Freaky Friday Files: Journeying Through the Most Haunted Forests on Earth

Hello friends! Happy Fri-YAY! How are you doing today? Good, well that's epic! I hope you've got a wonderful long weekend planned for you and your loved ones and you get a nice rest. Not much to report on for me really this week, I might keep doing little life updates here and there throughout the blog as that seems to work better for me.

Anyway, welcome back to another Freaky Friday Files and in today's files, we're gonna journey through some of the most haunted forests on earth. So strap in! You might wanna curl up with a hot cocoa for this one.

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Hoia Baciu Forest (Romania)

Hoia Baciu Forest is considered one of the eeriest forests in Transylvania, Romania. The forest itself is located just outside of the city of Cluj-Napoca. The Clearing of the forest is considered to be the creepiest part and it was named after a Shephard who went missing with his 200 sheep. Many dub this forest the "Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania". And fun fact, The Clearing is where nothing will grow (it's like a piece of grass that's in a circle).

So why is it considered so creepy? Well, in the 1960s, 1968 (August 18th) to be exact, a military technician (Emil Barnea) was able to capture a photograph of a "UFO" hovering above this forest - you can even see the coordinates on "Google Maps". And yes, this image was taken in The Clearing (gah it just sounds like the start of a horror movie already - let me google that - didn't find a horror movie but I did find a spooky TV mini-series called The Clearing). I think there's been a lot of "fake" UFO sightings in the past and usually people might have something to gain from spotting one and even getting evidence. Anyway, Barnea apparently had nothing to gain and everything to lose from going public with this sighting. According to this "source", the Communist government at the time associated any sort of belief in the "paranormal" with madness or state sabotage and unfortunately, Barnea lost his job because of this image of a UFO.

Other visitors to this forest have reported seeing UFOs as well as strange lights and objects in the sky, ghostly apparations such as soldiers who have been said to have passed away there in battles close to the area, and even strange energy fields where lots of people reported feeling sensations such as nausea, dizziness, and disorientation while in the forest.

One interesting case from this forest was that a 5-year-old girl got lost in the forest and a massive search went underway. However, there was no trace of her and all hope was lost. But 5 years after she went missing, she returned again, with no recollection of what happened to her. Will we ever know how she managed to keep herself alive? However, there's no information available about this so I think it might just be an urban legend to tie into the creepy forest. Read more "here".

Aokigahara Forest (Japan)

Ahh yes, this freaky forest. Aokigahara Forest is located at the foot of Mount Fuji, Japan, and is sometimes known as the "s*ic*de" forest where people go to unsubscribe from life (it has the second highest rates of these to the Golden Gate Bridge as of 2021). Some people correlate this to Japan's demon mythology tied to the forest while others correlate it to the density of the forest, with sounds being super easy to muffle (thus, making it a good place for you know what). According to Wikipedia, the police no longer publicise the number to try and take away the association of the forest with this.

This forest has been the topic of many media escapades, with one notable example being Logan Paul's YouTube video there. Yeah, I didn't wanna get into that either. Just so disrespectul. Feel free to read "15 facts" about the forest if you wanna know a little bit more about the place.

This forest also has quite a hard and rocky terrain due to the fact that it's at the bottom of a mountain, so be warned, make sure you always stick to the paths if you travel here.

I also remember watching that Netflix series Dark Tourist and David Farrier went there, which was just fascinating to me.

Freetown-Fall River State Forest (Massachusetts)

Ahh, in doing my research for this week's blog post, this forest really intrigued me. Apparently, Freetown-Fall River State Forest is booming with paranormal activity. This is a publicly owned forest and stretches over 2000 hectares in a city called Fall River. Apparently, there's even been UFO and Bigfoot sightings here - spooky.

So what are the things that make this place "haunted" OR "famous" for the lack of a better word? Well here are a few:

• So many fires - A March 1976 fire that burned down 200 hectares, the September 1980 fire that burned down 93 hectares over a week, the 1988 and 1991 fires that burned down 40 hectares each, and the April 2001 fire that burned down another 40 hectares

• The body of 15-year-old cheerleader Mary Lou Arruda was found tied to a tree in November 1978

• Police investigating a murder around the area in the 1980s but witnesses claimed that there was satanic cult activity going on in the forest

• A drifter mistaken for an undercover police officer was murdered in 1987

• 2 men were found shot in 2001 (they did not survive)

• Many assaults occurred here with two notable ones being in 1991 and then in 1998

Freetown-Fall River State Forest is also part of the "Bridgewater Triangle" - an area spanning around 520 square metres within Southeast Massachusetts that is said to be a hot spot for all things paranormal, UFO, and alien-related (that is, according to Loren Coleman). Here's a list of even more bizarre things that have occurred (and probably still do) in the forest:

• In 2006, many aggressive dogs were abanded here and some emus were set free here too

• In May 2016, wires were found stretched across paths with the intention to h*rm motorcyclists

• Allegedly, President Ronald Regan reported seeing strange lights in the sky inside the forest

• Many people also believe that this particular forest has a sinister or dark drive toward people luring them to do things like unsubscribe from life or that the Pukwidgies (humanoid creatures) are lurking in the forest, just stalking people

I don't know about you, but this place sounds creepy AF. I kinda wanna go here though. Man I feel like making dark tourism vlogs would be fun. Maybe soon.

Ballyboley Forest (Northern Ireland)

Surprisingly, I couldn't find a specific Wikipedia page on this forest, but I did find this "All Trails" information regarding Ballyboley. This forest was first planted in 1957 and provides raw materials for sawmills nearby. Also, looking at the "images" of this place, it feels really picturesque so where do the creepy vibes come from?

Well, allegedly this place IS haunted with many eyewitness accounts. You can read one on Reddit "here" that I really enjoyed learning about. It is believed that this forest iis full of "druid apparations" (which I think just means Irish ghost). These ghosts cover their faces in hooded robes and can be seen lurking around at night holding makeshift torches and as soon as a person sees them, they disappear into thin air. Others claim that this forest is full of ritual sacrifice. Eeek. I can kinda believe the ghost part but the sacrifice is always harder for me to believe. I guess as a sociologist, with the Satanic Panic, it's hard to believe when so many people just made it up.

Belanglo State Forest (Australia)

Ahh, one a bit closer to home (well my new home anyway) - I don't really know of any haunted NZ forests and we did already go over a list of haunted places in New Zealand. You can check that post out "here". Anyway, let's get back to Australia.

Belanglo State Forest is located in New South Wales, south of Berrima and is owned by the NSW state government. This forest is considered on of the most picturesque forests in all the land. But it does have a more darker, sinister past associated with it.

This forest is connected to a string of murders that took place in Australia and most notably, those committed by serial k*ller Ivan Milat (aka the backpacker murderer) - I always thought that sounded cooler when I was younger. Anyway, between the years of 1992 and 1993, seven bodies (both men and women) were found in Belanglo State Forest. However, it wasn't until 1994 when Milat was arrested for such murders and a pattern emerged. Milat's modus operandi was to approach potential victims alongside the Hume Highway who were usually backpackers hitchhiking around NSW - he'd get them under this guise, and then take them into the forest to m*rder them. In 1996, Milat was convicted and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

What's even freakier about this case is that Milat's nephew (Matthew Milat) in 2010, lured a school friend (David) into the forest with the promise of substances such as alcohol and greenery. David went along with this, but unfortuantely, was m*rdered with an axe.

I beleive there are warning signs around the forests and those going into this place for your general adventures are also told to be careful as many authorities believe this forest is "pure evil".

Fun fact though - apparently this forest is great for mushroom foraging.

So there you have it, 5 "haunted" forests around the world. Let me know in the comments below which one you would go to first and why?

Thank you so much for reading today's post and I'll see you next week! Much love,

Ash