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I have been listening to the Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club, which actually Elena recommended to me.
She did not listen to it, but she said, girl, this title sounds so you.
And let me tell you, it did. I've been listening to it while I walk, and I am absolutely loving it.
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I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is Morbid in the Great Outdoors.
That's what I hear right now. That's my best impression of the outdoors.
Was that a frog or a cricket? Whatever noise I just heard briefly before.
Could have been anything. I'm not, like, up to par with what the outdoors sounds like.
Yeah. I try to avoid it at all costs. So basically right now we decided to listen to you guys.
Yeah, we're going to go with the forest stories.
And we are going with creepy-ass forest stories today.
And we're actually going to do another... episode of creepy forest stories to later down the line because there's so many so many and i had a hard time narrowing it down So we're going to give you a few today and then we'll give you a few in a few episodes from now.
Kind of like sprinkle it in. Yeah. And because we're doing creepy forest stories.
We thought it would be kind of fun to sit outside of my house next to a creepy-ass forest. pitch black right now.
I really don't know if I would call that a forest though because I can see the next building through the trees. blackness over there I mean it is fucking creepy I'm not gonna lie about that there's animals in nature yeah let's talk about your fisher cat experience yeah oh Like, should we be outside?
So, and that's another thing. If our audio sounds a little off today, it's because we're fucking outside.
So deal with it. Just deal with it. We're trying to be authentic, okay?
God. I'm just trying to give the people what they want.
I'm just kidding. If it doesn't sound good, we're...
Yeah, if it doesn't sound good, we're really sorry.
We'll probably just re-record. Uh, yeah.
So, a couple weeks ago, I think it was when we were talking about the Axeman of New Orleans, I mentioned... that I thought that a bunny might have been killed outside of our window because I heard screaming.
I think I was wrong, though, because I think it might have been.
It's like less tragic. so that's good yeah I think it might be that funky ass creature called a fisher cat.
They have these long ass claws. They're scary looking.
They're scary looking. they're bigger than i guess they're like the size of a coyote aren't they no they're not that big don't they like can you imagine that I thought they were.
Don't they, like, climb up in trees and shit?
They do. I think they're, like, kind of like the size of, like, a little bigger than Bailey, my dog.
It's like a medium-sized dog. They're that small?
Well, they're not small. Maybe I'm just... No, I think they're pretty big.
They're big. write in tell us what fisher cats are the exact dimensions of a fish go in your backyard wait for a fisher cat measure it and give me the exact proportions You don't.
I want solid research. And if you really care about us, you will do this.
Oh my god, no. I don't want to be responsible for that.
Don't fucking do that. Oh, which brings me to my next point.
Well, I just had a next point because I just swore and my grandpa told me to stop swearing.
Oh, yeah. AKA my grandpa, your dad. Yeah.
So, sorry, Papa. I'm going to try to keep that to a minimum.
Yeah. Dad listens to the podcast now, which thanks, Dad.
And his one critique. Too much curse words.
He was like, you might want to just cut back on the curse words.
People don't like that. People don't love hearing curse words.
I'm like, well, you taught them to me in traffic, so...
No, not really. I love you. No. And you know what?
We will. We will take it. down a notch we will probably not make a super honest effort to stop but we will we will give it some kind of shot for sure because we love our dad In like 20 minutes, I'm going to be like, mother bleeper.
I mean, I'm pretty sure the next sentence is going to include a swear.
Sorry. Sorry. But, you know, I think it's awesome that Pebble listens.
Exactly. Supportive. Yes. Supportive of our endeavors.
And that's all that matters. Yes. Love you, dad.
I feel like whenever I listen to like other true crime podcasts and they're like, oh, my parents listened and they told me to stop swearing so much.
I feel like that's a thing. It really is.
Yeah. Oh yeah, you're right. It is. Literally.
No, it is. Yeah. It's just a parent's thing.
Yeah. You just don't want to, because I feel like even though I swear like a sailor, like, I don't want to hear my kids swear.
No, because they're supposed to be like pure, innocent flowers.
Well, they're supposed to be better than you.
Yeah. Like my kids need to be better than me.
I'm not better than Ma or Papa The whole point of parenting is to make your kids better At least for me, I want them to be all that they can be.
Yeah. So I don't want them swearing. Yeah.
Because I'm like, don't do that. I do that.
Don't do that. That's my job. That's me.
Another little thing I just wanted to bring up. was that everybody needs to go watch the show on Netflix.
Yeah, this sounds fucked up. I think it's right up all of our alleys.
Weirdos. That it's called Dark Tourist.
I haven't seen it yet. And there's this just adorable New Zealand.
You're a New Zealand. Adorable New Zealand man.
I forget his name is the host. And he's super awkward and, like, just is basically going to all these dark tourism sites around the world.
Like, in America, but also beyond America.
He's doing stuff like, you know, the catacombs in Paris and serial killer tours.
That's cool. you know nuclear reactive sites in japan and all this craziness so like people they have dark tourism basically And he's just trying to figure out why people like these things and experience it for himself.
And one of the things he did... How was that?
Yeah, the outdoors. That's what that was.
I might have been a coyote, guys. What?
Bitch, what? Was it a car or a coyote? It was like, oh, it was a cop.
Was it a coyote cop? That's how much I know about the outdoors.
I'm like, that was a coyote. I don't think coyotes come out this early.
They're like, bop, bop. No, they do. Don't worry, we're fine.
Ashley's looking at me with eyes bulging out of her head.
I like the beach during the day and that's about as outdoors as I get. pretty outdoorsy but anyway so he one of the things in the United States that he visits is one of those crazy extreme haunted houses Fuck that.
Not like just really scary haunted house.
It's the one that you're signing up to be tortured.
No. Like, no. And not like tortured in like.
I'm going to poke you a lot to be annoying.
We're literally going to waterboard you and try to Put a bag over your head.
Put a bag on your head and like hit you and you're going to come out bleeding.
That kind of thing. And you have to sign like 40,000 waivers.
You have to watch the episode because you watch it and it gives you anxiety just to watch.
I'm going to be real. I love scary movies.
I love haunted houses. Retweet, retweet.
But I just can't. I can't do that. What did you say earlier?
You like when you do the haunted house when the haunted house doesn't do you.
Exactly. Like, I like that I'm... Coming to the haunted house and the haunted house is not like coming to me like it's not coming at you, bro Like I, I'm the one in control at the house.
Like I walk through, I decide. you know how quickly i walk through it right right right i don't know i just i don't want to your fate in someone else's hands I don't want to experience, you know, like legit torture.
That's just not. But if somebody wants to do that. balls to the walls.
I'm impressed if you want to do that. I just can't.
And watching this episode gave me legit anxiety.
I was nervous. Yeah. I couldn't do it. And I was watching it and I'm like, oh my God, I'm already stressed out.
I have no desire to do that ever. There was a point where this haunted house didn't allow safe words. so once you were in there you were in there no yeah no and luckily that's changed i guess now that They have to probably legally.
Because what if somebody was actually getting like. hurt beyond the point of somebody had a heart attack in this haunted house.
Yeah. I think that's probably why they think maybe they changed the safe word cause of heart attack. scary ass haunted house where I signed waivers where they could give me a heart attack.
Like, I like... I can watch really fucked up movies and scary movies.
I don't want to like experience it though.
Like I like experiencing it from like my couch. yeah where i know everything's where i can turn the lights on when i'm done yeah and where i can breathe freely I just couldn't do it.
The second you put a bag over my head, that would be the end.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. That just gave me anxiety at this very moment.
There was one point where they put, like, this... cube on this girl's head and filled it with water and then like they were dunking this person underwater and they were like i hope you can hold your breath for 30 seconds and then they dumped their head underwater and i was like no i would die But how do they not kill them is what I'm confused about.
Because now they have a safe word, so as soon as they say that, it stops.
So if it's too much, somebody just says...
I mean, I just, like, also I couldn't work there.
No. And this guy is, like, super crazy. The guy that works there?
Friendly. At the one where they go to. And, like, is the main guy who does it.
He, like, is super friendly, super, like, jaunty, and just, like, you know, like a fun...
Like a happy-go-lucky man. Yeah. And, like, he seems friendly.
And as soon as it starts... Like as soon as you sign all those.
He's like Jekyll and Hyde. You have to sign like 40 pages of waivers for like five hours.
Like no. Yeah. And, oh, you also need a note from your doctor and a note from a psychologist saying that you can do this.
Like, I'm not a doctor, but if I was a doctor, I wouldn't feel comfortable signing that.
But you couldn't not. But what if something happened?
But if you have a clean bill of health going in, you can't.
Tell someone they can't do this if they're a grown-ass adult.
Oh my God. But can you imagine if something ever happened and you're the doctor that signed that note?
I wouldn't feel bad at all because this is someone else's choice.
I just said they are healthy enough to go in.
I would feel bad, which is also why I couldn't be a doctor.
Literally nothing. I kept saying as a doctor.
I don't know why I was saying that. As a doctor.
Like, where did I just come from? I just got so involved in that scenario.
I need to move. on to like creepy forest when we start going to haunted houses and telling you about them we will not be going to no You told me about a red light, green light thing, and I'm not even doing that.
No, go find somebody else. I'm creepy, but not that creepy. yeah it's like a way less yeah but i don't i don't like when they touch you like i don't want to be touched See, I'm fine with like light touching.
Nope. Because I can get... It's fine. When I was little, like one of the first haunted houses I ever went to, I think I was maybe like...
11 or 12 like sixth seventh grade and I was like I was not into that crap when I was younger It's like you that like slowly like brought me into it.
And I was so terrified. I was closing my eyes the whole time we were in the haunted house and I went to hug one of my friends. when we were walking and I accidentally hugged scream and he was like you can't do that you didn't say ghost face you said scream Oh, yeah.
I still say that. Wow. But I literally scream.
And he literally was like, you can't do that.
And I was like, okay, well, I wasn't actually trying to hug you.
I clearly was not trying to hug you, man.
Don't flatter yourself. I'm 12. Don't flatter yourself. and your ghost face don't flatter yourself scream he was like I'm actually ghost face I'm so excited for Haunted Houses, man.
Oh, I can't wait for October. It's making me think about it now.
It's almost pre-October. It's almost pre-October.
AKA September. One more month. One more month. crappy summer to get through august zips by it does it's like and then it's gone it's gone after that yeah It's just like, and you're like, oh, it's pre-October.
Whoa. I'm ready for that. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes.
Why don't we just jump into this creepy forest business, shall we?
I'm kind of scared for this one since we're outside.
The light just turned on over there. in it yeah maybe it's a ghost face one of these crazy creatures that luckily there's three of us so like my odds of getting murdered are one out of three That's nice.
And I could spring right up inside that door.
Just to start out, xylophobia means fear of forests.
Not xylophones? No, and I thought that too.
I was like, what? Why isn't it like forestophobia?
Yeah. Leafophobia. Leafophobia. Leafophobia.
Petition to change. Yeah, because xylophobia.
What's xyla? I guess forest. Cool. I didn't look that far.
I researched a lot. I did not research that.
Okay. I forgive you. So the first forest, and again I say, we're going to do another one of these or we're going to cover some more forests.
So if you didn't hear your favorite creepy-ass forest tonight, we'll do another one. so the first one we're gonna do is okigahara forest in japan scariest one i'm scared So this is known as the Sea of Trees.
It is located at the base of Mount Fuji.
And which is like gorgeous. It's so pretty.
And it literally, if you look out into it from Mount Fuji, it literally looks like a sea of trees, which is why obviously it's called that.
It's 13.5 square miles and 7,400 acres of densely thick forest.
Holy cow. It's beautiful, but dangerous because it is so dense that you can easily get lost in here.
Yeah. Easily. So, its other name is not as chill as Sea of Trees.
It is known worldwide as the Suicide Forest.
Which is so sad. This name comes from the fact that this place is actually the second most popular destination in the world to complete suicide.
Oh, I just got chills. Second only to first being the Golden Gate Bridge.
Wow. So as many as a hundred people or more a year are found to have successfully completed suicide in this place.
And it kept rising. That makes me really sad.
The most popular method is hanging, but many have also been known to intentionally overdose. in there oh wow uh there was actually a book that popularized and kind of like romanticized this place um That is actually found among a lot of the bodies and various visitors to the forest itself.
Like they bring this book with them. Oh, my God.
And the book is The Complete Suicide Manual, written by Wataru Tsurumi.
And in the book, he dubs Okigahara Forest as, quote, the perfect place to die.
Now, he cites it as that because it's so beautiful and it's so still and peaceful and no one will find you and no one will stop you, all that good stuff.
But officials have come out and said, yeah, that's all well and fine that it's beautiful in there, but Like this is not a beautiful death.
No. Because also there's about a million kinds of animals in there that pick you apart afterwards.
So like it's not a beautiful death. So don't think it's some wonderful thing.
I feel like I'm going to cry already. Yeah, this is kind of a dark one.
It's intense. But we'll get through it. Because some of the other forests are super creepy, but kind of hilariously. creepy so because of all this Japan's government has actually started posting security cameras at the entrance of the forest and And increasing patrols in the forest itself.
I would not want to patrol. Suicide counselors...
And police have also posted signs on various paths and at the entrance of the forest.
They have messages like... Think carefully about your children and your family.
Don't keep it to yourself. Talk about your troubles.
And another one says your life is a precious gift from your parents.
Another one says meditate on your parents, siblings and your children once more.
Do not be troubled alone. So that's nice that they're trying to be like, hey, like maybe think twice.
Unfortunately, it doesn't always seem to work.
Volunteers do consistently go to this place. not to rescue people but to recover bodies um and this is like a thing like they get together the volunteers do come in here just for this purpose i could not do that that they do this i mean it's to avoid power to them and to and right you know They basically go through to bring them back so they can have a proper burial too.
In recent years, the Japanese government has declined to release the number of corpses recovered in these searches.
Basically, they're not saying how many because they don't want to encourage people to keep coming.
Yeah. But in the early 2000s, 70 to 100 were uncovered each year.
Oh my gosh. Sometimes it's easy to find bodies by following various strands of tape, rope, or string you see around the forest.
This is because it is popular practice for those contemplating or planning to end their life in here. to bring tape or rope or string in with them so they can string it along to their final resting place so people can find their bodies later Oh my gosh.
Sometimes people do this too because they're not positive they're going to do that.
So they do that to find their way out if they decide that they want to leave.
A Google image search of this place will show you a lot of heartbreaking things and a lot of... pictures of of the tape everywhere you know like yeah because they leave all that stuff up they only take the bodies they leave all the other stuff so There's a lot of creepy photos.
I mean, if you want to go look at it, go look at it, but...
The forest on its own is just super creepy because it's so dense that wind can't get into it.
So it is eerily silent. Like there's no wind that can break through those trees.
So it's literally just dead air in there.
And one visitor described it as quote a chasm of emptiness.
Wow. and said, I cannot emphasize enough the absence of sound.
My breath sounded like a roar. That's terrifying.
Yeah. Among the trees, it's pretty easy to find items from people who have ended their lives there.
There's clothing, shoes, nooses hanging from trees, and even grim notes painted on trees. it kind of makes it difficult to forget what happens there.
Yeah. Because people do go in here too to see the site it's a beautiful place and it's mount fuji is beautiful so people do hike into there just to hike But I think it kind of makes you not forget what is really happening here.
What's weird and what's also creepy about this is the soil in the forest is actually rich with magnetic iron.
Is that because of all the decomposition?
Because there's volcanic soil underneath.
And this really messes with cell phone service, GPS systems, and even compasses. oh so getting lost is super easy and it will like fuck with you camping is actually allowed in this area but visitors who bring a tent with them are not really seen as like lighthearted campers that are just coming in here to camp.
Bringing a tent makes officials immediately think that the person bringing it in may be undecided on what they're going to do.
Oh, because people have been known to camp for days debating whether or not they're going to go through with it.
Abandoned tents are found a lot. So, and obviously if you're coming out, you're taking your tent with you.
Right. So if you find an abandoned tent, you know what happened.
You know what that meant. people on prevention patrol, like the officers that go in there and the volunteers, If they find someone camping, they will go over to them and gently speak with them. and just to see if they're okay and kind of tell them like you know like maybe you should leave right maybe you should get out of here like get out of the forest well because I would think too that the whole mood in there would almost lead you more to completion exactly right it's like it just has and that's that's one of the things actually that People say it just has this way of making you feel sad.
Yeah, I would think so. It's like if you're already emotionally...
Feeling a little. In a horrible place. It's like.
That's really going to push you into a. Over.
Right over. Place. Yeah. The edge. Essentially.
Um. So this forest actually has even more tragic lore aside from being a place of suicide.
I don't know if I'm going to say this right.
You're going to try. Ubasute sounds correct is a form of euthanasia That translates roughly to, quote, abandoning the old woman.
Oh. So this is an uncommon practice and only happened in desperate times when there was like famine and like everyone was like crazy poor and...
You know, this is like kind of like legend.
So a family that was in really dire straits in Japan would kind of lessen the amount of mouths that they had to feed.
Oh, my God. Yes. by leading an elderly relative to a mountain or similarly remote area to die.
That's the most fucked up thing I've ever heard.
So the person would die of dehydration, starvation, exposure.
The elements. Yeah. The Sea of Trees was allegedly a very popular site for such abandonment because once inside, you're not going to find your way out, especially if you're old.
Oh my god, that is horrible. So that's, of course, awful.
And, of course, this kind of thing. What do you keep looking at?
I didn't know if it was your shadow or a different shadow.
It's on the... Oh, yeah, it's you. Okay.
Sorry. She's scaring the shit out of me.
Sorry. I can't see in her eyes flick over behind me.
I'm just staying alert up in here. So this kind of thing, of course, leads to tales of it being haunted.
Right. Not really tough to believe. The spirits in there are called yuri.
Yeah, it's Yuri. I remember the movie we saw.
It's called Yuri's by the locals and they're said to be just like tragic spirits of those abandoned in the woods or those who have completed suicide in those woods and they're sad but they're also vengeful and angry Don't they like mess with you if you go in there supposedly?
They spend their time screaming throughout the night.
Oh. So people will hear screams coming from that forest.
No thanks. They torment visitors and they try to lure those contemplating suicide out. or those who are just emotionally possibly in a weakened state to do it, the path to do it and join them.
Oh my God. So like what you were saying, like, That movie we saw.
Like the vibe in there. Oh, just kidding.
No, just that like the vibe in there like might make you feel... more yeah especially if that's going on also if there's like you know these crazy scary spirits A Japan Times writer actually said he heard blood-curdling screams from all around him while he walked through the forest.
No thank you at all. And other visitors have reported this. during a vice documentary so this is legit that took a tour of the forest There was actually, they found a Jack Skellington, like a, it wasn't Jack Skellington, but it was like a Jack Skellington-like doll. with his face cut off and he was nailed upside down to a tree.
Like an inverted crucifixion. Oh. According to the documentary's guide, Azusa Hayanu...
She said, quote, they nailed this character upside down as a symbol of contempt for society.
No, it's more like a curse. The curse is nailed in.
So apparently somebody who completed suicide in there had so much contempt.
For the world. That they left a curse behind.
In the woods. And they said that people do this sometimes.
Like they'll leave a curse behind. So this place is just like real dark.
Completely like messed up. Yeah. So maybe don't hike in there.
Yeah. Like I'm. I mean, it would be fascinating to see just this area.
Watch a documentary. But like, it's a lot.
Yeah. And I'm not going to Japan. That's a long plane ride.
Yeah. Not trying to be jet lagged. I'm not trying to fly that far.
Wow, what a great start we're off to. Yeah, and just as like a little, you know, little thing at the end.
In 2015, there was a film called Sea of Trees where Matthew McConaughey travels from America to complete suicide in the suicide forest.
Oh. Wasn't there also a movie with Jennifer Lawrence?
2016, not Jennifer Lawrence. Called The Forest.
Natalie Dormer. Why the fuck did I think that was Jennifer Lawrence?
Don't know because they are not the same person.
Who's Mike Pence? I think that's Mike Pence over there.
Oh, don't say that. He's in the forest. Fuck you.
He's lurking in our forest. Spook, spook.
I gotta go, actually, on that note. So in the 2016 film The Forest, Natalie Dormer played an American... who travels to the Aikigahora forest.
I don't know if I said that right. To get her twin sister, right?
To find her twin sister who may be contemplating or have completed suicide in the forest. forest that movie's so freaky that was that was a trippy movie it was kind of stupid at the end but yeah But it was good, I thought.
Watch it until like the last 20 minutes.
And then just shut it right off so you don't know what happens.
Yeah, because then it gets stupid. Stupid.
So, yeah, that is Aikigahara Forest in Japan.
All right, one down. How many to go? Couple more.
Alright. Couple more. We'll see how many we can get through in this one.
I'm hella spooked. So the next one... A couple of people listening might be psyched to hear because we got a couple of people who recommended this one and we were... already super psyched to do it this is the one i was driving by in our home state this is the one i was driving by when i saw that woman i was thinking of you Freetown State Forest in Fall River, Massachusetts.
So this is not that far from us, guys. So that's cool.
This one's pretty long, so... Let's get right into it.
So this is located at Freetown and Fall River. with the biggest part of the forest spreading into the center of Freetown.
The forest covers a huge 5,441 acres. And over 50 miles of it is unpaved roads and hiking trails that are actually actively used by like cyclists, hikers and all that.
This is all great, but the history of it, not so great.
As with most American haunted forests. this haunting and like nastiness in this forest kind of harkens back to the somewhat contentious relationship between settlers and the Native Americans.
Yeah, we were so great to them, huh? Yeah.
Sorry. The land was originally owned by the Pocasset Wampanoag tribe.
If you are in Massachusetts, you know that you've heard the Wampanoag tribe.
Oh, yeah. Like you've learned all about them in school.
Since you were like out of the womb. Yeah, you know all about them.
So it was owned by this tribe originally.
But this started to change in 19, or 19, 1659s. purchase of Freetown, which was then incorporated into an actual town in 1683.
So during the King Philip War, which was fucked up.
Yeah, it was. And that was in 1675 to 1676. the Pokasset Wampanoag tribe fought on the side of the English. and was rewarded with 190 acres of land in Fall River, Massachusetts.
However, we took it right on back. 1907.
1607, right? No, this was 1907. Oh, actually 1907?
Yeah. Because we would have gone back in time if it was 1607.
I'm listening. So we didn't go back in time yet.
We fast forwarded a bit. 1907. Fall River commandeered 100 acres of this land through eminent domain in order to secure the city's drinking water supply.
So they gave them 190 acres, then they took 100 back.
Wow, how thoughtful. So 1939 was when the state of Massachusetts returned some of that land that had been taken. and the tribe was left with the current Wampanoag Reservation which covers 227 acres. so we kind of we like fucked with them too much you know far too much that's not cool that's just like a small portion of us fucking with them a little bit yeah that's just a little bit of it So this forest, the Freetown State Forest, sits comfortably within the infamous Bridgewater Triangle.
Which we will do an entire episode about.
Hell yes. Because there's just too much.
Yes, yes, yes. It's basically, I'll give a little overview of it.
It's a 200 square mile area within southeastern Massachusetts that has a plethora of inexplicable, bizarre experiences.
What is that noise? It legit sounds like a chainsaw and I'm actually not kidding.
I'm just saying I heard it. What the fu- I didn't hear a chainsaw.
Did you hear a chainsaw? Is it you when you move?
No, it's not you. I don't know. no it was off in the distance i just don't like being outside bye you're freaking me out man okay It's your idea.
There's all kinds of bizarre phenomena reported since fucking colonial times in this Bridgewater Triangle. strange creatures Bigfoot UFOs ghosts specters orbs of light strange disappearances giant snakes poltergeist activity and cattle mutilations to name a few oh that's so funny that's a bummer yeah it's Remember when we went to the... I keep going to say Bermuda.
Remember? Oh, Jesus. Fuck. John just scared the fuck out of me.
I'm sorry. I'm on edge. I know. He walked by the door so swiftly like he lives here or something.
Fuck. Wow. What was I even saying? Oh, remember when we went to the Bridgewater Triangle with Tina, my friend, who is like a paranormal investigator?
That was so much fun. Yeah, we did some ghost hunting.
Oh, my God. My heart is pounding. So back to this.
We're really in this, guys. We're in this.
We submerged. I mean, we're in the Bridgewater Triangle right now.
I know. Yeah, like we're part of it, so.
Shit's going down. So the exact boundaries of the Bridgewater Triangle are, like, somewhat, you know, nebulous.
Yeah. But... Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman actually laid out a pretty good boundary in his book. mysterious america the ultimate guide to the nation's weirdest wonders strangest spots and creepiest creatures he defined the bridgewater triangle as being comprised of the towns of Abington, Rehoboth, and Freetown at the points of the triangle.
So those are the points of the triangle.
Brockton, Whitman, West Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Bridgewater, Middleborough, Dighton, Berkeley, Raynham, Norton, Easton, Lakeville, Seekonk, and taunton are inside the triangle i was waiting for you to say taunton we are not in taunton right now just so you know Okay, that's where I'm originally from.
I'm just saying we're not there. I'm not going to tell you where we are.
Yeah, you don't know where we are, but we're not in Taunton.
But we're in the Bridgewater Triangle somewhere, so that's cool.
The town of Agde in France is famous for sun, sand, sea and sex.
But lately, life on the coast has taken a strange turn.
The town's mayor, a respected pillar of the community, has been arrested for corruption.
His wife claims he's been bewitched by a beautiful clairvoyant.
Then there's the mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting.
The whole town has been thrown into chaos.
As the mayor is unable to carry out his duties, I would like to address you all.
Legal proceedings have been initiated. Join me, Anna Richardson, and journalist Leo Schick for The Mystic and the Mayor as we investigate a story of power, corruption, and magic.
Binge all episodes of The Mystic and the Mare exclusively and ad-free right now on Wondery+.
Start your free trial in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or the Wondery app.
So within this whole thing, Freetown State Forest is said to be the most active.
Oh, hell yeah. So, among some of the fucked up creatures in the Freetown State Forest, are humanoid creatures known as Pukwudgies.
That's such a cute ass name. Isn't it adorable?
I don't think they're super awesome though.
They were named by the Wampanoag tribe. They are troll like beasts.
Great. Around two to three feet in height.
They have smooth, hairy, gray skin that is said to glow sometimes.
Oh. Well, that's fun. Pukwudgies have kind of a reputation for being a little mischievous.
They're like, hey, hey. Liking mayhem a little bit.
They intentionally scare people, throw rocks or sand in people's faces, push or shove them, kidnap them.
Which that. Major yikes. Like that escalated very quickly.
I'm just going to throw a rock at you and then fucking kidnap you.
Or hurl them from cliffs. Oh, you know, as one does.
So... Yeah. So they're just like a little mischievous.
They'll also wrestle with them or even attack them with knives and spears.
Where did the puck wedgie get a knife and spear?
They're fucking rude is what they are. That was funny.
They're rude. You know what? You're just being rude.
You're rude. This may seem a little crazy and people are like, that's fun.
But numerous of them have been reported by numerous people.
Shit. And they are legitimately blamed as the cause of... an unusual number of people who have supposedly, quote, fallen from cliffs to their death in the area.
Oh my God. So they're actually blamed for these things.
So that's a little scary. There's actually one I didn't write it down because we'll go over it when we actually cover the Bridgewater Triangle.
But there's one story from one guy about it.
I know exactly what you're talking about.
And it's fucked up beyond belief. I'm not going to say it now because you've got to stay tuned for the episode that we do it on.
Yeah. In the future. That's a good one. But just wait for it.
That's what I was thinking about the whole time you were saying it.
It's a really crazy story. But you don't know what it is.
Stay tuned. So a couple of the craziest things in this forest.
There's an 80-foot-deep rock quarry. known as the Asonet Ledge, or simply as, quote, the ledge.
No thanks. This area was once owned by the Fall River Granite Company.
And weirdly enough, the quarry has like a weird amount of abandoned cars in it. yeah so that's creepy all in itself it's also the location for a lot of suicides again That's really sad.
This might be partially attributed to the fact that visitors to this place... have reported that they feel like they're becoming overcome with an urgent feeling, like an unshakable sense of dread.
And like anxiety. And when they go near the quarry, people say they suddenly feel like they just want to jump off the cliff. or they feel like they're being pushed.
Oh my God. Yeah. That's like, no, I'm not kidding you.
Driving by there, I get like a weird feeling.
Like I don't like driving by there. It's got like a lot of shit.
It's just. It's got a bad vibe, man. No, it literally does.
Yeah. Like it just gives people anxiety and not like an anxiety like I feel weird because this is a spooky place it's like you get a literal like a legit overwhelming feeling we know this we're from here yeah believe us i don't like that area So there's also numerous reports of people seeing ghosts jumping from the ledge only to disappear before they hit. the bottom oh that's so horrible or they merely they see the ghost just standing ominously at the top of the ledge oh right this is the spookiest episode yet This is spooky.
We're really hitting the spooky here. Yeah.
I love it. So a lot of this has to do with the Hockamock swamp, which again, if you're from Massachusetts, you know, your whole life was revolving around the Hockamock swamp.
Even our like sports teams are part of the Hockamock League.
So we're really into this stuff. The Hockamock Swamp is a huge wetland that covers much of the northern part of southeastern Massachusetts.
It is 16,950 acres in area. It's pretty small.
And it's the largest freshwater swamp in the state.
Holy cow. It gets its name from the Wampanoag people, and it means, quote, place where the spirits dwell.
So it's probably super chill. Yeah. Super chill.
I'm sure it's fine. Not. Early settlers called it, quote, the devil's swamp.
Phenomenal. Again, probably safe as fuck.
Heard that. So the Hakamak swamp was the site of much of the fighting during the, you know, super brutal conflict between early settlers and the Native American people, which is the cause of all our issues here.
It was so messed up. They used to, like, scalp people.
Oh, yeah. And, like, I'm not talking the Native Americans scalped us.
I'm talking, like, King Philip was like, you'll go scalp them.
Yeah. Like, that's fucked up. No good. Yeah.
That's why all that bad shit is happening.
Legitimately. Another part of the Freetown State Forest that is super spooky...
Is that it happens to be a place where cultists and Satanists like to gather.
You know. The late 1970s and 1980s, police found various shards of evidence, including an actual underground bunker. that was apparently used to carry out cult rituals and possibly even human sacrifices.
Wow. Yeah. That's fucked up. You know, 80s.
Literally, so 80s. One very real thing though, is that various cattle mutilations were reported from the forest, including the butchering of a cow in the woods. and a group of calves found horrifically mutilated in a clearing.
How do you do that to a sweet baby calf?
These were both in 1998. I was two. And they were connected.
Oh, Jesus Christ. You're like, I was 45.
Just kidding. I was like 13. was in 1998 both of those things were connected to the work they were connected to adults performing like rituals yeah Like, stop killing calves.
It's rude. There are a couple of significant murder cases that happened in the Freetown.
Papa, are you listening? Because here's the one that you talk about.
Wanted us to cover this one case. And honestly, I looked further into it.
It is an interesting case. And it's a horrific case.
Yeah. So who knows? We might go into this later.
I was going to say we could do an actual episode on this.
I'm just going to give you kind of an overview of it.
Right. So. This was the murder of Mary Lou Arruda in 1978.
So on September 8th, 1978. Mary Lou Arruda was riding her bicycle near her home in Rainham, Massachusetts, which is not too far.
It was around 4pm. Not super late. At 4.30pm, her bike was found abandoned on the side of the road. and there was a skid mark from a car and a cigarette right beside it.
A lot of witnesses saw a green car with a black racing stripe speeding away from the scene around that time.
So police were able to ask these people if they saw anything.
They were able to put together a sketch of the suspect.
And they put up wanted posters, plastered it everywhere.
After an intensive search, they found her decomposing body.
On November 11th, 1978, she was tied to a tree.
Oh my God, this is so fucked up. Within the Freetown State Forest.
And it was determined that she had been alive when her beaten and battered body had been tried to the tree in the standing position.
Oh my God. When she had lost consciousness, the weight of her body had caused stress on her neck and she asphyxiated.
Oh my god. Yeah. Like, that's really... So somebody took her out there, beat her insanely badly.
Oh. Left her tied to a tree and she asphyxiated when she passed out.
That is the most fucked up thing I've heard.
It was determined that she had died the same day that she had gone missing.
Oh, my God. Yeah. So they did catch someone, a donut maker. named james cater who owned a car matching the exact which a green car with a black with a black racing stripe was he a smoker he also smoked cigarettes oh shit And the exact brand that had been found at the crime scene.
Okay, so he did it. He had also been in trouble with the law before.
Did he admit to it? He was, well, no, actually.
He maintains that he didn't do it. But he was actually found guilty for a separate 1968 incident. where he was convicted of assault with intent to rape, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and kidnapping of a young woman from Andover, Massachusetts.
Oh, wow. and he was sentenced to life in prison.
Good. Another mysterious crime that involves this place And murder.
Is also involving a place within the Freetown State Forest called the Ice Shack.
The ice shack is a small building that was constructed originally for the purposes of logging during the 1940s. not to hold ice now now it's kind of changed it's not really a place where logging activities take place cult activities and drug dealing tend to be carried out in this structure.
A series of murders connected to the ice shack is one of the craziest you're going to hear.
Basically, they involve a pimp and an alleged satanic cult.
This pimp's name was Carl Drew, and he basically led a group of sex workers... that he kind of indoctrinated into his satanic cult as well.
Oh damn. So he was a pimp cult leader. And he was a cult leader.
So he kind of, he, he, He had a double whammy.
Like, yeah, he controlled them with two very heavy forces.
Yeah. He would basically threaten them with human sacrifice if they stepped out of line.
So on October 13, 1979, The brutally mutilated corpse of sex worker Donna Levesque was found in the forest.
There were two alleged witnesses, sex workers Karen Marsden, who was 20, and Robin Murphy, who was 18.
Oh, my God. Can you imagine being that young?
They explained that her murder, Donna Levesque's murder, had been a ritual killing carried out by Drew near the ice shack.
Oh my god. In the Freetown State Forest.
Marsden had allegedly... She had allegedly... been at this murder and she was absolutely horrified by it and she wanted to break free from the cult so she came forward but how do you like leave after that Yeah, exactly.
So on February 8th, 1980, Marsden would be tortured and killed as well.
Oh, shit. Marsden, now her shit is terrible.
She had allegedly had her hair and fingernails ripped out while she was still alive.
Oh my god, no thank you. Oh my god. Jesus.
And it was kicked around by other cult members for a while.
What? Her fingers had been removed to steal her rings and a large X had been carved across her chest.
Oh my god, that's horrific. This was because she was horrified by the murder of Donna Levesque and wanted to get out of the cult.
Holy shit. So Robin Murphy would eventually testify in court to her part in both those murders, as well as to...
Drew's brutality and evilness so she said she was there Oh my God.
And she, but she also said, she took part in it.
Yeah. Robin, um, Robin Murphy received a life sentence.
Wow. Drew was found guilty of the murder of Marsden as well on March 13th, 1981.
Wow. So those are the two like biggest murder cases and that one will probably we're probably going to cover on we should like just by itself that's why i didn't want to give you all the details just want to give you a brief overview but yeah that's a fucked up one that is another story you know like big stories of like weird shit happening in there two men were found mysteriously shot to death and abandoned in the forest in 2001
This might have something to do with the numerous Native American burial grounds that are scattered throughout.
I would say so. And we know this is always bad news.
For real. And it actually made me think of...
A Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode. Oh, that's so lighthearted to tell.
I thought I would end this one for a story on a lighthearted note.
There's one episode, because guys, you can watch Sabrina the Teenage Witch on Amazon Prime.
For free. Like, watch it. Stream it. My Amazon Prime got suspended.
What? Because I canceled it like a really long time ago, the Prime, because it's $100 a month.
I'm like, I just don't have that money.
It's not $100 a month. Is it $100 a year?
Well, I still don't have that money either.
But then it was like, you forgot to pay.
And I was like, no. That's all that happened.
That's a good story. Either way, go watch Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
But pay for your prime once a year. Where Aunt Hilda gets mad at the neighbors and says, I'm just going to put a Native American burial ground at her house.
And she goes to do it. Oh, and does. And Zelda says, and she says, I believe I quote.
Don't do that. That kind of thing affects the whole neighborhood.
That's awesome. So that's kind of funny.
You know, Sabrina. Yeah. Love it. I liked that.
Thank you. Now back to the dark shit. Oh, deep breath.
So the next forest we're going to cover is the Black Forest in Germany.
I bet this one's going to be great. This one's super lighthearted.
The name, The Black Forest, is just like so chill.
So lighthearted. This one's located in southwestern Germany next to the Rhine River.
It is very lush with various pines and firs. norway spruce and white pines gorgeous yeah just gorgeous but also what's really fun is that the brothers grim fairy tales are set here are they really yeah oh shit and they all took inspiration from it like Hansel and Gretel which is one of the most fucked up stories In the whole entire world.
When the Romans originally arrived in these woods way back when.
They were super spooked by its impenetrable darkness and named it Silva Nigra, which is...
Black Forest. Black Forest, okay. The legend holds...
That it's haunted by witches, werewolves, and even the devil.
Yeah. Sick. So the big guy's there. Yikes.
Yikes. Major yikes. There's also a very, you know, what am I trying to think of?
Popular tale that is of Der Grossman. which is translated to roughly the tall man.
The tale is basically that a tall, super disfigured dude with bulging eyes and many arms preys on children in there.
Oh. Between this shit, Hansel and Gretel, and Krampus, Germany has like zero fucking chill when it comes to kids.
They're just like, LOL. Sorry, you're a kid.
You might get eaten. Stay out of the forest.
Bye. So metal. Germany is so metal. Nine chill.
Nine chill. Well done. Thank you. So if Der Grossman sounded like slightly familiar.
It did a little. Like you were like, hmm, where I've heard that before.
It's probably because it's cited as the origin for Slenderman.
Oh, and that's what I thought in my head.
And I fucking hate that story. It gives me the creepy, creepy willies.
Yeah. And as the story grows, Der Grossman is described as a fairy, but I don't know if I would doubt it.
He lives in the Black Forest. And parents would warn their children not to go in the woods late at night or even to stay up too late. at all for that matter great um they said that if the children wouldn't would do you know not listen to them then der grossman would come and take them Where he would take them or how, who the hell knows?
Don't want to know. So for children who had gone into the forest and not listened to their parents, de Grossman would chase them.
Oh, my God. And he would finally catch the children and he would steal them and take them away somewhere that we don't know about.
Nope. No, thank you. Either that or the chase would stop and the child would return home, confess to their parents what they'd done and, you know. that's it so you either get chased and caught and you get taken somewhere or you just he gives up and is like go tell your parents what If my fucking kid ever comes home and says that they did that, like, the adoption is final.
We're giving you away. i'd be like i don't need my house on your list that's not okay yeah um I'd like to return.
Other stories tell that he lures children in by haunting them and whispering voices in their head for them to come to him.
No, thank you. Children who go to him are said to walk into his billion arms and be taken away somewhere that we don't know about again.
I'm so spooked by this. A few stories also say that Der Grossman will come tapping at the window of a child who stays up too late.
And he will take them away somewhere we don't know about once again.
Oh, my God. I just got chills. Like, go to bed.
He is super, he's super tall. Because he can tap on your window.
Yeah. He's very thin. He has multiple upper limbs.
As in arms? A very, yes. A very disfigured face.
Oh. And... He's said to be so tall because then he can blend in with the trees.
Like he looks like a tree. Oh, my. Yeah.
There's also something making a noise out there.
Yeah. It sounds like someone yelling, which is just truly fitting.
No, it's an animal. It sounds like a cat being like, meow.
If that's a fucking fisher cat, I'm going inside.
That's a loud fucking cat. Is that a baby?
It might be a bird or something. No, that's not a baby.
I don't have a baby. It's definitely an animal.
We'll get through this. God, I'm so spooked.
So he's tall and thin so he can camouflage amongst the trees, which is terrifying.
Horrible. His upper limbs or his arms are handless and sometimes compared to tentacles.
Kind of like, and this is all like Slender Man.
This is where he came from. So he uses these to ensnare children so he can take them away.
His facial features are also kind of varied.
Some say that he doesn't have any. Like it's just no face at all.
Some say that he has weird eyes and nothing else.
And others say that he has nothing but a gruesome smile.
Oh god. So he sounds great. I'm spooked.
Now this may sound kooky and crazy. But there's actually a picture or like a photocopy of a woodcut, like an old woodcut.
That's regarding Der Grossman. And it was supposedly found within demonology, within the demonology and fairy section of the New York library.
It was taken by someone named E. Silva, and according to that person's notes in the caption that they put with the picture, I'm not gonna do it in the German, but it translates to never enter into its forest.
Okay, I won't. And this dates back to the 16th or 17th century Germany.
I wouldn't. It's legit. Also, the German Netflix show The Dark takes place in the Black Forest. oh yeah that's supposed to be wicked good yeah so i'm just gonna cite this episode for when my friends ask me to go hiking yeah for sure can't busy sorry but like Listen to Karen and Georgia on My Favorite Murder.
Stay out of the forest. So the next one we're going to cover is, I'm going to butcher this name.
I apologize. Hoya Baku? Where is it from?
It's in the part of Romania that was previously Transylvania.
Oh. So I apologize. Like Hotel Transylvania?
Exactly like Hotel Transylvania. Oh, good.
It'll be lighthearted. This is exactly like that.
Good. Adam Sandler is there. I wish. Selena.
Gomez? Gomez is there. Yeah, that's her name.
Youth. I'm not a youth. so this forest the BBC calls this forest the most haunted forest in the world good And it's also referred to as the Bermuda Triangle of the country.
So fun callback to last week. Fun callback.
It's not super big at all. You can literally walk around this place in an afternoon.
It's like under 700 acres. Like it's super small.
The trees in this place are what it's really known for because they're bent into weird scooped zigzag or spiral shapes.
That's weird. That's how they grow. I wonder why.
If you look it up online guys. This... Romanian hoi... I'll post it on Instagram.
It's crazy. Um... So botanists that have come to the area have yet to been able to, they can't explain why they grow like that.
They can't understand it. Because scariness.
And all the ones that are spirals spiral in a clockwise direction.
Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, that's just weird.
So there's also unexplained burns or like charring on these trees as well.
Yeah. There's one spot in this forest that is a perfect circle and nothing grows there.
Okay, I don't like that. Massive circle where nothing grows.
Look it up. It's fucking crazy. I'm not going to.
It's crazy. Samples have been taken in this part of like the whole place of the soil and everything comes back normal.
So there's no reason that they shouldn't grow there.
Photos taken in this spot can sometimes be known to show outlines of human forms.
No. Oh, thank you. So this place was named for a shepherd actually who mysteriously vanished in the area along with 200 of his sheep.
What? Yeah. Just bye. Oh. Yeah. So already with like where the name came from, we're off to a great start.
Totally. Locals don't go in there. Because the locals know what's up.
Yeah, there's numerous stories of people never coming out.
So they're like, nah. So they're like, let's not do that.
People come here. Oh, the tourists. And they go in.
Let's go in. People who do come out of the woods report lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst. migraines, anxiety, and burns and scratches that appear on their skin.
They also can report that gaps of time go missing.
Which is weird because they're in clockwise trees.
Time. Because time. You know time. There's a crazy story of a five-year-old girl who entered the forest and got lost.
There was a massive search for her. And she came out and she was 45.
They couldn't find her. She emerged five years later the exact same way she went in.
Nope. And with no memory of what that she was missing.
So she came back a five-year-old? Yeah. and in the same clothes nothing touched nothing that's spooky um people have also went in and then months or years later they're found dead with no markings on them whatsoever oh yeah growls and screams can be heard coming from the forest in the middle of the night so don't go in The police have actually been called because they're so loud sometimes.
People call and are like, I don't know what's going on.
But when the police show up, they hear whispers and see weird shadows and they just fucking leave.
Yeah, I wouldn't even like. Oftentimes after leaving, they've had severe headaches, nausea and burns on them.
People also get hit and physically pushed down while they're walking through this forest.
I just got bit. There's demons reported in there, voices of females like that you can't see. giggling, green eyes, and faces will show up in photographs.
No. And if you look online, you can see that that does happen.
So devices have been set up to track like anomalies because of the weird shit and radioactive emissions have been found in electromagnetic spikes oh that's weird Electronic devices malfunction in this forest and kind of like... Don't they all?
Yeah, right? These forests just fuck with electronic devices.
One particular story is from a group of friends who went in there and took photos of themselves while they were walking around.
When they develop the photos, like when they used to develop photos.
TBT. They didn't post them directly to Instagram in the photos had blurred faces and three heads.
What? Yeah. Imagine being the person that developed those photos.
Right? You'd be like, yeah. You'd be like, you can have these and I don't want to ask where you were.
Please leave and never come back. A black fog is said to cover it every once in a while.
Just rolls on in. Makes sense. Yeah. People who leave... after experiencing all this crazy shit in there, also say that they, while they're driving away, rocks are thrown at their windshield and sometimes shatter their windshield.
Oh my god. One of the ghostly apparitions who are said to wander around in there.
Vlad the Impaler. What? This is an infamous Romanian king who liked to tickle people. oh fuck that i just got so freaked out he didn't like to take open he liked to impale people Oh, oh my God.
No, the thought of like someone tickling you in a forest that you can't feel.
Why did I believe that? Vlad the Impaler is a famous Romanian king, and he was known to impale people.
How fucking scary is that, though? I mean, yeah.
Tickling is pretty scary. Fuck that. I hate it so much.
Impaling is even more scary. Yeah. We're going to probably do an, we might do an episode on Vlad.
He's a pretty interesting dude. So he was like a bad dude, obviously.
Yeah. He was the inspiration for Dracula.
Yeah. Oh, really? Yeah. So he's cool. So I knew he was there somewhere in Pennsylvania.
And... He was actually, he was eventually beheaded.
And because remember, he was a Romanian king.
So it was a big deal. And he was said to, it's said to have been done in the forest.
Oh, wow. So that's pretty insane. There's also a story in there that legend says a bride was walking through the forest one day with her fiancé.
And he reported that she just stopped in the middle of her tracks and walked away.
And he couldn't find her. So they never found her again.
What? Family put up a memorial cross for her in there?
Like, it's legit? And now people say they see a woman wearing a wedding dress and she looks like she's searching for something.
Oh my god. She will only engage with women and children.
If there's a man in there, she avoids the men.
Wow. Which leads a lot of people to believe that the fiance murdered her.
Part of her disappearance. Yeah. So that's an interesting story.
So, yeah, that's the... I'm going to butcher it again.
Try it one more time. Hoia Bacu in Romania.
Let's see, is this the last one? I think we have two more.
We'll get through these. So the next one is the Daringwoods in England, which are called...
The screaming woods. Why are they all so loud?
Yeah, they're all screaming. Everybody's screaming.
It's like, if you hear screaming woods, avoid them.
Don't go in there. Yeah, right? So... the screaming woods are outside of pluckley village in kent which is the uk's most haunted village And it was named that by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1989.
It's like, yo, here's your record. It's only home to like a little over a thousand people.
The Screaming Woods are located between the villages of Pluckley and Smarton.
They're said to be the most haunted woods in Britain.
The name comes from the outrageous number of reports of terrifying, blood-curdling screaming coming from deep in the forest night and day.
In the daytime, too? In the daytime. So there have been several consistently reported apparitions, shadow figures... that follow people, missing persons, and even deaths attributed to this fucking dark-ass place.
Yikes. Now, there have been more than 40 consistent ghosts that are reported in and around the woods.
Are we about to cover all 40? No, we're not going to cover 40.
Like shit. So that's like more than the average place, I'd say.
A few more. So some of the stories, I'll just go through a few of these.
There are a lot of stories of shadow figures that follow people through the woods.
And there are a lot of instances of people going into the woods and never coming back out.
Ugh. Again, dressful. One big crazy thing that happened was on the morning of November 1st, 1948, 20 people from... the maltman's area which is a neighboring town were found dead in these woods 11 of which were children oh the bodies were forming like a massive pile oh god and they didn't have any wounds what But many reported seeing strange lights coming from the forest on the night of Halloween the night before when this massacre probably took place.
They did autopsies. No cause of death could be determined.
Okay, that freaks me the fuck out. And after a few weeks, the local authorities just...
Ended the investigation and said that they all died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Doubt it. Right? So in 1964, a private investigator named Robert Collins tried to uncover the truth about this because this is fucked up.
Did he die? Well... First, he was led to believe that there had been a cult operating at the time of the massacre and that it was probably a ritual performed on Halloween. unfortunately his research was just getting good when he was killed in a tragic car accident Oh, shit.
Which is spooky. That is spooky. Again, on Halloween 1998, the same night, 50 years later...
Four college students hiked into the forest and went missing.
Oh, damn. of Pluckley reported seeing light figures similar to spider webs in the sky.
So the same kind of thing that they saw the night 50 years before.
Yeah. The bodies were never found. And after three weeks, the investigation stopped.
Wow. Yeah. So besides the deaths that have literally happened here.
There's a lot of ghosts that are seen around these areas.
I know, crazy. They have a headless horseman.
Oh, that's kind of sick. That's kind of fun.
He's not nearly headless? He's not nearly headless, Nick?
No, he's like a legit headless horseman.
Which I feel like every spooky forest should have a headless horseman.
True. I mean, come on. There's also a ghost called the White Lady who calls the police on any black people walking through the area seems real fucking racist oh why do you keep jerking me did you really think that there was a ghost that called the police so black I'm tired.
Oh, shit. So, you're so pretty. Thank you.
There's also the red lady. She bloody. She's believed to be Lady Daring. who the Woods, she belongs to the Daring family, who the Woods were named after, obviously.
Mm-hmm. She said to be searching for her child who died at birth.
Okay, that hurts my heart. Which is very sad.
There were also a lot of suicides in the town and the woods.
Oh. Who knows if it's something environmentally causing this or attributing to it or having anything to do with it like the other ones, but still, crazy.
There's another ghost called the Hanging Colonel, which in the 18th century This Colonel completed suicide by hanging himself from a tree.
People have seen this guy hanging from a tree. oh god which must be the scariest thing in your whole life or they see him just randomly walking up behind them oh no no no no he's said to not be aggressive he's said to be like sad Oh, yeah.
And sometimes he's even reached out to visitors in the forest, almost like he's asking for help.
No, that hurts me. Yeah. So the next ghost that people see a lot is the ghostly highwayman.
Which I didn't know what a highwayman was.
I've heard that term a lot, but I've never really knew.
Apparently he's just like an old-timey asshole who robs people, mostly at gunpoint.
Oh. So yeah. Not what I was expecting. So there was apparently back in the day, there was this highwayman that was known to jump out in the neighboring town and It scared the shit out of people and then robbed them at gunpoint.
People got pissed. And eventually the townspeople caught him and either dragged him or chased him into the Screaming Forest.
The angry villagers then nailed him to a tree.
What? Yes, nailed him to a tree and cut off his head.
I'd be fucking pissed if I was that guy.
His screams are said to be one of the reasons it's called The Screaming Woods.
Would think so. But actually, he doesn't just scream.
He's also known to jump out from behind trees and terrify hikers.
The next ghost that is known around there is the Miller.
So there was, in the village of Pluckley, there was an old wooden windmill that dated back to the 19th century.
I see this ending badly. In 1939, lightning struck.
It burned and eventually crumbled. Okay.
So the old miller who was called Richard Dickey Buss...
Love it. Hung himself after loss of his business.
Hate that. Hate that. People have seen his spirit standing, just staring at the spot where the old mill once stood.
Oh. Oh no. Some even say that during a lightning storm he is seen hanging.
Oh, I don't like that. Which is terrifying.
The next one that people see a lot is called the screaming man.
In the 19th century, a man died after falling.
I'm not laughing at this, but it's just really intense. after falling into a clay pit at the old brickworks.
Jesus. He is heard screaming throughout the night.
Stop screaming everybody. I would scream if that happened to me though.
So a recent story was a group of friends decided to go into the woods for fun.
Like stop. Just for fun. So much fun. As they were driving up to the woods, they heard a bunch of nature and singing birds.
And they were like, this is beautiful nature.
As soon as they came into the woods with their car, it fell dead silent.
Oh, my God. They said the wind stopped, the sound stopped, and everything was still.
And then they hit the reverse. The girls were like, we are staying in the car.
Like, we're not getting out of this car.
And the guys were like, we're getting out of the car.
We're going to go explore. course i'd be so fucking pissed at my guy friend 20 not 20 minutes later the girls said they saw the guys sprinting out of the woods oh my god with a black mist following close behind them oh no they literally it chased them until they got in the car and drove out of the woods That's so fucked up.
Also, lots of ghost hunters and paranormal investigators have gone to these woods.
And they take EVPs. Some of them are super terrifying.
YouTube these if you want to hear them talk. youtube the screaming if you never want to sleep again they're like creep the town unfortunately that borders these woods has had to deal with a lot of crap because of people interested in the woods.
They actually canceled Halloween in 2000.
Oh my God. Fuck that. Because of all the tension.
But I mean, I understand. They have asked police to chase off ghost hunters on Halloween, so...
Don't go there. There's also a video game based on these woods called The Screaming Woods.
Oh, so do that. Don't go to the woods. Just play the video game.
Now, the last one we are going to cover is called Epping Forest in England.
Oh, another England. Yeah, another England.
This is 6,000 acres of ancient woodland.
6,000 acres. Yeah. It's northeast of London.
It's been the site of a lot of murders. Oh.
Yeah. Parts of this forest are so dark and thick with trees that it would be so easy to conceal. like anything bad shit that you're doing basically so not only do people murder people in the woods, but it's also become kind of a popular dumping ground for bodies of people murdered in like London and the surrounding areas.
So a few of the murders, only a few. Now this is just a handful of the murders that have taken place in these woods.
1966, Marion Hartley, a 15 year old schoolgirl, was killed by 20 year old Joseph Kiley.
Kylie dragged Hartley into the forest late at night.
After she had been to a school dance, he sexually assaulted her and strangled her.
1970, the bodies of Susan Blatchford... who was 11 years old.
Oh no. And Gary Hanlon, who was 12 years old, were discovered.
No. on Lippitt's Hill after they went missing from their homes in Enfield, North London.
In March 1970, the case was known as, quote, Babes in the Wood murders.
Oh. 30 years later, Ronald Jebson already serving a life sentence for another murder in 1974 of an 8-year-old. confessed to those murders too.
Jesus. 1989 The decomposed body of a six foot tall European man aged 30 to 40 years old was found in the undergrowth of the forest.
Oh, that's spooky. He had a money belt containing like American, English and Spanish money.
And he wore a pretty expensive watch. They didn't take the money or the watch.
The body remains unidentified to this day.
1989, Terrence Goderham, an accountant, and his girlfriend Maxine Arnold were both shot with a double-barrel shotgun in the forest.
Oh, my God. In 2000, this is a really terrible story.
I was reading up on this one. This is a rough one.
A woman named Wendy Woodhouse, 31 years old, she was part of a bad drug deal.
And she was taken to the forest in Essex, stripped, tortured, and beaten to death with a snooker cue.
What's that? A snooker cue. I had to look it up.
It's kind of a more rigid pool cue. Oh, my God.
She was, this was done by two men who had thought she cheated them out in a drug deal, but she didn't.
It was a mistake. Yeah, it's a terrible story.
Their names, the people who did this, were Courtney Peters, 28, and Ewing Thomas, who was 25.
Oh my god. They were jailed for life. In 2004, the remains of David Iver Willis were found on Wanstead Flats in the forest. um he had been missing for 18 months and his body was found by children oh god in 2004
The body of a person aged 40 years or more was found in the forest.
They couldn't identify a lot more about the body because they believed it had been there for 20 years.
Oh my god. And it's still unidentified. 2005, Shah Afrooj Ali, who's 40 years old, was lured to the forest and stabbed.
Then his body was burnt by his younger lover, Joygun Nessa, 27 years old, and her brother, Azhor Khan, who was 18.
Whoa. That was in 2005. Same year. A man named Rafal...
Zapzik, I might be saying that wrong, I'm sorry, was found after passerbys heard gunshots.
He had gunshot wounds to the head. He died.
He was actually found alive but died in the hospital.
He was unidentified for a while until his family in Poland recognized his pictures.
Oh my god. The killers haven't been found for that one I don't think.
Damn. So that's just a handful of the murders.
Just a quick handful. So now it also happens to hold within it an old ancient... fucking huge book i told you straight up attack yeah me too and i was way more chill about it No this thing just flew right in my ear.
Is it the one that farted on me last week?
It probably is. Now I have crazy bug fart juice on me.
I don't doubt that. Gross. Fucking bugs, bruh.
It has an old ancient Iron Age camp, which is thought to have been used by tribal queen...
Boudica during her battles against their invading Romans so there was like some brutal bloody battles there So people say that they have reported to see ancient-looking soldiers just kind of like... wait in for yeah so that's fucked there's another site in the forest called hangman's hill I wonder what that's all about.
So it's probably super, super chill again.
Everything is just real chill this week.
Everything's very as it sounds. So people claim... that if you park your car at the bottom of the hill and then turn off the engine, it will slowly roll uphill.
I'm not ever doing that. Don't do that. So basically it defies the laws of gravity and physics.
Yeah. Locals think that the car is being pulled towards the tree. you know, by the hangman's deuce.
And that tree is believed to be the site of the hanging of an innocent man.
And it's his tortured soul that haunts the hill.
The last kind of crazy location in this forest in particular is called the Wake Arms Roundabout.
This is the site of a lot of ghost sightings.
There's said to be the ghost of a young girl who drowned nearby.
And she's said to run into the road before disappearing.
Often right in front of cars, so she scares the shit out of drivers passing in the middle of the night.
Other sightings have seen a headless biker.
What? Which, can you imagine seeing a headless bicyclist?
Bicyclist? Bicycle guy. A bike-a-celest.
A bike-a-celest. A headless. A headless.
Cyclist. Bicyclist. Get the fuck out of here.
That was awesome. Maybe it's the Hockamuck Swamp is doing something.
It's a warning. And there's also evil looking spirits that just... chill around and stare menacingly into the eyes of passers before they just disappear no thanks Yeah.
You've successfully made me so spooked this week.
Now another forest, which I'm not going to cover right now, But I wanted to mention because it is going to be a nice little segue.
Another forest that's really fucked up and has a ton of murders in it is the Belanglo.
Get out of here, Ant. State forest in Australia.
We're going to cover some Australian fucked upness because that's what I said we would do.
It's scary. So, yeah, that's a bunch of scary, spooky-ass forests.
We're going to put some shit on the barbie.
I'm going to put some pictures up on the Instagram of some of these places that we've mentioned.
We're going to cover some more forests again in a future episode because this is kind of fun.
I don't know if we'll do it outside again.
We're going to do it inside. But this was fun.
So yeah, that's that. That's Forrest. Hope you guys liked it.
Have a good time sleeping tonight because I won't be.
And next week we're going to cover some Australian serial killers.
Australia. Like Ivan Milat. Yeah. That guy.
Yeah. Bruh. Like the backpacker murders.
So get ready for that. Keep sending us your feedback and your awesome messages that make us happy and make us dance and shit.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wherever you listen to a podcast, we're on it.
So go listen to us. We're gonna be putting up the Patreon soon that we talked about.
I just have to get to it. someday someday and yeah so that's it guys thanks again for listening we hope you keep listening And we hope you keep it weird.
Bye. Bye. Bye. Something's walking around the forest right now and we're getting the fuck out of here.
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