Dering Woods in Kent, England holds many ghostly tales. Many ghosts have been seen through the foggy landscape and blood curdling screams of those haunting it are still heard to this day, giving it the charming nickname, the Screaming Woods.
In the idyllic landscape in Kent in England, Dering Woods, also known as “the Screaming Woods,” conceals a tapestry of haunted tales that echo through its ancient trees between the small villages of Smarden and Pluckley. The small village of Pluckley, an old village found in the Doomsday book of 1086 is said to be one of the most haunted villages in the UK with as many as 12-14 ghosts. Some claim it is even over 40 ghosts.
This was an entry in the Guinness Book of Records in 1989, but alas, they don’t have this category anymore as it is not easy to verify these claims.
But here, we are limited to stories concerning the forest, not the village itself. Because who is said to be heard, screaming for their life in the dead of night inside of the Dering Woods?
Read More: Check of all stories from Haunted Forests
Dering Woods has earned its spine-chilling moniker for a reason, as reports of blood-curdling screams emanating from its depths have become a staple of the local lore. Visitors, expecting a serene family camping trip, have been startled by the unnerving cries that pierce the night. Although today you can also join the ghost walking tours that have become popular here as the area is mostly known for being, “very haunted”.
Footsteps and mysterious whispers on foggy days add an extra layer of mystery to this already haunted enclave. It is said that the Dering Woods is filled with those that got lost inside of the forest and never got out. The place is the site of several neolithic sites that people claim bring a sort of haunted energy to it according to British Isles myths and legends.
The Highwayman’s Lament
One of the enduring legends associated with the Screaming Woods involves an unnamed highwayman from the 18th century whose spectral presence is said to haunt the Dering Woods and the nearby road.
According to local lore, this highwayman was captured and met a gruesome end at the hands of vengeful villagers. He was chased through the Screaming Woods when the villagers, or so called peacekeepers got a hold of him, pinned him to one of the old oak trees and decapitated him.
This is said to have taken place close to the Smarden Bell Road that has been nicknamed the Fright Corner and is also the place were people have reported about seeing his ghost.
The blood-curdling screams are often attributed to his tormented spirit, suggesting a lingering grudge that transcends the boundaries of the afterlife and seems to have given the forest its name.
The Ghost of the Colonel
Another ghost said to haunt the grounds of the Dering Woods is the ghost of an army officer that in the 18th century ventured into the forest and committed suicide in one of the trees in the former Park Wood that used to be an adjacent forest.
The trees are no longer there but It is said that the ghost of the 1700 soldier is still seen hanging from the trees, or some even claim he is still marching through the woods still wearing his uniform.
No one really knows his rank, however the locals have dubbed him the Colonel.
The Halloween Massacre of Dering Woods
Delving deeper into the annals of Dering Woods’ haunted history, another tale emerges—the mysterious Dering Wood Massacre of 1948 found on many of the high ranking paranormal blogs as well as most haunted lists in magazines like Conde Nast Traveler. But how many of these more recent tales are actually true?
The first story goes like this: On the morning of November 1, a dog walker was out in the woods where he made a horrifying discovery. Locals were left in shock as 20 lifeless bodies were reportedly discovered in a pile inside of the Screaming Woods. Eleven of the dead victims were children. They were all identified as villagers from the nearby Maltman’s Hill area.
The previous night, Halloween, had been marked by strange lights emanating from the woods, creating an eerie backdrop to the unfolding tragedy.
Autopsies failed to determine a cause of death, adding to the mystique surrounding the event. There were no wounds og signs of struggle that could point to what they died of. What they did settle on though after a few weeks was that they had all died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
The public were not satisfied with these answers though and there have been many questions and speculations after it all. One of them was the possible involvement of the police forces as they closed the case down too quickly.
In 1964, there was a private investigator that did a deep dive into the mystery. Robert Collins interviewed and speculated that it could be an unknown religious cult in Smarden village close to the Dering Woods.
His investigation became inconclusive though as he died in a car accident that year.
The Missing Students
The Halloween Massacre was not the last time something strange and tragic happened inside of the forest. On a Friday on November 6th in 1998 the residents of Pluckley reported about some strange strange lights coming from the Screaming Woods. It was described as “Figures of light resembling a spider’s web.”
That night, four university students went missing after they went camping in the woods. They were never found.
Creepy Pasta Lore that Evolved
But how real are these stories really? Both of them are, according to sources and those taking a deeper dive into the stories, said to have originated on the internet as creepy pasta in 2015 or around then.
The stories have both been made to scare and amuse people, but many seem to have taken them to heart and as actual events. With the in depth “sources” the creepy pasta have used with pictures and everything, it could fool many. And with the rate bloggers keep copy and pasting things without further investigations, these stories have often been passed around as real events.
But when looking closer to the supposed news articles confirming the stories, we see many things that points to this being fake. The British newspapers use American spelling, as well as adding a website to it.
The image used as a source of the Smarden Post news article about the massacre is actually a picture of Lithuanians and Soviet Union officers standing together after the first excavations of 20 murdered Jewish men in Utyan in Lithuania in 1944. Source to original picture and its history.
The picture used for the 1998 case with the missing students is actually a photograph from an 2008 article in The Telegraph about Puckley being one of England’s most haunted villagers.
To read the creepy pasta in its full form, head over to CreepyPasta.
A Tapestry of Unresolved Spirits in the Screaming Woods
Dering Woods, with its intertwining narratives of spectral highwaymen and a chilling 1948 massacre, has become a hotspot for paranormal enthusiasts and those intrigued by the unknown.
The Dering Woods ancient trees stand as silent witnesses to the enigmatic occurrences that have unfolded beneath their branches and continue to spark the imagination of new stories.
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References:
A Journey Into The ‘Screaming Woods’ Of Pluckley | Spooky Isles
Pluckley Screaming Woods – Essex Ghost Hunters
Uk’s Most Haunted – The Screaming Woods – GhostHunt Uk
The Dering Woods | Creepypasta Wiki | Fandom
