Green, lush forests are associated with fresh air, a clean environment and a healthy life. The charm and beauty of trees makes us feel much more closer to nature. But let’s forget about the enchanting forest for a minute and focus on some of the creepiest forests in the world. These emit a very different feeling of eeriness and fear. Let’s check some out and see whether we would be brave enough to explore them.
Aokigahara Forest – Japan
In spite of being a tourist destination for its numerous icy caverns and quiet paths, its reputation is mainly due to macabre reasons. Numerous signs are put up by the police in the forest to convince people to reconsider their actions, with sentences like “Your life is a precious gift from your parents,” and “Please consult the police before you decide to die!”.
Hoia Baciu Forest– Romania
Hoia Baciu Forest, located near the city of Cluj-Napoca in Romania, is one of the scariest forests in the world. Defines as the “Bermuda Triangle” of Romania, it is often associated with paranormal phenomena. It´s unclear if it´s because of suggestion or due to real inexplicable reasons but thousands of people narrate to have suffered all sorts of mysterious sensations from headache to sickness after getting in. Moreover, paranormal activities, unexplained events and UFO sightings were reported. Not yet satisfied? Inside the forest there is a perfect circle without vegetation and where trees don’t grow.
The Red Forest – Ukraine
The Red Forest (previously known as the Worm Wood Forest) is the 10-square-kilometre (4 sq mi) area surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Due to the terrible nuclear accident in 1986 the pine forest around the station turned to ginger-brown color and died. This forest is sadly, one of the most contaminated places in the world.
Pembrey Woods, Wales
This Welsh forest has seen human activity since around 400 BC. It is most well-known for the ghosts of pirates that would lure ships into dangerous rock formations with lanterns on the coast line and then slaughter and rob them. These hatchet men share the Pembrey Woods with lost air men whose planes crashed while attempting to reach the nearby Royal Air Force air field, as well as the spirits of sailors whose ships sank long ago.
Freetown State Forest, United States
This stretch of land in south-eastern Massachusetts falls within Bridgewater Triangle and has been the site of paranormal phenomenon since its purchase from the Wampanoag tribe in 1659. UFOs, luminescent orbs, giant snakes, thunderbirds, and even Bigfoot have been spotted in the Triangle, but Freetown State Forest is especially infamous for crimes, murders, and satanic rituals, along with potential Indian burial grounds. Locals believe the land was cursed by the spirits of Native American ancestors until it is returned to their tribe.