Original subtitles

I just heard a door slam.

Was that you?

Do you know what the Nazis did here?

On this episode of Expedition X...

-Wow! -Oh, my gosh!

My team heads to the Czech Republic

to investigate a castle fabled

to hide a gateway to hell.

They had to cover it over and seal it

and then build this small chapel over the top of it

to keep the bad down.

The Nazis reportedly tried to harness

its evil power.

Now, Phil and Heather investigate

disturbing new reports of devilish activity.

Who are you?

Were you a Nazi?

Uncovering secrets hidden for centuries...

What is that noise?

That is a void.

Wow. We found a void?

...and facing off against true evil.

Are you trapped below us?

Yes.

Heather, you've got bruises right there.

Okay, who here likes Indiana Jones?

Obviously, you do.

I don't know what you're talking about, Heather.

Pretty much everyone on the planet likes Indiana Jones.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, probably the greatest movie of all time.

Absolutely.

And what if I were to tell you that it's not just a movie,

but that part of the story is based, in fact,

that the Nazis did have an obsession with the occult

and with harnessing supernatural powers.

Okay.

And even more shocking, some people believe

that they actually succeeded in tapping into dark energy.

I just received recent reports

of purportedly violent paranormal activity

at a remote former Nazi stronghold,

a sinister place known as Houska Castle.

Houska Castle is mysteriously built in the 13th century

on a remote mountain

in what is now the northern Czech Republic.

Far from any trade routes

or from any borders to protect,

it is said the castle is not built

to defend against invading armies.

Instead, it is built for something much more shocking,

to hide a pit to hell itself.

In 1541,

scholar Vaclav Hajek records that villagers speak

of a gateway to the underworld

where demonic monsters emerge

to drag people into the abyss.

The pit is said to have been sealed beneath colossal stones

and Houska Castle and its chapel

is built directly over it

to imprison the demons below.

After centuries of disrepair,

in the 1600s, a man called Oronto,

a reported practitioner of black magic,

acquires the castle,

supposedly to draw on its dark energy,

and create an elixir of immortality,

until the terrified locals kill him.

In 1939,

the area is invaded by Nazi Germany.

Hitler's forces learn of Houska's paranormal past,

and troops are dispatched to seize it.

Over the next five years,

locals report strange lights

and terrifying sounds from the occupied castle.

Rumors spread of bizarre Nazi rituals and experiments

to harness the castle's evil energy.

Today, visitors to Houska Castle

report a range of terrifying paranormal activity.

In the chapel,

many hear screaming and clawing

from beneath the stone floor.

Throughout the building,

there are also reports of terrifying apparitions,

the surrounding forest is said to be stalked

by demonic human-animal hybrids.

And, most disturbingly,

recent visitors report being physically attacked

by invisible forces,

including this investigator

who shared her shocking story.

So whilst we were in the chapel,

I felt something touch my neck,

and it was just as though something had swept across my skin.

The next morning, I was greatly disturbed

because there were marks down my left leg.

These were bruises and burn type marks.

It was absolutely terrifying.

Does Houska truly hide a gateway to hell?

And if so, were the Nazis able to open it?

So what do you think? Is Houska the real deal?

Look, I don't know about a gateway to hell,

but let's say there is some fissure underneath the castle,

there could be fumes coming out of it,

and natural gasses could cause people to hallucinate.

Do you think the Nazis were getting high on their own supply?

Look, I think the first thing we need to do is determine,

does this pit even exist?

Is there a fissure underneath this castle,

or is it all just a legend?

A gas leak does not leave fingerprint bruises on people.

But I agree with you.

We need to figure out if this pit to hell exists.

And if it does, I want to investigate it with some paranormal tools.

And what were the Nazis even doing at this place?

If they are trying to harness supernatural energy for evil,

that would leave an insane imprint on that space.

Well, I've done a number of World War II based investigations

not far from Houska,

so I'll go back through my old files, my contacts,

to see if there's anything else I can find

that could shed some light on what's going on there.

-Great. -And look, be careful.

Right? Whatever the Nazis were up to there,

whatever is going on today at this castle,

the reports are really disturbing.

So, use caution,

and see if you can get to the bottom of this bottomless pit.

-You got it. -Will do.

The flight from New York to Prague is eight and a half hours.

Then, it's an hour's drive north along windy mountain roads

to Houska Castle.

Okay.

Wow.

The Czech countryside is stunning. I'll give it that.

-It's beautiful, but it is so remote. -Yeah.

The deeper we drive, the more I keep thinking.

-Why did someone build a castle out here? -Right?

It literally is covering a portal to hell.

So they say.

Hey, fun fact.

Hit me.

Did you know that Czech Republic

has the highest density of castles

-in the entire world? -What?

Yeah. Isn't that amazing?

It is. I mean, so they've got a castle for everything here.

They have a castle for the rich,

they have a castle for the royal,

and then they have a castle to cover up a portal to hell.

You think they have White Castle in Czech...?

-No. -No?

-Absolutely not. -Okay.

There it is. Look at that.

My gosh.

-Wow! -That is huge.

Over a thousand years of history and some Nazi lore.

The first thing you notice about Houska Castle

is the strange architecture.

Unlike most other castles, it lacks towers, battlements,

or defensive positions of any kind.

Okay, here we go.

Its inner courtyard also feels more like a prison

than a palace.

Hi there.

And it's where we meet our contact.

-Tori, pleased to meet you. -Hey, Heather.

Welcome to Houska Castle.

Wow.

Tori Burton is a local tour guide

who has brought countless guests through Hosaka,

resulting in experiences she struggles to explain.

This is an inside out castle for a very dark reason.

Let me show you around.

-All right. -Please

So here we have the hunting hall.

As you can see,

it's still used to display hunting prized possessions.

As the story goes, at one point in history,

a giant fissure opened up on this hillside.

A gateway to hell.

-A literal gate to hell opening? -Correct.

Legend has it,

all kinds of animals, winged beasts,

half human-half creature would come out of this hole,

but when they tried to fill the hole up, it never got filled.

They could pour everything in there

and it would just keep on going down.

It seemed to be like an actual bottomless pit.

This castle was abandoned for 400 years or so,

and it was built around 1270

under the initiative of Otakar II.

What happened with this pit?

How did they cover it up?

Well, they had to cover it over and seal it

instead of filling it,

and then build this small chapel over the top of it.

And then the chapel to have served as a holy space

to keep the bad down.

The rest of the castle ready to defend

against anything that comes out of it.

What's also interesting in the chapel is

there are frescoes on the wall

that date back to the 14th century.

There is the Archangel Michael

who was there to protect against the evil forces.

These frescoes serve as a warning

and keep the evil within.

Did it work?

Yes and no.

Still, things have happened here.

People have seen and experienced

all kinds of fantastic things here.

But more interestingly, I think,

is the way people have come here in the past through history,

drawn in by the fact that there could be this potential power here.

Like the Nazis.

Yes, the Nazis and the SS were here in 1939.

So what were they trying to do?

They would have been doing some rituals...

in order to somehow harness this dark energy

to take over the world.

Is that dark energy still here?

It appears so.

So many people report very strange things going on here.

In this very room,

I was here with a couple of friends.

We all saw the same shadow at the same time

pass across the room.

A full shadow moved through,

a definite dark patch.

In the chapel itself above the hole to hell,

people have heard noises coming from underneath.

People have heard disembodied voices.

Next to the chapel, there are two deep cellars that go quite far down.

Down in these cellars,

humongous temperature drops can be experienced.

I've experienced it myself.

I lost seven degrees

very, very rapidly, which is completely unusual.

Interesting.

What other experiences have people had around here?

Out on the balconies of the courtyard here,

we believed we were being followed one evening,

because we were constantly hearing the footsteps

going round and round.

And also it's been reported that birds can fly over here

and just drop dead,

and land in the middle of the courtyard.

So what do you believe?

Do you believe there's dark energy here?

I believe there is dark energy here.

When you walk around inside here,

it's actually like you're being watched or followed.

There are things here.

There will always be things here, I think.

As we start our investigation of Houska,

Tori gives us unprecedented access

to this historic castle.

-Set the monitor here? -That's a great idea.

We first set up a command center

and establish points of IR surveillance

at each of the reported hotspots,

including the courtyard

where disembodied footsteps have been heard,

the hunting hall where a shadow figure was seen.

Can you shift it a little to your right?

That looks pretty good.

And the cellar where Tori felt a drastic temperature drop.

How's that?

Looks great.

Heading back up.

But we begin in the fabled chapel,

which allegedly blocks a gateway to hell.

-There it is. -Wow.

Whoa.

Woo.

Okay.

People here see, feel things in here.

Let's just take a moment to absorb

-what's in this space. -Okay.

If there's anyone in here with us,

can you knock...

make a noise.

Did you just make that noise?

You can knock again if you did.

-It was like a deep thud. -Yes.

I couldn't tell which direction it was coming from.

I couldn't either.

Whoa. Listen.

Am I crazy? Oh, . Do you hear that rumbling?

Did you hear that?

I am hearing a loud vibration.

You're hearing that right now?

-Yeah. -I heard a knock.

You heard a knock?

What is happening?

-I have an idea. -Yeah.

The geophone.

All right.

So what we can do here is set this part,

to the ground.

This is gonna translate all those vibrations

down beneath us into sound,

which I can listen to live and I can record.

While you're listening that way,

I'm gonna listen another way.

What are you thinking?

-Spirit box. -Okay.

Is there anyone here with us right now?

Yes!

Wait, wait, wait. I'm getting scratches.

-You're getting scratches? -Yeah, keep going.

What do you want?

Is there anything below us?

I'm hearing scratches again.

Did the Nazis summon you here?

Yes?

Whoa.

I heard one solid raking.

Just one solid scratch noise.

Oh.

You're not moving your feet?

I'm not moving my feet.

It's really subtle.

Turn that off for a second.

I'm telling you, the only way I can describe what I'm hearing

is it sounds like someone or something

that's underneath us,

trying to scratch their way out.

Oh, my God.

Well, we've got to get lower then.

We got to go down.

Yeah, I think we need to investigate those cellars.

So you take one cellar, I take the other?

Okay.

I think we should leave the geophone recording.

All right, sounds like a plan.

Oh.

Oh, my gosh.

Oh, my God.

We have so many satanic items in here.

I mean...

why would you put so many devils in here?

This is just too much.

All right. I think I better set up here.

Try and do a call and response,

but I am putting out a tripwire

to see if anything is heading in my direction.

Wow, there's a cellar.

And behind this wall through here,

that is the chapel.

This is coming apart.

We got the welcoming committee here.

Ooh.

There it is.

Wow.

Now, for me as a biologist,

when I hear scratches in an old abandoned building,

I think the most logical explanation

has got to be something like rodents that live in here.

There's insects, spiders for them to eat.

This could be an okay place for you to live

if you're a rat.

So we left a geophone recording up in the chapel,

and what I want to do is

be rodent for a moment, scratch at these walls.

So...

hopefully we'll be able to analyze

what we record on the geophone.

See if we pick up anything similar.

So, this is an EMF tripwire

that detects changes in the electromagnetic field.

So if something comes around me,

I'll know.

This is a tempest.

And it detects temperature, humidity, dew point,

barometric pressure

and it equates all of those measurements to a specific word.

So we can use this to

theoretically communicate with spirits.

Is there anyone here with me?

My name is Heather.

You can use this EMF tripwire.

Can you drop the temperature like Tori said you could?

Right now I'm at 56.66.

That's three sixes in a row.

Look at that.

I mean, there could be some cold air coming out there.

Here, let me check.

It is so--

I'm reading one mile per hour.

But, there is air actually coming

from the other side of this wall

into this chamber.

Where does that air come from?

Are you the one that was scratching underneath the chapel?

Is there really a pit to hell here?

Inside parts.

Who are you?

NZ?

Nazi?

Were you a Nazi?

What were you doing at Houska Castle?

You're nearby?

Is there someone in here with me?

What are you doing nearby?

Are you still here with me?

Were the Nazis trying to harness dark energy?

If there is air coming through here,

then...

where does it lead?

That might be in the courtyard,

Wow.

There is a breeze blowing right through this thing.

There's a lot of air coming out of this right now.

What the hell was that?

Heather?

Oh, my God. Oh, no.

Is that what I think it is?

Oh, my God.

Dead bird. Is that what I just heard?

Look at this poor thing.

Aw.

No.

Heather, are you there?

Copy.

I found something. I'm up in the courtyard.

You're gonna want to see this.

I'll head your way.

What did you find?

Look.

Oh, my word.

Isn't that awful?

Literally just fell out of the sky right next to me.

That's exactly what they say happens here all the time.

So, here's the deal. The reason I came up here in the first place,

take a look over here. Look at this.

Put your hand over this.

Feel that?

-Cold air? -Yeah.

Yeah. So...

that air is coming from the cellar that I was in.

And get this, on the wall of the cellar, I found a small hole.

There was a current of air passing through it.

-In the direction of the foundation... -Chapel!

...of the chapel.

So, it's almost as if there's air underneath the chapel

that is leading through into the cellar,

and getting funneled and blown right out here.

So, maybe there is a void here.

The next morning, we gather more intel about Houska.

While Heather heads to meet a local historian,

I want to investigate if the myth is true,

whether a so-called pit to hell really exists

under the castle's chapel floor.

Frank.

-You're the GPR guy, huh? -That's me.

Are you ready to look for a portal

-to hell? -Yeah.

Frank Casser is an expert

on the latest ground-penetrating radar technology.

It's all in the back. It's all ready to go.

He's brought a cutting-edge GPR unit that works by emitting

an electromagnetic pulse into the ground...

This needs to go in here?

...and recording the echoes that bounce back from anything subterranean.

There we go.

This can actually penetrate meters of rock beneath us?

Oh, absolutely.

It's a very simple thing.

You're going to want to do a 3D scan, okay?

And you're going to do "Parallel,"

and start walking.

This is the first time in Houska's history

that this type of technology has been used to investigate

the centuries-old legend of the gateway to hell.

-One more time.

With Phil on GPR duty in the chapel,

I try to dig into the bizarre "NZ" that I got last night

on the Tempest,

by learning more about the castle's Nazi ties.

Ales. Thanks for meeting me.

Ales Cesal is a writer and historian who has spent years

researching Houska's mysterious connections to the Third Reich.

Why were the Nazis at Houska Castle?

Um...

The Nazis had a network of depositories

for all the books they plundered across Europe.

All the books that they didn't burn,

Houska Castle was where they stored books on the occult

to harness the dark energy they thought was there.

They use these books to perform pagan rituals and sacrifices

to unlock the supernatural forces.

-This fascination went all the way

to the top of the Nazi command, Himmler.

And, possibly, even Hitler visited Houska.

Himmler really believed that supernatural would help the Nazis win the war.

So, what do you think is under Houska Castle?

-I believe the legend.

I think that a fissure opened up on the hillside long ago,

and that somehow acts as a portal of the mysterious dark energy.

Based on my own personal experiences,

I believe the source of the dark energy

is somewhere underneath the castle.

And what was your experience?

I was doing some research there, staying overnight,

and I saw a dark shadow figure in the hunting room.

So, ever since then, I've been certain that the Houska legend is true.

It's definitely a powerful place.

And you should be cautious.

So, we've done the GPR. We'll analyze that data later.

What is this?

This is a fluxgate magnetometer.

The magnetometer is simply giving me a magnetic reading,

saying I either have something,

or I don't have something.

I'm going to give you a little example here.

If I go up or down, and say I'm into absolutely nothing.

-I am not receiving any signal. -Gotcha.

I come down here, I'm pretty much neutral.

And this unit here uses the Earth's core as the radio sender,

and then anything that is disturbing the signal

is going to show up on our software afterwards.

What is that noise?

That is the absence of material.

So... So, a avoid?

There's, like, a part of the ground not here.

We have a void.

Wow!

Below what we're standing on, there's nothing there.

So, there really could be a large chasm beneath us.

You're telling me we actually found it?

That is definitely a void.

It's going somewhere,

but it's deeper than this device can detect.

How deep can you detect?

18 meters. That's 60 feet.

That's pretty deep.

Wow.

I was not expecting this.

There is some truth to the history here after all.

For the first time ever,

modern technology has confirmed that there is,

in fact, a large void or hole

underneath Houska Castle.

While I'm not ready to concede that this hole is actually a pit to hell,

it is a huge scientific find,

proving there is some truth to Houska's myth.

We found it!

-What? -Yes!

-No! -Look at this.

This is entering the chapel, looking left to right.

All of this green here, that is solid ground.

And then you get to this deep blue.

That means a giant void

underneath the chapel.

So, this could be the pit to hell?

Yeah.

Multiple pieces of equipment,

all of them confirmed there's a pit

as deep as this instrument could possibly measure.

That's incredible.

Ales said some interesting things, too.

I want to check out the hunting room.

Not only did Tori have experiences in there,

Ales had experiences in there.

Well, I'll tell you what.

You investigate the hunting room,

I want to look more into the force surrounding the castle.

From the start, we heard these stories

of people seeing unexplained creatures out there.

I've got to look into that.

All right. So, splitting up again for the win?

I guess so.

All right.

Okay.

For centuries, there have been strange sightings

of so-called demonic human-animal hybrids

in the forest, surrounding the castle.

Large predators like bears, wolves and lynxes are common in these mountains.

So, I'm wondering if these encounters might be real animals

that people are misidentifying.

So, while Heather investigates the repeated reports

of shadow figures in the hunting hall, I head into the castle's woods,

to see if I can find any evidence

of what might be lurking out here.

Whoa.

This is my first time exploring

the grounds outside the castle.

I've got a lot of woods to cover out here.

I need to use the FLIR.

So, I've calibrated this so that anything living

will show up bright white.

And anything cold, like the cold night sky, will show up blue.

Okay, let's get going.

This is where multiple people saw that shadow figure.

Let me set up some REM Pods.

There's that one right there.

That way, I'll know that something is in the room with us.

Is there anyone here with me?

I've got these REM Pods,

right where Tori said she saw that shadow figure.

You can use these REM Pods to answer. You can knock.

If you're here,

please let me know.

What the was that?

That sounded like a door shutting over there.

Did you hear that?

Is somebody there?

Did you just shut that door?

Hello?

Ooh, big ledge here. Big ledge.

Come on, there's got to be something alive out there.

I just heard a door slam.

Was that you?

Do you know what the Nazis did here?

Are you in this room with me right now?

Literally. I thought I--

Of the many strange occurrences at Houska,

it's tough to beat what reportedly happened to Karel Hynek Macha

when he visited in 1836.

It is said he discovered a gaping pit at Houska,

and was suddenly pulled into it,

transported to another world.

Reportedly, a pale girl approached him, saying the year was 2006.

Macha experienced a smoky hellscape,

people walking between walls of metal with huge webs in the sky,

cliffs glowing with squares of yellow.

And the girl was carrying a small box,

its surface alive with ghoulish moving images.

Macha suddenly, then woke up back in 1836,

left to wonder if it was all a nightmare.

But some believe,

the webs could have been power lines.

The cliffs, skyscrapers,

and the strange box a cell phone.

Could Houska have somehow shown Macha

a terrifyingly accurate glimpse

of our modern world?

So, clearly something is in the room with me.

Hold up.

Check it out. Check it out.

Got something on the FLIR.

Got a cold spot.

Let's move!

Whoa!

Wow.

Look at this.

This could be some creature's home.

Oh, my God. What's back here?

Wow.

Are you still here with me?

Do you know the secrets of Houska?

I'll take that as a "yes"?

Are the secrets of Houska

in the chapel?

It's a "yes."

Do I need to go to the chapel?

I mean, you don't get any better activity on REM Pods.

That is a "yes."

Oh, my God.

Hang on.

What?

It's going deep back there.

I mean, this legitimately

could be another opening

to said chasm underneath the castle.

Phil, are you there?

Heather, what's going on?

-It has been crazy up here.

The REM Pods are going off non-stop.

There's something in here with me right now.

I don't know what's going on,

but it feels like something is pushing me to the chapel.

Let's meet in the chapel. Head there now.

Copy that.

-Heather? Hey. -Hey.

Back in the chapel, huh?

Back in the chapel.

Something led us directly here,

and I think it knows Houska's secrets.

-Okay. -So, where is this chasm?

I actually taped it off. Look right here. See these?

So, underneath me right now, they detected solid ground.

But right in this area,

and see, between this, that's about 3 or 4 feet wide, goes over there.

All of this, a giant void

leading straight to here.

Underneath this wall,

which, Heather, look at this fresco.

We saw it earlier, but now, to me, it has a whole other significance.

Because that spear is literally pointing to the void underneath us.

And it's St. Michael slaying the dragon.

It's like this clue was hidden in plain sight.

Yeah.

So,

what have you got prepared for us?

First we need to light some candles.

-Yeah, let's do it. -All right.

I have to reach out to whatever may have lured me back to the chapel.

So, I want to try a communication ritual that Ales told me about.

We outlined the pit to hell with white candles.

Then, we lay out some protective salt that will encircle me.

Inside the salt circle

is a candle representing St. Cyprian,

an ancient Roman pagan who became a Christian bishop.

Using one of my research books,

I'll recite an incantation from inside the circle,

and then use dowsing rods to try to communicate with whoever

or whatever may be in here with us.

Let the ritual begin.

Okay.

"Oh, Cyprian,

let not any spirits harm us within this space,

nor enter into our circle.

Compel all spirits in this place to answer

by the light of your candle,

which symbolizes the light of truth and the fire of hell."

That window just slammed.

I mean, it's latched.

Is it a big drop?

Yeah.

Huge cliff edge.

That...

...is absolutely insane.

I don't even understand.

I thought it was shut.

Let's make these dowsing rods quick.

Okay. I'm gonna prime the dowsing rods.

Can you cross for "yes,"

if you're with us?

Can you straighten for now?

Thank you.

Were you the one that just slammed the window?

Yes?

Are you here in the room with us right now?

"Yes."

Very big "yes."

Is there a pit to hell...

beneath me?

Did... the Nazis summon you?

That's a "yes"?

Are you...

trapped below us?

Yes.

Heather, you doing okay?

Absolutely terrified.

What...

Are you okay?

Seems like you've gotten

some significant answers to what you've been asking.

I don't want you to push this any further

than you're comfortable. It seems like we are right at the edge.

Yeah.

Then, I think it's safe that we can shut this thing down.

-I agree. -Okay.

What do we need to do?

Black dagger from my backpack.

Okay.

To close the communication ritual,

I make the sign of a pentagram using a dagger,

extinguish the center candle...

...and break the salt circle.

Okay.

Okay.

-Circle's broken. -Yeah.

Yeah. Here, I can put that away for you.

Hey. What's going on?

-What... -What the is that?

Heather, you got bruises right there.

-Was that there before? -No.

Where... Where were you standing?

You were standing basically right here.

I just stepped out of the circle,

and then... then it was, like...

-...like, just a cramp. -I mean,

it happened the second you stepped out.

I'm gonna pass out.

Next time on Expedition X...

My team continues their investigation into Nazi occultism.

How is this still standing?

Traveling to Poland, where a former SS ritual site...

What the hell was that?

...leads them into the deepest depths of a paranormal underworld.

Ooh!

-Is that water? -That's water.

Is that it?

-That's a flooded tunnel. -I think we found it.

Is there anyone here with us?

Whoa!

Revealing mind-bending secrets...

A wonder weapon, uh,

"wunderwaffe" in German.

Something supernatural...

That the Nazis tried to hide.

What?

Something just went across the passageway down there.

It was not a reflection. It was something light crossing the tunnel.

Please don't tell me that's what I think it is.

Heather, I found bones.

You found human bones?