The 10 Most Haunted Forests in the World

Black Forest, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

This bewitching landscape along the Rhine River looks just as you’d imagine — so dense with fir and pine trees that sunlight barely pierces through. It makes an ideal playground for mythological creatures like sorcerers, werewolves, witches, and kindhearted dwarves.

The Brothers Grimm set many of their fairy tales in the Schwarzwald (as it's called in German), and Karl Friedrich Kahlert's classic Gothic novel "Die Geisterbanner" immerses the reader in the world of Black Forest necromancy. While the region is associated with many spooky legends, it's also worth visiting to experience the local Bavarian culture from which many of these famous tales emerged.

Wychwood Forest, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

More than a few visitors to Wychwood Forest, a former royal hunting ground, have reported feeling invisible hands touch their shoulders or hearing the thunder of invisible horses. It's enough to make your spine tingle at the slightest rustle in the leaves.

Most compelling is the case of Amy Robsart, the wife of the Earl of Leicester, who mysteriously died of a broken neck. Later, while the Earl was hunting in the woods, his late wife's ghost confronted him and predicted that he would join her in 10 days — which he did after suddenly falling ill. Anyone else who meets Robsart's ghost, it is said, will swiftly encounter a similar fate.

Devil’s Tramping Ground, Chatham County, North Carolina

Deep in the woods near Harper’s Crossroads, about 60 miles west of Raleigh, lies a mysterious 40-foot ring where the devil stomps in circles each night, plotting the downfall of humankind — or so the story goes. In this spot, the forest floor is completely barren. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture once took samples of the soil, but it could not explain why the patch is devoid of growth. Legend has it that if an object is left inside the ring overnight, it will disappear.

Dow Hill Forest, Kurseong, India

Students at Kurseong's Victoria Boys School, established in the late 19th century, have reported hearing unexplained footsteps echoing in the corridors. But the surrounding Dow Hill forest is an even bigger hotbed of paranormal activity, and loggers have reported sightings of a headless boy wandering among the trees. Many consider Kurseong to be India's most haunted hill town, and some visitors have noted the creepy sensation of being watched while exploring the woods around the school.

Hoia-Baciu, Transylvania, Romania

Also known as the "Bermuda Triangle of Romania," Hoia-Baciu has captivated paranormal enthusiasts for more than half a century. The forest is named for a shepherd who went missing there with his flock of 200 sheep, never to be seen again. All the trees, said to have once stood straight, are now twisted into knots. Locals claim the forest, which has a circular clearing at the center, is a portal and that those who pass through it may never return.

La Isla de las Muñecas, Xochimilco, Mexico

The trees of this chinampa on the outskirts of Mexico City are strung with hundreds of dolls — to creepy, horror-movie effect. More than 50 years ago, the island’s only inhabitant, Don Julian Santana, claimed to have discovered the body of a girl in one of the island's canals. He also found a doll floating nearby and, in tribute, hung it on a tree — the first of thousands of dolls he would string up until 2001, when he passed away. Some believe the dolls, many of which are missing limbs, are evil. Others believe they safeguard the island. To get there, head over to the Embarcadero Cuemanco ferry terminal, where you can hire a trajinera (one of Xochimilco's colorful wooden boats) to take you to the Island of the Dolls.

Randolph Forest, Randolph, Maine

A hiking trail through this forest, just a few miles south of Augusta, follows the right-of-way for a long-defunct railroad that ushered former Union soldiers to and from a veterans’ home in nearby Togus. Some visitors to the woods have reported seeing orbs of light and hearing unexplained voices, almost like a chant. Others claim to have seen the ghost of “Bicycle Larry”, a Randolph man known for pedaling around town who disappeared without a trace in 2004. During the day, the woods seem harmless, but we dare you to venture there when night falls.

Freetown-Fall River State Forest, Bristol County, Massachusetts

Freetown-Fall River State Forest may be home to beautiful hiking trails, scenic overlooks, and inviting picnic areas, but it also has a dark past. The investigation into several murders in the late 1970s revealed a local cult that supposedly conducted satanic rituals in the middle of the woods. The forest is also part of the so-called Bridgewater Triangle, a 200-square-mile area in southeastern Massachusetts known for paranormal activity. Visitors have reported seeing UFOs, poltergeists, and fireballs.

Epping Forest, London, United Kingdom

Stretching from East London to Essex, the 5,900-acre Epping Forest has been the setting of horrors both real and, well, debatably so. It served as a hideout for outlaw Dick Turpin and cop killer Harry Roberts, and it's been used as hiding place for the bodies of murder victims, including the children killed by Ronald Jebson. On an episode of the British television show Most Haunted, the host and crew attempted to find the ghost of Turpin but wound up getting lost themselves before being rescued — perhaps a prank of the elusive spirit?

Old House Woods, Diggs, Virginia

This 50-acre forest near the Chesapeake Bay, named for an abandoned colonial-era homestead, is reputedly haunted by the ghosts of British soldiers and pirates who buried treasure there in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. In 1880, a fisherman named Tom Pipkin supposedly went looking for the treasure and was never seen again. His boat turned up days later with two gold Roman coins and a silver cup inside it. Another fisherman, Ben Ferbee, reported hearing music from a harp and an organ as a giant ghost ship sailed past him on the bay. The ship continued over the beach, then hovered above the woods as several men armed with tools appeared to descend from the deck down a rope ladder.