaming Woods because as they say, you can hear the blood-curdling, banshee-like screams of the lost souls crying out in the night. Fifty documented deaths have occurred in these woods just outside of Pluckley–which is known as the most haunted village in all of Britain. The blood-curdling screams date back to the 18th century when a man named Robert Du Bois was dragged into the woods by villagers and executed by sword.They say the vengeful spirit of DuBois is still in those woods and if you hear his footsteps thumping up behind you–run–or it’ll be the last thing you ever hear.
Ballyboley Forest, Northern Ireland
The Ballyboley Forest with its distinctive stone arrangements and circular trenches is an ancient Druid site and is said to hold an entrance to the “Celtic Otherworld.” An alarming number of disappearances took place from the 15th to the 17th century within this forest. One famous report took place in 1997 when two men roaming the woods heard a flapping sound that was soon replaced the sound of a woman screaming in pain. The men went to find her but only found a tree streaked with blood. They both fled in terror but braved a look back to find four figures standing motionless, dressed in brown rags, with their heads covered. These four figures could be related to the abundance of strange Druid altars and animal sacrifices found throughout the woods.
Epping Forest, England
This forest was a hideout for a criminal at one point, it was also the location murder victims were buried. Paranormal encounters have included headless men, the sound of thundering war drums, and a ghostly woman who likes to leap out from the trees and dive 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 the hill at night and turn it off, it will slowly roll uphill. According to legend, the car is drawn towards an ancient tree where three witches were hanged another legend says it was an innocent man that was strung up there–perhaps it was both.
When a young girl’s father found out she was meeting a boy in secret, he killed her right there at the pool 300 years ago. Her lover found out and committed suicide at the same spot. There was another suicide there in 1887, and not long after a servant named Emma Morgan killed her child and herself at the pond. Now it’s said the pool of water compels people to take their own lives, that an evil force exists within its dark waters. No birds are heard near this spot and no animals wander near it.
Dow Hill, India
One of the most haunted spots in India is a forest called Dow Hill and it’s riddled with tales of murder and restless spirits. Many reported the feeling of being watched and glimpses of movement in their peripheral, others reported a screaming woman and a few people claimed to see red eyes peeking out at them from the trees. One of the most famous ghost sightings disturbingly enough is a headless boy wandering in the forest and down the road known as “death road.” The haunting isn’t confined to the woods though, they’ve trickled into the hallways of a school located near the forest’s edge. Laughter, eerie whispers, and footsteps still echo throughout the Victoria Boys High School even when it’s closed for holidays.
Isla De Las Muñecas, Mexico
This island near Mexico City is heavily wooded and the trees are covered with hundreds upon hundreds of the creepiest dolls Goodwill had to offer. Over 50 years ago, the island’s only inhabitant, Don Julian Santana found the body of a little girl that drowned and her doll in the water. He strung up the doll as a memorial to the girl and continued to strap up thousands more until his death in that same canal in 2001. Many believe the dolls are vessels for the dead and are subsequently possessed by evil forces. Others believe the dolls are guardians of the island and should be respected, not feared.
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