10th: Hoia Forest, Romania
The most haunted forest from Romania is known not only for its recreational sports but also for the UFO stories and paranormal activities that happen there. The forest is located west from Cluj-Napoca town, near the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania. The forest has a biking park, paintball area archery fields but most of the visitors come for the paranormal phenomena that occurs in the depths of the forest. The name of the forest comes from the shepherd with the same name that mysteriously disappeared with his two hundred sheep flock in the forest.
The UFO mistery
In 1968 a local took a photograph of a UFO in the Round Meadow which were analyzed and confirmed as being one of the few of authentic UFO photos. Alexandru Sift was a biology teacher who studied the phenomena of light and magnetism that took place in the Hoia Forest. Alexandru had several photographs of the unusual activity but all of them were mysteriously lost days after his death in 1993.
Only a few remained and were published in the book “Fenomenele de la Pădurea Hoia” in 1995 by chemistry teacher and Alexandru’s friend Adrian Pătruț. He continued his colleague’s studies and said that the scientific basis of the UFO phenomena and uncanny activities are yet to be sufficiently understood. The forest is famous in this matter and attracts many visitors who hope that will too experience such a rarity of event.
Legend of the forest
People and reports have claimed to witness ghost appearances, unseen faces with the bear-eye but caught on photographs. The people who visited the forest said that they felt an increased anxiety sensation and the feeling of being watched. Moreover almost every person who have been into the forest said they experienced rashes, the feeling of light-head or that they felt sick.
What is truly undeniable is the uncanny of vegetation of weird shaped trees and charring on tree stumps or branches. Another unexplained thing is the malfunction of the electronic devices that enter the area.
A legend of the forest has to do with the missing people that have lost track of days and came back out of the woods with no memory of what happened. The story of the 5-year-old girl is the basis of the legend. The girl entered the forest alone and wandered off until she got lost. Five years later she came back from the forest worth the same clothes she had one when she went missing.
The legend says that she had no memories of what happened all those years. The most recent incident was in a paranormal television series where an investigator who was sitting in the area marked by paranormal activities was scratched and thrown by an unidentified force.
9th: Lome Bazaar, Togo
If you know your way around a street market you know what to expect but if you are in a street market in a third world country, you better be prepared for things to get wild. Things stay a little weirder in a bazaar in Lome where you can buy all the materials you need for a true voodoo session. The bazaar is located in the West area of Africa, in Togo. Most people would come here for an additional cultural experience and to learn other traditions and way of living.
Voodoo rituals
When you arrive at the street market you can see, what is called, a voodoo fetish market where local see in Akodessewa (the market’s name) as a relief when you want to be cured of what troubles you. Yes, a voodoo pharmacy. The medical practice of this West African nation has to do with animal sacrifices.
The medics of Lome’s Akodessewa market will prescribe you elephant feet mixed with human head into a powder that has to be rubbed on the open wound. This cure is good for any wounds and the rituals are an additional treat for healing the wounded. This is the birthplace of voodoo rituals.
Weird ingredients
If you get close to the market the unbearable stench of rotting animals and humans will strike you from afar. Animals like dogs, leopards, snakes and humans are the ingredients for the local healers. They consult with their gods to establish of what you are suffering and what should be your cure.
If you want to buy any type of skull, animal or human, you can find it here, along with other terrifying things like fresh killed animals with their fur still on or bleached until their bones. The amount of dead animals that stare you in the face will definitely get you shivers. Whether it helps you or (definitely) not the Voodoo Market has a variety of animal sacrifices that will get to you mentally and spiritually but not in a good way.
8th: Stull Cemetery, Kansas
In Douglas County, Kansas there is an independent town named Stull 10 miles from Lawrence and 13 miles from Topeka, in which the population is quite small, reaching about 20 people. It might seem as a small old-fashioned town but the truth is it has a darker side than one might think. The legend says that the cemetery is the gateway from Hell where the Devil appears since 1850. The original town’s name was “Skull” but years later people wanted to hide the fact that the town was an area for early black magic and reamed it “Stull”.
The old legend
Despite other legends and ghost stories, in Stull there are two events that marked tragically the town’s name. And these are not made up by locals or visitors but actual tragedies that happened. In the early 20th century, a priest was burning a farm field when he had the horrific discovery at the end of burning it. His son was burnt alive while he found his dead body. The other incident consists in a man who went missing until he was found hanged from a tree branch.
The cemetery’s legend may complete your paranormal knowledge as Stull is famous for it. It is said that the cemetery is such a haunted place that even the devil himself has a home there. The graveyard goes into the diabolical territory that many Americans fear from. The “Weird US” book described the cemetery on Emmanuel Hill as one of the frightening places in America.
Time for the show
In 1999, on Halloween night, a media group from Lawrence Journal World and Channel 6 News came at the cemetery to witness the supposedly annual appearance of the Devil and they had the Sheriff’s permission to do so. Before midnight, at 11:30 pm, an unknown caretaker of the cemetery came out of nowhere and asked the Sheriff to get rid of the reporters. The media left just moments before the gate to hell would open.
It is said that Stull Cemetery represents one of the 7 gateways to Hell. The church aside it has been demolished and now there are many people who want to know more about the legend, sneaking in the unsavory place. It is seen as one of the most unholy areas, having even the pope, John Paul II to refuse to be flew above the eastern side of Kansas in order to avoid the demonic place, when he made his appearance in the state of Colorado.
Although Stull cemetery is a horrific place to find yourself in, especially all by yourself, police are patrolling the area all the time and more often on Halloween and during spring equinox. So the place is technically safe to be around but I wouldn’t recommend even to the bravest to go by their selves in the infamous cemetery.
7th: The Mines of Paris
People often confuse the mines of Paris with the infamous tomb, “Catacombs of Paris”. Paris has below its streets a series of almost infinite tunnels which were the city’s mines from which people would dig out minerals. The tunnels were flooded but exploring the mines is illegal and it comes with hard penalties.
Never-ending tunnel
The mines, on the other hand, are unsafe and unsecured, leaving clueless people to wander them around. The terrifying legend of the mines says that ancient creatures still guard the depths of the mines. The ghosts reside in the darkness of the mines and it is said that whoever dares to wander off in the tunnels may get so far that they will enter Hades. The tunnels are 600 kilometers long below Parisian underground.
The tunnels are unmapped and they sit under the streets of Paris at hundreds of feet and some of them are water-logged or so swamped that you have to crawl your way out. The hallways have many holes and manholes that go for hundreds of feet, enticing explorers to go through them with promise of apparent freedom.
Horrific mines
The tunnels seem infinite and they create a true maze from which is very unlikely to come out. The maze creates a silence that absorbs sound, making it almost impossible to be heard if you need help even if the person is close to you. Human bones have been found through the tunnels because of the overcrowded cemeteries from around the city. On the wall there are many paintings that no one knows whether they are new or ancient, warnings or crying for help.
Even if you aren’t claustrophobic you will definitely develop the phobia after a trip in the horrific mines. If you really want to explore the mines you have to make sure to bring supplies like batteries, many flashlights, someone else and hope you won’t get lost and never be found again.