All language subtitles for Hometown.Horror.S01E06.Satanic.Swamp.WEBRip.x264-CAFFEiNE.English

An idyllic
new England town

Surrounded by a cursed forest.

It is well known
as the dark woods.

Here darkness reigns.

You have all that evil
that went on over there.

Satanic cults.

He called himself
the son of satan.

You could see pentagrams
painted everywhere.

We saw a group of people
standing around with rifles.

All echoes of a hidden
past and a centuries-old portal.

To the underworld.

I felt like I was
in a horror movie.

But it wasn't. It was real.

For most of history,

New England was blanketed
in forests.

But today, many of these trees
have been cut down

And replaced by modern housing
and urban sprawl.

However, a few remain along
with their ancient powers.

I worked for the freetown
police department

And I worked for
the bristol county

District attorney's office.

Alan alves spent
his career patrolling

The freetown state forest.

That state forest is not the
same as any other forest

Anywhere that I've ever been
in my life.

The hairs on your arms stand up
on end, and if you notice

When you're in the woods,
you don't hear birds.

You don't see deer.

It just feels very eerie
here, very eerie.

It's, like, cold.

When I was a young rookie
and I rode with the lieutenant,

And I saw these people
in the woods.

Red robes and stuff
like that around the fire

And I said "what's going on
here?"

He said, "those are just
hippies left over from the '60s.

Don't worry about it."

But it turned out not to be.

These groups,
these people were doing some

Very heinous things
in the forest.

Alan's career
will take him

Deep into this fortress
of darkness...

...Commonly known
as the cursed forest.

Settled by the pilgrims
in 1659,

Freetown is one of
the oldest communities

In the united states.

Today, residents paint a serene
picture of a modest village

That takes care of its own.

I grew up here
in freetown, massachusetts,

Lived here
pretty much all my life.

You know, it is very much
a friendly country setting.

Freetown is a very small town.

A little, quaint town with not
too much industry going on.

That's the way the locals
seem to like it.

It's a good place to grow up.

The people are good.

We look out for each other.

But one thing sets
freetown apart

From the many other idyllic
villages that pepper the region.

Within the town of freetown
there is a huge forest.

That's about a 10,000-acre
preserve.

And it's called the
freetown-fall

River state forest.

As clean and quaint
and beautiful as freetown is,

Everybody who lives around
here knows about the shadow

That the forest
casts upon the town.

I always describe the forest
as its own entity.

There's something
in the forest.

It is well known
as the cursed forest.

Residents commonly refer to
the freetown state forest

As the cursed forest

Because it is well known
as a place where terrible

And unexplainable things happen.

I believe the curse is to
keep people out of the forest.

I believe the power of the curse
is what's fueling

All the bad things
that have gone on.

Many keep their
distance at all costs.

When I was growing up
my parents told me

They never wanted me
to go in the forest by myself.

You definitely feel that

There might be something
walking with you.

But for others the
forest is a source of curiosity

That's impossible to resist.

When I was a kid, my friends
and I would spend a lot of time

Out walking in the woods
and exploring the swamps.

James rice grew up
just steps from the woods.

But when he was 12 years old,
he had an experience

That made him understand
why his hometown state forest

Is believed to be cursed.

We're walking down elm
street, a friend and I

And we happen to notice some
footsteps.

And we thought that was unusual.

So we started following
the footprints

And they disappeared
into the woods.

So we followed this path for
quite some ways to the woods.

And I just felt
very uncomfortable.

This sort of sense of dread
and a mental chill.

We could see a girl
coming from the woods

And someone's chasing her
or something's chasing her.

When we got there
she'd had disappeared.

And I called my friend over
and said, "I'm feeling

Something very strange here."

I could sense sadness or despair

Or fear sort of all
combining at once.

My friend said,
I don't feel anything."

I said, "well, no, come stand
exactly where I'm standing."

And he said,
"wow, yeah, you're right.

I don't understand it

And I've never felt
this way before.

I don't feel comfortable
in this particular place."

I think a part of me wondered

If maybe what I was experiencing
was a call for help,

But being a 12-year-old boy
I had no idea

How I could possibly help
this person or this spirit.

James doesn't realize
that the mysterious woman

May have been warning him of the
dangers in the cursed forest.

Within months of this
unexplainable encounter,

James has another
more terrifying experience.

One Halloween night,
we were coming back

From a little bit of trick
or treating

And we saw a car that looked
like an elderly couple.

We thought that they were lost,
but they pulled down this road

With great deliberation

As if they knew exactly
where they were going.

We built up the courage
to go down there.

When we got down there
just around this area

We found a burned cross...

...And some bones
from some animals.

My friend said, "wow, I think
that what we're seeing

Is some sort of gathering
on Halloween night."

We saw a group of people
standing around with rifles.

And they turned
in our direction.

We weren't sure if the intention

Was just to scare us or
if they had a darker intention.

Eventually we knew we'd have to
come out from behind the rocks

And we didn't know if somebody
would be

Lying in wait for us
at that time.

And they weren't.

And we were able
to get away safely.

James wonders if this
terrifying encounter

Has anything to do
with the mysterious girl

And the chilling sense of dread

He experienced
a few months earlier.

Is it all evidence of a curse

That earned the dark forest
its nickname,

And what was
this menacing group?

These are questions that
retired detective alan alves

Began asking early in his career
when he was assigned

To investigate
the freetown state forest.

Originally believed by other
officers to be harmless hippies,

Alan soon learned that
the group was far more dangerous

Than he could
have ever imagined.

They would tie ribbons

That you could track.

The yellow means turn right.

You come to another ribbon
that might be red.

Turn left.

Until you came to the site
of the actual rituals.

And that's where we would find

Some of the evidence
the ritual took place.

A large stone.

Pentagrams in the ground.

Dead animals.

There was one where we found
20 or 25 calves

Completely drained of blood.

I felt like I was
in a horror movie.

But it wasn't. It was real.

In the center of
freetown lies a forest

Constantly teeming
with mystery and terror.

Are all the horrors people
experience today

Connected to a mysterious curse
from the past?

Police officer alan alves
began examining

Disturbing activity

In these so-called cursed woods
in the 1970s, embarking on

One of the most frightening
investigations of his career.

I started doing research
and I brought

Photographs of what I took,
what I saw in the state forest.

Alan discovered
that the pictures

That he had taken
matched up with symbols

Commonly used
in satanic rituals.

And I started understanding
what was going on there.

There was rituals
worshipping satan.

Since first stepping
into the forest,

Alan felt a dark energy.

And as a young and hungry
rookie, he was determined

To find out the source of the
evil gripping his hometown.

He soon learned that a man
named carl drew

Was at the center
of the disturbing activity

Taking place in freetown forest.

I think the forest brought up
the darkness in carl drew.

When carl drew's
crimes were discovered,

He was brought in
for questioning.

To this day, a few figures
cast as dark a shadow

As this menacing cult leader.

I saw an evil.

It was like looking
at the devil himself.

He called himself
the son of satan.

He believed that satan
will punish you

Even if he has carl drew do it.

Carl drew was a pimp.

If any called of carl drew's
girls got out of line,

They would be violently
punished.

It was a very active cult.

They were doing their rituals in
the forest.

You have all that evil
that went on over there.

Rumors
of cult activity

Begin to spread through freetown

Giving the cursed forest an even
more sinister reputation.

As a teenager, local resident
john brightman

Started to hear the stories

But he had no idea
that the area of the forest

That he and his friends
often explored

Was once the site
of horrific cult sacrifices.

I became aware of
some of the darker things

That went on here
in the freetown state forest

When I was probably about 14.

I was told a lot of bad things
happened there

And that people were afraid
to go into the forest.

But when john ventures
into the woods on a sunny day

In 1984, he can't imagine
the dark energy

He will come in contact with.

I was riding my bike
with some friends.

I was riding fast.
I pulled away from them.

And I needed to stop
to let them catch up.

And I hear this noise.

It's almost like a branch
break in the back.

I noticed this figure

About maybe 3-1/2, 4-foot-tall,
child-like,

Standing there staring
right at me.

You could see right through it.

His eyes were
just piercing black.

Never said a word.

Never moved.

I can hear the bikes coming.

And as I turned back,
it was gone.

It was the first time
that anything like this

Has happened to me, and it
really did shake me.

It sent chills down my bones

Because I didn't know
what it was.

John's encounter
with the black-eyed boy

Haunts him to this day.

I was right about
where the car is

And I just happened
to turn around

And right here

I saw the little boy.

The little boy
just standing like this.

Just kind of looking
right up at me.

The memories are spinning
through my head

And I'm just kinda thinking
of me

As a little boy
kind of freaking out again.

It's stuck with me for
so long and still to this day

That it made me draw it out.

And I decided to finally
get it tattooed on me.

Over the years, john
also repeatedly returned

To the site where he encountered
the black-eyed boy.

On one of his visits
he noticed a beaten-down shack.

The shack that used to be
at this site was here

When I was a young kid.

And it was very broken down

But it was covered with graffiti
and satanic symbols and signs.

Pentagrams painted everywhere.

Hearing the stories of what
I grew up hearing

And thinking this was so close
to home, it really startled me.

When I think about
what could have happened,

It scared me.

Back in the 1970s,
detective alan alves

Was once called to this
very location to investigate

An ominous shack rumored
to be associated

With a disturbing
cult activity in the area.

I was directed to an area

Where these hunters
found the bunker.

The cults are very secretive,
they're very protective.

They're the ones who become
very dangerous.

The horror that he is
about to unearth reveals

A whole new level
to the group's depravity.

As a child growing up
in the mid-1980s,

John brightman came face-to-face
with the dark side

Of the freetown forest,

When he encountered a mysterious
black-eyed child

Near an ominous shack
covered with satanic symbols.

It's just a few miles from town
and is a site

That detective alan alves had
also discovered in the 1970s

When he was investigating
disturbing cult activity.

What he found there were
the makings of a nightmare.

Chair had an upside-down
cross on it.

And then there was all kind of
baby clothes all there.

And then they had several dolls.

Some with their eyes taken out
some with the heads off.

I learned that in the satanic
religion sacrifices

Of newborn babies

Are the best sacrifice followed
by children, followed by female.

Though it is never proven that
children were sacrificed,

Eventually the cult's leader,
carl drew, is arrested

For murdering
one of his followers.

And the activity
in the forest seems to subside.

But john's encounter
with the black-eyed boy suggests

That a dark presence
continues to linger.

I started learning
the history of the forest

And heard about the cults
and the rituals.

Who knows
if the black-eyed child

Could be possibly one of
the victims of this cult.

John will always
wonder if the mysterious spirit

Who he encountered
by the satanic shack

Is connected to carl drew's
cult.

But he is not the only one to
have an unexplainable encounter

With a disturbing apparition.

Friends luann joly and
rené car live near the forest.

One day, a walk in the woods

Leads to a chilling
confrontation.

René and I were in the forest
walking through.

And I thought I saw a figure,
a dark figure

Step behind a tree.

It felt like something else
was there with us, a presence.

But there was no one
for miles around.

I was scared.
I even stepped down

And I looked around
with my flashlight.

Moments later, I heard
a voice say...

Carl drew.

Was this a victim
or a warning to stay away?

When you hear the name
carl drew,

It is like somebody
poured ice water down your back.

It was very, very upsetting.

But not every
eerie encounter

Can be connected to carl drew.

You have people right up
to today, they're enacting

The same kind of things
that the cult did.

Which came first,
the chicken or the egg?

You know, in this case, was
there a negative energy

Before the cult came

And that's why they even
picked the forest?

The problem was that strange
things in the state parks

Didn't stop with carl drew
or end with carl drew.

What is the curse
that lies beneath the surface

Of the forest and seems
to attract

So much darkness and evil?

Travis pike grew up in freetown

And heard all of the stories.

It has quite the reputation.

Despite that
reputation,

When travis was a teenager

The cult hadn't been active
in years

And he and his friends enjoyed
the eerie feeling they got

Exploring the freetown forest

We're all used to being
out in the woods.

So when we started to come out
on some of these old dirt roads

You get a sense of being
completely isolated

And on top of that
you always felt like

You were kind of being watched.

But one day,
travis had an experience

In the cursed forest that
still shakes him to his core.

It's just a group of friends
in a rural town

With not much really to do.

So we would go out
to have a bonfire.

I was kind of standing
over the firepit

Trying to get it going and...

...One of my friends
had yelled, you know,

"I think there's
somebody over here."

Guys, I think
there's someone over here.

Hey! Who's in there?

Hello?

Hey.

We could all see bits
of something

Moving through the brush.

He was there.

We were kind of yelling,
"hey, why are you following us?"

We never got any answer.

Who's back there?

It was almost taunting us
to come into the woods.

- Come on, let's get out of here.
- Yeah, let's go.

Everybody panicked
and freaked out.

- Hurry up!
- Come on!

Damn it! Come on, please?

And we turned the keys
and nothing happened.

- Start the car.
- I'm trying.

- Start it!
- Come on!

- Go! Go!
- It's not starting.

You got to be kidding me.

Come on!

Hurry!

Let's go, let's go!

And when I went to jump in
the driver's side of my truck...

What is it?

I went pale and all the hair
on my neck stood up.

In a forest
where unexplainable encounters

Frequently occur
and a dark energy

Is rumored to inspire evil,

An ominous note is enough
to send travis pike

Into a fit of terror.

Jump back in the car
and turn the key.

- Start it. Start the car.
- Stat the car!

And again, nothing happened.
Everybody's freaking out.

Hurry! Hurry.

And then the third time
I turned the key...

- Yeah!
- Yes! Yes!

...The car started
like nothing was wrong.

And we left that dirt road
sideways.

Who was the author
of this threatening note

And what did it mean?

After I had that experience
it kind of intrigued me.

Was it just us being anxious and
scared or was there actually

Something else at work?

Travis isn't alone in feeling

That there might be
a threatening presence

Lurking in the trees.

Many believe that there are
dark forces in the forest.

Years after alan alves
investigated

Carl drew's evil cult,
disturbing things

Continue to happen
in these mysterious woods.

Evil things, satanic things
still went on in the forest.

People were still
having rituals,

People were committing suicide,

Other people had been found
dead there.

Why does everyone
pick the forest?

Something's drawing them to it.

The freetown state forest
appears to be a force field

Like no other.

Something deep in these woods

Has an immense power
to bring out evil.

It's interesting
with route 24,

People call it massachusetts's
deadliest highway.

It goes right through
the forest,

And it's very narrow.

Manny famalore has
been a paramedic in freetown

For almost 20 years.

He knows the horror
stories well.

A lot of people say that there's

Really negative energy
in this area.

I believe that there must be
something in this area

Because with
the stories consistent,

There has got to be something

That keeps them
the way that they are.

In his job, manny
has seen trends that suggest

All the chatter
about the cursed forest

Is more than just speculation.

He has seen an unusually
high number of car accidents

On route 24, the highway

That runs directly through
the freetown state forest.

In 2009, there
was over 650 accidents.

On route 24 in freetown,
this was the scene

Shortly after 4:30 this evening.

The victim is 53-year-old...

In 2017, there was over
500 accidents.

Massachusetts state
police have confirmed

That one person died
at the scene.

A lot of these
accidents have fatalities

And these are very,
very violent accidents

And people can't explain why
there's so many on this highway.

There's deaths everywhere,
but there's a consistency

In the deaths and in the
suicides in the area.

And it really makes you wonder,

Is there something that's
drawing that negative energy?

Manny has a theory
that the forest's history

May provide an important clue.

People say that
the area is cursed.

So could it be because the area
was built parallel

To an old indian trail?

But it's just
one of those mysteries.

Those who know
the history of the region

Are certain that the experiences
of the native americans here

Have contributed to the forest's
dark energy.

Long before the cult activity

And other modern murders,

The native american
wampanoag people

Faced horrors
in these cursed woods

That nearly led
to their annihilation.

The wampanoag people came up
from the south as the ice

Retreated, as the bays
were formed.

We've been here
about 12,000 years.

Hartman deetz is a member

Of the mashpee wampanoag tribe.

The freetown state forest
in particular

Is an area where wampanoag
people have

Had ongoing presence.

One place in the
forest that has always been

Especially significant
to the wampanoag people

Is the hockomock swamp.

Now separated
by modern architecture,

The hockomock swamp
was considered

Part of the freetown state
forest,

Wetlands to be respected
and feared.

The wampanoags felt that
this swamp held

A lot of negative energy.

That it was basically a gateway
to their version of hades.

In fact, the name hockomock
swamp loosely translated

From algonquin means "dark
place" or "place of the devil."

A local author,
andrew lake, has researched

The wampanoag's troubled history
with the swamp.

From the time that
the pilgrims landed in plymouth

The wampanoags would tell
the settlers not

To venture too far in the swamp

Because they may
never come back.

This was considered to be
a very spooky place

Of superstition
and supernatural beings.

Despite these
warnings, tensions between

The wampanoags and the european
settlers arose, and a bloody war

Was fought for control
of the lands

Surrounding the hockomock swamp.

King philip's war, as it's
known, is the war

That was fought in the 1670s

Between the wampanoag people
and the english.

There's conflicts over land
transactions which are happening

Very constantly
and big chunks of land

Are being transferred
from native hands

To foreigner hands.

And ultimately people fought
back and forth and whole towns

And whole villages were
destroyed on both sides.

The king philip's war
was actually bloodier

Than our own civil war, american
civil war, per capita.

It was a very horrible,
horrible war where both sides

Did very horrible things
to one another.

Some believe that
the brutality of the war

Was due to its proximity
to the hockomock swamp

With all its mystical powers.

The idea that the forest
was cursed began to take shape.

Because even the warfare

Was almost horrific
and supernatural.

I mean, there were crimes
committed on both sides

To women and children that were
just absolutely unspeakable.

And a lot of people believe

That it was supernatural forces
within the area

That may have actually
influenced the wampanoag

And the plymouth colony to be
so violent towards one another.

Like the spirits
reminding residents of the cult

And other modern evil,
there is unexplainable activity

That harks back
to the king philip's war.

There have been
the stories of drumbeats.

That happens at all
the locations

That seem to be key
to the king philip's war.

We've heard the stories
and we were out there.

We heard drumming, we heard
15 beats in intervals of three.

Boom boom boom.
Boom boom boom.

It was pretty dramatic.

And it wasn't anybody
messing with us.

You hear the drumming.

It's kind of an
eerie feeling that,

"hey, there's
something out there

That wants to
play this for you."

Mysterious encounters
with spirits

And vicious criminal activity

In the freetown state forest

Follow in a long tradition
of violence and blood

That has been spilled
for centuries.

It could be argued
that the hockomock swamp

And freetown seem to be
the real centers

For the spirit activity because
of their connection to the war.

The dark history trickled
down the evil

That could be responsible
for the king philip's war

May be the reason
why you have such dark crimes

Such as the satanic activity.

To this day people
still report very strange

And unsettling things
around this area.

In the cursed forest,
a spot known

As the assonet ledge has been
the unfortunate site

Of many suicides.

Could this have something to do
with its proximity

To the hockomock swamp?

The first time
I went up there,

I felt an enormous
feeling to jump.

And I backed away from it.

It was really
a strong feeling

And then I tried to get back

And it was a strange feeling
that I was gonna fall.

And I got further
and further back.

And I've never walked
to that ledge ever since.

Once a bunch of us friends
were at the assonet ledge.

I'm afraid of heights,
would not go near the edge.

And I felt this weird
feeling come over me.

And my friends saw me
start walking

To the edge of the ledge.

They thought I was gonna jump.

And I don't remember
any of it.

One local legend
says that during

The king philip's war, a number
of wampanoag warriors

Leapt to their deaths
from the assonet ledge

To avoid being killed
by the colonists.

Might this be the reason
people feel

That they are being lured
towards the edge?

Haunted by their own experiences
at the assonet ledge

And throughout the forest,
john, alan, and andrew

Decide to see if
they can connect

With the source of the curse.

We've always been told
don't go there at night

And a lot of people
will purposely stay out of there

And I'm nervous about
being there at night right now

Because of what
could be going on

Or what could happen.

You know, a lot of people
have gone into the woods

And some haven't come out.

What is the evil
that's in here

That draws the people
to come here and interact

And cause the trouble
that they cause

And the problems
that they bring here?

I mean, to have
that much crime,

I mean, and satanic stuff
all concentrated

In one area like that.

It is a place I find strange.
This is no doubt about it.

Let's face it,
the native americans

In this area always felt that
the swamps

Were special places
places, places to fortify.

But this place right here,
the hockomock,

This is a place of darkness,
a place of evil.

The indians always known,
it's always been.

It could show itself.

Andrew, john, and alan
are about to venture

Into the heart
of the hockomock swamp.

They have all been
impacted by the cursed woods

And are uniting in a mission to
confront the source of the evil

Head on.

It is a crazy, crazy
place, that's for sure.

I don't know.
It might be my imagination

But it does feel heavy
back here.

Yes, very, very heavy
back here.

It is very, very quiet.
Very quiet.

My experience has been,
you know, human activity

Doesn't shut tree frogs up.
Those things are awful quiet.

Do you feel cold?

It does -- it does feel like
the temperature's dropped.

It does.

And being summertime,
almost the first week of July,

It should not be this cold
but it has dropped.

As the group moves
deeper into the swamp,

They begin to feel
that they are not alone.

The hell was that?

What the hell was that?

I heard some movement
over there.

Yeah, you did too. Right?
Yeah.

You definitely heard
that, like, a little splash.

I did. Yeah.

Hey, andrew?
Yes.

Come here and take
a look at this.

Straight ahead,
where my light is.

We're being watched
right now.

The dark energy emanating
from the hockomock swamp

Is believed by many
to be the root of the evil

Pervading the freetown
state forest.

Something was reflecting back,
looking back us.

You mean like eyes?
Yeah, like eyes, yes.

John, alan, and andrew
are venturing deeper

Into the notorious
hockomock swamp.

They are experiencing
the dark energy

That usually keeps people away

And believe that a mysterious
presence is following them.

You know, the indians
would warn the settlers,

You know, don't go
too far into it

And you don't get lured into it.

Are we allowing
our own fascination,

Our own interests,
our own curiosity

To have us walk further
and further into this?

And that's what
I'm getting afraid of.

As they get closer
to the heart of the swamp,

The forest's dark energy
becomes too much.

I can't. I'm feeling
very uncomfortable over here.

Yeah. Yeah. You know,
you were saying earlier,

Maybe we could find, you know,
the evil that's in here.

I don't know, maybe
if we go a little further

We're going to and I don't know
if that's such a good idea.

Not what we want to find.
Yeah.

No, I agree.

The group stops
in their tracks.

They are not comfortable
traveling any deeper

Into the dark swamplands.

Just the heaviness of it.

It was uncomfortable.

It made me very nervous

And anxious
to actually get out of there.

Yeah, no, I'm glad you said it

'cause I was keeping
it to myself,

I didn't want to, you know.
Yep.

You guys ready
to get out of here?

From the ancient
powers of the hockomock swamp,

To the bloodshed
during the king philip's war,

To murders, suicides, accidents,

Cult sacrifices, and mysterious
encounters with lost souls,

The freetown state forest

Has more than earned
its reputation

As a cursed forest.

And many freetown
locals believe

That their state park is
destined to be cursed forever.

I was definitely
skeptical growing up

But the more time
I spend out here

The more I feel that there's
definitely something not right.

I think freetown state
park will always be remembered

As an odd and strange place.

Everybody around the area
knows about it.

Freetown will always
be haunted by its dark history.

There will always be something
that is attaching to this town.