Fear the Woods (2017) s01e07 Episode Script

1
The vast American wilderness
is home to evil forces
thought only to exist
in nightmares,
but the terrible creatures
that roam here are all too real.
Some entities that
haunt the land
defy explanation
while others are steeped
in rich, dark history
and deadly legend.
I turn around to look,
but I don't really want
to turn around to look
because I don't want
to see what's there.
I was scared enough that
I could definitely feel
my heart beating.
I was nervous. I was shaking.
Look behind you!
It, like, shrieks this horrible,
horrible sound.
Kill it! Kill it!
Kill it! Kill it!
It felt like I was paralyzed,
like I absolutely could
not move or comprehend.
They will do everything
in their power to grab you,
to get you,
to kill you, to eat you.
When a legend is born
of a sinister history,
it never dies.
Well, legends tend to form
from the old world's skill
of telling stories
through word of mouth
before there was such thing
as mass communication,
and they go back eons.
A legend is a story
that has been told over
and over and over again.
Something in that story
has stuck in time.
It's also maybe something
that has happened
that we're afraid of
because it's a power
beyond our understanding.
There's a lot of things
about legends
that we do not understand.
Consider these warnings.
Stay away, otherwise you're
entering at your own risk
and taking life
in your own hands.
This stretch of land
in the backwoods of Canada
has witnessed a number
of gruesome and horrific
incidents over the decades.
The most gruesome of which
was born decades ago.
The locals call this highway
Ghost Road.
Ghost Road is an infamous
legend.
There was a father in the midst
of a messy divorce
from his wife,
and he had, at that point,
become semi estranged
from his kids,
and he had gone out
and taken them,
and he drove them
to that stretch of road.
He burned the kids to death.
It's said the ghosts
of the dead children
now stalk this road,
seeking justice
for their demise.
Yet it is an even more
disturbing incident
that grips the imaginations
of the locals,
the bloody death
of a young thrill seeker
on this lonely highway.
As a youth, you're definitely
aware of the legend.
Legend has it that Ghost Road
is the site of a fatal
motorcycle crash years ago.
No one knows quite when.
There's a teenager
who used to go
into a local farmer's field
and rip it up
with his motorcycle,
and the farmer
got annoyed at this.
He repositioned
his barbed wire fence.
And then the barbed wire fence
ended up decapitating the kid.
But the legend
doesn't end there.
His girlfriend had gone out
shortly after he had died,
to kill herself.
Then she had committed suicide
on the road.
People quite often see
her ghost,
like,
with the white dress flowing.
And she's not alone.
According to folk lore,
her lover, the ghost rider,
has also stalked the road
ever since,
hunting for vengeance.
People who go to
Ghost Road claim
that they view
this motorcycle headlight
coming towards them
across the field.
And now on a chilly
October evening,
Paul Nash and his friend,
Jordan,
have come to this fabled
stretch of road
to see if
the chilling stories are true,
but perhaps they have come
searching for something
that should be left alone.
So when Jordan and I
went to Ghost Road,
it was Thanksgiving weekend,
and it was sort of a typical
Thanksgiving weekend
in northern Ontario.
The air was cold.
It sort of smelled of
dead leaves,
and definitely farmers' country.
You could smell, like,
burning yard waste,
and it sort of had
that sort of mist feel about it.
Both had been instructed
on what to do in order to entice
the spirit of the ghost rider.
When you pull over,
you have to shut off the car,
turn off the lights
to make sure there's no
ambient light or noise.
Are we really gonna wait
out here all night?
Yes, we are going to wait
out here all night.
That's why we came out here.
If you park where you can see
the farmer's field,
you would see the light
of the motorcycle going across.
Jordan fancied herself
a ghost expert
really describes
a lot of who Jordan was.
Like, she was deeply interested
in stuff like this.
Jordan was normally
sort of a wired person,
so she was definitely on edge
when we got out there.
You got to be quiet.
If you hear something bad
at a location,
there's a natural curiosity
of going to investigate it
However, unless
you're experienced
or you have
the proper equipment,
I highly don't recommend it
because it's not safe.
I mean, like, I wouldn't
exactly say I'm a nonbeliever,
but I wasn't a believer either.
I sort of I need evidence.
When you go up there, I mean,
you're psyching yourself.
Did you
Yeah.
You're aware of the stories,
and you're aware
that it's there,
so you're already a bit on edge,
I mean, believer or not.
I mean, old country road
in the middle of October,
you pull over
and turn off the lights,
I think anybody would be scared.
Definitely the type of thing
that makes your hair
stand on end.
It was definitely the perfect
night to see a ghost.
And it appears the spirit
of the dead motorcyclist
is in sync with that sentiment.
It sort of appears
as a small light hovering
in the middle of the field.
They see the light,
but it's not going across
the field in the distance.
Let's go!
It's headed right for them.
No, no, no.
This lonely stretch of
rural Canadian highway
is steeped in bloody legend.
Children have been burned alive,
a gruesome decapitation
and a bloody suicide
and now the spirits of all
those victims torment the land.
The locals call it Ghost Road,
and every now and then,
someone comes out here
looking for a thrill.
The dangerous part about seeking
any paranormal or ghost location
is typically it's done at night.
It's not safe.
Let's assume
that ghosts are real
and they do not
want to be bothered.
If you bother them
in their natural state,
you know, they will cause harm.
Paul and Jordan have
come out to a deserted road
in the middle of the night
in search of the legendary ghost
rider that haunts the area.
Now, to their horror,
he's headed right for them.
- What?
- Let's go!
And then it starts rather
rapidly coming towards you.
- Go, go!
- It's not working!
- Drive!
- It's not working!
No, no, no.
And then it disappears.
He was just there.
I don't see him.
We're both on edge, just waiting
for something to happen.
He may have vanished,
but he's not done with them yet.
The phantom rider appears to be
toying with them, but why?
This is not how the sighting
is supposed to go.
Heart rate's definitely up.
Definitely a bit of fear,
sort of the fear you get
when you're confronting
something you don't know.
Tonight he isn't the only spirit
who's come out to play.
Three ghosts just walked
out of the ditch
on the side of the road.
Ah!
- Let's go!
- It's not working!
The ghosts of
the murdered children
and the dead girl
have them surrounded.
It's chilling.
And now the ghost
rider is returning as well.
What I find about places with
multiple layers of hauntings,
say at different eras,
is not all of them are friendly.
They usually show
some form of aggression,
and it can be as tame
as swear words right up
to physical interaction.
So we sort of felt the car shake
and heard a noise,
and we looked back,
they'd actually gotten up
on the trunk of Jordan's car.
- Let's go!
- Ah!
Move! Move! Move!
Oh, my god!
It was scary because they didn't
really fulfill
what you imagine
an actual ghost to be.
It was more real.
It was more solid,
like they were there.
They were present,
and they were like real people.
To the point where the three
of them are rocking the car.
Is it something where
we're gonna end up
getting hurt, right?
Like, where they're actually
coming to actually hurt us.
Jordan started the car in hopes
that they would
jump off the back.
Ah!
Of course it didn't happen,
so she was getting frustrated,
and she would just
sort of like step on it
and pull the car forward
type thing
to try and shake them off,
and it wasn't working.
Ah!
They weren't reacting.
Let's go!
- Please.
- Move! Move! Move!
Paul and Jordan have
undertaken an adventure
they shouldn't have,
and now they're paying
a bloody price.
It's quite terrifying.
Oh, my god!
Ah!
Paul and Jordan went out
looking for a legendary ghost
and found him.
Unfortunately, he brought
along some friends.
- It's not working!
- Hurry!
Ah!
Now they're trapped in
the car and under attack
by all of those who died
on this very road.
We definitely weren't expecting
anything more than the boy
on the motorcycle.
We weren't expecting to,
you know, witness ghost children
or the woman in white
or anything outside
of what the actual legend says.
I believe that it's very common
for ghosts and spirits
to work together.
I feel that they're possibly one
and the same.
- I'm getting out.
- Don't.
What else are we gonna do?
Paul believes there's
only one thing he can do
Leave the vehicle and face
these apparitions head on.
I just said, "Okay.
Well, I guess
I'm gonna have to go out
and look at them."
I open the car door,
and I get out,
and I turn around to look
at the back to confront them,
and there's nobody sitting
on the trunk of the car.
The ghosts have disappeared,
but are they gone?
At that point, I'm terrified.
Either they really got off
the car
and ran quickly into the ditch
or there's something
bigger going on.
Paul fears that
the legendary spirits
could be preparing for
an even greater attack.
I mean, at this point, I was
scared without question.
I was scared enough that I could
definitely feel
my heart beating.
I was nervous. I was shaking.
As Paul searches
the field for ghosts,
Jordan is left alone
inside the car,
scared out of her mind,
and gripped
by an overpowering
sense of danger.
What? What?
It's terrifying to begin with,
and so it's sort of the thing
where I turn around to look
but I don't really want
to turn around to look
because I don't want
to see what's there.
Start the car!
It's not working.
- Hurry!
- Ah!
She was terrified.
I mean, I can still sort of
remember
the tone of her voice
when she screamed.
Yes, yes, yes!
Oh!
Jordan gets the car started.
It's no guarantee
they'll make it out alive.
My mind's racing, and Jordan
is driving the car probably,
you know, twice the speed limit
to get out of there,
and she's not thinking
rationally either.
The ghost rider isn't
about to let them go so easily.
Did you see that?
So as we're driving away
and we turn away
from Ghost Road, on the corner
I see the woman in white.
The phantom suicide
victim gives them
a final warning
Don't come back.
Paul and Jordan escape
Ghost Road,
leaving the blood-chilling
apparitions behind.
Both vow never to return.
And now Josh McFarland is going
to have his own encounter
with an ancient
and deadly legend.
Move! Move! Move!
A legend should always
be taken seriously.
There could be truth.
There could be something going
on that we don't understand,
so we need to tread
lightly in case
it's a part of something bigger
that we don't understand.
The thought that it was
hunting us was truly horrible.
The horrors of Ghost Road
are exclusive
to that small rural area,
but some deadly legends
are woven into the foundation
of an entire culture.
At first I didn't really
ever believe them.
It sounds like a, you know,
regional bogeyman type story,
you know, that they
describe them almost as,
you know, like,
these monsters in the desert
that I never really bought into
until I saw
what I saw that night.
Arizona is a land
that is rich in mythology.
Many of the most
extraordinary stories
come from the Navajo Nation,
who today has the small city
of Window Rock its capitol.
They say that
the Window Rock itself
holds a lot of spiritual energy
for the Navajos' culture.
Apparently a giant serpent
savaged the people here
until their god punched
a hole in the mountain
for it to slither
through and disappear,
but there is something else
stalking this land,
a creature so terrifying most
refuse to speak its name aloud.
Tonight Josh is venturing out
into the heart
of the legendary
creature's territory.
It's something everyone
knows about
but no one really talks about.
Part of the superstition is,
like, you don't talk about it.
They gain some of their power
from having people
take notice of them
and having people
interested in them,
and talking about them invites
them to take an interest in you.
And it's not only the Navajo
who take the story seriously.
Paranormal investigators know
that legendary creatures
can be rooted in deadly truths
and understand how dangerous
it is to come across one.
Depending on how horrific
the legend itself is,
the dangers can range
from very weak
and no danger to extreme dangers
in the case of legends
concerning particularly nasty,
malicious creatures of any kind,
not just spirits but cryptids
and physical creatures.
And just like
the Garden of Eden,
the most beautiful landscape
can hide a vicious creature.
It almost feels like
there's a
You know, there's two
sides to every coin.
They talk about the good energy
or the good shamanistic thing.
It almost feels like, you know,
in the area,
it almost makes sense
that there'd be something
kind of sinister
to, like, almost protect itself.
Legends just aren't stories.
They could be warnings
from our ancestors.
They've seen stuff that we may
have not experienced before.
They might be just letting us
know what's about to happen
or what's yet to come.
Josh McFarland is not Navajo,
but like everyone
in these parts,
he's heard that a mythical
beast stalks these lands.
He's never given it
much thought until now.
Tonight he and his father
are driving down this dark road,
miles away
from the nearest town.
My dad owned and operated
a small delivery service
in and around the area,
taking small packages
out to rural settlements
that are
It's too much of a hassle
for the larger companies.
It was definitely not uncommon
at all for us to be driving,
like, very, very far
from civilization.
Snakes, horned lizards,
well, you definitely
wouldn't want to find yourself
alone at night in that area.
We had gotten a call to install
a large screen television
in a house just outside
of Window Rock.
I always enjoyed the trips
because it's just
beautiful landscapes out there.
During the night time,
it's almost absolutely pitch
unless there's a full moon.
If you're driving down
the highway,
you pretty much can only see
the areas in your headlights.
Suddenly Josh senses the area
may not be as deserted
as it seems.
When you're in
the desert at night,
sometimes you get this
feeling like something
is out there with you.
You know, you can kind of feel
that there's something
watching you.
If something else is out there,
at least they're not
entirely on their own.
Thanks for tagging along.
Man, it's been too long
since I been up here.
The reason David was with us,
when we got the call
to go out to Window Rock
for this particular delivery,
he was there, and he's like,
"Oh, you know,
I have family in Window Rock.
"We should all go together
and kind of
make a trip out of it."
David and his entire family
are Navajo.
About time he learned the truth
about his daddy,
don't you think?
We had a couple of other pieces
of freight in the truck with us,
so David took their truck
in a convoy,
and we were communicating
back and forth
with walkie-talkies
just to kind of keep it fun,
you know,
make it more of a trip together
as opposed to, you know,
just us following one another.
However, the fun
doesn't last long.
What is that?
Hey, you see that up ahead?
As we were coming down
the highway, we can kind of see
what appears to be
a very large black or brown dog.
As we get closer and closer,
we can kind of see
that it's got this brown
wiry kind of matted fur.
Looks like it could almost be
covered in, like, a dried blood.
It turns, and it looks at us,
and it's got this
It's like a face.
It's like a person's face
stretched over,
like, a bear's skull.
It's eyes were, like
You see that?
Jet black, just holes
in the human mask.
Just these jet black eyes
peering through,
and while it, like,
the expression in the eyes
was almost angry,
the look on the face
was more one of, like, pain.
Whatever this creature
before them is,
it has its sights
set on Josh and his father.
Ah!
Now that the beast sees them,
there's no escape.
Josh, his father,
and their friend, David,
are traveling a deserted road
in the heart of Navajo country,
rumored to be stalked
by an ancient beast,
and now they're stopped
in the middle of nowhere
just a few feet away from it.
I've only seen that face
on my father a few times,
both times when his parents died
and then that night,
and it was just this face like,
"I want to tell you
everything is going to be okay,
but I don't know."
I just remember him
giving me that look.
David is the only one
who's Navajo.
He know what this creature is,
and he knows how much
danger they're in.
You should go back.
Back, back, back,
back in the car.
The terrified look
on David's face
tells them it's something
to be very afraid of.
They need to return
to their vehicles now.
We better get going.
Hit it with your car.
Put the pedal to the metal,
and hit it now.
He said, "You have to speed up.
You have to hit that thing.
That is not a dog.
You have to"
He started becoming hysterical,
screaming,
"You have to hit it.
You have to hit that thing."
Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!
We start to realize
this thing is huge.
I remember not screaming.
Nothing was said, and just 10
and two on the steering wheel,
just accelerating
as fast as we could,
and I'm ready for impact.
Just then, it, like, shrieks
this horrible, horrible sound.
We were inches from hitting it.
Then it jumps back off
into the blackness,
and I couldn't see it again.
Do you see it?
Do you see it?
It was unnatural.
I mean, it's sitting in the dead
center of the highway,
and it's able to clear
a whole lane plus, you know,
the little ditch off to the side
that separates the road
from a barbed wire fence.
I've never seen
It was absolutely unnatural.
When Josh and his
father ask David what they saw,
they get a blood-curdling
answer
It's a skin-walker.
The skin-walker is a legend
from the Navajo people
that is predominately around
the southwestern United States.
A skin-walker is a shaman
or a medicine man
that has begun practicing
the evil side of shamanism
that involves mostly
taking shape, shifting shape.
It's a shape-shifter,
someone who can change
from a human to an animal.
A skin-walker is also
known as a Navajo witch.
They're known to be harmful.
The legend describes them
as being some sort
of an animal-like humanoid.
They're like a magical
practitioner,
like a shaman that's started
to practice,
like, a blood magic
or a black magic.
Not all Navajo shamans are evil,
but those who pursue dark magic
or dark energy
could be potentially
really dangerous.
And there's a sinister reason
why it is after
these innocent travelers.
Once a skin-walker has you
in his scent,
they will do everything
in their power to grab you,
to get you,
to kill you, to eat you.
In order to gain their power,
they have to commit
some kind of serious
cultural taboo or crime,
you know, killing an infant
or cannibalizing
a family member,
something truly heinous,
to, like, gain the power
to being able to shape-shift,
and that's what
a skin-walker is.
Once it has consumed
their flesh,
it must wear the skin
of its victim,
even if it is peeled off
a human being.
And that's where the term
skin-walker actually comes from.
In order to continue
to change shape,
they have to continue practicing
whatever sort of dark taboo
they initially broke
in the first place.
So if they were to gain
their abilities
through consuming
someone's flesh
and cannibalizing them,
then to keep their powers,
they would have to continue
breaking those taboos.
Fresh human flesh,
David believes the skin-walker
was looking for its next prey
when Josh
and his father came along.
Right now they all feel lucky
to have escaped,
but they aren't out of the woods
yet, not even close.
The skin-walker is back
and chasing their vehicle.
He has acquired their scent,
and there is no stopping him.
Josh, his father
and their friend, David,
are being chased
by the legendary skin-walker,
which needs a fresh kill
to maintain its power.
Move! Move! Move!
David was still freaking out
over the radio.
He kept saying,
"We have to go faster.
"We have to get out of here.
It is following us.
We have to leave right now."
This horrible, freakish creature
could actually be following us
and keeping pace
with our vehicle,
you know, on the highway.
Fast! Go!
He kept saying,
"It's following us.
We have to get out of here.
We have to go faster."
He kept repeating
that last part.
"We have to go faster,
and we have to get out of here."
That was one of the worst parts,
honestly, because David is
a very stoic man, you know,
but to hear him freak out and to
start screaming over the radio,
you know, obscenities,
"We have to get out of here.
We have to leave," it absolutely
put my mind in panic mode.
I didn't want was gonna happen.
At that moment,
I remember I can
You know, I can feel
that I'm trembling.
My heart is racing.
My vision is kind of feeling
blurred almost.
Like, I'm freaking out.
I start hyperventilating.
My dad is trying to comfort me.
You know, "It's okay.
"We're gonna make it
out of here.
We just have to drive faster,"
and then at that point,
we were hauling ass
across the desert,
and we get pulled over
by a Navajo Reservation
police officer.
As we're pulling over,
David is behind us,
so he pulls in with us,
and this obviously makes
the officer very nervous.
He exits his vehicle with his,
you know,
his hand on his holster.
You guys were going
a little fast tonight.
- You in a rush to go somewhere?
- There's a skin-walker!
Can you turn the car off for me,
please?
There's a skin-walker!
We got to get out of here.
And I remember the officer,
a Navajo man himself,
he just turns white.
He had that same look
on his face, like,
"Is this really happening
right now?"
Follow me, guys.
The officer knows that
they shouldn't be stuck
in the middle of nowhere
with a skin-walker,
let alone say the name out loud.
In Navajo culture,
the skin-walker legend
is taken very seriously,
and they do not talk with anyone
outside, as they feel
that it will give its source
of energy to the skin-walker.
With the police escort in tow,
should the skin-walker reappear,
Josh, his father, and David
put the pedal to the metal.
And we high-tailed
it all the way back to
Farmington at that speed.
Seeing the city lights of
Farmington really actually
did put my mind at ease,
but David was still calling
over the radio, like,
"You guys have to come over
to our house
right after we get back.
Like, you can't go home alone."
And he goes back
into his bedroom,
and he's rummaging around
for something
I guess
his grandmother gave him.
Josh, here!
Look.
It sees you now, okay?
All right.
It's going to come for you.
You need to keep this.
All right?
- You listen to me.
- You listen to me. You keep this. -Yes.
Yeah, he just very panicked,
you know,
kind of shoved it into my hand
and said,
"You have to keep this
in your house, or they can
It's like, and if you don't have
this, they'll be invited in."
It was, like, a I believe
it was a small eagle feather,
maybe a couple inches long.
It had twine,
red and white twine
wrapped around the base of it.
I only saw it that one time
for just a brief second
because my dad took it
and put it in his jacket pocket.
Listen. Listen. Listen.
It's seen you now, okay?
All right.
It's gonna come for you.
According to legend,
if you hold a charm,
it will stop the skin-walker
from coming to you,
but you need to hold on to it.
As soon as you let it go,
it will come back.
And they would be
extremely lucky for getting away
from the skin-walker
as they did.
Thankfully they had a vehicle.
Now they have to be careful
and need to hold on
to the charm,
and they need
to protect themselves from it.
If they lose the charm,
the skin-walker's gonna come
right back for them.
With the precious
charm in their hands,
Josh and his father pray
they are safe
as they speed home.
Several Navajo people that
I know are always very adamant
not to go in the desert
at night, not by yourself,
especially bilagáanas
like myself,
or white people like myself,
are supposedly at risk
in those areas.
That conveys just how terrifying
and freaky the incident was.
Josh is still haunted
by the experience
and fears the consequence
of telling his story.
Like Josh and his father,
Paul and Jordan's
terrifying encounter
with the legend of Ghost Road
has had a lasting impact
on them.
Paul has avoided the area
ever since.
I accept that there's stuff
that I can't explain,
and stuff that I can't
explain terrifies me.
The memory of that night
is still pretty thick.
It definitely comes around
Thanksgiving every year,
so the smell of leaves,
the cold in the air
will always remind me.
So I've never gone back
to Ghost Road,
and there's a good chance
that I never would.
Ah!