As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Podcast - 5 Of The Most Cursed Places on Earth

Episode Date: October 23, 2025

Fun Fact: This is the first episode that Spotify will get BEFORE YouTube! I hope you enjoy! Today we have 5 write ups about some of the most cursed places on Earth! Today's Episode is Written by Tom K. Discover more from him ➤ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DBVX81W7 Merch & Book Official ATRD Merch ➤ https://teechip.com/stores/astheravendreams Signed Books & More ➤ https://ko-fi.com/AsTheRavenDreams Book is also available (unsigned) on Amazon, just search "The Insomniac's Experiment" Support & Get Early Access Become a YouTube Member ➤ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkW0ihdMHfBUjQrMKjRto6g/join Support on Patreon ➤ https://www.patreon.com/AsTheRavenDreams ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 ➤ Introduction 01:07 ➤ The Devil’s Town (Davolja Varos) 06:48 ➤ Kuklica 12:27 ➤ Fengdu, China’s Ghost City 18:22 ➤ Dolina Smerti 28:15 ➤ The Shrine of Taira no Masakado 43:39 ➤ Thank you so much For listening! ⚠️ Disclaimer: These stories may include graphic language, violence, or other adult themes. Viewer discretion is advised. ALL Audio and visuals in this video are copyright of AS THE RAVEN DREAMS / RAVEN ADAMS and may not be duplicated, in any format. No audio used in my podcast is generated by AI. I use my real voice to narrate all of these scary stories. Note: The podcast nor the host endorses any advertisements played during the show, ads are not chosen by ATRD or Raven Adams, they are chosen automatically by the advertisement systems by the platforms that host the podcast. I do not endorse, support, or promote any opinions or statements made in any adverts played during the show. #TrueScaryStories #UnexplainedMysteries #GlitchInTheMatrix Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I want to start this by asking, what makes a place cursed? Is it a dark, lingering history, a local legend passed down through generations until it becomes an unshakable truth? Or is it something more tangible? A force of nature is so strange or so deadly that our ancestors could only explain it as the supernatural. Around the world, there are dark spots on the map. places where the earth itself seems to hold a grudge. Locations where myth and history have become so intertwined

that it's impossible to find where one ends and the other begins. So today, we're going to dive into the folklore, the history, and the often surprising science of these unsettling locations. So with that said, my friends, dim the lights. get comfortable. And let's begin this deep dive into some of the most cursed places around the world. The Devil's Town, De Voya Veros, cursed place in Serbia. The Balkans are a place that keeps its secrets.

The ancient mountains and forests have given birth to some of our greatest stories. Dracula, for instance. But there are other secrets hidden there, ones that aren't as widely known or famous as the nefarious count, but they can be every bit as unsettling. If not for what they are, then for the legends and myths that surround them. But in a place as timeless as the Balkan mountains, myth and history, become one to the point that there is no mythology in history.

There is just history. They are one and the same. This isn't our only stop in the Balkans, but it was one that really grabbed my attention, perhaps because it truly is a mysterious place. Imagine, if you will, you're walking through a beautiful hillside forest, just pristine woods, so deep they feel like time itself has stopped existing there, and then suddenly jutting out of the landscape massive stone pillars. All of them taller than you.

Well, in southern Serbia, this isn't just an imaginary place. It's very real and it has a really dark story that is an attempt to explain where it came from, why it exists. 200 jagged stone pillars, each one capped by a kind of, quote, hat, suddenly jut out of the terrain and dominate the landscape. Geologically speaking, there is a perfectly sound and logical explanation for the site. Since the Balkans are a huge mountain range, this implies a lot of volcanic activity. Devovaros would be one of the bits of evidence of that kind of activity. And in a very weird but cool kind of way, even the geology of this region kind of ties into the myth.

In a way, it makes it a bit more eerie. What happened at Diavlovaros was that heavy volcanic rocks settled over other smaller weaker rocks, creating a kind of stone helmet that protected the softer rock beneath it. Over probably thousands of years, water and wind gradually washed and blew away the clay in other light sediment, and were left with one of the most uncanny but beautiful, naturally occurring sites in the world. But none of us are here for geology. What we want is the good stuff, the creepy stuff. And as folklore so often does, it doesn't just accept a sound scientific explanation.

Now, like I said, the story is really dark, so of course we're going to dive right into it. What makes this stony graveyard so unsettling? What makes it so cursed? Well, what if I were to explain the site by telling you that it's the remains of a wedding party? And those pillars are the guests that were attending an ancient event. Oh yes, the story is steeped in scandal, taboo. There's infernal deception and devoid. wrath. So, as the story goes, the devil himself, seeking to sow his seeds of chaos and corruption,

as he does, tried to force a brother and sister to get married. There was a huge wedding party, and as the procession was climbing the hill, then no one less than the Almighty himself struck the heathens, cursing and turning them into stone pillars. Eternal punishment for their debauched ways, I guess you could say. There is another slightly different version that talks about how it was the devil himself that turned the villagers into stone when they defied him. Maybe they tried to stop the unnatural union, if you will. Oh, yeah.

I forgot to mention one other detail that really gives this whole cursed place weight. Well, I guess it's two details, but anyway, there's the water. Two different pools of highly acidic water exists nearby. One of the pools is called the Devil's Water and the other the Red Spring. Of course, if we go along the lines of geology, these springs would further the proof. Because where there's volcanic activity, there's a lot of other things going on as well. Water can become contaminated with all the nasty stuff volcanoes turn up, not to mention heavy metals and other things left in the wake of volcanic activity.

To back this up, I'll say that the pools of water both contain a lot of iron, The water itself is tinged a rusty blood red because of it. This bitter water, the locals, was only further evidence of a curse wrought on by cosmic forces that can only be labeled as gods or the devil's own punishment. The uncanny juxtaposition of the serene, if eerie forest, along the sloping hill and then the violent appearance of the wedding guests, locked in their stone prison. You can't make such a strange and unsettling place if you try. Add to that, stumbling upon waters tinged the color of blood,

only suggests that should the guests ever free themselves and try to quench their thirst, well, that last bit is a bit of creative license, but, hey, never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Lazzang surgellé, puissance-moyane for 15 minutes. We'd say that's their dojo. Prey to play? Vive the pleasure with Leo Jo, the casino in-line that proposes the most recent machine-ass-sou

and the game of casino in direct. Profite of 50 tours gratu on Big Bas Bonanza, without exigance of mis, and with depemments instantane. Hey, I've got! Woo-hoo! Sonture the pleasure! Leojo! 18-8 and plus, 1, 1-Depos only, exclude in Ontario.

50 tours free free on the machine-assouin-Begbas Bonanza. Depos minimum of 10 dollars. Beyeye! DeConditions' conditions apply. The conditions apply. Kalklika. North Macedonia's Valley of the Stone Dolls. Yes.

This is our second stop in the Balkans for several reasons. Let me, that's Tom saying that, dawn my sociologist-anthropologist hats for a moment. The Balkans is the definition of a melting pot. So many cultures and histories exist in this one little region. Think of the Balkans like New York City and the various countries that exist therein are the boroughs. That is the best way I can explain it.

The Balkans is a land that the Greeks were in, than the Romans marched through, and the Ottoman Empire, of course, held sway for centuries. Later on, the Nazis invaded and laid claim, and after that, the Soviets left their scar on the region in more recent times. And that's not even talking about the indigenous identities that existed, and still do, in this one region. And yet, from Serbia to Macedonia, I will give you a cultural tie, despite the many differences in culture and history. We have yet another cursed wedding party, turned to stone in some kind of cosmic retribution, which would bring up an interesting point about the shared ideas and conventions around weddings

and just how significant they are culturally in that region, no matter which borders you live within. This makes some of the most unsettling and ominous myths, these cautionary tales, so relevant. so important that they found a way to tie a moral lesson to the very earth they dwelt upon. Even the earth is trying to teach you a lesson, kind of gravitas. All that being said, let's go to Kuklika, or the valley of the stone dolls. It's another one of those awe-inspiring natural sights. Just something that deliberate and skilled human hands could not do better,

and kept it as poignant. When you enter the region, you see more. more of those stone pillars, and some of them possibly even more human appearing than at devoya varos. They look as if they are cloistered in groups, some of them resemble women and children in a way that is very unsettling. The geology here is just as applicable as that as the site in Serbia, the Devil's Town. A natural volcanic activity of the mountainous region, coupled with erosion over hundreds,

maybe thousands of years, too, in a cosmic fluke of nature, create these uncannily human sculptures. As with all good stories, there are a couple different versions of the legend behind Kukhika, the most popular version being about yet another cursed wedding. It all started with the lie, a simple deception. A man had quite gluttonously promised marriage to two different women. On the day of the wedding, all the guests gathered. The groom eagerly awaited his two brides,

Well, that was when the brides discovered the treachery. The second bride understandably flew into a rage and called down a curse on the groom. But so intense was the rage fueling the curse that it didn't stop with just the groom. Every guest, every musician, even the brides themselves were frozen in time. Their feelings of rage and betrayal all locked into their stone prisons with them. The first story has all the elements of a very dramatic and salacious story. A romance, lovers, scorned, all with the undertones of a good moral lesson about greed and overindulgence. The second, less common version is perhaps even more heartbreaking and eerie.

If the first version of the story is an omen to reinforce loyalty and honesty, then the second version is a lament for the people who die alone, unloved, and forgotten. The second version of the story says that anyone in the village that died in those circumstances was granted a blessing in death that they never got in life. The very earth itself would create a pillar. A representation for each soul that passed unmorned by the people. It was mourned by at least the earth beneath their feet. This makes the valley feel even more uncanny,

a place where lost souls congregate. finding the camaraderie and death that they never had in life. A final gift from the very spirits of the mountains. Kuklika itself is now a protected geological reserve, one of the few of its kind in the world. Visitors and tourists are welcome to come and see the petrified wedding to walk among the 50,000-year-old stone dolls and hear the tale for themselves. The site has become very popular in the last decade or so.

which is heartening to hear. I love knowing people are curious about this kind of stuff. In their respective ways, each tale has the polar ends of the same thread. Love. How indulging too much you take something that is a blessing and turn it into its own toxic curse that drags down not just you, but those closest to you, literally, while the other version laments the lack of love altogether.

Love is a blessing that can very quickly and easily turn into a curse. curse. The razor's edge of love is a very fine line to walk, indeed. Fengdu, China's ghost city. Time now to go deep into China. We've explored the Balkans and some more naturally occurring sites that are considered to be cursed, so let's see if we can find a site that's a bit more man-made. Along the Yangtze River in Ming Mountain lies a city that is more than just a creepier haunted place. It's a literal manifestation of the Chinese underworld, carved into the very stone itself. For nearly two millennia, Fengdu has been a monument to dread and fascination. There are Taoist and Buddhist temples that draw many people to the site to observe their rituals

and religious rites. During the later Han Dynasty, there were two important court figures that would make a pilgrimage to the site to practice Taoist rituals. Their names were, and I sincerely apologize for any mispronunciations, Yin Changsheng and Wang Feng Ping. When these two well-known men both died at some point, their names became fused into Yin Wang, a name that literally meant the king of hell. From here, the notion that Ming Mountain was the seat of Diu,

the Chinese hell, took root in folklore once a... again merged with history. In the late 20th century, in an effort to preserve the site, someone carved a massive face right into the sheer cliff wall of Ming Mountain, with the world record setting size, visage of the king of hell, Yin Wang,

looking out over the complex and the surrounding area. This was done in an effort to halt the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, which actually caused the flooding of much of the site. While a lot of things were lost to the flood and are now some of the city, emerged, it is still an absolutely breathtaking sight. One of the first truly creepy things one would encounter on a trip there would be Guim and Guan, the gates of hell. Once you walk through, everything you see is a depiction of the Chinese underworld.

According to Chinese legends, this is the road one must walk down after death. The trek would be guided by underworld guardians. The road itself lined with demons who silently watched, and took note of the sins of those walking the path, which are actually depicted by statues flanking either side as you walk down it. Past the Gwim and Gwan, you would encounter a rather famous narrow stone bridge over the gorge. That's the bridge of helplessness, Nihih Chow. It looks like something straight out of an ancient fable or adventure story.

This bridge is where judgment is said to begin. Demons are said to guard this bridge and only the virtuous may pass while the sinners fall from the bridge into the abyss below. And these are just the first sets of demons to worry about on this winding pilgrimage into hell. In modern times, many people will throw coins from the bridge and then dare each other to cross the narrow bridge with their eyes closed, a kind of performance that echoes the judgment of the souls of the dead

that are set to cross this very bridge after their lives are over. From the bridge of helplessness, you would then enter the ghost-torturing pass, This is where the stone statues of demons punish the guilty, the sinful. Depictions of the most cruel punishments are everywhere. From people being bisected to those having their tongues ripped out. It's all a silent but stern reminder to behave righteously in life or pay the consequences in death. After going through the ghost torturing pass, you would encounter the largest and most imposing building on your little tour. Tianzi Palace, or the Emperor's Palace, is of course the most impressive spot in the city.

The palace is dedicated to the ruler of the underworld, often called Yama King or Jan Luawang, the judge of the dead. Inside this place, you will find more depictions on the trials of the afterlife, images that show the judgment of souls and the fates of the sinful or the virtuous. Much as the divine comedy walks us through the nine circles of hell, so do the walls of Tianci. Different murals depict the 18 layers of hell, each one corresponding to a different sin. Greed, disobedience, betrayal, etc. The intention being that the threat of looming torments would help keep a person on the righteous path. But the thing that would probably be the most unsettling part of Tiancy Palace would be the Hall of Judgment. Why? Because in this room sat enshrined statues of the ten kings of hell, ready to level their final judgment upon the dead.

Of course, if you've not had enough ghost-torturing and eerie symbolic views, you can step out onto the ghost-torturing terrace and gaze down at the Yangtze River below. Legends say that this was another spot of judgment, where the souls of the sinful were cast into the abyss. So, as you gaze down, you get to imagine the same. sight of countless souls being thrown over the edge into an eternal gyre. Very creepy, very unsettling, to say the least. While what has not been lost of Fangdu is impressive, and absolutely beautiful. Seriously, look up some pictures of the place. It is a true travesty that so much of it has been submerged. But perhaps, if what is left is a glimpse into what awaits in the afterlife, maybe the rest of the site was lost because this little peak into Dayu is all we

were meant to have. Dolina Smerti, Russia's Valley of Death. In Russia's far east, just beyond the icy grips of Siberia, lies the volcanic Kamchatka Peninsula. It's a very beautiful, rugged wilderness that only the hardiest of beasts and the bravest and the most resilient of people choose to call home. Many indigenous tribes still live there, adhering to their old ways and continuing the nomadic lifestyle they have known for generations. Indeed, here in the Far East, time itself ceases to move forward. The land and the ways of its people and animals unchanged for millennia. But here in the far-flung wilderness, there is, of course, a place that even the local tribes stay clear of. And not just humans, but the very wildlife of the land has learned to steer clear.

of, the Valley of Death. With a name straight out of a horror film or novel, upon looking into the stories about it, you quickly learn that the name is not hyperbolic. It's not just a clever stab at naming. The Valley of Death, or Delina Smerri, is a moniker that it has earned countless times over. The desolate gorge lies in the shadows of the Kikpinich Volcano. From a distance, it looks peaceful and even idyllic. with ancient rocks, lush mosses, and beautiful hot springs that fill the air with their welcoming steam.

It kind of looks like the place that would be the ultimate destination for an epic fantasy story. But remember in life, looks can be incredibly deceiving. For this lush valley refuses to be touched by the hands of man. So determined is it to remain a timeless symbol of untouched nature that even the very animals that would call this utopia home cannot venture into it. This is very much a case where it feels like the Earth itself has taken naturally occurring phenomena and weaponized it against all living beings, human and animal alike. As I've mentioned, the Kamchatka Peninsula itself is very volcanic.

It's dotted by volcanoes like little fingers jutting into the sky. And if you remember, I said that Delina Smarty exists at the base of a volcano. What this, of course, means is that the air itself becomes toxic, the closer you get to the gorge. The very ground beneath your feet pumps noxious gases like hydrogen sulfide, which is that rotten egg smell. In small doses, it can irritate your eyes, nose, and throat, and in larger doses becomes a deadly neurotoxin that paralyzes the respiratory system. To this mix, add just a little carbon dioxide to make it even harder to breathe. While the carbon dioxide displaces the oxygen in the air, the hydrogen sulfide sabotages your body's ability to utilize what little oxygen is left. These gases collecting in deadly invisible pockets are what have given Dolina Smerti its name.

Small animals that dare wander inside can be found dead within minutes. Birds overhead that fly too close to the gorge will drop dead from the sky. Larger animals like bears will be found as if frozen in mid-strived. insects will vanish entirely in the gorge of demise. Of course, the tribes in the area have known about this deadly valley for centuries. They were the first to declare it a cursed place that is to be avoided, calling it the gateway to the underworld. When Soviet scientists began to explore the region in the 20th century, their findings only gave that legend more teeth. The more experienced researchers had to exercise the utmost caution.

They were forced to move along narrow ridges, or to traverse the terrain using sticks to probe ahead. For these brave men and women, the slightest misstep would have meant plunging into a hollow filled with a cocktail of deadly gas and a slow death from suffocation. There were, of course, multiple such expeditions by different scientific teams,

and an eerily consistent report from them all was the absence of any sound beyond the bubbling of the toxic waters. There was no bird song, No chattering of insects. No trace of elk or bear moving in the underbrush. I guess it could be called the valley of silence, Delina Tishini, if you will. The first foray into Delina Smati came in the 1930s. The first team pushing into the untamed gorge quickly found out

why the tribe said it was a place to be avoided. It was beyond what they had expected to be just a normal volcanic hazard. When other researchers returned in the 1970s, they also reported many of the same things happening, if they didn't treat the valley with the awe and respect it was due. Researchers too reckless or too arrogant in the face of the massive volcano would soon find themselves disoriented, nauseous, and dizzy. If they didn't act fast and get back to the clean air, they would collapse altogether.

Barring any intervention from comrades, I say that unironically, they would suffocate under the powerful fumes of Delina Smarty's curse. One researcher reported a sudden bout of drowsiness and weakness in his legs. It was as if the gorge itself had seized me, he said. Another reported a colleague that had taken a step into a low-lying hollow, and reportedly the man had gasped once, dropped his clipboard and collapsed. If not for the quick action of his comrades, he would have just been another tally in the kill count of the Valley of Death. What made the gorge so incredibly dangerous was just how unprecedented.

predictable the atmosphere was. And standing in one spot the air was fine, completely breathable. One step and suddenly your throat is burning, your eyes watering, and each breath becoming more labored and painful than the last. Even with their best precautions in place, long poles, masks, and strict routes along the ridgeline, Delina Shmerty was an unpredictable and terrifying place to venture. Many researchers have said that the place is deceptively beautiful. with its lush plant life,

the bubbling hot springs and babbling streams. You take this beauty in and then you realize that, for all the lush wilderness, there is neary a sign of wildlife. No birdsong or insect chirps, no elks or bears. Something that somehow only makes the entire nature of all this more oppressive or claustrophobic even. It's just how small the gorge is.

It's only two kilometers long and only a few hundred meters wide. Narrowing the scope down to that size just makes this small region all the more uncanny. Everywhere around the signs and sounds of life carrying on, but in this tiny little area, no sound and no light. Nothing beyond the most adaptive plant life and stone can live here, with maybe the exception of snow and ice, Harold perhaps to the unforgiving nature of Dolina Smarty. But as always, let's not just look at the site itself.

Let's just take into consideration just how wild and rural this gorge is. Kamchatka itself is a very tough place. It's untamed. It's called Russia's last frontier. Out here, there are a few, if any, traces of civilization for hundreds of miles. This is the land of the wild bears, the foxes, and reindeer that have been the lifeblood of tribes, such as the Aleuts, Koriaks and events, and many others. Even these tribes that have called this place their home for thousands of years know that one mistake can be fatal.

And Kamsatka is the land of volcanoes as well. It houses over 150 of them with 29 of those being active today. That's not an insignificant percentage of active volcanoes in a land that is home to so many. But being such a cradle of volcanic activity has given the land a pretty fitting, and beautiful name, the land of ice and fire. With ferocious animals, a highly volcanic landscape, and temperatures that can reach negative 30 degrees Celsius, that's negative 22 Fahrenheit, every moment spent here is full of potential dangers, immediate dangers, and in the case of Dolina Smarty, dangers unseen. Even the story of the original discovery of the Valley of Death sets the foreboding atmosphere,

The atmosphere. Hunters were following a trail of dead animals until they crested the gorge and saw an entire plane full of dead wildlife. What could you possibly name the valley after witnessing that kind of chilling sight? It would look as if the valley itself was rejecting life, stealing the life right from the lungs of anything living that wandered too close. But I also don't want you to think that Russia is the only place where this kind of phenomenon can happen. Those in America need only look as far as Yellowstone National Park. The Norris Geyser Basin is a place where the bodies of bison that succumbed to the noxious volcanic fumes are regularly found. In Cameroon at Lake Neos, in 1986, noxious volcanic gases suffocated entire villages.

If anything, maybe Delina Shmerty is one of the tamer Death Valleys, which, given its incredibly far-flung and wild location, is very ironic. RBC Training Ground has discovered potential in over 20,000 Canadian athletes and counting. Your story could be next. If you've got the drive, they'll help you find your path to the Olympics.

Let's see what you've got. Sign up for free at rBC training ground.ca. Welcome to board of VIARAILA. Embarked and profite. Embarked and relaxed. Ciroat. Bukiné Oh, that also.

And profite. Via Rae, the Vois that we love. The shrine of Tyro No Massacado. At last, my friends, it's time for what is going to be the main event of our little trip around the world.

I saved this one for the very last, specifically because, well, there's a lot here. It's really a spectacular story, but it does need a certain level of context. It may feel a bit history, heavy at first, but bear with me. And I promise the story is well worth it, and the historical context is key. Back in the high-end era, the Fujiwara clan had a pretty firm hold on all

Japanese political power. They controlled who was the emperor, told him just what he was allowed to have say over, which was little more than what ceremonial garb to wear to court. But emperors, as they are wont to do, would have multiple children, with multiple women. In any kind of monarchical system, you can see why this would potentially be a huge problem come time to decide a successor. In an effort to curb these kinds of conflicts, the emperor took a bunch of his sons and basically illegitimized them, in regards to ever actually sitting on the throne. But he gave them something else. He gave them a noble name, a title, handed them some land and said go have fun with that. But of course,

this did turn out to be one of those double-edged swords in the long run. The Tira clan, the perfect embodiment of how this could go drastically wrong. The Tira were one of two clans created by the emperor to help sort out those inconvenient children. The other clan is the Minamoto clan. Now, in the high-end period, the political heart of Japan was still in Kyoto. It was the hub of all major political activity within the empire, the area known as the Kansai. Plains, where modern-day Tokyo exists, was a far-flung remote outpost to the Imperial Court. It was a very wide-open plain, but everything was so isolated with the various villages becoming

fewer and fewer the further you went. In short, it was the perfect place to send some illegitomized air that you thought just might be trouble later on, such as how the Tyra clan found a sect of themselves out in the plains. I'm not saying there was no civilization by any means. This wasn't a lifeless hellscape. It was just so rural and removed from the seat of power, and at this time had a much, much lower population density than places further to the west. And something that kind of makes the story of Tyro no Masacado even more interesting

is we only have a third to half of his story. The Shimonchi is one of the oldest surviving war manuscripts we have. predating the much better known, Haiki Monagotari, by two centuries. The Shomonkyi is a war tale, or Gunki Managatari. And it doesn't offer us a complete view at Masacado's life. In fact, if you were to pick up the Shimonchi and try to read it, it would feel as if you were dropped right in the middle of Act 2. Not even the start of Act 2, right in the middle of it.

Tyro No Masacado is presented to us as a fully fleshed-out. fully grown man with land rights and a respectable title. His misfortune, as it were, all began over a marriage dispute. He was marrying another Taira from another branch of the family, his cousin, actually, and the dispute arose when his uncle demanded that his daughter remained in their household, and Mascato should be the one to move in with them. This sounds like a very silly thing, but in the high end period and for much of Japan's history, This had huge social implications.

In a marriage such as this, whichever one of the couple had the higher social standing is the household where the couple would reside. Masacado thought that he was higher on the social pole, and the notion of having to move into his wife's household was an insult to him, whereas the reverse was an insult to his uncle. Now, Masicado's story is one of escalation, if nothing else.

What started as a petty family disagreement was soon spilling out onto the battlefield, as Massacado and his uncle literally went to war over this. Ultimately, Masacado killed his uncle and many of his most loyal retainers in the process. But as the ripples of this internal family war radiated out, soon much of the Canto region was plunged into the chaos that would mark much of the country's history from the high end period onward. but by the time things reached their zenith Masacado had been fighting and killing other members of the Tyra clan,

members of the Minamoto clan, and any of their vassals that stood against him. These battles definitely cemented Masacado's reputation as a man not to be crossed. He expanded his influence and put his own allies in the position left vacant by the men he was developing quite the talent for killing. It wasn't long until the imperial court, who were dealing with another rebellion right on their doorstep, in the form of a disgruntled Fujiwara,

and the bands of pirates he had enlisted as a fighting force, took notice of what was happening in Kanto. Masakado was summoned to Kyoto and chastised, then sent on his way. He was a frontier problem, and they had more pressing issues brewing out in the waters around modern-day Osaka. Before Masikato even arrived back into Kanto, his forces were on the move.

While he had played the part of a contrite and disciplined vassal before the court, in the canto region his forces were already spitting in the face of imperial authority as they began to attack and kill imperial governors, as well as pillaging and burning the government offices. First, Massacado declared that he was the true arbiter of justice in canto, and really anyone that had already tried to debate that was already in the ground. But Masacado made the age-old mistake that most would-be emperors make. He started to believe his own hype.

The more success he found, the bolder and bolder he became. It started with taking control of his family's situation. From there, it escalated to a small regional conflict, which only served to consolidate Masacado's power and position. After his relatively light tap on the wrist in Kyoto, he saw himself as untouchable. even by the court itself. He saw himself as greater than the court, and an equal to the emperor in Kyoto.

And this is what really makes Masacado so interesting in the long history of conflict around the emperor and such, is that he's the only one that ever actually declared himself, emperor. You see, in Japan, the political game was very coy. The goal of the many internal battles that happened were never about the victor becoming the emperor. No, the imperial family were of divine descent, so a mere mortal could never sit on the Chrysanthemum throne,

not without the blessing of the goddess Amatrasu, that is. The goal was always to be the powerbroker, the one that decided whose divine took us would keep the throne polished, and just what the extent of their imperial authority would be. And, Masacado, committed the ultimate, and blasphemy in the eyes of the court. He declared himself the equal to a god. The imperial court was still dealing with the rebellious Fujiwara and his pirate buddies, and had Massacado not gone that one step too far, he probably would have been the untouchable

power in the east. As long as he didn't cause too much trouble for the West, and he didn't do anything outright blasphemous, they wouldn't have taken much action against him. As long as as he was bringing order to the region and not stepping on imperial toes, that is. The canto region was hard to control, and it kind of took a strong man dictator to keep order in what was once the land of the Amishi. The hairy barbarians that had been the original inhabitants of the land until the Yamato people came from the west. No, if Masacado wanted to elevate himself to the level of a god king, then the court would have to act. The call went far and wide to Tyra and Minamoto alike.

Tyra no Masakato had a date with the headsman. In the end, Masacado's own allies even turned on him. During a battle in the province of Shemosa, Masacado was cut down and beheaded. The head was sent to Kyoto as a kind of trophy. A symbol, a victory over the false emperor, but this is where the story actually gets really good. Masacado's head was carried as a trophy back to Kyoto, where it was mounted. mounted on a pike near the Camo River. It was meant to rot in the sun, a symbol that the rebellion in the East, too, was dead

and rotting in memory. But Masacado's head did not rot. For months, it sat on a pike as fresh as the day it was severed from its owner. The stories began to circulate about Masacado's eyes, still furious even in death, glaring at the people who walked past it, lips twitching as of trying to articulate curses on the world that had been denied him. It was said that even in death, his spirit was too furious to ever be at peace. Eventually, in that anger, Masacado's head flew.

You read and heard that right. Flew from Kyoto back to the canto plain. They had his rumored to have landed in a little fishing village called Edo, although you may know it better as Tokyo. The locals attempted to appease the vengeful spirit. it by burying the head. The mound in question is called Masacado no Cubizuka. Nearly four centuries later, an attempt was made to remove Masacado's head and enshrine it at a temple.

However, once they began to disturb the mound, a violent storm broke out. In a massive lightning strike, many of the workers were killed. Taking this as a sign for Masacado that he wanted his head to remain right where it was, The project was abandoned. This will become a recurring motif. When one of the most renowned strongman in Japanese history, the third-grade unifier, Tokugawa Ayasu, came to Ido and was going to make it the foundation of his new power base in the far east,

he too was worried about the fury of Masacado. By this point, the curse of Masacado was well known, and Ayasu was not a stupid man by any strong. stretch, and he was not one to tempt fate, the gods, or restless spirits. Indeed, this was several centuries after the time of Masacado, and his spirit was both feared and revered by the citizens of the canto plains, as both the vengeful spirit and a kind of patron guardian deity. So, Ayasu's method to earn the blessing, or at least the indifference of Masacado's spirit, and Tokugawa had him enshrined.

as a Gosintai, a divine spirit, and began to build shrines to him. The current shrine standing in the heart of Tokyo's financial district is the legacy of this shrine building project started in the late 1500s and early 1600s. I'm sure you remember what I said earlier about Masacado's story being one of escalation. And since that story is not done yet,

that definitely still applies. Back in the 1300s when they tried to disturb his resting place, it was a lightning bolt that conveyed Masacado's rage. But in 1923, when the government of Japan decided to level Masacado's mound, it was the very earth itself that would deliver his message. Nearly as soon as the decision was made to remove the shrine to make room for other construction projects, the Great Canto earthquake would strike and devastate the entire region. When the quick hit, over 100,000 people were killed.

This could be nothing less than an enrio like Masicado's doing, and that was quickly the story that was making its rounds. The vengeful spirit had made his displeasure with being disturbed a second time known, far more emphatically than the first. But, oh, my friends, we still have not reached the end of this terrifying journey through myth and history. Even in the wake of World War II when the U.S. military came and bulldozed part of Masacado's mound, in order to build a temporary headquarters for the Japanese Ministry of Finance, a cascading series of disasters began, starting when the head of the ministry died suddenly.

His death wasn't the last. Other officials also died quite suddenly as well. Then there were other odd happenings. electrical fires and other mishaps plagued the entire project. At one point a bulldozer overturned itself killing the operator. There are also reports of strange lights and apparitions, and then sudden injuries. Enough of these kinds of things happening in such rapid secession that even the more skeptical people were beginning to get a bad feeling about all this.

Eventually this resulted in the government directing a proper kuyoba, or memorials. sight, to Masacado, in hopes of putting the spirit back to rest. To this day, many of the Japanese companies that exist in the area around Masacado's shrine perform religious rights or pay offerings at the shrine in order to ward off any bad luck, or to avoid incurring the wrath of Masacado. And even that is not quite the end of the tale, although this will be the last bit. his influence even stretched beyond that mound in Tokyo. There are numerous reports of attempts to dramatize Mascato's life,

and all of them met with a string of disasters that ultimately saw the projects shelved. Accidents would begin happening on set, the cast and crew would be injured, and this isn't just one specific attempt to produce some kind of series about Mascato, but multiple. In short, I think that, the curse of Tyro no Masacado is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that we have to say that sometimes

curses are all too real. I want to thank all of you that went through each of these sites with us, and I hope it's something that you all enjoyed. I kind of nerded out on it a bit, and threw in a bit of science just because well, I think science and folklore

all kind of complement each other. Without folklore, we'd not have science, but folklore pools double duty because it often fills in the gaps that science has yet to explain. You can believe in and enjoy science, but that doesn't make folklore any less relevant to our entire scientific process. Folklore lays out a fantastic explanation for something entirely beyond understanding. Cucklika, the devil's town. But then that always makes the more scientific-minded go, nah, there has to be something more to this, and thus, scientific research begins.

But that's enough for me. Take us home, Raven. Oh, thanks, Tom. And thank you all for joining us on this journey across the globe. We were all over the place. From those stone pillars of Serbia to the angry ghost of Tokyo, these stories show us that a curse can be many things. It can be a warning, like the deadly gases in the valley of death.

It can be a moral lesson, like the petrified wedding guests of course, or it can be the sheer stubborn power of history, a story so strong that it refuses to be torn down, no matter how many bulldozers you send. As Tom said, that line between folklore and science is often blurred, but each one helps us understand our world in a very different way. So I have to ask,

which of these cursed places did you personally find most terrifying? Are there any other local legends or cursed locations from your book? part of the world that you think we should consider investigating? Yes, this is my call to action. Let us know in the comments below, or you can always email me at as the Raven Dreams at gmail.com. I'm pretty responsive. And of course, if you enjoyed exploring the strange and unsettling things with us,

on YouTube, be sure to hit the like button and subscribe and also ring the notification bell, of course. And if you're on the podcast platforms like Spotify, just leave a comment, letting me know your thoughts, and consider rating the podcast. on whichever platform you're on. And yes, I'm using this outro for both. I don't do that very often, but there you go. Anyways, my friends, I hope you all remember that you are loved.

You are valid. You are important. You're the best that you can be. Don't forget it. Until next time, much love and sleep well.