Originally Posted by
rdanhenry
Historically, heavy forest was frightening to humans. And in no small part on account of their darkness. Germany's "Black Forest" is named not for the cake, but on account of the darkness under its thick trees, not so far from "Dark Forest".
There's a desert in my state called Death Valley -- I'm not sure how much more scary place names are supposed to get.
Watching some Animal Planet show, it told the tale of a tourist in Australia who was killed by a crocodile. I was sympathetic at first, but my sympathy dissolved into laughter when I learned where it happened -- Crocodile Creek. I'm not sure how much more of a warning a place name can get.
As for sinister place names, it is hard to beat Sinister Peak in Skagit County, Washington, USA.
How about Bloody Island, Bloody Point, Bloody Rock, Bloody Canyon, Broken Rib Mountain, Wounded Knee Mountain?
Deadman Crossing, Ohio? Skullbone, Tennessee? Tombstone, Arizona? Slaughter - be it the one in Delaware, Louisiana, or Tennessee? The many, many names with "Devil" in them?
Virginia has both a Black Swamp and a Black Marsh, not to mention part of the Great Dismal Swamp.
They may not be as common as in some fantasy settings, but gloomy, scary, morbid, or warning-giving names are not absent from the real world.
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