Morbid - Episode 370: Spooky Woods

Episode Date: September 26, 2022

We got some spooky ass woods for you guys! Alaina tells us the tale of Robinson Woods located in Illinois. This place has a pretty heavy energy as it is both a Native American burial ground and the location of a triple homicide that took place in the 50s. Ash then takes us just outside of Mexico City to talk about Isla De Las Muñecas or The Island of the Dolls. This is where Don Julian Santana Barrera dedicated his days to making the island a peaceful sanctuary for the spirit of a young girl he once encountered. If you have suggestions for any of our spooky installments please send them on in to [e-mail] Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, Prime members, you can listen to morbid, early, and ad-free on Amazon music. Download the app today. You're listening to a morbid network podcast. Whether you're running errands on your daily commute, or even at home, you can enjoy all your audio entertainment in one app, the Audible app. As an Audible member, you can choose one title a month to keep from the entire catalog. This includes the latest bestsellers and new releases. Plus get full access to a growing selection of included audiobooks, audible originals,

and more. If you've been wanting to form good habits, break bad ones, and improve motivation, atomic habits written and narrated by James Clear is a great lesson. It'll reshape your mindset on progress and success by helping you develop strategies to transform your habits. New members can try audible free for 30 days. Visit audible.com slash wondery pod or text wondery pod to 500-500 to try audible for free for 30 days.

That's W-O-N-D-E-R-Y-P-O-D. Audible.com slash wondery pod or text wondery pod to 500-500 to try audible for free for 30 days. The Angie's List you know and trust is now Angie, and we're so much more than just a list. We still connect you with top local pros and show you ratings and reviews, but now we also let you compare up front prices on hundreds of projects and book a service instantly. We can even handle the rest of your project from start to finish. So remember, Angie's List is now Angie, And we're here to get your job done right. Get started at Angie.com.

That's ANGI, or download the app today. Hey, weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is spooky morbid. It's spooky more than because it's spooky season. It's always spooky season, but it's like specifically spooky season right now because it's pre-october. It sure is. And it's starting to get like slightly chilly.

Oh, but it was 55. It was 55 this morning. It's like chill in the air. I'm down for it. And it's hoodie season. It's sweater season. It's boot season. It's on it. How season? It's what pants season? It's spooky season, it's boot season, it's on it, how season. It's sweatpants season. It's spooky season. It's here, it's just.

I have pumpkins on my steps, let's go. Oh hell yeah, hell yeah. Actually, I have pumpkins on my steps before you have pumpkins on your steps this year. I know because it's gonna be like 80 something degrees on Sunday and I was worried it was gonna. Okay, it was gonna melt them into a puddle of goo. No, mine aren't gooey.

You just can't cut them. Well, it hasn't been 80 yet. No, I mean, it's gonna be 80. But it has been already. Oh, since you've had them. They're fine. They're fine. They're not even gooey. Don't worry about it.

They're probably really gross on the inside, but I feel like as long as you don't cut them, like carve them, you're good. Oh, yeah, they last much longer when you don't carve them. Yeah. So I'm ready. I'm ready to cover my entire porch with pumpkins. Do.

And before we get into this, we're doing spooky forests today, spooky woods. Before I get into it, I just want to say again that you guys are fucking awesome about the book. It's a great second book. There is an Instagram page called a morbid book club. There you go. I was going gonna say I didn't want to get it wrong. A morbid book club. Literally the sweetest human that has ever existed on planet earth, love them with every bit of my soul and they've just been tagging me in all these beautiful videos and people reading the book and opening the book and saying cool things about the book and it's like

literally lit up my week. It's so I it's so, I just, they're amazing. They share like all the books that we share. They share other books. They're phenomenal. A morbid book club on Instagram. Go follow them because they fucking rule. I can't thank them enough for doing such sweet things and just being a, a kind and wonderful human. Yeah, I commented the other day, they just have the most immaculate vibes. Oh my God, yes. Right? Like beautiful vibes. Yeah. Beautiful human, beautiful every say.

Beautiful hair. Oh, beautiful hair. I want your freaking hair. Beautiful hair. God damn. I'm just, I had to show you up because you are just a wonderful human being and you've really like,

you've like really made me feel good this week. So thank you for that. When you deserve it. And you deserve it. Oh, I was. You deserve it. And you deserve it. Oh, I was saying you deserve it and you deserve it too. Thank you. They deserve it too. But you so do you. Thank you.

I appreciate that. Everybody just deserves it. Everyone deserves kindness, except for assholes. Yeah. So, I mean sometimes they do. That's why they're being honest. I was going to say sometimes they need it. And that's why they're being a dick.

Then sometimes there's just like straight up assholes. Yeah, exactly. Like we don't have to talk about that right now. Well, and I think we, these like, I don't know when this episode is releasing because we're batch recording a bunch of episodes. So who knows when they're coming out at any given time. But I think we talked about another episode. Have fucking amazing the the ghost ritual was the other night.

So much fun. But I fear I thought it was a barred repeating. I mean, duh. I might talk about it every single episode that we go over. Talk about your book and the Ghost Ritual every single episode. No, I won't do that. No one will get that. No one will get that.

But again, we're coming up to Monday, the... What are we on? 19th. The 19th. I was just looking at our little calendar and it said Ghost on the 12th. And I was like, huh? And then I was like, oh, that was the show. Yeah. That was? 19th. The 19th. I was just looking at our little calendar and it said ghost on the 12th. And I was like, huh. And then I was like, oh, that was the show. Yeah.

That was their 19th. Yeah. The 19th Tobias Forge is gonna be on the show. I cannot stop thinking about it. So I'm just gonna keep yelling about it to everybody who will listen. It's gonna be so much fun. It's gonna be so much fun.

I can't wait to ask the questions that we have to ask because they're really weird. I have like high apple pie in the sky hopes. Such high hopes. I'm very excited to hear the answers to some of these questions, because they're funny. They're strange. I'm like, they're funny. They're strange. They're both strange and funny. And unusual. And your questions are going to be answered. We're going to be, we sent him a big list and he is handpicking them. The ones that he's going to answer. So if you're, again, if you're question gets answered, just know he handpicked that question. So that's pretty cool. So that is really fucking cool. So like, give yourself a pat on the back because that's like a pretty good flex.

But yeah, let's get into the spooky woods of it all. Let's do it, partner. Let's go. I'm gonna start us off. Okay, with a bang. Don't you want to waste? I'm gonna start us off with Robinson Woods and Illinois. Illinois? An Illinois, oh man. I'm just kidding.

The whole world would light a blaze. Yeah. If you said that for real. No, I would never. No, it's kidding. The whole world would light a blaze. Yeah. If you said that for real. No, I would never. No, it's ill and no, we know that. Don't worry. But this is a wild one. It's one that I did not know about.

And it's got like a really gnarly, triple homicide attached to it that I had never heard of. OK. Yeah, it's pretty intense. So Robinson Woods is an 80 acre nature preserve on the East Road in Chickamung Township, about 30 minutes outside of Chicago. Okay.

It's a lot of dense forest, this like park areas but it also contains a lot of wetlands and streams and it's teeming with wildlife. That actually is a lot of wetlands and streams, and it's teaming with wildlife. That actually is a lot of really rare flora and fauna because of its diverse habitat. So listen to you, flora and fauna. You know, flora, fauna, we love it. It has an interesting history too,

especially where it gets its name from, Robinson Woods. The land has always been an agricultural, like, gold mine. And it was a place way long time ago like way long time ago It was a place used to grow like they had apple orchards there and peaches corn It's gone. It's gone. I can't really see that right now and it had other row crops for like centuries It was used for this and then when those were abandoned before War I, it grew into the densely forested wonder it is now. So that's fun. So Robinson Woods, actually, the name comes from Alexander Robinson. Do you know? No, no. He, I didn't

either. He was, it's that's actually the English name used by Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Chippewa nation, Native American chief, Chi Chi Pinkway. Mm-hmm. I think that's a way better name than Alexander Robinson. Yeah, I have so much better. But when he was in his younger days in the early 1700s, like, or in the late, or 1700s early 1800s,

he was making a living as a fur trader on the banks of the Chicago River. Okay. Then comes the world, wow. The world war. The war. It wasn't even the world war. No, no, it was just the war.

My mouth just desperately wanted to say world, and I'm not really sure has anyone ever had that happen because I was a little sorry. No, absolutely. I just felt possessed for a second. Like my mouth was like, you will say, world. Sometimes our mouths just like do what they want. Just, you're like, not what we say. Sometimes that's just what happens.

I mean, am I wrong? You're not wrong. Yeah, what I meant to say was the war of 1812. The war. Not the world war. So then comes the war of 1812, not the World War. So then comes the war of 1812 and the Battle of Fort Dearborn raged. Now, we know it more as the Fort Dearborn massacre

because it was a fucking terrible thing. But Alexander Robinson and a fellow Potto Atomi fur trader, Billy Caldwell, which a lot of people, like historians and people who like history, that might sound familiar. That actually sounds familiar to me, right? They protected together, they protected their neighbors, who, some of them, most of them were white settlers during the battle.

And then aided in evacuating them to St. Joseph, Michigan, my canoe. Now after being so selfless in battle and just like, you know, protecting their neighbors and like keeping everybody safe, they also were instrumental in peace keeping between the Potto Atomi and the wait settlers as the war cooled down. All right. So basically, basically Alexander Robinson and his family and his tribe were like very peaceful. And that's like they were very instrumental in keeping that peace.

That's wonderful. Yeah. And so in an 1829 treaty, Robinson was seated 1600 acres of land for his help. Okay. This land was west of Chicago along the, is it the desplanes liver of the deplanes? I think that it's, I feel like I want to say both and they both feel wrong.

I got to let you know. I should know this because like my man's as family is literally from Chicago. Your man's as, I'm going to look it up because every time I go to say this word, I say it wrong. I feel like, I want to say desplanes, but I don't know. In English, in the US, it is a desplanes. Desplanes? Desplanes. Desplanes.

The plains. And now you know more videos. The last one was French. Thank you for that. The plains. I do love the plains, but it's desplanes. Okay, I thought so, and I wanted to say that, but then my brain said, no bitch, you're wrong. No bitch. It's true, because when you look at it, you think it's supposed to be deplanes. Okay, I thought so, and I wanted to say that, but then my brain said, no bitch, you're wrong. No bitch, it's true,

because when you look at it, you think it's supposed to be deplanes, but it's desplanes. Deplanes, yeah, yeah. So it's the desplanes river. Now part of this land is Robinson Woods, named after Alexander Robinson. It's so annoying,

and I just say that they were like, yeah, um, we can't say your name, so we're gonna give you an English one. Exactly, how fucked is that? just say that? They were like, yeah, um, we can't say your name, so we're gonna give you an English one. Exactly. How fucked is that? In the fact that they were like, Yonk, we're gonna take this land then they rage to war on it.

And he was like, wow, I'm gonna save all these people because I'm a selfless person. And we are selfless people. And then they were like, you know, what we're gonna do for your trouble? We're gonna gift you this land. And it's like, honey. Thank you so much.

Honey, that was his. Wow, thank you. That was already there. You did some shit. Yeah, thank you so much for that gift of my own land. They were altruistic. You just love that word. It's my word.

It's my word. It's my word. I own it. No, I'm doing this new thing. Sorry to interrupt you in the whole last middle of your story. I'm doing this new thing where I find a new word, and it's my word until I can use it a little bit. It's true, I love it.

I've only used altruistic twice, and I've had it two weeks ago. It's a great word. I like it. It feels right in your mouth. Yeah. Yeah. It has good mouth feel.

Yeah, it does. Altruistic. Right. And that means selfless. In case you were wondering. Hey there, fellow podcast listener, it's Elena. And Ash! And we're taking you back to the days before streaming services. Whoa!

You know when you would come home from high school and it was only a few hours until that TV show everyone was watching was about to come on. Well in 1999, that show was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In our podcast with Wondery, the re-watcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we take it back to 1999. So get out your knee high boots and paste that poster of Angel on the wall. It's time to enter the Buffyverse. Some of you avid morbid listeners already know what we've gotten store.

Hey, my nose. Join us as we sway our way through Buffy's drama, action, and romance. Episode by episode. Slazy. Follow the rewatcher, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon music or Wondery app. Oh, yeah! Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery's podcast American Scandal. We bring to

life some of the biggest controversies in US history. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our newest series, we look at the Kids for Cash Scandal, a story about corruption inside America's system of juvenile justice. In Northeastern Pennsylvania, residents had begun noticing an alarming trend. Children were being sent away to jail in high numbers, and often for committing only minor offenses. The FBI began looking at two local judges, and when the full picture emerged, it made national headlines. The judges were earning a fortune, carrying out a brazen criminal scheme, one that would shatter the lives of countless children, and force a heated debate about punishment,

an America's criminal justice system. Follow American scandal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wonder App. you can listen ad-free on the Amazon music or Wonder App. Well, they were altruistic, but they were given a gift of their own land anyway. So now Robinson lived in the reservation until 1872 when he died at the age of 110 years old. Fuck the fuck, yeah. You know what that's on? Being peaceful. Yeah, it is being peaceful.

You know what that's on? Vib. Yeah, it is being peaceful. You know what that's on? Vibing. Not being a dick. Yeah. Now his family and their descendants continued to call it home for decades, this like tract of land, and only left after a fire in 1955, which burnt down the original homestead. And the forest preserved Bothaland, and now it's like a park, you can go in there. But Robinson and his family are buried there. Oh shit.

And there's a big stone mark to mark the graves. So, take on, I thought you were gonna tell me in like on marked graves. No, it's definitely marked. But like still like, whoa. Yeah. So just buried there. It's kind of crazy. It's like where they should be buried though.

Like it's there. Oh, for sure. Oh, for sure. They're land. It's just like, whoa, you can just like go in there. Now there's that. So there's that whole thing that this land Not only has an actual Native American burial ground on it, but there was a war Waged on this land and and really a massacre. It is called the Fort Dearborn Massacre. A lot of tragedy A lot of terrible shit a lot of atrocities happened on this land. The land remembers, we heard, we know it from the Bridgewater Triangle

and the King Phillips war. Like, we got a lot of shit happening from that. So, the energy dude, the energy is bad and the energy is still there. So, there's that. And now let's talk about the murders that happened only months after this fire in 1955, the same year, only months later. Yeah.

Isn't that weird? Yeah. This was October 16, 1955, a tragic triple homicide happened near here. So the victims were 13-year-old John Schussler, 11-year-old Anton Schussler, and 14-year-old Robert Peterson. The boys were friends and John and Anton were brothers. They had gone downtown for the day to see a movie and they just never came back home. When they met, when they didn't return home that night, their parents called police like frantically and searched in a search commenced immediately.

There was no signs of them. Nothing. The only signs of them were before they went missing. It was like you could follow their trail. They went to the movie. Then they had gone bowling in like a random bowling alley because one of them was like a big bowling fan. And then after that, they just seemingly disappeared.

Oh, I hate that so much. Yeah. So they searched for days. And it was actually two full days of searching and they didn't find anything. Then after the two days on October 18th, they were finally found. And it is not a happy ending. The bodies were found in a ditch that lay near a parking area in Robinson Woods. All three of the boys were found naked and it was debated whether they had been sexually assaulted, but later it was declared that they likely had. A newspaper article about the case from Um that Toledo Blaise reported that

they had been held captive likely in some filthy place. All the boys had been bound and gagged with tape. They had all been bludgeoned in their heads with a gun or a tire iron or both. And they had all been strangled. Jesus. Robert Peterson, the 14-year-old, his head, had been lacerated by some sharp instrument 14 times. Oh my god. What fucking monster did this? They were all brutalized, but for some reason Robert Peterson got at the worst. He was the youngest. He was the oldest, actually. He was the 14-year-old. There's a 14-13-11. I wonder if he was like trying to protect the young. I wonder if he was. Now, there were no leads, and everyone in the area was in complete shock.

This just didn't happen at the time. No. This in this area. And Anton Sr., who is Anton and John's father, he apparently passed away a month after this of a heart attack. Oh, I bet that's what he was like broken hearted. Of course. He lost his only two children this way. His only children. They were his only two children. And even if they weren't,

like, even if they weren't, it's the worst thing you could possibly imagine. But the fact that he had to have them both taken in this way, that's horrific. I can't even imagine. Now, Detective James A. Jack was in 26-year-old rookie on this case. And he, like, I was just like amazed at this story because he tirelessly worked for justice for these boys

until it finally came decades later. Took that long. Yeah, he was actually quoted in an article as saying, I thought of it every year. I went to the graves on the anniversary. The last time was the 50th anniversary. My God. I placed a rose on each of the graves.

These were wonderful boys. John wanted to be a priest and little Anton was talking seriously at the time about becoming a veterinarian. But they never got to grow up like any other children. They never got to go to high school or go to prom night or graduate. And it wasn't until 1995. Oh my God. That the killer was finally found. That's only like 25 years ago. It was crazy. It was 67. It was 61-year-old Kenneth Hanson, who was actually 22 years old at the time of the murders. What?

Yeah. He was a stable hand who picked the boys up while they hitchhiked that day. He had worked for a millionaire at the time, named Silas Jane, who was this like powerhouse in horse stealing circles at the time, and was known as kind of a tough guy in that world.

Like he was like crackin' skulls, kind of tough guy. I mean, it's become a nervous. And actually, he later killed and was convicted of killing his half brother, this guy. That's probably why I feel kind of nervous. So there's bad people here. Now Kenneth Hanson told John Hanson, said that he basically picked John Anton and Robert

up while they were hitchhiking and he told them that he was going to show them a prize-winning horse. And he said this prize-winning horse is Silas' horse and people knew him. It was like literally a big deal. So it was like holy shit, we're going to see Silas' jeans prize-winning horse. So he brought them to idle hour stables on Higgins Road, which was owned by Silas Jane, and he tried to sexually assault them. When they fought back, which I believe probably Robert Peterson, the 14-year-old really fought and tried to help. He murdered them one by one.

Oh my God. Oh my God. Now, Kenneth was bragging about this, like talking to people immediately. And he's worked out long to get him caught. Well, in Silas, what happened was Silas Jane found out, the owner of the stables in his boss, and he set the stables on fire to get rid of the evidence,

and later filed an insurance claim, a fraudulent one. What the fuck is Silas Jane's problem? And then the boys were dumped in the ditch in Robinson Woods. Like, so he helped cover this up. And he didn't face any charges for doing that. No, he ended up finally facing charges for murdering his half brother.

Yeah, but like, how about the other stuff? Yeah. Now, according to Prairie Ghosts, it's a website. During the 1995 trial of Kenneth Hansen, former victims of his came forward, who have survived, and they said Hansen had sexually assaulted or harmed them and would tell them to stay quiet or they would end up like the Peterson boy. Oh my God. Yeah.

He's like a really fucked up individual. And he was 22 when he was not. 22 years old. He was sentenced to 200 years in prison. Good. Not enough. Great. In 2002 though, he got a new trial because they said basically they were saying that the

jury shouldn't have been allowed to hear his prior like incidents with other boys. Which I never understand. I'm like, come on. But that speaks to your character. Exactly, and very much so since you've murdered three little boys. And it was like pertinent because you brought them up. Exactly.

Now luckily he was found guilty again. Good. And he died in 2007 in jail. Bye. So obviously with all of this shit, paranormal activity seems like it would be a given here. And it is. Now, everyone says they feel watched in these woods and feel a very heavy presence.

People say like, the second you walk in there, you're going to feel like the way to the world on you. Well, think of how many people were killed. Yeah. And it's the most common reported thing, this heavy, like really just intense feeling. I feel like I just wouldn't want to go there. And if you happen to take something from these woods, you should not do like something you find on the ground or anything like that, they say that you will feel that heavy presence until you bring it back. Yeah, don't

steal. So don't do that. Now, in there those investigations in 1974 and 1975 by two paranormal researchers, and these investigations revealed something very interesting, they were able to capture an audio recording, and it's the audio sounds like what seems to be drums in the distance. Oh, cool. And it's really near the Robinson family graves that you can hear this. And the sound is one that tons of people hear. Even today, people will say, I hear drums when I go in there. And they say that they feel like they're coming closer

and closer and they're very like, they're very on rhythm kind of drums, like ward drums, basically. And it's very clear, very ominous. That's when that, sometimes that's when the heavy feeling will come about. Ooh, I feel like that. And I feel a heavy feeling right now. I know it gives me like the chills,

but that's another thing in the bridge water triangle. Yeah. People hear drumming be near like where the king Phillips war happened. I make sense because they used to like do that well then coming in. Exactly. Now, another sound often reported is someone snapping or cutting down a tree with an axe.

But there's no one around and no tree falls physically. And would the settlers probably do that to build shelters? Probably. Yeah. And they probably all would. And it's like, that must be so weird to hear somebody chopping down a tree with an axe and then there isn't one. That's like, but that must be so weird to hear somebody chopping down a tree with an axe, and then there isn't one.

That's like a residual haunting. Yeah, they just keep, imagine if that's your residual. You would be so jacked. Just keep cutting down a tree. Your arms would be so sexy. You would be very jacked. You would be able to do those TikToks where people just chop wood.

I don't know if you ever see those. I always get people do wedding those and they're really funny because they're always people that are like, why am I watching that? I lost that. I thought you were going to say you were going to be able to do one of those TikToks where like the people like can lift the other people and those like weird yoga moves. Not not too. I don't get those either. Oh, interesting. Weird. We have very different videos. We do a very different view pages, but you could do those TikToks, I suppose. But those are weird.

You could either do either one. But it's very weird. Like it's just to hear somebody chopping down a tree and then nothing happens. But of course, these are kind of fairly innocuous by themselves. Like, you know, nothing really crazy. But people also report hearing screams and screeches.

Thank you. And people think these may be flesh pedestrians or rakes. I'm leaving. So that, oh, I just got a chill. Yes, I just got a full body chill. Do you ever get a chill like it's stuck? Yes. I have a chill that's stuck.

It's a stuck chill. Oh. It's like it's buffering. It's a chill that's buffering. I feel freaked out. Yeah, it's a stuck chill. Oh. It's like it's buffering. Oh, it's a chill that's buffering. I feel freaked out. Yeah, it's a lot. Now, besides sounds, people have seen full-body apparitions of Native Americans, of settlers.

People have said that they've seen little kids. No. They've also said that they specifically see Alexander Robinson and his family. They see like make me feel okay because they were peaceful. They feel like a rad group of people. Yeah, they were just like vines. Yeah.

And apparently he doesn't come off as aggressive or any like none of these are very scary. But apparently a lot of activity happens on the left side of the Robinson family monument, which is strange. And there's no explanation? No, it's just like that's where it's really reported. And people report seeing a lot of strange lights in the middle of this place. And they see them in the middle of the night when the park is closed, because you're not allowed to be in this place.

It's only open from sunrise to sunset. So in the dark, they'll see like torch lights walking through the forest and on the past. And some people have taken video, I saw a few videos of people taking them from the roadway and they're like, what are those fucking lights? And you can see it moving in the what in the what that breaks me the fuck. Yeah. But what they think it might be is that the Alexander Robinson and his family, they all would use, they would go down to the Desplains River to get water and they would trek up those paths back to where they were.

Like lanterns? With torches. Torches, excuse me, yeah. So, they think this might be like people walking back to the river, like, or it could, or it could be anything, but it's like that's like a, I guess, a nice thought. But that's of crazy one, and that's one that tons of people see have documented. It's like reported all over the place. That is cool. That's the thing with this one that was interesting to me is that a lot of the things that I found about it, lots of people reported them. But these are very highly reported things.

So it's not like, oh, this one person saw this, so this one person saw that people over and over and over again, document and report these actual sightings and life's things, sounds and all that. Now, we've talked about seeing things, we've talked about hearing things, you also smell things in here. Now, people will smell a very strong smell of violets or lavender near the burial sites. So I love the smell of lavender.

And they'll smell this even in the dead of winter when no flowers around. And people claim it is strong and that it feels like it's sitting very close to the ground. Lavender is supposed to be like a calming scent, so that's interesting. And it's near the Robinson burial ground. Huh, so I spray my pillow And it's near the Robinson burial ground. Huh.

So I spray my pillow with lavender before I go to sleep. I love a good lavender smell, the chill me out. Yeah, yeah. But that's a funny one. It's just like, wow, I wonder what that's about. Maybe it's just like a calming vibe. Yeah. Just giving off maybe after life.

I also read reports of animals acting strange in this park. Sometimes people will see a group of deer and actually there are videos of this too that will all just walk toward the person instead of running away. Are they not deer? Or they'll just stay, I know I was thinking that too, are they not deer? Or they'll just stay still and stare at them. But there's also reports and videos again of groups of deer literally following people out of like walking them out of the woods.

Oh, it's like they're like protecting that. Like staying with them like guards. That is really cool. And there's videos of it where like somebody's walking out of the woods and they're literally taking video of these animals around them. And there's like several deer walking with them down the path. That is really funny.

Like they're on the outskirts, but they're walking with them. And it's like they deer walking with them down the path. That is really, like they're on the outskirts, but they're walking with them. And it's like they're just like leading people out of the woods. I don't know like a lot about it, but I do know that like animals are very important in Native American culture. So it's like maybe they're just like,

maybe it's just part of the whole thing. Exactly. And it's like some, I don't know, it doesn't, it's like, it's had a lot of bad shit happen. And it's got bad, but it's like some, I don't know, it's like, it's had a lot of bad shit happen and it's not bad, but it seems like, yeah, it seems like there's some like heavy energy there for sure. Like people have felt like very heavy energy and are like, I didn't like it.

But then there's other stuff that feels like it's like, not, you know, it's like very, I kind of wonder if it depends what you bring in there. You know, what kind of energy you go in with? I know, I wonder that too. Because usually you got that energy, like you get the energy you give. Yeah, because it's like some of it feels malevolent,

but I wonder what that's in like this stuff is so benign that it feels like if you're just going in there like maybe open and like respectful. Right, maybe. But then I saw a news report where they had, they had a medium. And he was claiming that the spirits in that area just wanted people to get off their land. Okay, yeah. And that like this was their land and they wanted them off them. I'm said that's one medium. But like, yeah, of course. He made it more of a, like,

a... A lovelin thing. A lovel link kind of thing, but I don't know. Maybe, again, maybe that's what it's what you bring in that you get out. Well, you also have to think like how many people came forward to him? Like, that's not representative of everybody, then. No, it's definitely not. But you can visit there if you want. You can do that. It's open from sunrise to sunset. Don't be trespassing. Apparently, it's also a very nice place to take a nature walk.

It's very lovely. Again, deer will just hang out around you. They're very not scared of people there. That is really cool. I really just want to go to hang out with some deer. Just hang out with deer. But just be careful when you go out there. And don't take shit.

Be respectful, exactly. Be very respectful of the burial grounds. And you know, I think it sounds like kind of a cool place. It does. But also terrifying. I mean, that's right up around me. It's had some really big atrocities happen there. I mean, that triple murder was known only.

That's just like really, really tragic, really sad. Yeah. And if you look up the story of that murder, it really, because of course, back then, they would just splash crime scene photos across the front of a newspaper. So just be a little careful when you're looking for it because it will shock you. But it also reminded me that the photos

reminded me very much of the West Memphis 3 photos. And like the crime scene, it was like a little, I got like taken a back by it. I was like, oh, you were just telling me that. Yeah, very similar. And she's like, it will just pop right up on Google. It's so be warned about that if that's not something that you're ready to see, which most people probably aren't.

Yeah, if you type in their names and you're looking for like news reports, if you hit Google Images, you will, one pops up. That's very graphic. So just be aware of that. Because it's kids. Yeah. That's why I feel like sometimes I'm like, can somebody work on that?

Can some Google Images, can you chill out? You know? Just a little bit. Yeah, just a little bit. But that is Robinson Woods in Illinois. I wonder if Drew's dad knows about that place early, like I didn't have his family. I know.

I wonder, because a lot of people said that it's a place where people heard about when they were little when they're there. It's like a local thing. I'll text Drew's dad later to see if it's a little late right now, but I'll text him maybe to my own update you next time. Yeah, and see if he knows about that murder case, because. Yeah. Sorry, what year was that again?

1950s. 1955. Yeah, so he probably would have, I don't think he was born yet. I don't know. I don't know about it. Maths. Maths. I'm actually not even about it.

Maths, I just like don't know it right now. I just just, just not right in this moment. It is 918 PM. So I'm done math. Yeah. It's late. All right. Well, that was like really interesting.

So thank you for that. You're welcome. No, thank you. Thank you. No, thank you. No, I'm just kidding. All right, so my spooky forest for this episode is kind of not a forest, but it is a little bit at the same time. Okay. It is, is Ladi last muneca or the island of the dolls? Ooh, I would say that's like foresty. Yeah, it is.

You know, we don't do spooky islands yet. Maybe that's like a thing that could host spooky islands. I love it. I kind of love that. It's just like, you know, tropical. Yeah. All right. So again, technically not a forest.

It's actually more of a floating garden. Like these little areas are floating gardens. This island has trees and they're creepy, so it counts. There you go. You know, you just qualified it right there. Boom, that's my argument. Creepy tree there. Done. So Isla de las Munecas is just outside of Mexico City and is located on Lake Tashul, I believe so you say it. And by all accounts it was actually never meant to become a tourist attraction like it is today. But the events that led it to becoming one are actually really tragic.

Wade, excuse me, way back during the Mexican Revolution, the rebels actually burned down most of this island and the bodies that were burned during the revolution of people who would like run there for safety were simply tossed in the nearby water. And he's like, and it's like canals. It's very labyrinthian, like you would say. Ooh, very labyrinthian, and just tossing people into the water. Oh, that is bleak. So the natives to these islands think that,

and I agree with them, a lot of bad energy on the island comes from that time, and could be why it is supposedly still cursed to this day. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised, but there is a whole other curse that we have to talk about, and it all starts with a man named Don Julien Santana Barara, and he became the caretaker of the island in the early 50s. So he was born in Sochi Milko in 1921, not a ton is known about Don Julien's early life, but it is known that he was a very religious man.

He really enjoyed going around to different towns in the area and, you know, spreading the good word, but because he wasn't a priest, the people that he was preaching to were just like not fond of his teachings at all, because back then around the 50s, technically only priests were supposed to be spreading the gospel. And like nobody else, you had to be a priest to spread the good words. You got to be a priest. To spread the good words. So people looked down on him for doing so. And actually some people even used physical violence against him.

It said that he went through his fair share of beatings while he was doing this. Oh, that's sad. Which is what partially led him to living alone on what would become the island of the dolls. And then something that irritated me in my research when I actually found the truth, a lot of sources say that he abandoned his wife and children, but that doesn't seem to be true

because I don't think he had children. Don Hulian's nephew said, Don Hullion's nephew said that he and his wife actually lived on the island, and because it was so cursed, they actually were not able to have children while they were living there. So it doesn't sound like he left his wife. Yeah, because I remember I've heard that.

Because I've only heard, be alone. Yeah, I've heard very tiny bits and pieces of all this. Yeah, and that's always part of it. It's in almost every source, and then I found this article, it was a New York Post article with his actual great-great-grand nephew who now runs the island with his wife actually, and he was like, no, I didn't abandon anybody. I need an abjoldron.

Oh, wow. That's a fun thing. That's a fun thing. It's just like a game of telephone, you know? Yeah, and it's told so many times that people believe it. Yeah, it sucks. So it's unclear whether his wife died on the island or if she left for some reason,

but either he didn't leave her. So nobody is quite certain if the origin story of how the island became the island of the dolls is true or not. A lot of people think that the years he spent alone on the island kind of made Don Hulley and go a little bit kuku. And they don't believe his account of what happened, but I personally do believe him.

Yeah. So according to him, he was around the water in the fishing in the area, and he saw the body of a young girl floating. He wasn't sure if she was alive or dead, so he jumped into the water and rescued her. And he did everything he possibly could to save her and bring her back to life, but it was too late. She had died. She had drowned in the water. Now, it's said that he either saw that this girl was holding onto a doll or that a few days later, a doll appeared in that same spot, kind of like washed up on the water.

Yeah. But either way, he hung that doll up. And again, another thing that kind of gets wrong in the storytelling, most sources say that he hung the doll up on a nearby tree, and it all started like that, but that's not true. Don Hullion's nephew actually said that the doll was hung up in his small cabin on the island, which makes sense because I actually saw a clip of the original doll and it's in that cabin that still exists today.

Oh, okay. So, Dan Hullion did this as a way not only to honor this little girl's memory who had lost her life, but also to keep evil spirits at bay because it's believed that this particular area is like very heavy with spirits and people that have died there. I mean, there was a lot of death there. A lot of death. So this marked the start of more dolls being hung up over the course of the next 50 years.

And on who Leon felt compelled to hang the dolls over the island because he was actually being haunted by the spirit of the young girl that he had found. He believed he was being haunted. That is so spooky. He would wake up in the middle of the night yelling out for her or about her, because every time he went to sleep,

he would have nightmares about finding her like the same nightmare on repeat. And he felt he was like, I don't know, like if there's just more I should be doing to honor her memory. And he said he was also trying to keep her spirit comfortable because he felt like she was trapped on the island and couldn't find her way to the afterlife,

but she liked the dolls. So he wanted her to be comfortable while she was trapped on the island and couldn't find her way to the afterlife. But she liked the dolls. So he wanted her to be comfortable while she was there. Oh man. But eventually he also felt like he needed to protect himself from her. So, in his nephew said, it was because, quote, the spirit of the living girl was living, excuse me,

the spirit of the girl was living in sorrow. In the mornings, Juliana started seeing ghosts and one day woke up and found all his crops had died. He tried many things to improve his crops, but he couldn't because the spirit damaged it. He became more and more scared. Ooh, and so again, to protect himself, he keeps hanging up these dolls trying to just

appease the spirit. Yeah, so this was when he started actually going around to nearby towns, he would search through bins of discarded items and he would take any doll that he found back with him. And actually sometimes he would find them just discarded in the nearby water and he would collect them to bring back to the island. And after some time of doing that, he actually even started selling the produce that he grew on the island in exchange for more dolls. Oh wow. So before long, almost the entire part of his island was filled and where it started spreading

in the area. So people started coming to the island asking for tours. And on Julionne would take them around the island for a small fee or for more dolls to hang. Oh jeez. Now, he didn't understand the people that felt like the island was creepy or scary though, because in his mind, it was like he was creating

this beautiful sanctuary for the spirit. My God. And he said it just served as protection and it served to make this little girl happy. Oh my God, that's heartbreaking. It is. So his operation went on for 50 years until 2001 when he passed away.

Now, he was said to have been found in the exact same spot where he found that little girl all those years ago. What? Some say that he drowned, but his nephew said he had a heart attack actually, and then was dragged into the water by the spirit of the girl. Wow.

Which I got chill bumps. I was just gonna say my entire body just went, boom, boom. So people who visit the island now obviously feel like a little bit creeped out by the dolls and just the place has this, like you were kind of saying with yours, that of what's like, just because of everything that's happened

there, like it gets that kind of energy. Yeah, like super heavy. Yeah, but there are actual paranormal accounts from people who have visited. People say that they hear weird noises and that they've seen the dolls move on their own. And not just like they're like swaying in the wind or something, but like their arm or leg or like their whole last head

will turn around to look at you. Oh, so creepy. Oh no. And there's like an actual like phobia of dolls. Yeah, you know who has it actually? Who? Zach Begins has it. Oh, really?

Begins are baggons. I have no idea. I feel like I hear it said differently all the time. So, like, Zach, if you're listening, let us know. You'll let us know if you're listening. If you're listening to us. Yeah, I don't, I don't know. He, I was watching the clips of his show, Ghost Adventures,

and he went to the island, and he was like, I'm hoping I can overcome my fear. Oh, damn. And it seemed like it was really creepy. That's intense exposure therapy. Oh, yeah. There was like a doll that used to have batteries, but like obviously it's very old,

so it didn't, like, the batteries wouldn't work anymore. It's like exposed. And it was still talking. Like it had spoken in the past, but, the batteries wouldn't work anymore. It's like exposed. And it was still talking. Like it had spoken in the past, but like the batteries were dead. What? It was creepy as fuck. Holy shit.

So creepy. People also say that they hear the dolls whispering to one another. Oh my God. Now legend has it that all of the dolls on the island are haunted by the spirit of the little girl or perhaps like other children who have passed over the years and been attracted to the island because of all these dolls. Ah! Now, even people traveling nearby like sailors heading to a certain destination

say that they feel weirdly compelled to stop and visit the island instead of going in the direction where they're headed. Oh, which I hate. Yeah, that freaks me out. And to this... Like a siren song. It is. And to this siren song. It is. And to this date, there are more than 1500 dolls hanging from the tree.

Totally shit. And within that little cabin. And a lot of them are even creepier than they once were, which is saying a lot, because Don Hully would hang them in whatever state he found them in. Like missing eyes or not, missing limbs or not. Yeah. But because it's been so long, and on top of that, whatever state he found them in. Like missing eyes or not, missing limbs or not. Yeah. But because it's been so long, and on top of that,

they're even dirtier and more messed up than they once were, so they're like very, very creepy. They're very like, cid from Toy Story. Yes. Kind of toys. Yeah, and they, like some of them have been there so long that like, there's cobwebs that just like overtook their faces.

Oh, I saw a picture of one of those, and it ruined me. The original doll is still there in the cabin. I took my face picture of one of those and it ruined me. The original doll is still there. In the cabin. What? The original doll. I want to see that.

It had like it used to have arms and legs, obviously, and they're all like frayed. So they're just kind of like these like spirited like appendages. Oh. And the face is just like super dirty. I swear, I'm gonna have nightmares about it tonight. Oh man.

It's so crumly. I'm looking up the original doll right now. So if you do wanna go to the island and see it, you can. And in the canals, again, I'm Sochi Miko, which is south of Mexico City by about 45 minutes. And it's still run by Don Julien's family. As Neffi says that, he still sometimes see shadows on the island in the moonlight.

But other than that, he said he hasn't had many bad experiences on the island, but he will not stay there. Like, he does not live on that island. He lives on another island nearby. Yeah, I can't imagine living on that island. No, but if you do want to go, the boat ride to the island takes about two hours

so like just know that ahead of time. You have two hours to sit there and wonder what you're going to see. You have two hours to make a decision to turn around and go back. But like, good luck with that because I don't know how you're going to turn around and go back. Oh, that's so creepy. That is, I wanna go. I wanna see it so bad, but I feel like the vibes would be so intense. Oh, the vibes are so heavy there anyway, just because of everything that happened with the revolution and all of that. Oh yeah.

It's so intense. When you think of how heavy, like going into Abbey Bourdins room in the Lizzie Bourd house, I've never felt something like that before, where it was just like there. like going into Abby Borden's room in the Lizzie Borden house. I've never felt something like that before where it was just like, all of a sudden, it was just this really heavy, like hard feeling. Like I didn't feel good and I was dizzy and I just felt like I was like,

ooh, we should not be here. I remember, like, you know that feeling when you've walked your knees, so you're gonna faint and your tongue starts to get like, I don't know how to describe it, but do you know the feeling of how your mouth feels you're gonna faint? When we were in there, that's what I felt like.

Yeah, you feel like you're gonna pass out. Yeah, it was weird. And I remember we both looked at each other and we were like, we gotta get out of it. Yeah, I was like, I wanna get the fuck outta here. But imagine you're on this fucking island and you can't get off. You just have to wait for your boat to come back.

No. And then you have to like, roll away from that place. That's a lot for me. I would need to be airlifted off. Yeah, that's a lot for me. But I don't think any plane could land. No, and both of those options sound terrible to me. Yeah, you're not a fan.

I'm not a driver in a car. Or in which is funny, that's more dangerous. I know, I pick the most dangerous of all the transportation, and I'm like, I feel more driver in a car. Or in which it's funny, yeah. That's more dangerous. I know, I pick the most dangerous of all the transportation, and I'm like, I feel more comfortable in this. Thank you. I love it. But wow, that's terrifying and also heartbreaking. I know.

In like several ways. I know. Like the story of the little girl drowning in him, like finding the doll and then like, and then just dedicating his whole life to like appeasing her spirit. Well, that's the thing and then like, and then just dedicating his whole life to like appeasing her spirit. Well, that's the thing and he like feels like he wanted to make it this like haven for her

while she was waiting to go into the afterlife. I keep getting chills. I don't know what's happening right now, but I freaking out. And like, you know, him trying to like protect himself from her at the same time as making this her like paradise. I don't know why you just freaked me out. I keep getting chills. I'm like, it's a little freaking me out.

I don't like this. Do you know what? I actually do feel like we need to say, Jean-Hierre, and we'll get the ethical sage, don't worry. Yeah, I have that one. I do. But I feel like because sometimes we talk about energy so much, we talk about really heavy things in this room.

Yeah. And sometimes I do feel like we need to like clear the energy. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, it's getting a little heavy in here. Just a little heavy in here. I think it's time to get out of here. Yeah, I think it's time to wrap this up. Guys, that was spooky woods. Spooky woods in an island.

And like, you know, there's woods on that island. Yeah, there's trees, it's an island. It's this tree, that there's woods on that island. Can I show you? It's an island. It's this tree. That's all I was looking for here was trees. Yeah, that's what qualifies a forest. Does it have trees? Yeah, cool.

It's forest. Let's go. Like the end. Well, so we hope that you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But not so weird that your voice sounds like this. I love you so much. Please send in your spooky woods and spooky other things to morbidpodcast.gmail.com because we will love it.

Yes, but yeah, yeah, yeah, send in some spooky fucking islands. Yeah, all your spooky shit. Bye. Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen Add Free with Wondery Plus and Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.