The truth about the hauntings in Hoia Baciu Forest, Romania

Hoia Baciu Forest, a 1,000-acre wooded area in Transylvania, Romania is known for its alleged hauntings and strange phenomena. People arrive from every part of the world to see the famous forest and maybe experience some of its secrets. There are many reported hauntings and experiences, famous legends, and accounts. But Hoia forest is somewhat unusual because there have actually been some serious scientific investigations. And the sheer number of paranormal sightings makes it stand out from other similar sites.

Hoia Baciu Forest’s History.

The Forest’s Origins.

Hoia Baciu Forest is thought to have developed more than 10,000 years ago as a result of the last Ice Age glaciers’ retreat. It lies on the larger Transylvanian Plateau, which is renowned for its karst topography and limestone formations. Habitations of the area date back to the Paleolithic era. Humans have lived in the forest for at least 8000 years. And it has been used by local farmers and shepherds using the forest for thousands of years.

Historical Occurrences Related to the Forest.

Hoia Forest has a lengthy, illustrious history. The forest served as a source of timber and a hunting ground for Transylvanian nobility during the Middle Ages. The forest saw action between German and Romanian forces in World War II, leaving behind bunkers and trenches that are still visible today. The former village of Hoia, which was abandoned in the 18th century as a result of repeated raids by Ottoman raiders, was also located in the forest. Even now, the village’s ruins can be seen in the forest.

But let’s get into the hauntings and the ghosts.

Reports of Hauntings

The Hoia Baciu Forest is known for being a hotspot for eerie activity. Numerous reports of strange events have occurred in the forest over the years, including sightings of UFOs, ghostly apparitions, unexplained noises, and strange time dilutions. Some visitors to the forest have described sensations of unease or being watched, and others have faced unpleasant physical symptoms like nausea or dizziness.

The most well-known sighting in the forest took place in 1968 when Emil Barnea, a military technician took a picture of a disc-shaped object hovering over the trees. The image has drawn a great deal of interest and skepticism. Some say it’s a hoax, while others claim it’s real proof of extraterrestrial activity.

… And there are ghosts too.

There have been reports of ghostly apparitions in the forest in addition to UFO sightings. Some visitors have claimed to have been touched or pushed by an eerie force, while others have seen shadowy figures or heard voices that didn’t belong to them. Due to the forest’s reputation as a hotspot for paranormal activity, thrill-seekers, ghost hunters, and paranormal investigators frequently visit it.

Many skeptics are still unconvinced despite the numerous reports of paranormal activity in the forest. Some claim that natural phenomena cause the sightings or that people’s overactive imaginations could be to blame. Others contend that the reports could be the result of the “suggestibility effect,” a psychological phenomenon whereby people are more likely to report paranormal experiences when they are in an area that is thought to be haunted.

The Various Sighting and Experience Categories

So, there have been many sightings. So many, in fact, that it would be overwhelming to list them all. Still, here are a few of the most frequently reported phenomena:

• UFO sightings: The photograph by Emil Barnea is one of the most well-known sightings in the forest. Many other visitors to the forest have reported spotting strange, difficult-to-explain lights or objects in the sky.
• Alexander Sift claimed he had experienced what he called “shadows”, certain presences that always seemed to be with and behind him. These shadows occasionally resembled a man and a woman. They disappeared as soon as he looked at them though. Even so, Sift was able to capture a picture of the man just as he was about to disappear. The strange creature is depicted while parts of its body were turning translucent.
• Ghostly manifestations: Visitors have reported seeing eerie figures, hearing voices that don’t belong to them, and sensing the presence of ghostly beings. Some people have asserted that they were pushed or touched by an invisible force.
• Strange noises: Visitors have reported hearing noises, such as footsteps or whispers, that are eerie and cannot be explained by any readily apparent cause.
• Missing time: A few visitors have mentioned feeling as though they have been in the forest for a lot longer than they thought they had.
• Physical sensations: Some visitors have described experiencing physical sensations like nausea or vertigo that they are unable to explain.

Still, not every person who visits the forest reports seeing or hearing ghosts. Like always, it seems very much that what you bring in with you, you take out from the forest. The skeptically-minded person would probably see, hear, and experience fewer strange occurrences.

Notable Narratives and Legends Related to the Forest

• A shepherd went into the forest with 200 sheep and never came out. The shepherd and his flock are said to have vanished without a trace, and their whereabouts are still unknown.
• A five-year-old girl who got lost in the forest and came out five years later, unaged and with no memory of what had happened to her.

Some of the more scientific evidence of the paranormal in the Hoja forest.

• Biologist and University of Cluj professor Alexandru Sift oversaw a scientific investigation of the forest in the 1960s. Sift was intrigued by the region’s peculiar vegetation, but he also observed the dense electromagnetic activity in the forest. He proposed that this might be the cause of the strange experiences visitors had reported.
• Scientists from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca have made some investigations. They discovered that the magnetic field inside the forest was 30% stronger than outside. This could possibly depend on the presence of large quantities of underground water At the site. But they couldn’t determine the reason for the increased magnetism with any certainty.
• The Romanian Society of Parapsychology carried out one of the most well-known of these studies in the 1990s. The group camped out in the forest for several nights and claimed to have encountered strange lights and noises. They were unable to record any concrete proof of paranormal activity, though.
• In 2009 and 2012, a group of sleuths from the “Destination Truth” program on the SyFy channel visited the forest. To try and find proof of paranormal activity, they employed a variety of devices and methods, such as electromagnetic field detectors and thermal imaging cameras. Although they recounted a number of strange occurrences, they were “obviously” unable to conclusively prove the presence of ghosts or other paranormal activity in the forest.

The results – How should we interpret all these findings?

It is also reasonable to suppose a certain bias. At least some of the groups doing the surveys certainly would very much like to find evidence. According to my limited experience, Destination Truth and The Romanian Society of Parapsychology do not hold up to scrutiny. Alexandru Sift was a biologist and maybe he too isn’t the right man to ask. But there are other issues…

The photo In 1968 by Emil Barnea is one of the sharpest and best-focused ever according to many UFO experts. Still, when looking at it, I can’t liberate myself from the idea of a manipulated photo, but I’m no photo expert… You judge for yourself.

The “witch” circle.

Inside the forest, there is a perfectly circular area without trees. Nothing grows there other than grass, and the trees around it twist and turn seemingly trying to avoid the round opening. Biologists have studied the ground there to investigate if there is something preventing the vegetation from overgrowing the area. But there seems to be no obvious biological reason for the phenomena.

The “paranormal” truth about Hoia forest?

Some researchers claim the forest could be a doorway to another world or the source of a mystical or spiritual energy that dates back thousands of years. Others contend that the region has a long history of paranormal activity and that the reports of hauntings and other strange occurrences are merely a component of the forest’s folklore.

The scientific community has been unable to fully explain the reported hauntings in Hoia Baciu Forest despite decades of research. Some scientists have hypothesized that the peculiar experiences that visitors have may be related to the forest’s distinctive geomagnetic field. Some reports of unusual sights or sounds in the forest have been attributed to infrasound or sound waves at a frequency below the threshold of human hearing.

The Hoia Baciu Forest Hauntings: The Real Story

Attitudes and Beliefs Towards the Forest

Reported strange presents and experiences can obviously be a result of exaggeration, misunderstanding, or plain old fear and superstition. As normally, functional human beings we are prone to put our internal view of things into words and narratives about the external universe. We start with a conviction and then we adjust what we see and hear to confirm that conviction. And so, reports and testimonies should always be accepted very cautiously.

The myths and legends associated with the forest may also create a “feedback loop” of expectation and belief. Visitors who have heard tales of the forest’s hauntings may be more inclined to anticipate having a paranormal experience, which in turn may make them more inclined to interpret ambiguous sights or sounds as proof of the supernatural.

Hoaxes and intentional deceivings

Many of the experiences that people have claimed to have had in Hoia Baciu Forest can actually be explained by less bizarre things like hoaxes, incorrect identification of natural phenomena, and even hallucinations brought on by stress or fear. Any more or less touristic spot on the map could gain or lose depending on the publicity it gets. Hoia forest definitely has a solid reputation for being haunted, and that of course leads to more visitors and more income. It is not far-fetched to assume that at least some of the reporting is made by people who are just trying to maintain that reputation.

How Culture and Perception Affect How Paranormal Experiences Are Interpreted.

Furthermore, how people interpret ambiguous sights or sounds may vary depending on cultural preconceptions regarding ghosts, UFOs, and other supernatural occurrences. For instance, a person from a culture where ghosts are strongly believed to exist may be more inclined to interpret a strange sound as proof of a ghostly presence.

Final thoughts about Hoia Forest

Adrian Pătruț’s work.

Alexander Sift died in 1993, and shortly thereafter most of his documentation on the Hoia forest was stolen. The little that remained was collected by Adrian Pătruț, professor in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. He became one of the most important continuers of Sift’s effort. He also wrote a book about the forest, including material that for now cannot be scientifically explained.

But just like so many other places with reported paranormal activity, we can’t really prove indisputably one way or the other. Even Pătruț, who is absolutely convinced of the reality of the phenomena, questions the results when he confesses that they totally
depend on the person who enters the forest.

– A skeptic will probably walk out of there unscathed.

Final thoughts

Hoia Baciu Forest is a very spooky and alluring location, no doubt about that. The forest in itself brings you to imagine all kinds of things. Although the reported hauntings in the forest are still not entirely understood by science, the experiences reported by visitors cannot be completely discounted. And at least some of the evidence cannot be easily excluded

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Malahide Castle, just outside Dublin, is one of Ireland’s most haunted.

One of the supposedly spookiest castles in the entire world is Malahide Castle. The castle, which is in County Dublin, Ireland, is well-known for its many ghosts and apparitions. But it’s also a very appreciated leisure spot where locals and tourists go to experience some of the fascinating Irish history, nature, music, and sports. In this article, we will investigate if there could possibly exist any real paranormal phenomena among all the happy holiday- and Sunday visitors.

A brief background to Malahide Castle

It’s situated just 14 kilometers north of Dublin, Ireland, in the small coastal town of Malahide. With a history that dates back to the 12th century, it is one of the oldest castles in Ireland.

Sir Richard Talbot, a formidable Norman knight who was given the land by King Henry II of England, first constructed the castle in the 12th century. The Talbot family lived there for more than 800 years, constructing additions and improvements throughout the centuries.

The castle has witnessed a great number of battles and sieges. It played a significant role in the political and military affairs of the time and was at the epicenter of the power struggles between the Irish and English during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Despite suffering significant damage during the Irish uprising of 1641, the castle was rebuilt in the 18th century by the Talbot family, who focused on the structure’s aesthetics and added a number of elaborate features, including the magnificent Gothic Revival Great Hall.

The last Talbot owner sold it to the Irish state in 1975. More about that later on.

Why is it called Malahide?

Malahide, which in Irish means “Hill of the Hydes,” is a place name. Prior to the Talbots, there was a family called the Hydes who were renowned for their generosity and hospitality.

The Family Talbot

One of the most powerful families in Ireland, the Talbots had a presence outside the boundaries of the castle. They were well known for their wealth, influence in politics, and support of the arts.

When the Talbot family first settled in Malahide in the 12th century, they gradually added to and upgraded the castle, transforming it into the imposing building it is today. The Talbot family lived in the castle for more than 800 years, and many of Malahide Castle’s most well-known ghosts are said to have appeared during this time.

Being a prominent family, the Talbots frequently found themselves at the center of political scheming and conflict. A number of the family members participated in uprisings against British rule during the 17th century, and the castle was frequently besieged as a result.

Despite these difficulties, the Talbots were able to hold onto their sway for many years. They had their own currency at one point because they were so strong. Rose Talbot, the sister of Milo, the 7th Baron of Talbot, was the castle’s most recent owner. He passed away in 1973, leaving Rose the castle, who was forced to give it up to the Irish government because of inheritance taxes.

The Talbot family’s influence is imminent inside the premises. The numerous rooms and hallways host decorations and furniture from the 15^th century all the way up until the 1950s. It is an impressive residence… And it supposedly has a pretty impressive collection of ghosts as well.

The Haunted Castle of Malahide

A number of ghosts, each with their own legend and story, reside at Malahide Castle. Here are six of the most well-known specters rumored to haunt the castle:

1. The ghost of Maud Plunkett: One of Malahide Castle’s most well-known ghosts is that of Maud Plunkett. Her ghost is thought to serve as a tragic reminder of her murder and is said to wander the castle wearing a white dress. The story goes that Sir Walter Hussey, Maud’s husband, killed her because he was envious of her wealth. Many visitors to the castle claim to experience a chill when they are close to the spot where Maud’s alleged murder took place.
2. The ghost of Lord Galtrim, who is infamous for his violent tendencies and elaborate attire. He was said to have been a notorious drinker, and gambler, and to have treated his servants with great cruelty. He is sometimes spotted by guests walking through the halls, and some even claim to feel a chill in the air when he is nearby.

3. The ghost of the Lord Chief Justice: It is said that the Lord Chief Justice’s ghost can be heard screaming in agony throughout the entire castle. His execution, according to legend, was due to his participation in a scheme to overthrow the government. Visitors mention hearing his screams and experiencing uneasiness when they are close to the spot where he was put to death.
4. Miles Corbett’s ghost is another well-known ghost that resides in Malahide Castle. He supposedly supported Oliver Cromwell and was executed for his participation in the English Civil War. Sometimes, people claim to see his ghost wandering the corridors wearing a white shirt.
5. The ghost of the White Lady: She frequently appears floating through the castle while wearing a white dress. She was a young woman who, according to legend, was made to marry against her will. She passed away soon after her wedding, and it is said that her ghost serves as a reminder of her tragic end. Many times, visitors to the castle claim to see her ghost and get a chill when she is nearby.

… The most well-known ghost, however, goes by the name of Puck.

According to the legend, Puck was in charge of guarding the castle and warning his masters if the enemy was nearby. Puck neglected his responsibilities one crucial evening and failed to warn the Talbots of an impending attack. Many people died as a result of the enemy invasion of the castle. Puck is said to have hanged himself in the castle after feeling overwhelmed by guilt and shame over his failure.

But sometimes the stories don’t line up. Others assert that he worked for the Talbot family as a jester. He committed suicide because of a broken heart after the family no longer required his services. The area where he once performed is frequently where visitors to the castle report feeling uneasy.

Others claimed to have heard his laughter and noticed odd movements out of the corner of their eyes before turning to discover nobody was there. Additionally, he detests changes to the castle, especially those that are unfavorable. There were reportedly many incidents when Rose Talbot turned over the castle in 1975. That clearly didn’t sit well with Puck.

Puck is regarded as a friendly ghost despite his reputation for mischief. In an effort to curry his favor and keep away from his pranks, visitors to the castle frequently leave offerings of coins, treats, and other little trinkets in his honor.

His name is pùca, which is an Irish word that simply means “ghost.”

So, are the ghost stories true in any way?

Let’s examine what we have:

There hasn’t been a thorough and well-documented paranormal investigation of the site, as far as I can tell. That might be a result of the Castle’s managers’ reluctance to approve such endeavors. The castle has developed into a significant tourist destination with a variety of attractions. The Talbot Botanic Gardens, which has a Victorian conservatory, a cricket field, two golf courses, tennis courts, and a boules area, is part of the estate. Additionally, there is a visitor center, a cafè, and a large children’s playground.

As if that weren’t enough, Shannon Heritage, the site’s current operating partner, has been opening up for concerts since 2007. This covers appearances by artists like Liam Gallagher, The Cure, Nile Rodgers, and Depeche Mode, among others.

The ghost tours are a part of the deal because the castle is managed and marketed as a full-service attraction. It still doesn’t focus on paranormal phenomena as much as many other places of a similar nature. However, that is not a drawback. It could provide us with more precise information about any eerie activities taking place.

Even so, simply put, no concrete evidence other than witness testimony has surfaced. The only thing we have are stories of feelings, a sense of chill, and uneasiness. No registrations, video footage, photo, or even a scraping EVP.

What the experts say.

• Irish Paranormal Investigations visited the Castle but returned with no conclusive evidence.
• Ireland’s Paranormal and Supernatural Investigations has never been to the Castle.
• There aren’t even any good YouTube videos or clear footage of Puck or anything else. When it comes right down to it, it is a bucket of nothing.

However, the Castle is stunning and it has a fascinating past. You should definitely visit it if are in the neighborhood, and you don’t mind the complete lack of paranormal activity.

Practical Information

The best way to get the most recent information about visiting hours is to always check Malahide Castle’s official website. It is situated nine miles north of Dublin’s downtown in the lovely coastal town of Malahide.

• Address: Malahide Castle in Malahide, County Dublin, Ireland.
• Telephone +353 1 8169538
• e-mail to reservations@shannonheritage.com

Use these contact options if you have any inquiries or wish to make a reservation for a guided tour. The ghost tours provide an exciting look into the castle’s past although you are not likely to be able to witness any real paranormal phenomena. They are available all year long, but it is advised to make reservations in advance.

In-depth information about the history of the castle, and the Talbot family, is also available in the form of self-guided audio tours. The audio tours can be purchased on-site and come in a variety of languages.

The estate also has two distinct gardens, a children’s playground, and the only butterfly house in Ireland.

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sources

• Malahide Castle gardens
• Heritage Ireland
• Visit Dublin
• Malahide_Castle Wikipedia
• Spooky Isles

Beelitz Heilstätten’s haunted history.

Just a short ride to the southwest of Berlin is supposedly one of the most haunted places in Germany. Beelitz Heilstätten, an abandoned Sanatorium from the beginning of 1900 has become a paranormal hotspot. Although the many buildings in red and yellow bricks and seemingly endless rows of trees, hedges, and roads give it an eery feeling, it’s not haunted. It’s still a striking scenery with a fascinating history.

How to get to Beelitz Heilstätten.

Some 30 miles southwest of Berlin, Germany, lies a small town called Beelitz, sometimes called “home of the white asparagus” because of its abundance of the delicious vegetable. Other than that, there isn’t very much to say about this place. A much more interesting destination is just a few miles drive to the northwest. 

Follow the Strasse nach Fichtenwalde and after a minute or two, a huge complex of reddish and yellowish Art Nouveau buildings between old dark green beeches and alders will fill the windscreen. 500 acres of spooky trees dotted by 60 dark and desolate edifices. 

This is the Beelitz Heilstätten Pulmonary Sanatorium… Supposedly one of the most haunted spots in Germany. 

Beelitz Heilstätten Sanatorium – A short background.

The hospital was built in three faces, 1898 – 1902, 1908 – 1910, and 1926 –1930. These were wartimes in Europe as well as a period of big changes in the German political, and economic framework. During the first world war, some of the structures were used as a war hospital. 

• Adolf Hitler was treated here from October 9 to December 4, 1916, for a shrapnel wound after the battle of Somme. 

… And of course, the same use was applied during WW2.

After the war, the occupying Sovjet Red Army continued to use Beelitz Heilstätten as a military hospital all the way until 1994, five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

• In late 1990 the General Secretary of the Communist Party of East Germany, Erich Honecker was treated here for Liver Cancer before he was abruptly flown to Moscow in 1991.
• There are also rumors that the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, was a patient in the late 1980s. That fact can not be confirmed.

A few buildings were refurbished and now have clinical use. For example, there’s a recognized Parkinson’s Specialist clinic as well as a few other specialist wards.

From 2001 to 2015 many of the buildings were left to decay and vandalism due to a lack of funds. 

Since 2015 the parks and the buildings have had separate owners, and plans for the whole area include health and welfare activity as well as residential areas. For now, the future of Beelitz Heilstätten isn’t 100% confirmed, but work is ongoing to restore and secure the premises. 

Many of the scariest and ghostliest photos you see online are from the abandoned years when anyone could just step in and walk around inside the crumbling buildings. That is not possible anymore.  

So what

 about the hauntings?

Well… There are numerous stories, legends, anecdotes, and video footage of strange sounds, voices, touchings, and opening and closing doors, windows, and hatches. All the normal stuff, as you will see. 

More precisely the following have been witnessed:

• Apparitions of former patients who have been seen roaming the corridors. 
• Visitors have claimed to have been approached by shadowy figures. Shadows have been seen sliding along the walls, as well as other light anomalies.
• Voices, phantom footsteps, screams, and other unexplained sounds have been heard and sometimes registered
• Some spots are much colder (or hotter) than the surrounding areas.
• Shapes moving quickly past empty windows. 
• Feelings of being watched, being followed, not being alone. Some subjects can confirm feelings of strong hostility in certain locations.

These affirmations mostly come from websites, podcasts, and in a particular mode, youtube videos. A reasonably serious paranormal investigation (… and I would even accept any of the bigger Ghosthunting Tv series) has never been done. The best we have are videos like this:

Can you draw a conclusion already at this stage?

Yes, I think you can, but let’s look at some documented real creepy activity from the last decades.

Crimes and incidents in the neighborhood.

• Between 1989 and 1991 a serial killer, known as the Beast of Beelitz or the Pink Giant, stalked Beelitz. Former police officer Wolfgang Schmidt murdered six people and tried to kill three more in and around the small town. Two victims were the wife of a Russian doctor and their newborn child. They were assassinated in the neighborhood of Beelitz Heilstätten, and the circumstances of the killings were gruesome. 
• In 2008 an amateur photographer killed his model inside the premises. He used to do erotic photo sessions within the ghostly environment. The murder was inspired by the 1991 murder. 
• In 2010 a young man fell from a window on the fourth floor. He died from his injuries.
• Also in 2010, a man fell four meters into a hole, while unlawfully spending the night together with three friends inside the hospital. He survived.
• In 2011 a homeless person who had lived for many years on the site hung himself in one of the buildings.

And the verdict is… 

We have only anecdotal evidence, nothing else. Anecdotal evidence doesn’t have to mean that we don’t have any evidence at all. What people say, and what can be derived from statements can be very informative. We use testimonies in court all the time. Still, small talk and chit-chat should be treated with suspicion. So, to debunk the stories we have quite a few arguments on the skeptical side:

• The fact that there is no hard evidence at all is damaging to the proposal of paranormal activity. Not even a half-credible footage or mumbling EVP-audio of some sort. 

Now, if we try to come up with motives for faking the videos or inventing the stories, there are mountains of those. 

• The environment is perfect as a background for ghost stories. It’s vast, 200 acres with 60 different buildings to explore.
• The premises were unguarded and open to anybody for 15 years. No barbed wire, no CCTV, no guards, and most importantly, no guard dogs. You could practically just bring a cell phone and make your own Ghost video in a few hours. 
• The historical background is almost as perfect as it could possibly be. The German and Soviet armies, Erich Honecker, and even Adolf Hitler himself are in the logbook. That’s impressive. 
• The medical/hospital environment creates a special atmosphere. There’s nothing as intriguing as a sign with a psychological ward on it, or old rusty hospital equipment.
• Some hauntings include ghosts and phantoms from the deceased by the terrible experiments conducted on Romani and Sinti prisoners, political adversaries to the NSDAP, disabled, POWs but with greater determination on Jews by the Nazis. These experiments were carried out in Concentration Camps such as Auschwitz and Mauthausen. In Beelitz Heilstätten there were never any prisoners and during both world wars, the whole structure was a military hospital. The stories about human experiments and euthanasia are simply false.  
• It is situated no more than a 45 minutes train ride from Berlin, the biggest city in the whole European Union (after the UK left). 

More facts…

During the abandoned years, vandalism and theft were huge problems. Every day the inhabitants of the small community had to cope with hoards of roaming youths, disturbing the tranquil little neighborhood. Other than just partying and exploring, metal scraps were also stolen from every part of the hospital. Even roof piles in copper and zink were taken down to be sold. 

In that context, locals tried to defend what they looked upon as their inheritance. In doing so they created ghosts, they manufactured them themselves to try to scare away the intruders. There are stories about people hiding inside the buildings, moving objects and whispering words from ventilation shafts, etc. Some of these stories can be confirmed, but even if they’re not, they still provide a good explanation for how ghostly activity possibly could be explained.

Almost all documentation of paranormal activity is from the period 2001 – 2015.

The Movie… Yes, Beelitz Heilstätten has its own Movie too. 

It is simply called Heilstätten. 

The German production from 2018 was directed by Michael David Pate and starred Nilam Farooq, Emilio Sakraya, Timmi Trinks, Sonja Gerhardt, and Tim Oliver Schultz.

The story tells of four friends and Youtubers who engage in a 24-hour challenge to stay within the haunted hospital in hope of making a truly viral video. They all start out much like many of the Youtube videos you can find if you search for Beelitz Heilstätten… Young and slightly overconfident entrepreneurs in search of a good story. But after some cool initial footage of the four participants, the friendly enterprise very soon turns into a much more sinister and dangerous affair, although not actually including any paranormal entities.

… Oops, was that a plot spoiler? 

If you like scary movies of the handheld flickering camera type, this one could be a winner. 

A particular fact is that the new owners of Beelitz Heilstätten didn’t authorize the film team to shoot inside the premises. The movie contains some footage from the outside of the hospital but all inside footage is actually from Grabowsee Sanatorium about 40 miles to the north.

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sources

• Wikipedia / Beelitz Heilstätten  
• Tagesspiegel Potsdamm / Erneut schwerer Unfall in Heilstätten.
• BZ Die Stimme Berlins / Wie der Rosa Riese in Haft Frauen traf
• Chip / Spukorte in Deutschland
• Baum und Zeit (Official website)
• Welt / Wenn kopflose Gestalten durch Deutschland reiten
• RedaktionsNetzWerk Deutchland / Die wahre Geschichte hinter der „GNTM“-Grusellocation

Inunaki Village

The legendary Inunaki Village, Japan – If you go there, you might never come out again.

The Inunaki Village

The Inunaki Village is supposedly situated somewhere around the Inunaki ridge, Fukuoka Prefecture, some one hundred miles north of Nagasaki in Japan. It’s a fictional village, and it has its name from Inu-Dog and Naki-lamenting, crying. The meaning in English would be howling dog, which connects to a well-known legend about a dog and its owner. But first I’d like to tell you the most famous story referring to the Inunaki Village and the Inunaki Tunnel.

The Inunaki Tunnel

Sometime in the early 1970s, a young couple was driving up the slopes of the Inunaki ridge. They were heading for Hisayama on the other side of the mountain, and to get there from Miyawaka they had to pass a narrow road up the hill. Just before the Inunaki tunnel, a clunking sound was heard from the car. As they came out on the far side, the engine died, and they found themselves stranded. They noticed a passage on the right side of the road. So they left their car and headed up the forest to seek help. After a short while, they came across a handwritten sign reading “The constitution of Japan does not apply beyond this point.”. The trail was getting more difficult, and overgrown as they continued, but a few hundred meters further in they suddenly entered a small village. 

It was a town like they had never seen before. It seemed abandoned, the houses were all dark and dilapidated, and nobody could be seen from where they stood at the entrance. They couldn’t hear any sounds of people or animals. Even the wind had calmed. It was dead silent. 

The horrors of the Inunaki pass

They slowly ventured in on the main road passing the shadows of the hovels. No one was to be seen or heard. The atmosphere was eerie. When they figured their curious hearts had had enough, and they decided to walk back again, something moved inside one of the houses. And suddenly a man stood on the porch of a big grey building not more than 30 meters away. 

  –  Howdy there… Welcome to Inunaki village, he shouted. 

And with just a few steps, incredibly long and fast, he suddenly appeared right in front of them. 

  –  We love visitors here, he said… We just don’t like it when they leave us again.

And with a swift motion, he cut down the young boy from his neck straight down to the side of his belly with a sickle. The young man just looked at him astonished, before he collapsed to the ground. 

The girl tried to back away but the old man seized her in a firm grip. He seemed to have some internal force that made his hands and arms stronger than anything she had ever felt before. With an almost inaudible groan, he lifted her straight up with one hand, and threw her down on the graveled street with such brutality, that she felt her ribs break.

When the sickle came down on her she turned her head towards the closest house. With horror, she saw what they hadn’t noticed before… Behind and between the small buildings there were dead people, and decaying corpses all around. The reason for the silence and the darkness was that everybody was dead… Killed by the mad, old man with the sickle. 

  –  He killed all of them, she thought as the curved knife extinguished her life force in one single motion. The crazy old man murdered them all…

Nobody heard from them again. The white sedan still waits there, now covered with rust, and punctured tires, parked on the side of the road, right where the small pathway leads into the forest. 

The Inunaki Village – The dog legend.

Now, let me get back to the legend about the dog, the very legend that could have given Inunaki its name:

A man killed his dog because it wouldn’t stop barking. Shortly after that, the man and his whole family were killed. The dog had just been warning his master about the approaching danger. 

… And here’s another legend: When the Inunaki dam was constructed, the unscrupulous agents from the local Energy company, simply barricaded the houses of people who didn’t want to sell and didn’t want to move out. When the dam was ready, they were left to drown right there, in their own homes. And now their poor souls haunt the area.

This is one terrible legend, but there are many others…

The story of the young couple who was murdered in Inunaki village is famous all over Japan, and even outside of Japan. And it seems the supposed paranormal phenomena reach far beyond Inunaki.

In fact, the whole area around Miyawaka is regarded as very haunted. Nature is incredibly dense, with forests, hills, and difficult terrain making it an unforgiving area to venture into. The paths are narrow and can be tough to follow. The absence of houses and people gives the whole area a spooky character. And the many myths and stories about strange sightings and scary encounters within the dark woodland, attract all kinds of paranormal investigators, ambitious YouTubers, and teens just doing dare games.

Still, most hauntings are concentrated around the Inunaki Pass, and the tunnels passing under it… 

Because there are two tunnels under the hill to connect the two sides of the mountain. One is old and short, less than a hundred meters. It’s tied to the surrounding valleys through a narrow road with a lot of hairpin curves. The other tunnel is newer, wider, straighter, and much longer. 

The new tunnel, built in 1975, is heavily trafficked and doesn’t seem to be very disturbing. The ghosts are probably scared away by all the trucks and other heavy vehicles. 

But the old tunnel is a different story. 

It’s so scary, in fact, that in 2019, the Japanese horror-movie, Howling Village, with the tunnel as a main ingredient, scared the wits out of half of Japan, and a big part of the rest of the world.

Together with the film, a horror game called Inunaki Tunnel was released in November 2019.

Legends about the Inunaki Tunnel:

We’ve already mentioned three urban legends about the tunnel and the village, but there are many, many more. The common feature is that they all originate from modern times. Here are a few:

• While working on the Inunaki tunnel project, an accident made the tunnel roof collapse killing more than a hundred workers.
• At night time, you can hear screams and children crying from within the tunnel. Sometimes the voices call and implore you to follow them into the tunnel.
• There are testimonies about finger- and handprints on the windshields after passing through the Inunaki tunnel.

• The Inunaki Village came to be during the early Edo period. Persecuted and mistreated peasants choose to live in exile and cut all bonds with society.
• The Village was ravaged by disease, and the authorities simply cut it off and prohibited anyone from entering or leaving the village, counting on everybody dying off in there before they could open it up again.
• The isolated status of the town promoted inbreeding to a point where even simple human behavior and decency were abandoned.
• The man with the sickle was a peasant who one day for no reason started attacking his fellow citizens. After having killed everybody in the village, he still waits for new arrivals. 
• Another legend tells about all the people of the village being prepared to kill anyone who enters their sanctuary. Tales about cannibalism are connected to this legend.
• Inunaki Village once was a Leprosy colony.
• The bridge just south of the dam is known as a suicide spot. 
• Anyone who goes into Inunaki Village never comes out alive.

… And there are others, as well as variants of these ones.

Just remember that none of these narratives are confirmed… They are all stories, told and spread in modern times.

So, are they true… The legends and the stories?

What do the locals say?

First of all, let’s check what the locals have to say about all this. 

Lately, the locals have had quite a bit to say about the Inunaki tunnel. Since the film, Howling Village was released, the Inunaki tunnel has gained even stronger attraction to the public. Before the film, there were quite a lot of people coming to investigate the supposedly haunted spot. But after 2020, despite the Pandemic, the site has become something of an overcrowded throng.

The site is now full of litter, graffiti, and all kinds of leftovers from partying and drinking. Both outside and inside the tunnel. People living in the area have become scared to even approach the tunnel, not because of the hauntings and paranormal activity, but because there are gangs of youngsters, often drunk, driving the narrow roads, and gathering around the tunnel openings.

Or as one resident of the area said to the local newspaper…

  –  Every day, young people hang out in the woods, close to the tunnel. They are throwing away their trash where they stand, drinking, and making a nuisance, one man says to the  Nishinippon Shimbun newspaper. We are scared to even go there as it stands.

From February, when the film Howling Village premiered, to May 2020 the police made 182 interventions… Compared to 0 the three months before that.

The whole area is thought of as a paranormal hot spot, but not by the locals. They just want to be left in peace, with or without ghosts. The idea of haunted tunnels and villages does not come from them. 

What do the experts say?

You can check for yourself. On YouTube, there are numerous videos of people who went there, filmed, heard some strange noises from inside the tunnel, and then with an apologetic expression explain why nothing special turned up in the footage. 

• In February 2020 the  Fukuoka Broadcasting Corporation sent a small group of journalists, who with the authorization of the Miyawaka City Council approached the Old Inunaki tunnel from the Miyawaka side. On that side, the northeast, the tunnel is sealed all the way to the tunnel roof and you cannot enter. Much like any other visitor, the group heard strange noises from the inside of the tunnel. They also registered a drop in the temperature from 12° centigrade to 9 when closing in on the tunnel opening. That would depend on the stable soil temperature. A difference in air temperature from outside a cave to inside is not extraordinary in any way. They didn’t really find anything.
• Other than that, I’ve not been able to find any serious paranormal investigation. One reason is probably the closed-off area, with frequent police controls, CCTV cameras, fences, and gates, and a road that is in decay after years of negligence.  

The incoherence in the stories.

The howling as in the word Naki, and the legend about the man who shot his dog. This tale has an infinite number of variations. The attackers are a black dragon, mercenaries, a snake, other dogs, a neighbor, etc. And so is it with all of the legends around the Inunaki tunnel and the Inunaki village. They vary quite a lot depending on who you hear them from. The car, the abandoned sedan, can be found before the tunnel, after the tunnel, or before you arrive at the village. The path to get there is sometimes a road, while other times it’s not even a pathway… 

The true and confirmed facts about Inunaki village. 

There once was a real Village called Inunaki at the Valley of Inunaki… Or really Inunaki Danimura or Inunakiya. It was established during the Edo Period, and it lived well from producing ceramic products and manufacturing steel. Later, coal mining was established and a Castle called Inunaki-gobekkan was founded in 1865, the ruin still stands today. The town was abandoned when the Inunaki dam was created in 1970, and the population moved to the neighboring Wakita area. This village has nothing to do with the ghost town described above.

The true and confirmed facts about Inunaki Tunnel. 

The old tunnel was built during and after WW2, possibly with POWs as a part of the labor force. It was completed in 1949 and then replaced with a new tunnel in 1975. This latter made driving from one side of the mountain to the other, much easier, and faster. As the old road wasn’t used anymore, and it soon became a very dangerous passage with all the curves, high mountain sides, and lack of maintenance, it was blocked with solid steel gates from both directions. 

On 6th December 1988, a criminal gang murdered the factory worker, Koichi Umeyama near the tunnel. The gang had asked Umeyama for his car. When he refused, they pulled him out of his car, dragged him to the tunnel, and killed him. They then set his body on fire. The cruelty and lack of even the basic sign of humanity shown by the murderers is well documented and was, at the time, told to a terrified, and appalled public. All perpetrators were arrested shortly after, and at the trial in 1991, they were all sent to life imprisonment.

The Old Inunaki tunnel is not long from one side to the other. It’s completely sealed off from the Miyawaka/northeast side. From the Hisayama/southwest side the entrance is closed only to a certain height, and it’s possible to slide over the concrete blocks and get in. You will still have to access the tunnel from the east side since both roads leading up to the Inunaki tunnel are closed.

So, if there’s not really anything spooky at all about the tunnel, where is all the fuss coming from?

It seems that the Inunaki Village story originated from an anonymous letter to Nippon TV in 1999. The writer of the letter tells about a small path, easy to overlook, in the neighborhood of the old Inunaki tunnel. He then goes on to describe the sign with the text “The Japanese constitution is not in effect past this point.”, the young couple that was murdered, and the violent villagers. 

The Inunaki Ridge and the tunnel first became famous for its paranormal activity after the tragic death of Koichi Umeyama in 1988. 

The stories about ghosts, howling dogs, and lawless villages aren’t older than that. A little more than 30 years. Of course, hauntings do not necessarily increase with the passing of time. I suppose a place can become haunted in modern times too, even right now. 

But the substance to claim this spot is more paranormal than any other is just too weak. At least, in this case, the proof, and documentation is practically nonexistent… Nothing, nada. 

Or as one representative for the Miyawaka city expresses herself:

  –  Students from Kyushu University come here to do vegetation surveys every year. Boy Scouts are also frequent guests. All over Chikuho, nature lovers come to climb the mountain stream, and of course, to fish. The Yamame trout is abundant, as is natural wasabi in the river beds. 

The Inunaki River and surrounding area are just another example of the beautiful countryside and remote naturalistic sceneries that still can be found in one of the most densely populated countries in the world… Japan.

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sources

Japanese Wikipedia / Inunaki pass 

Inunaki River Pioneer History 2

Steam / Inunaki tunnel

Kowabana / Is Inunaki Village real?

Nishinippon Shimbun / Old Inunaki Tunnel

Crossroad Fukuoka / Introducing the Turbulent Last Days of the Edo Era

Kaoru Torikai / Rumors of Inunaki Village

FBS / Arne / Thorough verification of “Inunaki Pass”

The haunted catacombs

Underneath the French Capital, there’s a network of tunnels and crypts. Is there something sinister lurking in the Catacombs of Paris? 

The haunted catacombs

Sometime in the late 1990s, the French freelance photographer and filmmaker, Francis Freedland, was contacted by an amateur cave explorer. The young man said he had something he wanted to show him urgently. When they got together, the photographer was confronted with a video cassette, containing footage from the famous Paris catacombs. 

They sat down and started rolling the video. At first, nothing strange occurred on the screen. It’s filmed in first-person, subjective angle. You see the narrow corridors, every now and then interrupted by a doorway or a smaller passage to the right or to the left. The walls are hard soil, as is the floor. As he walks along, certain parts seem even more narrow, or lower in height. But it’s still nothing extraordinary or uncommon. 

Francis was already aware of the fact that people sometimes go down there to explore. It’s forbidden and it’s dangerous, but he knew that sometimes the human race wants a bit more adrenaline than just going to work and coming back again.

The hunted explorer 

He turned and was about to ask his companion what’s so special about the footage they were watching when the young adventurer signaled at him to watch…

  –  Look, he said… Watch this!

And suddenly the pace of the video increases a little. In front of Francis’s surprised gaze, he saw how the maker of the film down there in the underground accelerates. First, it’s hardly visible, but after a short while, you can hear that his breath is faster… Nervous. His steps become more irregular, and after a short while, he is running. The focus of the film moves up and down, left and right, and soon it’s so shaky that it becomes impossible to follow the course. The man is now running and panting heavily, faster and faster until he drops the camera. The video footage stops, framing the wall and a piece of the tunnel ahead from the floor, while the steps of the man seem to continue ahead in the darkness. 

After that, the camera continues filming that static image until it runs out.

So what is the video showing? A man who’s panicking from not being able to find the way out? … Or did it show a glimpse of something more sinister? Something lurking deep down under the glamorous boutiques and large Avenues of the French Capital? Something that hunts whoever dares to enter his realm?

What are the catacombs? 

Catacombs are tunnels, rooms, and chambers under the ground, originally used as burial places. The word, Catacomb, is of Greek origin, but the significance is uncertain. 

The most famous are those in Rome, Italy. The oldest are in Paola near Valetta in Malta. But there are Catacombs in many places, especially in the Mediterranean area. Other famous catacombs are Paris, Kom El Shoqafa in Egypt, Odesa in Ukraine, and Brna in the Czech Republic.

Most can be visited by tourists, but only with guides, and in certain well-lit, restricted areas. Some are very big. The Odessa catacombs have a total length of more than 1500 miles.  

And why were they built?

The ancient catacombs started out as burial places, like the ones under the eternal city of Rome, Italy. In the 2nd century, the first Christians started burying their dead underground. As a part of their beliefs, they couldn’t burn their diseased as the Pagans did, cause how were they supposed to present themselves after the final Armageddon if they didn’t have a body? 

And as putting decaying corpses down into the ground inside the city walls was forbidden, for obvious reasons, their only alternative was to bury them outside the city walls. The churches were small, the cemeteries were limited, and the Romans didn’t care much for their religion anyway. Soon it became crowded around the temples, To resolve this, they started digging down into the ground to be able to put the bodies of their loved ones to rest… In the catacombs.

Myths about the catacombs in Rome.

That meant every church in Rome had its own burial cave underneath the churchyard. With time these became bigger, with more space and more graves. But they still had to respect the boundaries of the area of the site on top. They couldn’t dig out horizontally into the neighborhood. So, they dug down. Some corridors of the Roman catacombs are as high as 20 meters or more, all flanked by burial chambers. 

• The catacombs in Rome are separated from each other. It’s not one big labyrinth.
• The catacombs in Rome were never hiding places for the Christians to evade the Roman oppressors. The Romans knew very well where they were, the entrances, and who was in charge. It was all perfectly legal, and official in every sense.

Other locations.

The same type of catacombs dug for the same reason, can be found all over Italy… And all over the Roman world, even further away than that. The idea of burying people in caves and tunnels underground lived on even until the 20th century. Rosalia Lombardo was the last person to be buried in the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. She died in 1920, at only two years of age. 

Other famous Catacombs can be found in Lima – Peru, in Vienna – Austria, in New York, in Bambang – the Philippines, and many other locations. 

If we determine the catacombs as not necessarily and exclusively a final resting place, then the list grows significantly. In the US there are many underground structures to visit. In Beijing, China, there’s an underground network covering more than 30 square miles, constructed in the 1970s. Or just think about the vast Củ Chi tunnel network used by the Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnamese war. 

Be careful where you walk… There could be a void under you.

The haunted catacombs in Paris.

If the Roman catacombs are very old… Separated in many different networks, and reasonably tidy, well documented, and accessible… The Paris underground tunnels are very different. The mysterious video presented to Francis Freedland, couldn’t have been from Rome. The Roman catacombs are just too limited and well-lit. 

Under Paris, on the other hand, there’s an enormous spiderweb of corridors on five levels. Some parts are easily accessible, and you can go there with a tourist guide who tells you everything you need to know. But there are miles and miles of haunted catacombs that are much scarier, and much more dangerous… And they are much more recent than their Roman namesake.

The origin

In the late 1700, the authorities in France were becoming concerned about the overcrowded cemeteries in the Capital. The city was growing fast and all the corpses in and around the small cemeteries were becoming a severe health risk. The stench especially around the Holy Innocents’ Cemetery, the oldest and largest graveyard in Paris, was overwhelming. And when in 1774 a part of a basement wall collapsed under the weight of the many cadavers, spilling dead and decaying corpses all over the neighboring streets, something had to be done… And quickly. So Luigi XVI closed all cemeteries inside the city and started planning for the removal of the already buried to abandoned querries further away.

Not too far away though, just about outside the city gates, would be perfect. And the first and easiest spot to dump them was Barrière d’Enfer Gate of Hell, a tollgate, on the border of the city.

The quarries under the city. 

Because in Paris, unlike in Rome, there was no need to dig. The tunnel system was already there in form of old Lutetian limestone quarries  Most of the city was built of Lutetian limestone and all that material had been extracted from underneath the city, leaving a huge web of old mines, tunnels, and chambers. 

At first, they just dumped the bones, but from 1810 they started organizing and placing them in an arranged fashion. The enterprise was led by Inspector Héricart de Thury, who either had some macabre stylistic urge or was highly ironical. Anyway, he started building rooms, and chapels, and he arranged the bones and skulls in artistic patterns. 

He practically created what is today a site that attracts half a million tourists a year.

The burial parts of the tunnel system, the ossuary, which is what attracts the visitors, is about a mile. One mile of corridors, rooms, and crypts, decorated with human remains in form of skulls, basins, and legbones.

But the total length of the haunted catacombs is supposed to be as much as 200 miles, maybe even more. Nobody knows. 200 miles of winding, dark corridors in five levels… Full of dead people, or even worse, maybe not entirely dead…

So are they really haunted? 

While the haunted catacombs of Rome isn’t a common statement, the haunted catacombs of Paris definitely is. And it’s very easy to see the reason why. The Parisian network is scary. It’s huge, and it’s partly unmapped, so you can easily become trapped down there with the dead bodies and the skeletons. It’s a terrifying thought and not just a thought. Many people actually have met that fate, not being able to find their way out.

Philibert Aspairt was a doorkeeper of the Val-de-Grâce hospital. In 1793 for some reason he went down through a staircase located in the hospital courtyard. He was found 11 years later and could be identified only cause he still had the key to the hospital on him. He was buried on site. 

The movie… There’s always a movie…

Two movies, actually. The first was Catacombs, directed by Tomm Coker and David Elliot and starring Shannyn Sossamon, released in 2007. The second was As Above, So Below, written and directed by John Erick Dowdle and starring François Civil and Perdita Weeks. Both created with lots of footage of narrow tunnels, dark shadows, deep pits, and scared teenagers. It’s effective. 

There’s a very obvious pattern when it comes to hauntings. Any type of publicity, Tv, Movie, News, anything, boosts the general scariness of a place. And before the movies, there was the very famous TV-series, Scariest Places on Earth, Season 1, Episode 2 from 2000 hosted by Lind Blair. 

And we’re back to where we started. Because Francis Freedland’s videotape formed the base for a part of that episode. Freedland together with the camera crew and a guide, went down into the tunnels to try to find the origin of the video film. And maybe find the exact spot from where it was shot. 

To cut the story short, it is a frightening experience. But not because of any hauntings on spooky findings. The chill you feel when you watch the footage comes from a sense of claustrophobia. The narrow corridors, the low roof, the tight passages, and the panting voices… Well, you know the style. It’s kind of disturbing, but there’s no real substance. 

So, the haunted catacombs, it’s all a scam?

There are at least three strange facts about this video:

• Why on earth would anybody drop the camera? He could have been attacked but in that situation, he must have tried to do anything not to lose the only light source he had. Even if he was chased.
• The total of the film has never been made public. It is supposed to be around 40 minutes, but all we have ever seen is the last minute. 
• The timing. Freedland states that the video was found in 1993, but the first evidence of it is from 2000 when Most haunted places on earth sent the episode. Why didn’t he go to the police? Why didn’t he try to investigate earlier?

And that leads us to the famous TV series. It is beyond any doubt that The most haunted places on earth on occasions created and invented facts to make a good show

More interesting facts about the haunted catacombs of Paris.

The whole city is constructed on top of a tunnel web that is reasonably superficial. This fact makes constructing heavy buildings somewhat risky. And Parisian law states that the owner of a property not only owns the surface but also what’s under it. So if the house collapses, you, yourself are responsible.

• The tunnels were originally outside the city gates, but as Paris grew, they became well inside the city limits. The biggest risks for sinkholes are therefore in the suburbs. The city center is regarded as safer.
• It’s estimated that there are remains from over six million people down there. That would mean that there are more dead than alive in Paris today. 
• And the bones are still down there. While the skeletons of the Catacombs in Rome have been moved or stolen, the dead in Paris are all there… At least most of them.
• In 1880 an innovative French farmer found out that the Catacombs were perfect for growing mushrooms. A few years later more than 300 mushroom farms were set up down there, and the cultivation continues even today, but on a smaller scale. These are the famous Champignon de Paris.
• During WW2 the resistance used the catacombs for transport. Interestingly, so did the Germans. They even set up a large bunker right under Lycée Montaigne, one of Paris’ most famous schools. Fortunately, with both parties moving about in the 200 miles of tunnels, there was little risk that they would run into each other.
• In 2017 thieves drilled their way into a basement from the Catacombs straight underneath it. They got away with 300 bottles of vintage grand cru with a market value of more than 250.000 euros. The operation was meticulously planned and the bottles were never found again.   

Although most people would avoid the forbidden and haunted catacombs, there is a community of adventurers, the so-called Cataphiles. These are to a certain degree experts in where to enter, how to behave once down there, and, most important of all, how to exit the catacombs. It is a very secret community with no names or identities and with a fixed, and determined conduct. 

Among those, there’s an even more secret group called…

Les UX

Their goal is to explore, restore, and improve hidden corners of Paris. They frequently go into the Catacombs and they are responsible for many extraordinary features. And they’re not only young hipsters, and yuccies, but also more prominent and older members of society… Architects historians, and entrepreneurs. Here are a few examples:

In 1981 the group stole the complete mapping of the catacombs from the ministry of telecommunication. And from there they’ve managed to pull off a long list of amazing endeavors. They are not only a nuisance to the authorities but they actually fix things too. 

In 2007, they restored the famous clock in the Panthéon together with the clockmaker Jean-Baptiste Viot. 

2004 the Police discovered a complete movie theater underground. Complete with a bar, a kitchen, and seats carved out of the rock. They had pulled electricity from the surface and even had a motion-detecting CCTV setup that triggered recorded dogs barking if someone would close in on their hideout. When the police came back after three days all they found was a note saying “Don’t search for us”. All the equipment was gone.

So, in the end, where does it leave us? Are the catacombs underneath Paris haunted or not?

No, they’re not. Francis Freedland’s video clip is probably a fake… Done by him, by someone else in Paris. But probably by the creators of Most haunted places on earth. They did these things, you know.

And for the rest, there is no indication whatsoever that anything sinister or ghostly happens down there. 

But it’s still creepy. And the creepiness obviously comes from the fact that the not so haunted catacombs of Paris are vast. Even though people move around down there, the graffiti on the walls is a good testimony of that… There still are 200 miles of tunnels to get lost in. 200 miles of dark, damp, narrow, rough, and largely unmapped tunnels, in five layers down all the way to 100 feet under the surface. And they are full of human bones. If that’s not scary… I don’t know what is.

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sources

• Le Catacombes de Paris
• Britannica / Catacomb
• Condè Nast Travel / 10 Creepiest Catacombs You Can Actually Visit
• Archeology Travel / Catacombs of Paris
• New York Times / The Secret Is Out on a Cherished Underground Haven
• Wikipedia
• IMDb / As Above, So Below

The Enigma of Port Chatham: Uncovering a Century of Mountain Terror Legends.

The beautiful town of Port Chatham on the southwestern shores of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, USA. Was it abandoned overnight because it was haunted?

You might wonder how something could ever be this beautiful… Coming in through the opening of the Bay of Port Chatham in the sunlight, a warm summer day, The green mountains surrounding the grey gravel shores. The dark, almost black water mirroring white clouds, every now and then shadowed by a huge bald eagle searching the untouched nature for its prey.

Still, if you sense an undetermined dread, a sudden feeling of disturbance as if you were observed by someone… Or something. Then, you’re not alone. Because this is one of the scariest spots on the American continent. 

And the villagers’ sudden escape from the once small but prosperous settlement, is one of the greatest mysteries in the history of Alaska.

A short history.

In 1786 a British ship sought refuge in Chatham Bay during a storm. The Captain’s name was Nathaniel Portlock of the Royal Navy, and that name was later given to the cannery plant on the southern shores. But it would take more than a hundred years before anything else than wilderness was to be seen here.

After the US bought Alaska from the Russians in 1867 southerners started to come to the new land for hunting and gold mining opportunities. In late 1800 small villages started to pop up around the fishing industry. And especially on the Kenai peninsula the canneries, cold store and smoking facilities were the main business activity.

In 1912 a cannery opened in Port Graham some 15 miles away on the northern side of the tip of the Kenai peninsula. In 1915 a cod and halibut cold storage plant was built in Port Chatham. A chrome mine opened opposite the inlet, in Chrome Bay, two years later. A small settlement started to grow, around mining, fishing, and fish processing. In 1921 it even got a Post office, and soon it felt almost like a real town. 

In 1928, a small salmon cannery was opened in Portlock/Port Chatham, and two years later, in 1930, a bigger cannery was built by the A. N. Nilson Company. For a few decades, these plants offered a stable income for a handful of people. Because we’re talking about a small place, even by Alaska’s standards.   

The famous Port Chatham horror.

But something wasn’t right. Some sinister entity, in and around the Bay, started to show its presence to the villagers. It began right when the first settlers got there, but it became more and more difficult to ignore it as years went by. Most of the workforce in the facilities were of Russian-Alutiiq extraction. And they already had an idea about what was lurking in the forests…

What they referred to is a big hairy Bigfoot-like creature that walks on two legs, much bigger and stronger than a human. From being a silent threat, only to those who venture too far into the wild at night, the sightings became more frequent … And closer. 

And when people started to disappear and die, the villagers finally abandoned Port Chatham more or less overnight. Leaving their homes, and livelihoods behind. The last man to leave was the Postmaster. In 1951 he locked the door to the local post office, never to return again. 

Here is a list of what happened in Port Chatham in the first half of the 20th century.

• Andrew Kamluck was murdered in 1931. Someone, or something, hit him over the head with a piece of heavy log-moving equipment. The piece of machinery was found more than 10 feet away from the body, and it was too heavy for one man to lift, let alone swing it and strike a standing man.
• Around the same time, a gold miner went to his claim never to return. According to the Port Graham elder, Simeon Kvasnikoff, no traces were ever found of him, nor at his cabin, nor anywhere else. It was as if he had disappeared from the surface of the earth.
• Tom Larsen, a local sawmill owner, was out chopping wood for fish traps, when he spotted a big hairy creature on two legs on the shore. He ran to his cabin to get his gun. When he came back, the creature was just standing there, looking at him, without running away or charging him. Larsen could never explain why he didn’t fire his rifle at it.
• During WW2 the workers of the Cannery plant often went into the forest to hunt, never to come back. Some bodies were later found mutilated and dismembered in a way that no animal would or could do. 
• In the 40s a group of hunters were tracking a moose. On the path, they found 18 inches long footprints  They concluded that something else was stalking the animal other than them. At a certain point, they found an opening and signs of a fight. The only prints moving away from the site were the 18-inch footprints they had seen earlier. It was as if the unknown predator had killed the moose, an animal of at least 500 pounds, possibly 1000, and carried it away, on its shoulders. 
• In 1973, three hunters took shelter in Port Chatham during a three-day storm and claimed that each night something walked around their tent on what sounded like only two feet.

• In 1905, the workers of the cannery refused to go back to work, as they were afraid of the hairy man haunting the neighborhood. Only when the manager of the plant hired armed guards to watch not only the fish cannery but also the village, did they agree to come back to work.
• Trees were being pulled up with the roots for no apparent reason. Sometimes they were put back upside down, with the roots pointing upward. 

So, where’s the truth in all this?

Was Port Chatham really haunted? What was it that frightened a whole community to such an extent that they preferred to leave their home and just run? Was it a Sasquatch, a Bigfoot, or was it something even more sinister?

Let’s look at the facts. Because this is not New York, London, or L A… It’s Alaska, a huge, desolate State with wildlife, harsh weather and nature, and generally difficult living conditions. People who go missing aren’t all that unusual. It’s twice as common in Alaska as elsewhere in the USA. And big bears can be mistaken for many things. 

This poor bear walks on its back legs because the front paws are injured. You can see the right front paw being contorted (1.02). Scientists say bears can walk reasonably well on two legs. 

But let’s look at the evidence one by one.

The first issue: The sudden escape.

The town was abandoned in the late 40s or the early 50s depending somewhat on who claims it. The post office was closed in 1951, that’s reasonably verified. Now, Portlock/Port Chatham isn’t the only abandoned village in Alaska. There are at least 50 small towns just like this one, some say more than 100, in the northernmost State. 

Alaska’s history is a chain of entrepreneurship, dreams, prosperity, and failure. Many came up north to set up businesses and start a new career. Some succeeded, while others didn’t.

Fishing was a big industry, but after the war, the ships became bigger, and the need for local storage and refining slowly became obsolete. The boats cooked, canned, and stored the catch directly on the ship. The cold facilities and canneries that took the hardest blow were the small ones… Like Port Chatham. 

• A. N. Nilson Company, the owners of the Portlock Cannery, started a second plant in Seattle’s Ballard area in 1950. Closer to the market and easier to manage. 
• The mine at Chrome Bay was very active during WW2, but immediately after, the demand for chrome dropped drastically, and the mine closed. 

In this context, it’s not difficult to see why people moved away from Port Chatham to bigger urban centers like Nanwalek, and Port Graham. And I haven’t found anything to suggest that the migration was hasty or unplanned. 

The second issue: The hauntings. 

Some of the testimonies are obviously exaggerated or simply wrong:

The workers of the cannery that demanded armed guards back in 1905 is a strange statement. In 1905 there was no cannery in Port Chatham. There were fishers and hunters, but no big, single employer to whom you could possibly direct any demands. It sounds strange.

There were many more testimonies of people who went missing, as well as people who were killed by something. But, as said before, this is Alaska. People go missing every day. More than 2000 disappear every year in Alaska. Many of which are never found again. And people get assassinated. I can’t find it extraordinary that a gold miner is killed at his claim… Especially if there was gold in it. 

It is also true that there are other abandoned towns in Alaska. Many of them have their own stories, their own hauntings, and some even had their inhabitants fleeing “overnight”.  

What do the locals say?

Well, while some locals say that Bigfoot/Sasquatch is very real, others deem it as a hoax. The opinion here is divided… For or against, Yes or no. Even though no evidence has ever been presented as proof of an actual specimen, many people, especially among those who are familiar with the big open forests, swear they exist.

It has also been suggested that the thing or things that haunted Port Chatham was supernatural… A paranormal phenomenon. This is a less popular explanation though.

… And the experts, what do they say?

As the creature of Port Chatham often is regarded as physical and natural, no investigation of paranormal activity has ever been done. And the investigations of Bigfoot creatures around the bay are not very serious, to say the least. A few youtubers, a pseudo-exploratory full-length movie, and a local radio show, that’s all. 

And we don’t have any documentation… None at all. No photos, no videos, not even reliable police reports. All we have are stories. 

Rests the single fact that the town, or towns were abandoned… Maybe suddenly, overnight, but more likely. over some time. This fact alone is actually a very important part of the history. Abandoned settlements are not uncommon in Alaska, and it’s a fact that both the mine and the cannery closed before and around 1950. Still, the escape isn’t perfectly natural or 100% motivated…

Alaska after WW2. 

Because it’s not entirely true that everything died out with the closing mine and fish cannery. Fishing for the King Crabb started to generate massive incomes in Alaska in the 50s. And in the 60s oil started to become big business. Especially the Cook Inlet filled up with new oil rigs. So it wasn’t like everybody shut down and moved out. 

Many moved to the bigger centers, more for practical reasons. And that was obviously part of a more general transfer of people from the countryside to the cities. Something that happened more or less all over the planet, after the war. But Port Chatham lying right in the middle of the new opportunities seized to exist in a very short time… The plants closed, but why was the transfer so definite, and so complete?

Because there is more…

The last piece of the puzzle is connected to the Alutiiq, or the Sugpiaq, as they are sometimes called. The natives of western Alaska.

To the Alutiit, the whole area around Port Chatham has a bad aura. Just the fact that they have a name for the dreaded hairy beast that runs the forests, and watch sawmill owners from the shoreline. He’s called the Nantiinaq. And he’s not like the average Bigfoot, a shy forest man who does everything to stay as far away from people as possible. An overgrown Gorilla, who is dangerous only if you get too close and you stalk it. 

No, the Nantiinaq is a deadly predator. A monster who kills people for no obvious reason, just to tear their limbs apart. A creature that actively hunts humans… An enormous, hideous murderer, bigger than a Grizzly and meaner than a Wolverine.

There is a bit of confusion about the names of the settlements in the bay. Some say that Port Chatham and Portlock were two different settlements, built very close. The cannery was called Portlock, and so were their products. I would refer to the town as Port Chatham, and the plant as Portlock. Anyway, it’s probably correct to imagine one single village next to the cannery. 

There were two more villages in the bay, though. Alutiiq-villages… Axu’layik, and To’qakvik. The Alutiit had winter- and summer quarters, and at least Axu’layik was a winter settlement. As such the houses were built for permanent living, dug down, and planked on top. The natives’ houses were small but warm and functional. They were well built and fit to withstand the harsh environment and keep the people inside alive. 

The Alutiit weren’t depending on the employment from the cannery and the mine, in the same way, that the Euro-Americans were. They had a different relationship with the land, and they wouldn’t be as soon to leave as the Southerners.

Still, they left. Axu’layik as well as To’qakvik were abandoned just like Port Chatham, and it seems to have happened around the same time. I think it would take more substantial motifs to leave your home than just to leave the place where you work… To run away from where you were born, where you grew up, where you met your first love, and where you were supposed to give up your breath in the end, that’s a much more difficult decision.

Nanwalek elder Malania Helen Kehl, who was born in Port Chatham in 1934 explained in an interview: “

   –  My parents, along with the rest of the village, grew weary of being terrorized by a creature the Alutiiq called a Nantiinaq, meaning half-man, half-beast…many of the residents refused to venture into the surrounding forests, and over time, abandoned their homes and the village school, and moved…

Conclusion

I believe it’s plausible that many people would leave a small settlement because there are no more jobs. I think it’s possible that Port Chatham was abandoned because the small industry closed. These things happen all the time. Opportunities arise, and then the production stops, and people move away again. It’s not unusual or particular in any way.

But when the natives suddenly left their hometown… Now, that is much more difficult to explain. And if all these people, natives and not, moved away in a very short period of time, then that one fact could be a sign that something wasn’t right in Port Chatham… That someone or something forced them away rather than the transfer being just something they did to find new jobs and more prosperity.

I can’t say I’m convinced that Bigfoot exists, but I am convinced that something happened in Port Chatham… Something other than an industry shutting down.  

Exactly what it was that caused them to move out, has never been confirmed. But the supposedly evil creatures have never been debunked either. And they could still be out there… Waiting…

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sources

• Alaska’s Digital Archives
• The Mouth of the Kenei / Haunting memories — ‘Nantiinaq’ sightings, spirits led to desertion of Native village
• United States Senate / Tariff Act of 1921
• Kenai Fjords / Historic Resource study
• Crosscut / Julia Child’s play
• The Seattle Times / Erling Nilson, 81, made smoked fish popular delicacy
• Alaska Historical Society / Alaska Canneries
• Alaskool / The People
• Wikipedia