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Bigfoot Sightings in Yosemite National Park

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The mystery of the elusive Bigfoot is talked about all the way from south to the north in the USA. This is a couple of stories about Bigfoot’s history and potential sightings inside of Yosemite National Park in California. 

Under the towering pines and granite peaks of Yosemite National Park lies a realm of mystery and intrigue—a wilderness that has not only captivated nature enthusiasts but also ignited the fervent imaginations of those who seek the legendary creature known as Bigfoot. 

Although a legend for most, it is an actual thing for many, and it is said that about 1 in 10 American adults believe Bigfoot to be real as well as alive and well roaming the wilderness. In Washington there are even laws that can punish people that harm or kill Bigfoot. 

Read More: Check out all stories from the USA

Except for Washington, California is the place with more Bigfoot reports in the U.S, especially in Northern California and where you will find Yosemite National Park. Among the majestic landscapes and secluded meadows, tales of encounters with this elusive cryptid have woven themselves into the tapestry of Yosemite’s folklore. Here are some of the more talked about sightings of Bigfoot inside of the park. 

What is Bigfoot?

Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, is a legendary creature often described as a large, hairy, ape-like being that inhabits forests, particularly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Reports of Bigfoot sightings have been circulating for centuries, with indigenous cultures having their own folklore about similar creatures.

Although no conclusive scientific evidence has been found to prove the existence of Bigfoot, numerous sightings, footprints, and anecdotal accounts have fueled belief in the creature’s existence. 

Ever since the late 1800s and early 1900s, the settlers have reported strange sightings, finding mysterious footprints and eventually, grainy pictures that kept the mystery alive. Could this hazy figure be the creature? Or perhaps just an elaborate hoax?

Bigfoot is often depicted as a shy and elusive creature, rarely seen by humans and leaving behind only ambiguous evidence of its presence, such as large footprints or strange sounds in the wilderness.

Interest in Bigfoot has led to the formation of dedicated research groups, the exploration of purported Bigfoot habitats, and the production of documentaries and television shows seeking to uncover evidence of the creature’s existence. Despite the lack of definitive proof, the mystery of Bigfoot continues to captivate the imagination of people around the world, sparking debates about the existence of unknown creatures and the boundaries of scientific inquiry.

Patterson-Gimlin film: The most well-known video of an alleged Bigfoot, was recorded on October 20, 1967, by Roger Patterson and Robert “Bob” Gimlin in an area called Bluff Creek in Northern California. It become an iconic piece of Bigfoot lore, and continues to be a highly scrutinized, analyzed, and debated subject. Academic experts from related fields have typically judged the film as providing no supportive data of any scientific value, with perhaps the most common proposed explanation being that it was a hoax.

Bigfoot in Yosemite National Park

Today you can find many traces of the legend of Bigfoot around Yosemite National Park. People tell stories about it around campfires as well as selling merchandise with the design from the Patterson and Gimlin film from 1967. 

The Bigfoot is deeply ingrained into the Yosemite legends now, and some even claim that this is the very first home of Bigfoot. There are also those claiming to have seen and even interacted with the big yet elusive creature, and many dark things have been done by a true believer. 

A Serial Killer’s Obsession with Bigfoot

One of those claiming to have encountered Bigfoot and had a bit of an obsession over the mystery of the supposed monster, was Cary Stayner, a serial killer and keen hiker inside of Yosemite. 

Stayner gained notoriety as an American serial killer who committed a series of murders in California’s Yosemite National Park in the late 1990s. Born on August 13, 1961, Stayner’s troubled upbringing included the traumatic experience of witnessing his brother’s abduction at the hands of a serial predator from the park. 

He spent a lot of time hiking and camping in Yosemite from early childhood, and it was also where his brother was held and captured by a former employee at Yosemite Lodge. 

In Stayner’s early twenties he started going on about claiming to have encountered Bigfoot and talked about it all the time to his friends and family. This claim perhaps started small, but it soon grew into an obsession for him. According to his family, it was difficult to say if he feared the creature he believed existed, or if he identified too much with it. 

In February 1999, Stayner brutally murdered four women—Carole Sund, her teenage daughter Juli, their friend Silvina Pelosso, and Yosemite naturalist Joie Armstrong—while they were visiting the park. To many of his victims and witnesses, he asked them all if they believed in Bigfoot before doing his crimes. Stayner’s crimes shocked the nation and sparked a massive manhunt before he was apprehended and later convicted. His case shed light on the complexities of mental illness and the devastating impact of childhood trauma on individuals’ lives.

The Screaming Bigfoot

One particularly compelling account hails from the Tuolumne Meadows from 2004. A California Conservation Corps worker, spending a quiet night in the wilderness, became an inadvertent participant in the enduring legend of Bigfoot. One of the workers was camping close to the lake in Tuolumne Meadows. He was startled by the unmistakable cadence of heavy footsteps approaching his tent—a rhythmic march echoing the lore of the elusive creature.

Driven by curiosity and perhaps a touch of trepidation, the worker emerged from his shelter to confront the unknown. In the pale moonlight, he found himself face to face with a creature whose existence had long been relegated to the realms of myth and legend. Standing at an imposing 600 pounds, covered in thick black fur, and balancing on two legs, the figure before him aligned with the iconic image of Bigfoot that has fueled countless speculations.

Tuolumne Meadows: Sunset over Tuolumne Meadows in the area where one of the alleged sightings of the Bigfoot happened. // Steve Dunleavy/Wikimedia

The encounter took an unexpected turn as the worker, confronted with the reality of a creature that defied scientific explanation, let out an instinctual scream. Much to his surprise and dread, the creatures screamed back—a resonant, otherworldly scream that reverberated through the night. 

In a bizarre exchange between man and legend, the creature retreated into the shadows, leaving the worker both awe-stricken and bewildered by the surreal nature of the encounter.

After he told about it to old timers at the closest camp, none of them were surprised, as most of them had had similar weird experiences, although perhaps not so close and loud ones. 

Does Bigfoot Live in Yosemite?

These accounts add a tangible layer to the speculative narratives that have shrouded Bigfoot in mystery. There seems to be a common story for people from every walks of life, from the dark and twisted mind of a serial killer, to a more down to earth park employee. And these two stories are certainly not the only ones that claim that something else is wandering in the wilderness.

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References:

The Most Well-Known Northern California Spots For Bigfoot Sightings 

Urban Legends, Myths and Scary Stories from Yosemite & Bass Lake – The Pines Resort Blog 

Watts Valley Wolf Ape – Sasquatch Chronicles 

Cary Stayner – Wikipedia 

https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/yosemite-horror

Tuolumne County, CA 2004 

Watch: ‘Bigfoot’ Spotted in Yellowstone National Park? 

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The Haunted Morgan-Monroe State Forest and Stepp Cemetery

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There is not only one ghost story from Morgan-Monroe State forest and the Stepp Cemetery in the middle of it, there are many. Legends about creatures and ghosts keep the silent forest and burial ground alive. 

Morgan-Monroe State Forest stands as a silent witness to a myriad of chilling tales that have woven an enigmatic tapestry of supernatural lore. The forest in south-central Indiana is more than 25 000 acres and has steep ridges and deep valleys. 

Morgan-Monroe State Forest: Source: TrailSeeds/wikimedia

From inexplicable deaths to whispered rumors of satanic rituals and elusive encounters with mythical creatures like Yeti and Bigfoot, the Morgan-Monroe State Forest has earned its reputation as one of the most infamous haunted woodlands in the United States. It is in this forest most reported sightings of the Sasquatch in the state and there is a large and active group investigating these claims. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from USA

There are also said to be UFO sightings as well as more classical tales of something mysterious and ghostly lingering in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest. 

The Draper Cabin in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest

In the midst of the Morgan-Monroe State Forest itself, there is a cabin where hikers can spend their night. Draper Cabin offers a night of spine-tingling encounters for those daring enough to spend it within its timeworn walls – all for the modest price of $25, throughout the year. 

It is said that many hikers have to give up on staying in Draper Cabin through the night though, as they hear loud footsteps and weird noises outside, coming closer and closer to the cabin. 

Read More: Check out more ghost stories from Haunted Forests around the world

What the source of these hauntings varies. One version includes a murder that occurred there quite a long time ago. Another story states that from the time of the cabin’s existence over 130 years ago, a murderer still stalks their premises and waits for the next guests to arrive and rent out the cabin.

Draper Cabin: This cabin deep inside of the Morgan-Monroe State Forest is thought to be haunted. // Source

However, the true heart of the forest’s haunting reputation lies in the ethereal realm of Stepp Cemetery where legends and urban legends of ghosts and mysterious religious sects never let the buried rest. 

Stepp Cemetery

In the middle of the Morgan-Monroe State Forest you will find Stepp Cemetery, the source of many of the haunted legends of the forest. The cemetery in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest dates back to the early 1800s and is found just north of Bloomington.

There are not many graves in the cemetery, perhaps only around 30, (other sources say 114) or so, but they surely have some stories connected to them.  

Stepp Cemetery: In the forest you will find a small cemetery with big legends. It is said to be haunted by more than one type of ghosts. //Source: Shelly/Flickr

The Crabbites and their Snake and Sex Rituals

According to historians, Stepp Cemetery might have been used by a religious sect to perform rituals that came in the early 20th century. The group’s leader, William Crab, had strange practices like getting people to be bitten by a snake. A snake handler himself, he held more circus-like sermons and claimed that a true believer would not be bitten or die from the venom. 

The sect known as Crabbites had strange beliefs, like that the earth was squared because of a part in revelations in the bible. They also had to be chased away from the cemetery because of performing a ”ritualized sexual license.” They were apparently participating in these orgies while handling the snakes as well as giving animal sacrifices. 

It is also said they believed in resurrection and that the reverend could wake people from the dead. Once they were even arrested after trying to stop a burial of a woman who was once one of them. 

It is worth noting though that the sect went largely undocumented and it is difficult to say today what was true and what was hearsay. But they said that there were roughly 600 of them in Brown and Morgan counties in 1912. 

The Crabbites didn’t stay in the area of Morgan-Monroe State Forest and Stepp Cemetery for long as they are said to have moved over to Brown county, but they undeniably left an enduring mark on the cemetery’s reputation. Some even say that their mocking of the cemetery and strange rituals evoked some spirits to come back and haunt the place as they left the cemetery with a dark energy. 

Teenage Parties on Stepp Cemetery and the Birth for Local Legends

Most of the stories from Stepp Cemetery are said to have been developed or happened from the 1950s to 1970s. Then the cemetery had become so remote and forgotten and was more as a gathering place for youth than for mourners. More people had access to cars in the following decades and used the place to party. 

Many stories that were told were about the ghost of someone that had died in a car crash in the surrounding area, but also the cemetery itself became a part of the stories. 

During the Great Depression the cemetery fell into the hands of the Civilian Conservation Corps and they carved a tree stump in the cemetery into a chair. This tree stump is today called the Warlock’s Chair, although it is gone now that it was burned down in 1974. 

In many stories the chair was cursed and whoever sat on it would be so as well. It also became a part of the haunted legends as well, even after it was gone. 

Some of the ghosts

It is also said that an old woman is haunting the Stepp Cemetery within the Morgan-Monroe State Forest after some fraternity boys hanged her beloved German Shepard from a tree. What they didn’t know though was that she apparently was a witch and cursed them as well as the cemetery. 

Read More: Check out more ghost stories from Haunted Cemeteries around the world

One of the other legends speaks of a young girl who was murdered in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest close to Stepp Cemetery and that her body wanders through the trees in search of justice and her way home because her killer was never found. 

The Woman in Black

By far the most told story is about people seeing the ghost of The Woman in Black. The air thickens with an eerie stillness as the ghostly apparition of a grief-stricken mother dressed all in black is said to materialize on the haunted Stepp Cemetery at night, sitting on a hauntingly familiar tree stump crying over her dead child. 

There are many stories about what happened, and this is also a tale we can trace back to the 1950s. Some say she was a woman named Anne, and that her man died in a dynamite explosion in the quarry and her daughter died in a car crash. The mother is said to have rarely left the grave of her child, who was the only thing she had left in her life. After she died, she is still coming to the grave to grieve. 

There are also people saying that the child was a newborn and that she never recovered from the loss. The variations and details surrounding the legends are endless. Even in 1972, there were around 30 different versions of them.

There are some details that keep popping up though, like the tree stump. Sometimes the woman in black is only sitting on it, weeping close to her child’s grave. Sometimes she was a witch and murdered her husband after he murdered their child. Sometimes she has two white wolves by her feet mourning her child’s death after she was hanged for taking revenge.

The most horrendous tale though are the stories where people claim that she is sometimes trying to exhume her dead child from the grave to hold his bones, before burying him again and leaving.

The Story of Baby Lester

But what grave and who is she grieving? Sadly, there are plenty of graves belonging to children in Stepp Cemetery and the Morgan-Monroe State Forest. For some reason, the grave most associated with the legend of the Woman in Black at Stepp Cemetery is the grave of Baby Lester. His grave is in the back in a corner and has been there for many decades now. The faded letters on the grave say 1937. He was the child of O’Leatha Pryor Lester and Harley Lester for only a few hours before he passed. They named him Paul.  

Still to this day, some people place little toys on the grave. In respect perhaps, but the urban legend of Baby Lester really hurt the family of the stillborn child.  On several occasions the grave has been vandalized, broken or the headstone removed so they had to cement it down. On July 24 in 2021, the toys were set on fire by some vandals, or by accident after a candle set fire to them on accident.

Baby Lester’s Grave: This is how the grave looked after it caught fire as the negative consequences of being the source of a ghost story. Source: Photo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian

The mother was only 16 when she gave birth and went on to live a long life with more children after. When she heard about how her child’s grave was the center of this urban legend, she was distraught, horrified and disgusted. Although the family tried to shield her from the legend of Baby Lester and the Woman in Black, it had come in many forms until she died in 2007.

The Dangers of Ghost Stories

As night descends upon Morgan-Monroe State Forest, the line between the living and the otherworldly blurs, leaving those who dare to explore its depths to grapple with the unsettling mysteries that lurk in the shadows and the whispers that echo through the ancient trees.

Is it Bigfoot, the Woman in Black? Perhaps a remnant of the strange cult that used the cemetery all those years back. Perhaps there are just a couple of teenagers that can’t comprehend how stories about the dead can still hurt the living. 

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References:

Stepp: A Small Rural Cemetery That Looms Large In Hoosier Lore | news-2018 – Indiana Public Media 

Gallery: Baby Lester grave at allegedly haunted Stepp Cemetery set on fire – The Bloomingtonian 

Paul “Baby” Lester (1937-1937) – Find a Grave Memorial 

Stepp Cemetery 

Stepp Cemetery — Astonishing Legends 

Paul “Baby” Lester (1937-1937) – Find a Grave Memorial 

Let Baby Lester Rest in Peace | OrangeBean Indiana 

Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology Site of the Month | WBIW

A Requiem For Baby Lester — The Hauntings of Stepp Cemetery – PARAHOLICS®  

https://www.bloomingpedia.org/wiki/Draper_Cabin

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The Haunted Freetown State Forest and the Bridgewater Triangle

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Sometimes you can tell which dark trees are covered in darkness, and the haunting that follows. The Haunted forest of Freetown State Forest in Massachusetts is one example said to be in the mysterious Bridgewater Triangle, where the area seems to have attracted much evil throughout the years and lingers within the trees.

Behind the picturesque scenes of Massachusetts’ Freetown State Forest lurks a haunting history steeped in murder, fear, and the ominous presence of the paranormal outside of the Hockomock Swamp. The natives named it as a place where the spirits dwell, and the early settlers named it the Devils Swamp. 

Being a part of the infamous Bridgewater Triangle, this seemingly serene forest conceals a dark reputation, earning it the chilling moniker of the Cursed Forest of Massachusetts of alleged paranormal phenomena, ranging from UFOs to poltergeists, and other spectral phenomena, various bigfoot-like sightings, giant snakes and thunderbirds. 

The Cursed Bridgewater Triangle

Part of the legendary Bridgewater Triangle, Freetown State Forest stands as a magnet for the weird and horrifying lingering inside of the 5000 acres forest. Amidst its shady paths and sunlit clearings, people seem to think that the very forest emits a dark energy that creates more darkness. 

The Bridgewater Triangle is an area of about 200 square miles in southeastern Massachusetts. First described in the 1970s by cryptozoologist, Loren Coleman in his book, Mysterious America. 

Read more: One of the more famous spots in the Bridgewater Triangle is perhaps the Lizzie Borden House where a horrible murder was committed and only paranormal forces lingered. 

The Bridgewater Triangle is known for hosting an array of spooky sightings, from Bigfoot, Thunderbird to UFOs to ghosts to satanic cults and old Native American monsters and ghost stories. The history of this haunted expanse is more than mere speculation—it is a documented tapestry of tragedies and crimes that contribute to the ominous allure of the Freetown State Forest.

The Haunted Forest of Massachusetts Of Freetown State Forest Murders

On a cold November in 1978, the dead body of Mary Lou Arruda was found inside of the woods. She was a 15 year old cheerleader that had been kidnapped from Raynham town two months ago when she was riding her bike through the Freetown State Forest, only two days after her birthday. She was found tied to one of the trees. Dead. 

An autopsy revealed that she had either died from strangulation or asphyxia. In addition, it was uncovered that Arruda was alive when she was tied to the tree and that she had died the same day she had been abducted. Medical examiners believe that she died when she became unconscious from a ligature around her neck. Ultimately, this caused her to suffocate.

Mary Lou Arruda: 15 year old Mary Lou Arruda is only one of the victims the forest has claimed. Her death was much written about and her case certainly tainted the forest reputation in modern times.

The suspicion soon fell on James M. Kater when a composite sketch was created with the help of an eyewitness. Kater worked at a local donut store at the time of the killing and had previously been convicted for kidnapping. According to him he had gotten married and left on a honeymoon abroad the day after Arruda went missing. 

Afterwards, due to the endless efforts of local police and eyewitnesses, he was linked to the crime using multiple pieces of evidence, the most important one being tire tracks found near Arruda’s cycles which matched the unusual patterns made by his car tires. 

Kater was found guilty in 1978 and 1986, but both convictions were overturned on appeal due to hypnotized witness evidence. The 1992 trial resulted in a mistrial, which was followed by another one in 1996, when he was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

Despite efforts by local police and eyewitnesses, Kater’s initial convictions in 1978 and 1986 were overturned on appeal, primarily due to evidence presented by hypnotized witnesses. 

The case went through multiple trials, with the 1992 trial resulting in a mistrial. Another trial in 1996 ultimately found Kater guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison. The crucial piece of evidence linking him to the crime was tire tracks found near Arruda’s bicycle, which matched the distinct patterns made by Kater’s car tires. The complex legal proceedings and the use of witness testimony under hypnosis added layers of intricacy to a case that sought justice for the tragic fate of Mary Lou Arruda.

Satanic Cult Activity and Satanic Panic in the 80s

The murder of Arruda was not the last time the Freetown State Forest got tied up in a murder investigation. In 1980, police investigating a murder near the forest were confronted with reports of Satanic cult activity during the fear and Satanic Panic years of the 1980s and 90s. 

Locals spoke of witnessing eerie rituals in the woods, possibly linked to the infamous “Fall River Cult Killings” that was going on simultaneously taking the life of Doreen Levesque, Barbara Raposa and Karen Marsden. 

Stained clearings, marked with animal blood, fueled rumors of ritual sacrifice within the haunted woods, amplifying the forest’s already ominous reputation.

Its connection to satanism didn’t stop there though and especially animal mutilation have been reported, most notably in 1998 when the police investigated a case of mutilated animals believed to be the work of a cult. One was of a butchered cow found in the forest, and the other was a group of mutilated calves in a clearing of the Freetown State Forest. 

Assaults and Mysterious Incidents Throughout the Years

So what is really going on inside of this forest? Freetown State Forest’s sinister legacy extends to multiple murders, assaults, and bizarre occurrences along the forest and at its paths. From the mistaken killing of a homeless man in 1987 when someone thought he was an undercover cop. 

There was also the discovery of gunshot-riddled bodies on Bell Rock Road in 2001, the forest bears witness to a series of dark events. Reports of aggressive dogs, an escaped emu, and wires strategically placed to harm visitors underscore the unsettling atmosphere that pervades the woods.

In 2006 there were aggressive dogs running wild in the area and in May in 2016 they found wires along paths that many people frequented. The purpose of these wires was most likely to decapitate off-road bikers when they came driving. 

But there are also more ancient and more supernatural forces at play if we are to believe the local legends that came to be much earlier than the country itself. 

Supernatural Forces at Play in Freetown State Forest

The paranormal veil hanging over Freetown State Forest thickens with tales of blood sacrifices, UFO sightings, ghostly apparitions, black helicopters, mysterious orbs of light, and strange disappearances. Legends speak of giant snakes slithering through the shadows, poltergeist activity, and rumored abductions. 

Read More: Check of all stories from Haunted Forests

Even President Ronald Reagan himself reported witnessing unexplained lights in the forest’s sky. Whispers of the forest’s dark influence leading people to suicide circulate, while ancient legends weave the presence of Pukwedgies, humanoid creatures from Wampanoag native tradition, who are said to stalk the haunted woods.

The Native American Curses

Once, this land around Freetown State Forest used to belong to the native Americans that used to go from Cape Cod up to Rhode Island. Even though there still are tribes in the area, their designated living places have diminished extensively after the first European settlers arrived. 

Some of the local legends of the land is that it is a Native American curse over it. One of the legends is about a lost object that is still missing. Once, the wampum belt, a traditional shell bead of  the Eastern Woodland Tribes, was lost during the King Philip’s War from 1675-76 between the European settlers and the local tribes. 

“Philip’s belt, curiously woven of wampum nine inches broad in black and white figures and flowers, and many pictures of birds and bears. This when hung upon Captain Church’s shoulders it reached to his ankles. And another belt of wampum he presented to him wrought after the former manner, which Philip was wont to put upon his head. It had two flags on the back part which hung down his back, and another small belt with a star upon the end of it, while he used to hang upon his breast.”

Metacom (c. 1638–1676), was Massatoit younger son who is also a part of the haunted Freetown State Forest history, became tribal chief in 1662 after Massasoit’s death. He had taken the name Philip and led the war that was one of the bloodiest wars in Colonial American history. After his loss and his death, more than 1000 colonists and 3000 natives had died. Half of the New England’s towns were destroyed and hundreds of the Natives were enslaved and sent to Spain, Portugal, Jamaica and Barbados.

After the war, the belt was lost, something that was often used as a token of identity as well as currency in the early decades of colonization. 

In addition to causing a ruckus and a bad energy in the Freetown State Forest there is also a cave said to belong to King Philip as one of his hiding places. People claim to have seen strange lights known as spook lights inside it, especially around Anawan Rock. Phantoms fires, things that look like campfires are also known to have appeared in the distance, however when coming close to them, they disappear. People also claim to hear the sound of drums that are now known as phantom drums. 

The Pukwudgies Roaming in the Freetown State Forest

Another thing said to haunt Freetown State Forest is the monster from the Wampanoag native tribe known as the Pukwudgie. Translated to English often as “little wild man of the woods that vanishes.”

It is said to be a human-like creature about three feet tall that lives in parts of Indiana, Delaware and Massachusetts. Often seen as little people or tricksters of the Algonquian folklore.

According to folklore, Pukwudgies possess the ability to manifest and vanish at their discretion, adeptly shapeshifting into various forms—a common depiction involves a creature resembling a porcupine from the rear and a half-troll, half-human from the front, walking upright. These mystical beings are attributed with luring individuals to their demise, employing magical arts, launching toxic arrows, and wielding control over fire.

In Native American beliefs, Pukwudgies were initially benevolent towards humans but eventually turned antagonistic, warranting caution and distance. Legend has it that those who irked a Pukwudgie faced reprisals in the form of malicious pranks or relentless pursuit, leading to various troubles. 

Their menacing activities include kidnapping, pushing victims off cliffs, employing short knives and spears in attacks, and using sand to blind their targets.

The Ghost sitting on Profile Rock

There is also a big rock inside of the Freetown State Forest the local legends claim depicts the Wampanoag Chief Massasoit who was known to have a long standing alliance with the colonists. The 50 foot granite rock is also sometimes known as Old Man of Joshua Mountain, taking its name from Joshua Tisdale, a settler that once claimed to own the land. 

The true origin of the rock though is thought to be the result of dynamite in the mid 1800s. Some also claim that the son of Chief Massasoit Sachem, King Philip, spent the last night of his life under this rock.  

Some claim that the ghost of the Chief Massasoit Sache has been seen sitting cross legged with his arms stretched out toward something. Almost as if he is blessing his surroundings, or perhaps even cursing it. 

In recent years the attraction inside of Freetown State Forest has been severely damaged by both graffiti and incidents where portions of the rock have fallen off, and it is almost unrecognizable. The park issued people to stay away from the area. 

The Ghost at Assonet Ledge

The Assonet Ledge is another landmark found in the Freetown State Forest and people think that it’s a haunted place as well. The place is a high rock looking over the dark pond underneath. Many say they have seen the spirit of a native person among the trees as well as mysterious lights and phantom fires. Some even believe that the granite stone is cursed. Allegedly it was one of the victims of the war against the Puritans in the 17th century. 

Assonet Ledge: According to the legends, this ledge as well as the waters below is haunted by the many that ended their life jumping off the cliff.

According to the legend, several of the native warriors chose to jump off the cliff rather than die by the hands of the English. One thing though, it is also said that both the ledge as well as the pond underneath didn’t exist in the 17th century.

Another ghost story associated with this place inside of Freetown State Forest is about the lady of the ledge, a young girl who regularly met up with her boyfriend at the ledge. Their parents didn’t approve of their relationships, so it was both risky as well as futile to pursue their love. In some variations of the legend it is the story about a native american princess and a white man. Then one day he suddenly stopped coming. After being left, she threw herself off the ledge and died. Although her spirit remained. 

Many have claimed to have seen her ghost wandering on top of the ledge, some even see her jumping off the cliff and disappearing as she hits the water without a splash. 

One of the creepiest parts of this legend though, are all of the people that have been standing at the edge with an urge to jump, even though they were far form suicidal before coming. In 2004 a man even did the leap in front of his friends and girlfriend, even though his family claimed he had no history of mental illness. 

A Walk Through the Haunted Freetown State Forest

As the moon ascends high in the night sky, casting an eerie glow over the Freetown State Forest, the shadowy woods come alive with whispers of the past. Among the rustling leaves and foreboding silence, the spirits of the departed seem to beckon from the darkness, their spectral presence palpable in the chilling air.

As the brave souls who dare to venture through this haunted realm tread cautiously, an inexplicable sense of unease settles upon them. Wisps of fog weave through the gnarled trees, and the distant sound of phantom drums echoes through the desolate expanse. Amidst the oppressive stillness in Freetown State Forest, the legends and tragedies of the forest converge, intertwining with the present in a spectral dance.

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References:

NEW ENGLAND FOLKLORE: Ghosts of the Assonet Ledge 

Massasoit – Wikipedia 

The Most Haunted Forest in America: Massachusetts’ Eerie Freetown Fall River State Forest 

The Most Haunted Forest In America Is Right Here In Massachusetts 

Bridgewater Triangle – Wikipedia 

https://eu.patriotledger.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/2020/10/28/enter-the-bridgewater-triangle-if/581946007/

What happened to Mary-Lou Arruda’s killer James Kater? Details explored ahead of Killer Cheer on ID 

Disturbing Details Found In Mary Lou Arruda’s Autopsy 

Profile Rock – Wikipedia 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pukwudgie

Bridgewater Triangle – Wikipedia 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_River_murders

https://eu.heraldnews.com/story/news/courts/2022/11/15/robin-murphy-convicted-in-fall-river-cult-murders-denied-parole-satanic-carl-drew/69646239007/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90782637/mary-lou-arruda

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Top Found Footage and Mockumentaries Horror Movies

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Some movies were made to make fun of overly serious documentaries, some were made under the disguise as a documentary to make the story more believable. This is a list of some of the best horror movies made in a found footage or a mockumentary style.

The rise of the found footage horror movie genre or the mockumentary style of storytelling has made it so the living legend of believing a story makes it better, especially before the time of the internet were the story wouldn’t be revealed as fake the second you did a google search and found the story behind it was fake.

The mockumentary type of telling a horror story has also made it so that production value is not the main point to make a movie successful or not, as many of the best found footage movies has been very low budget. This has also made the way of producing these movies more democratic and not necessarily having to depend on a big Hollywood studio to fund the production. This has made it so that diverse moviesand foreign countries has broken into the mainstream media on a global scale they probably wouldn’t have if the audience had expected a production of Hollywood money.

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The Blair Witch Project

To begin with the one movie that rules them all, the mothership of the mockumentary, especially the horror genre one, that made it into the mainstream box office and cinemas all around the world. The Blair Witch Project from 1999 made it big, and to this day have a lingering effect on the movies that came after as well as creating a legend of its own that to this day some people still believe.

The Blair Witch Project is thought to be the first widely released film marketed primarily by the Internet. During screenings, the filmmakers made advertising efforts to promulgate the events in the film as factual, including the distribution of flyers at festivals such as Sundance, asking viewers to come forward with any information about the “missing” students. The backstory for the film is a legend fabricated by Sánchez and Myrick which is detailed in the Curse of the Blair Witch, a mockumentary broadcast on the SciFi Channel on July 12, 1999. Sánchez and Myrick also maintain a website which adds further details to the legend.

Synopsis: It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard—who hike into the Black Hills near Burkittsville, Maryland, in 1994 to film a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch. The three disappear, but their equipment and footage are discovered a year later.

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Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum

This South Korean movie took an already existing legend of a haunted asylum that were popular and well known and turned it into a box office success, both at home and abroad. Before the release of the film, the owner of the asylum filed a lawsuit against the film being shown in theaters, claiming that the film will have negative effects on the sale of the building. However, a Seoul court in late March 2018 ruled in favor of the film being shown.

Synopsis: The narrative centers around a horror web series crew looking for the paranormal that travels to an abandoned asylum for a live broadcast in order to garner views and publicity.

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Cloverfield

Many movies on these entries were made on a low budget and by people that may not had broken into the field just yet. But then came Cloverfield that showed strong muscles and Hollywood heavyweights. J.J Abrams came up with the idea for the movie when he went to Japan and saw Godzilla toys with his son in shops. And thus, the American monster was born and a crossover between Blair Witch and a Hollywood blockbuster was made with a horror spin.

Synopsis: The film follows six young New York City residents fleeing from a massive monster and various other smaller creatures that attack the city while they are having a farewell party. We follow them as they try to survive and get to safety from the attack and monsters.

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[•REC]

This Spanish movie from 2007 was later given many sequels as well as American remakes in light of the first movies success. The film was a commercial and critical success. It is now recognized as one of the early successes, and one of the best films in the found footage genre as well as various list of horror movies at all.

Synopsis: The film follows a reporter and her cameraman as they accompany a group of firefighters on an emergency call to an apartment building. The situation quickly escalates after an infection begins spreading inside, with the building being sealed up and all occupants ordered to follow a strict quarantine.

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Willow Creek

On a fresh, but still a classic take on the lingering Bigfoot legend of America, the movie from 2013 has enough of flannel, pilot sunglasses and forest as far as eye can see, just like a classic American horror movie should have. The movie also came out in a time when the found footage movies was a more well established genre and showed that the audience were still up for a shaky camera angle, even though there was no rumours about the actors being dead or anything.

Synopsis: Set in Humboldt County, California, Jim (Bryce Johnson), a stout believer in Bigfoot, and his girlfriend Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) are traveling to Six Rivers National Forest in Northern California, where Jim plans to shoot his own Bigfoot footage at the site of the Patterson–Gimlin film.

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Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity used the hype of mockumentaries and took it all the way. And after a number of sequels, prequels and spinoffs, bot official and unofficial, we can safely conclude that this was a very successful franchise if nothing else. The producers used a home camera and relied heavily on improvisation from the actors to make it as believable as possible.

Synopsis: It centers on a young couple (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat) who are haunted by a supernatural presence in their home. They then set up a camera to document what is haunting them. And through it, they find more than they ever could dream of as a demonic presence is getting to them.

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Troll Hunter

The Norwegian found footage movie has turned into a cult classic of working well as a huge dose of dry nordic comedy as well as a horror adventure movie. Combining modern bureaucratic Norway with its whimsical superstitious roots, the movie captured something about the old and past and how we as humans are still not over old folklore of the Trolls.

Synopsis: A group of students from Volda University College, Thomas, Johanna and their cameraman Kalle, set out to make a documentary about a suspected bear poacher, Hans. But they soon find out that it is not a bear at all he is hunting, but something far more dangerous and supernatural.

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What We Do In The Shadows

On a lighter note, this mockumentary by the New Zealanders Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi is more of a comedy than horror flick that breathed new life into the vampire genre as well as giving old vampire tropes and lore a comeback in mainstream media.

Synopsis: Viago, Deacon, and Vladislav are vampires who are struggling with the mundane aspects of modern life in Wellington, New Zealand, like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into nightclubs, and overcoming flatmate conflicts as well as battling with immortality, the sun and the local werewolfs.

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Cannibal Holocaust

If we can call The Blair Witch Project the found footage horror movie’s parent, this movie can be called its ancestor.

It is considered by many to be one of the goriest movies that have been made. Ten days after its premiere in Milan in 1979, the film was seized by the Italian courts and director Ruggero Deodato was arrested and charged with obscenity and the murder of the actors, a rumour that would last for a long time.

In reality, the cast had signed contracts requiring them to disappear for a year after shooting to maintain the illusion that they had died. However, when he was arrested, Deodato contacted the actor Luca Barbareschi and told him to contact the three other actors who played the missing film team. When the actors appeared in court, alive and well, the murder charges were dropped.

Synopsis: During a rescue mission into the Amazon rainforest, a professor stumbles across lost film shot by a missing documentary crew that met an unfortunate and gory end.

PS! Although the deaths of the actors were revealed to have been a lie, the animal deaths in the film were real by the way.

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5 Movies Based on American Urban Legends

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Urban Legends are more modern day ghost or horror stories. We’ve always heard it from a friend of a friend without knowing entirely who we are talking about. Some are so famous it has become a part of our horror canon like the famous ghost stories of the past, showing the story telling is not a died out genre.

When a Stranger Calls
(1979 film and 2006 remake)

Urban Legend: Based on the legend of an unknown caller to the babysitter.

The film has developed a large cult following over time because of the first 20 minutes, now consistently regarded as one of the scariest openings in movie history.

The babysitter and the man upstairs — also known as the babysitter or the sitter — is an urban legend that dates back to the 1960s about a teenage girl babysitting children who receives telephone calls from a stalker who continually asks her to “check the children”. The basic story line has been adapted a number of times in movies.

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I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

Urban Legend: The hook-handed man

Ah, the glorious 90’s. The beautiful teens caught up in a slasher horror movie in high school flicks era. How we miss it now. This created spin-offs and everything, ghost

The Hook, or The Hookman, is an urban legend about a killer with a pirate-like hook for a hand attacking a couple in a parked car. The story is thought to date from at least the mid-1950s, and gained significant attention when it was reprinted in the advice column Dear Abby in 1960. It has since become a morality archetype in popular culture, and has been referenced in various horror films.

The film centers on four young friends who are stalked by a hook-wielding killer one year after covering up a car accident in which they killed a man.

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Candyman (1992)

Urban Legend: Well, the Boogyman, Bloody Mary, and… the hook?

In the film series, he was portrayed as the vengeful ghost of an African-American man who was brutally beaten, mutilated and fed to the bees by having honey smeared on his body for a forbidden interracial love affair in the 19th century and would haunt and kill anyone who called the name of the Candyman before a mirror five times in a row

Based on the short story, “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker, the film follows a Chicago graduate student completing a thesis on the urban legends which led her to the legend of the “Candyman“.

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Willow Creek (2013)

Urban Legend: Bigfoot

Set in Humboldt County, California, Jim (Bryce Johnson) is a Bigfoot believer whose idea of a romantic getaway is to head deep into Six Rivers National Forest in Northern California, video camera in tow, trying to shoot his own Bigfoot footage at the site of the Patterson–Gimlin film. That 1967 fragment of footage purporting to show a Sasquatch striding along a dry sandbar beside Bluff Creek became a key artifact in the cryptozoology community and Jim dreams of nothing more than setting foot on the actual location where it was shot. His long-suffering girlfriend Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) agrees to tag along for the ride, despite the fact that she thinks Bigfoot has about as much chance of being real as leprechauns.

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Urban Legend (1998)

Urban Legend: Really. Just… Every-single-one

Urban Legend is a 1998 American slasher film directed by Jamie Blanks, written by Silvio Horta, and starring Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, and Tara Reid. So, the best of the 90s as you can see.

Its plot focuses on a series of murders on the campus of a private New England university, all of which appear to be modeled after popular urban legends. The film has been credited by both cinema and folklore scholars as being one of the first major films to redistribute the urban legends and folklore depicted within it to the public.

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