All language subtitles for The UnXplained S01E01 Evil Places 1080p AMZN WEB-DL DDP2 0 H 264-NTb_track4_[eng]

[William] Deadly forests.

Haunted houses.

[children laughing]

And mountains
where visitors...

never return alive.

Are there such things
as evil places?

Places that are really
born bad.

There are those
who believe that

not only is such an
incredible notion possible,

but that there are literally
thousands of these places...

all around us.

But how could a seemingly
harmless destination like
an amusement park...

really be thought
of as cursed?

Well...

That is what
we'll try and find out.

[theme music playing]

[William] In central Japan,
60 miles southwest of Tokyo...

lies the Aokigahara Forest.

Located at the base
of Mount Fuji,

it is considered
by the Japanese to be sacred.

Although, in recent years,
many believe

that these woods have become
not a holy place...

but a place of evil.

Each year, shockingly
high numbers of people

come here
to end their own lives.

So many in fact that the place
has become known as
the Suicide Forest.

If you ever walk through
any other woods or forest,

you'll always hear the birds,
and you hear rustling,

and you hear
all sorts of things.

But not in Suicide Forest,

in Suicide Forest
it's just completely
and absolutely silent.

I didn't see a living
thing other than those plants,

and I certainly
didn't hear anything.

So, it's the silence
that really hits you at first.

It definitely had
a different feel to it,

and that kind of raises
the anxiety.

A lot of locals will tell you
that as they grew up near
the forest,

they were told never
to go there.

It's a dark, scary place.

It's not a place for you.
Stay away from it.

[Dominic] Aokigahara literally
translates as the
"field of green trees".

This forest is also known as
the Jukai, the "sea of trees".

Many people go and commit
suicide typically by hanging

or also by prescription
drug overdose.

Officials have stopped
publicizing the numbers
so as to not encourage

more people to go there,
but it really has become
a magnet for suicides.

[William]
At the entrance to the park,

signs are posted advising
those who enter the forest

with suicidal thoughts
to stop and turn back.

It is a warning meant
to prevent people from
being swallowed up

by the darkness of this place.

A darkness from which
there is no return.

These signs tell people,
"Please don't commit suicide,
think of your parents,

think of your family."

They give you information
on who to call if you need
some help.

So, it's very clear that this
is a concern of theirs.

They know it's a problem.

And they ask you,
please, don't do this.

And you'll see those signs everywhere,

which remind you
of how prevalent
the problem is.

[Dominic] Aokigahara is also
a non-camping forest,

so camping
is strictly forbidden.

Yet, people who
contemplate suicide

sometimes bring their tents.

We do have lots
of these traces

of the departed
that remain in the forest.

From personal effects
to thread marking the paths.

Part of the mistake of Suicide
Forest is quite often,

people who want
to commit suicide
will wear these ribbons

because they haven't
figured out

whether they really
want to do it or not.

So, they'll tie the ribbon,
and if they change their mind,

they could find their way out.

But if they don't change
their mind...

at the end of that ribbon,
you may find a body.

[William]
The Suicide Forest has one of
the highest suicide rates

of anywhere in the world.

But unlike other such places
like the Golden Gate Bridge

or Niagara Falls,

where people jump
to their deaths...

Here they come to
experience a different

and arguably more disturbing
method of release.

In Japanese belief,

any person who dies
has to receive a proper,
um, ritual treatment

in order to transition
to the world of the dead.

If they don't receive this
very specific, generally,
Buddhist rights,

there's a belief that the soul
of the deceased person

will linger in the physical
plane of existence.

If someone commits suicide
on the spot,

it's believed that the yurei,
the ghost will be hanging
around that spot

where they committed suicide.
They're tied to it, there.

So, it becomes a potential
dangerous spot if other people
are just walking through it.

They can get lured
by theyurei

who's gonna influence
them somehow

to commit suicide themselves.

Aokigahara becoming
a suicide spot

is a relatively
recent phenomenon

that started in the 1960s.

It can be traced back
to a novel called
the Tower of Waves,

in which two
of the main protagonists

could not live out their love,

and then decided to commit
suicide together
in this forest.

This is one of the
reasons why the forest became
a very famous suicide spot.

[David] It's rather strange
that they say around
a hundred bodies a year

are found in that place.

And it begs the question,
"Is there something about
the place itself

that attracts people
to go there
to commit suicide?"

[George] It probably started
off as just a dense force,

but as more and more people
kill themselves in this place,

I think the evil permeates
all over the place,

and it's probably affecting
people who go in there.

[William] Evil? Permeating
the atmosphere?

Could such an extraordinary
and frightening notion
be true?

I think everybody has gone
to a certain spot,

and they feel uncomfortable
with it.

They just don't know
exactly why,

but they just
don't feel right.

They feel like
something's wrong here.

This doesn't feel good to me.

It's kind of evil.

There are certain regions
that have had bad things
happen to it,

and you could feel it.

We have to realize
that the human body
is one of the most

ultimate pieces
of scientific equipment.

You have so many different
types of sensors on your body.

You can see, smell, hear,
taste, feel.

And all that information
that you're receiving
from your environment

causes you to feel
the way you do
at any given second.

So, if your body is not
feeling right,

and your brain is telling you
something's not right here,

it is possible that it is
an evil location, right?

[William] In recent years,
scientists studying the morbid
phenomenon of Japan's

so-called Suicide Forest
have suggested that the answer
to the mystery

might be not a paranormal one
but geological.

One of the really
interesting things
about Suicide Forest

is it didn't exist

until the last massive
eruption of Mount Fuji,

which is more than
a thousand years ago.

And that's what laid out
this enormous bed of lava
that eventually hardened.

There are chambers
within the ground,
and in these chambers

is where people will go into
and commit suicides.

Some of them will just
take pills and lie down,

and eventually, you'll find
a body inside one of these chambers.

There's a possibility
that the volcanic region,
the rocks, the basalt,

might have some sort of
piezo-electric type
material within them

that could generate electric
and magnetic fields.

And it's also known
that electromagnetic fields
do impact the brain activity.

I would think
from the evidence
that this geomagnetic field

is having some impact
on mass depression.

The connection
between magnetic anomalies

and chemical reactions
in the brain

could lead
to a type of depression

that would enhance suicide.

You can imagine a person
who is suicidal or thinking
about suicide,

but is fundamentally
uncomfortable of the idea,

moving into one
of these areas,

and this interaction makes
them just comfortable enough

that now, they will carry
through on the suicide.

[William] Could hundreds
of ritual suicides

really be the result of
magnetic anomalies
in the brain...

caused by the unique
properties of volcanic rock?

Or as many Japanese
themselves believe,

could the cause be something
even more incredible?

There's an old
saying that says,

"What we do in life echoes
in eternity."

If we have a forest
where hundreds of people

have gone to that forest
to commit suicide
for over 60 years,

could the dark energy
of all of the departed souls
be lurking there?

And could that energy
be what is attracting people
to come to the forest?

[William]
Tragic souls of the departed
luring others in to join them.

A far-fetched notion,
perhaps, but no more bizarre
than what has been happening

at the Aokigahara Forest
for the past six decades.

And no less disturbing
than what happened to a group
of hikers on a mountain top,

nearly 4,000 miles away.

A mountain that the locals
have named "Don't Go There".

[William] January 1959...

Nine mountaineers from the
Ural Polytechnic Institute

embarked on a perilous journey
through Russia's
Ural Mountains.

Their destination?

A remote mountain peak
known as Otorten,

which in the local Mansi
language means,
"Don't go there."

[Paul] They went out
on this very strenuous trek
or mission

to show that the mountain
could be conquered.

As far as we know,
they were all experienced.

Igor Dyatlov, who was
in charge of the group,

had about seven missions
to his name, similar missions.

They were supposed
to just study the mountain

to show that
they can withstand

the incredible cold in this
desolate place and come back.

[William] A few days
into their trek,

the hikers moved
through a mountain pass

with high winds
and poor visibility...

causing them to veer miles
off course.

Realizing their mistake
and faced with the bitter cold
of the coming night,

they choose to stop and camp
on a slope called
Kholat Syakhl,

which in Mansi translates
to the "Mountain of the Dead".

[wind blowing]

[Paul] It's a very windy area.

When I say windy,
the winds are horrible.

And they should not have
put the tent on that slope.

They could have
done it easily

about 100 meters away
in the forest.

They went against
all the knowledge

that the experienced
trekker should have,

so why would
they put it out there?

What drove them?
Nobody knows for sure.

[William] Weeks later,
when it becomes clear
that the group

has failed to return
from its expedition,

a military search and rescue
operation was launched.

They find the campsite abandoned...

and a tent that has been
torn to pieces.

Curiously, the investigators
determined that the tent

was cut and ripped open
from the inside.

And the hikers appear to have
fled in socks...

or barefoot.

We are dealing with a group
of experienced hikers

who escaped their tent in the
middle of the night without
any reason,

unless, something
happened to their minds.

[William] In search
of the hikers,

the investigators moved to
the edge of a nearby forest.

What they eventually find
has defied explanation
for more than 50 years.

[Paul] Four of them were
discovered initially and five
of them were found later.

And they all died differently.

Some of the bodies died
from exposure and were intact.

Some of them
were dressed completely.

Most of them were naked,
so to say.

Others had horrible wounds
on them.

Their bones were crushed
inside their bodies.

Others, their skull
was crushed.

One woman lost her tongue
and parts of her face.

Others were burnt,

like somebody put their
feet in the fire

or they put it themselves.

[man screams]

They escaped like some force,
something scared them.

[William] The official causes
of death for the hikers

claimed that six have died
from hypothermia,

and the other three,
from fatal injuries

caused by an unknown
compelling force.

But the inquiry was forced
to an abrupt end by the
Soviet government,

and the chief investigator
refused to sign off on the
final report.

[Paul] There were two
investigators initially,

and they were told
to shut up and close the case

with the determination
that the cause of deaths

was an invincible force
of nature that killed them.

[George] In some cases,
the fact that some of them
died from the bitter cold

okay, that makes sense.

They're in a region
that's freezing.

But what about
the other people?

Fractured skulls,
crushed lungs.

There's something weird here.

[William] What was
the compelling force

that inflicted such brutal
and grotesque
harm on these victims?

While some have speculated
that it could have been
an avalanche

or even an attack
by Mansi tribes,

there was virtually
no evidence to support
these claims.

Others point to local legends
of some kind of monster.

A creature capable of tearing
people apart with its voice.

There are descriptions
of Mansi

warning people
not to go to this mountain,
not to go to this area

because the sounds that come
from there can kill you.

The entity that lives
in that mountain

emits horrible
shrieking sounds...

[shrieks]

...that can destroy
human beings.

[shrieks]

[William] Recently,
a new theory has surfaced.

One that suggests
this mountain pass

may be just as deadly as the
Mansi name for it implies.

Not because of some
supernatural monster...

but for a surprisingly
scientific reason.

So, this is a very windy pass
on Ural Mountains.

In 2014, there's some study
that was done that showed that

the wind kind of
whipping through

because the topography
cause low-frequency sound,

kind of a hum.

[wind blowing]

And low-frequency sound can
cause the eyeball to vibrate,

can cause people to see
shadows out of the corner
of their eyes,

especially if you're in an
environment that is desolate,

which is what that was
to begin with.

[Michael] The dimensions and
the physics of the actual pass

are likely to lead
to very low frequencies,

which is exactly
what infrasound is.

Infrasound is just referring
to any sound that's below
our normal hearing.

But sound itself is just
pressure waves and vibration
of the air.

So, your body
is still detecting it.

Your ears are still
reacting to it.

Your eardrums are moving.

And that's still generating
electrical signals
in your brain,

so there is an impact
of the infrasound

that we don't fully
understand yet.

[Travis] Being exposed to this
sound is fatiguing your body.

Any type of fatigue
that's long-term can cause
significant psychosis.

In fact, there were several
cases on the Mir Space Station

where the Russian cosmonauts
were exposed
to various vibrations,

and it caused them
to actually have psychosis.

I have a friend who worked on
consoles for Mir,

and he said that once,
one of the cosmonauts

actually pulled a knife
on one of the other cosmonauts

because of this
type of exposure.

[Paul] It's not like a rock
falling on somebody's head.

It's happening inside
their minds.

And infrasound
is a powerful weapon.

And apparently, it's affecting
those who are coming
to the mountain.

That's why
it is a hypothesis now

that is being explored more
and more in Russia

as to the cause of death
of the Dyatlov tourists.

I don't subscribe
to the theory that heavy winds
created an atmosphere

where these people went nuts.

I think there
was something else afoot,

something very evil
and strange that happened
to these nine hikers.

And I hope we get
the answers to it.

But again, maybe we don't
want the answer.

Maybe because it's so hideous
and so evil we don't want
to know it.

Did the harsh winds
of the Dyatlov Pass

really create
a low-frequency noise

that caused the hikers
to lose their minds
and brutally kill each other?

Or could it be that a
mysterious, unknown monster

was responsible
for the hikers' deaths.

For the nine men and women
whose bodies were found
horribly mutilated,

the question is academic.

As far as they
were concerned...

evil happened here.

And it's an evil
that isn't only found

on remote mountaintops...

but right next door.

And often in the unlikeliest
of places.

[William]
Mercer County, West Virginia.

Here on the bank
of Lake Shawnee

stands the abandoned remnants
of what was once a simple,

wholesome,
family amusement park.

Opened in 1926,
the park thrived for decades,

until it was abruptly
closed in 1966.

According to local historians,
the reason for the closure

was that what started
as a playground for children

became the site of numerous
tragic and disturbing incidents.

[children laughing]

In the 1940s, a little girl
was riding the swings,

and a soda delivery truck

delivered soda
to the concession stand.

[children laughing]

And whenever he did,
he backed up into the path

of the swing,
and it killed the little girl.

[Patricia] They tried to play
it down because it was a child
getting killed.

She wasn't the only child
who got killed here.

There were several kids
that drowned.

One was a really sad story,
and I would hope it wouldn't
happen nowadays.

[water splashes]

A mother brought her
nine-year-old here

and dropped him off
to go swimming,

and she went on her merry way.

She came back
when the park was closing
and she couldn't find her son.

[woman] Come on.

[Patricia] And they looked
for the son until 10 o'clock
at night.

When they found him,
his arm was stuck in the drain
of the swimming pool,

and it had sucked him in,
and he couldn't get out,

and he had just drowned.

There was another incident
where there was a family out
on an outing.

They were riding a canoe
in the lake.

The canoe overturned,
and a little boy drowned
in the lake.

[William]
Before its doors were closed,

six children had died
in the park.

And that might have been
reason enough for the park
to remain closed...

but it didn't.

In 1985, local resident
Gaylord White purchased
the property

with hopes of reopening it.

[Jewell] In the 1950s,
Gaylord, my husband,

worked here
when he was in high school.

He fell in love with it.

So, that was his wish that
someday, we would own
the park.

And somebody had sent us word

that the heirs had finally
decided they were gonna
sell it.

That's how we bought it.

We wanted to have
a children's ride park.

[William]
For years, locals believed
that the park was haunted.

Maybe even cursed.

Then, in the late 1980s,
the White Family made some
curious discoveries.

We started finding a lot
of pottery and Native American
tools and arrowheads.

Stuff like that.

So, we stopped
doing the bulldozing.

We called Marshall University.

They put together
an archeological team

that will come down
to the park.

They started
uncovering bodies.

So, that's when we knew
we had a Native American
burial ground on the property.

I know that one of the burial
sites was a Native American
fourteen-year-old girl.

And the belief is that she
died from giving childbirth

because the child
was buried next to her.

[William]
A series of tragic deaths...

at an amusement park

built on the site of a Native
American burial ground?

A coincidence?

[children laughing]

As far as paranormal
investigators are concerned...

not a chance.

[Dave] The first time
I stepped foot on Lake Shawnee
Amusement Park,

I felt like
I was being watched.

There was an ominous,
just negative feeling.

I don't necessarily believe
that places are born bad.

I believe that things
have to occur for a place
to become negative in nature.

[Chris] People said whenever
they come to the park

that they see the swings
move on their own.

Or maybe they see an image
of the little girl that's
riding the swings.

[Patricia] Seeing only one
swing move when I look at it
and no one else sees it,

or it stops as soon
as someone else is looking,

that's pretty scary.

More than it's scary
is it's unexplained.

We tend to be scientists now.

All of this we know,
everything that's going on.

And when you see something
that you don't understand,

it gets to be creepy.

[Lloyd] Millions of people
have had these experiences,

not just hauntings
but also ESP experiences,
and related experiences.

These are questions
that science should be looking
at very carefully and closely.

And to say,
oh, it's mass hallucination

or it's this kind
of explanation

without looking
into the experience itself,

either the singular
or the general patterns,

it's not scientific.

It's highly unscientific.

[William] Is the dark history
of the Lake Shawnee
Amusement Park

the result of a curse
placed upon anyone

that dares to desecrate
this sacred ground?

Or was the area always
a place of evil?

A place where bad things
will always happen...

regardless of what
is built there.

Perhaps the answer
can be found by examining
a place

where some people believe
evil not only happens
but can actually be measured

not only in fear
and suffering,

but scientifically, it can be
proven to be as tangible
as flesh and blood.

[William] Cayuga, Indiana.

February 16th, 2019.

Paranormal investigator
Dave Spinks and his associate
Haley Sharp

have traveled here
to this small town

to investigate a house
that many consider
to be the most evil place...

in North America.

Referred to as Willows Weep,
it has been the site of a
series of gruesome deaths

since it was built
in the 19th century.

Brenda Johnson
owns Willows Weep.

- Hi, Brenda.
- [Brenda] Dave.

[William]
She dismissed the rumors
about it being an evil place

and purchased it
only a few years ago

with plans to renovate it.

- This is my assistant, Haley.
- Hi.

It's nice to meet you.

[William] But recent events
have convinced her

that she may have made
a terrible mistake.

To this end,
she's invited Dave and Haley

to come and investigate
the house

and see if her strange
experiences can be verified.

[Dave] So, how are you doing?

[laughing]
Not good standing here.

All night last night,
I was sick thinking about

coming over here
around this house.

So, tell us a little bit
about the house,

some of your experiences here.

Well, when I bought the house,
we started working on it.

And then, my son was working
on the ceiling,

the boards come flying
off at him and hurt him,

and I've been scratched
in there.

Six claw marks down my back.

Doors slamming on you,
banging underneath the floors.

Well, I understand there's
been deaths in this house.

- Can you kind of go through
those a little bit?
- Yeah.

[Brenda]
The man that built the house,
he died in the bathtub.

There were two suicides.

And then, another hanging.

And I heard that three men
had been poisoned.

About six months
prior before I bought it,

there was a man that,
he committed suicide in there.

- He fell into the chair.
- [Dave] And that's
where they found him?

or they found him what,
a couple of days later, right?

- [Brenda] Week.
- [Dave] A week. Week later. Okay.

[Dave] Do you think
what's in that house is evil?

Yes, I do.

- Without a doubt?
- Yes, I do, without a doubt.

If it wasn't evil,
it wouldn't be hurting people.

I don't think
there's nothing good in there.

- Your house was built in the
late 1800s, correct?
- 1890, yes.

So, regarding the shape
of the house,

it's in the shape of a,
a cross.

Upside down cross.

[Dave] Strange.

[Brenda]
Yes, very strange. [laughs]

[Dave] Do you think the guy
was into some weird stuff,

like occult stuff,
that built it?

Why would you build
a house like it,

if he wasn't into something?

Absolutely.

So, we're getting ready going
into this house
and investigate it.

- Would you like to join us?
- No, no way.

Never go back
in there again, ever.

All right. We're gonna go in
there and investigate.

All right.

- [Dave] Here we go.
- [Haley] All right.

Pretty heavy in here.

[Haley] Definitely.

Well, where you wanna
get set up?

- Right here.
- Okay.

[William]
To see if the house might
contain strange anomalies,

Dave and Haley
will use a temperature sensor,

which can detect fluctuations
in both temperature and
electromagnetic fields.

All right, 41, 40 degrees,
and it's going down.

[beeping]

[Haley]
It really likes this area.

[Dave] Yeah.

[beeping continues]

[Dave] It's going nuts.

[William]
The temperature sensor
has been dropping steadily,

by as much as nine degrees.

But why?

So, this room is appearing
to be pretty active so far.

I mean,
the whole house really is,

but we've got a lot of hits
right here on this device.

[Haley] This is the chair
that Brenda was talking about.

Yeah, look at the blood on it.

It's a really sad,
heavy feeling right here
too in the pit of my stomach.

Almost immediately,
the device started going off
in the chair

where the man who killed
himself in the house

several years ago
was found in.

[Haley] Something there.

[William] Could the strange
changes in the temperature
of the house

be caused by some
explainable force?

A sudden drop
in barometric pressure

caused by the presence
of a deep
underground well, perhaps.

Or could it be caused
by something else?

Something that can't yet
be explained?

Well, I'm getting
the sickness, the headache.

Definitely something
negative in here,
in my opinion.

- I agree.
- All right,
so let's get out of here.

- Let's go.
- All right.

[William] Dave and Haley
are beginning to suspect

that the stories
of Willows Weep
being an evil place...

might be based on more
than fear and superstition.

[Haley] House is scary.

I wouldn't wanna be
in this house alone.

Let's say this house
does have some evil in it.

It does not give you
a good feeling.

It wants to suck
the life out of you.

I've been to many locations,
and this one stands out
above all of them so far.

In my personal opinion,
there are many spirits
and entities in this house.

There are human spirits
and possibly demonic spirits

that influenced the humans
that have lived in this house,

and quite possibly,
have caused them
to harm themselves.

[William] Once outside,
Dave and Haley give owner
Brenda Johnson

a report on their findings,

but not before Dave
makes Brenda
a rather surprising offer.

- I know you really
don't like this place.
- No.

- And I know that
you want to get rid of it.
- Yeah.

Because I'd like to purchase
the house from you.

[laughs]

Mm-hmm.

Okay. Yes.

[William] Dave is willing
to be the next owner
of Willows Weep.

- All right. Thank you.
- Thank you, hon.

[Dave] I told Brenda,
if I own this house,

I can investigate
it much further

and much more in-depth,

and possibly come
to a conclusion

as to what's causing the evil
that lurks within its walls.

That is if something
doesn't happen to me first.

Luckily for me, she agreed.

She really couldn't
wait to sell the place.

Was Willows Weep really built
to attract evil spirits?

For Brenda Johnson,
Dave Spinks, and Haley Sharp,

the answer
is a very disturbing "yes".

But why would someone
deliberately want
to construct an evil place?

Unless perhaps
it wasn't meant to attract...

demonic spirits...

but to entrap them.

In an effort to create
a deadly warning...

that demons are real.

[William] Honduras.

February 2015.

Deep in the heart
of the jungle,

a team of American explorers,
journalists, and archeologists

make a dramatic discovery.

Evidence of an ancient city
that has been lost
for more than 500 years.

We were standing there
on the banks of this river,

and the archeologist
was pointing
to this wall of jungle

and saying across the river,

that's the beginning
of the lost city.

So, we crossed the river,
with soldiers with machetes
cutting a path for us.

And all of a sudden,
there it is rising up
out of the jungle.

Just straight up practically.

It was the most amazing thing.

[leaves rustling]

And then what we saw
was a cache of sacred objects
carved out of stone

that have been left
at the time the city
was abandoned.

And this was
a gigantic mystery.

Why did these people
leave all of a sudden?

[birds chirp]

[William]
The expedition announced

that they had uncovered
the top level of a vast city,

which has been buried
under centuries
of jungle vegetation.

Soon afterwards,
many began to speculate

as to whether the ruins
were those
of a legendary place

known to Hondurans
as Ciudad Blanca

or the White City.

A place that was believed
to have been deserted
centuries ago...

because of a deadly curse.

We went to do
our ground expedition in 2015.

Many of the local Hondurans

and the Honduran
Air Force people,
they were with us,

and the Special Forces
people said,

"My grandmother
and my grandfather

told me all about
the lost city
when we were kids."

And they said it's cursed.

They said, if you go there...

and you pick
any of the flowers...

you will die.
You will never come back.

[Tok] In the case of
the White City,

there is a very interesting
tradition of a Tawahka Indian

who came to live there
with them.

And they refused him shelter,
chased him out.

And in turn,
he cursed the city.

And he cursed that area...

so that it became, basically,
a poisonous area to live in.

And the people had
to abandon their city
and leave.

[Douglas] You know,
we heard these stories,

but you know,
we're scientists.

We're anthropologists,
archeologists, ethnobotanists.

You know, we don't
believe in curses.

Or so we thought.

But, you know,
sometimes curses are based
on the truth.

[Steve] After we completed
our first ground expedition,

everybody came back alive.

Nobody got injured.

We're shaking hands,

tipping a beer,
and going,
"Great, we made it!"

You know, everyone survived.

We all had hundreds
of bug bites.

Didn't think anything of them.

Until about a month later.

In 60 percent of our crew,
including the Hondurans,

they had a bug bite
that didn't go away.

It got bigger.

Eventually, it became
a big open wound,

a big open ulcer.

A couple of people
became very, very ill.

Two of them almost died.

And then we had them
diagnosed with NIH,

and they said,
"Yes, you have leishmaniasis."

But not even just
regular leishmaniasis,

this is an entirely new one.

We just did
a genetic sequence...

and it's a really virulent one
we've never seen before.

[William] More commonly known
as flesh-eating disease,

leishmaniasis is a rare parasitic disease

that is spread by the bites
of certain sandflies.

The infliction eats away
at the skin of the limbs,
nose, and mouth.

The new strain that infected
the explorers
is particularly aggressive.

And if not treated properly...

fatal.

But even so,

a parasitic disease
is hardly proof
of an ancient curse.

Or is it?

[David] What's interesting
about the legend of this curse

is that it actually
does appear to be true.

How can we explain that
hundreds of years ago,

a man left a curse saying that

forevermore,
people will be ravaged
by disease

and all of these things.

And then,
we actually see it happen.

[William]
Was it merely a coincidence

that the American team
happen to contract a deadly

and previously unknown disease

at a site
believed to be cursed?

[birds chirping]

Or could the curse
have been real?

As far as journalist
Doug Preston is concerned,

the answer is obvious.

[Douglas] I used to think
that curses were
just kind of silly,

but not anymore.

Next time I go somewhere,
and I'm told that it's cursed,

I'm really gonna
think twice about it.

[William] If evil places
really do exist...

is it possible to cure them?

To rid them of the pestilence

that infects anyone
who gets too close?

There are those who believe
the answer is a profound yes.

And it involves
fighting fire...

[man screaming]

...with fire.

[William]
Dogotuki Village, Fiji.

July 2018.

Members of a church group
set two houses on fire

and burned them to the ground.

The blaze is intended to purge
the village of evil spirits

believed to have
been responsible

for the recent deaths
of 20 people.

These houses
were older houses,

but they have been
traditionally associated

with magical practices...

and the reports of witchcraft
being practiced.

[David] And as they burnt
the places down to the ground,

some of the villagers
reported seeing a demon
come out of the ashes.

And they've reported all kinds
of really creepy things

that happened once they tried
to burn down those houses.

So, the question is,
were they successful

in getting rid
of evil in that place?

Or did they actually
just aggravate it more

by burning those houses
to the ground?

[clanging]

[Tok]
Fire, it's a very common means
of spiritual purification.

And so many different
traditions incorporate fire
in some sense...

very often for its
destructive properties.

And yet, at the same time,
cleansing properties.

I've had a lot
of people on my radio show

who have apparently
cleansed haunted houses
and haunted areas.

They talk about putting sage
around the perimeter
of the house.

And things like that
that chase away
the evil spirits.

But by and large,
I'm not sure if that works.

I think once a place
is haunted,

it's gonna haunt.

It's gonna do what it does.

[David] I think there are
energies in life
that we don't understand.

Either created
through our own minds,

and our own physical energy.

Or perhaps,
the physical energy
of a place.

There are places
where people have died,

either violently
or tragically.

And that creates
this dark energy.

There might be some
negative spirits, some ghosts.

And that force
that's happening within it

can also affect people.

[Dave] I've been to some of
the most evil and
nasty locations

you can imagine.

And I've seen people's lives

ruined by these negative
evil forces.

And in my opinion,
some of these locations

are stained forever

with the blood and the energy
of these tragic events.

These murders.

These suicides.

And to me,
that can never go away.

Fire...

cleansing the evil
that infects
certain cursed places.

Nonsense, right?

As far as you're concerned
there's no such thing
as evil places.

Well...

Then maybe you'd like
to spend the night
at Willows Weep.

Hm?

Or ride the swing set
at Lake Shawnee
Amusement Park?

Or perhaps, you'd like
to have a picnic lunch

at Japan's Suicide Forest?

No?

What's the matter,
are you frightened?

Or you're just too smart...

to tamper
with things in the world...

that are the...

unexplained.