In our wanderings around the world, we have heard tales, legends and traditions that have been told to us, sometimes as an example of local folklore. But other times the people who related it were really convinced of the veracity of what was reported.
That’s how we’ve collected some of the most terrifying stories and legends we’ve come across.
If you have some kind of coronary heart disease or are very sensitive… please don’t read on!
Venezuela: the Ghost Bride
In Venezuela there is talk of a driver driving at night on the Caracas-La Guaira Old Highway and suddenly, on a curve, sees a woman in a white suit doing “auto-stop“.
As he approaches even closer, he sees with surprise that she is a woman dressed as a bride. The driver stops and asks if he can help. She asks him to take her to a certain house in La Pastora (a sector of Caracas). The man nods and the woman sits in the back seat. She goes quiet, but starts talking about how dangerous that road is at night and more so when it rains. That a lot of people had died in it.
Upon reaching the destination, the woman descends. The man goes on his way but realizes that the woman has left a picture of herself in the back seat.
The gentleman returns to the house and knocks on the door. An old woman comes out and he tells her what happened. The old woman pales and tells her that this photo is of her daughter, who died many years ago in a road accident on their wedding day.
Nepal and Tibet: the Himalayan Yeti
The Sherpas are a Nepalese ethnic group. According to CNN, the word translates as “people from the East.” They are best known as the seemingly superhuman climbers who help others ascend Mount Everest and other great Himalayan summits.
But they have a rich culture and history, including the legend of the Yeti. According to the BBC, there are more stories about Yetis and what exactly they are.The generally accepted description of a Yeti is “a huge, hairy man-ape with huge feet and aggressive saber-like teeth.”It is said to reach about 3 meters high and produces footprints about 45 cms long.
One story goes that a sherpa village was being tormented by a group of yetis, so they decided to trick the yetis into getting drunk and fighting each other.The surviving Yetis declared revenge and ventured deeper into the mountains, periodically de-reaching to terrorize the Sherpas. Over the years, explorers have flocked to the Himalayas to try to find evidence of the beast.In 1921, a journalist named Henry Newman interviewed locals who told him about the existence of a “metoh-kangmi“, meaning ” snowman bear-man “.
Canada and USA: the Sasquatch
The legend of Bigfoot or as he is called in Canada, Sasquatch, begins in 1958 , when journalist Andrew Genzoli published a letter from a reader of the newspaper in which he worked.The letter detailed mysteriously large footprints found by northern California lumberjacks.”Perhaps we have a relative of the abominable Himalayan snowman,” Genzoli wrote.
Since then, Canada and the USA have been hooked on trying to spot this giant creature, particularly in the American Pacific Northwest and Western Canada, where the supposed sightings have been the most frequent. Dozens of movies, books, podcasts and articles have been written about Bigfoot.
There is even a famous and controversial video from 1967.
India: The ghost village of Kuldhara
There are structures in the city of Kuldhara dating back to the thirteenth century, but no one has lived there since 1825, when all its residents apparently disappeared into the air.
According to local tradition, 1,000 villagers left their homes altogether during the night, leaving no trace.No one knows why they left, where they went, and they didn’t even see them leave.
Theories about why they left range from poisoned wells to a greedy ruler who collected high taxes and a dwindling water supply, though none of them explains why the inhabitants left so suddenly.
The Paranormal Society of India spent a night there and reported that “whispers, screams and disembodied noises are common in the dark hours. Many of our members have witnessed apparitions, heard footsteps, experienced an unusual touch, etc.,” according to Gulf News.
Middle East: the genius um Al Duwais
No, unfortunately we’re not talking about My Beautiful Genius or disney’s cute Aladdin genius.
The word “genio” is the Spanish version of the Arabic word “jinn“.Geniuses can be good or malevolent beings.
Um Al Duwais is one of the most famous geniuses of the United Arab Emirates and other Arab nations.She was even immortalized in a movie in 2013. Her story is simple: at first, she appears as a beautiful woman to attract men.But as soon as he attracts them, Um Al Duwais becomes a terrifying figure who eats the men he has charmed.
Although it is usually a terrifying story that is told to children to warn them about the danger of strangers, as with the Sasquatch there is a video that pretends to be a recording of one of those geniuses.
Australia: the dead of sydney harbour bridge
Officially, 16 people died during the construction of the famous Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia, which was completed in 1928. However, legends postulate that there should be three more men added to the death toll.
According to the stories, three men died during construction after falling from the brick towers of the bridge. However, because they were migrant workers and because labor laws did not seem so strict at the time, their disappearance was not noticed for weeks. Apparently, recovering the bodies would have been too difficult, so they were buried there for eternity.
Latin America: the Chupacabras
The word “chupacabras” designates a suspected predator responsible for sucking the blood of goats, chickens, dogs and even cows and horses.
The first reported sighting of a chupacabras was in March 1995 in Puerto Rico, when eight sheep were found dead and bloodless, with three small puncture wounds to the chest.Five months later, up to 150 farm animals were found dead in the same way.
The legend spread and more sightings followed in Latin America and the southern U.S., Although there have been supposed sightings as far north as Maine.
In the 2000s, the chupacabras resurfaced, but it looked a little different. According to the BBC, “it was described as a hairless, dog-like animal that walked on all fours” and “looking quite horrible: hairless, with an emaciated appearance and burnt skin”.
China: Beijing’s ghost bus
Isn’t the Chinese materialistic and atheists?
Like so many urban legends, this one begins on a dark and stormy night.A bus travels late at night and is the last of the night.Two men signal the bus and, although the driver is reluctant to pick them up because they are not at a stop, he accepts and lets them through anyway.So far so good.
But it turns out they’re actually three men. The two hold another who appears to be in a bad state. It also turns out that all three are extraordinarily pale and wear Qing dynasty attire (which lasted from 1644 to 1911). The bus driver explains it to himself thinking that all three are actors who didn’t have time to change after work.
As the bus emptied slowly. And there is only one young man left, an older person, the three strangers and the driver.
Out of nowhere, the older person fights with the young man, claiming that he stole his wallet and forcing him to get off at the next stop to go to the police. Upon disembarking, the old man tells the young man that the fight was a ruse to get him off the bus: apparently the three men on the bus did not touch the ground. The old man noticed his spooky nature and wanted to appease the young man. The two go to the police to report the alleged spirits, but are ridiculed.
However, the next morning they discover that the bus never completed its route.Some versions claim that the bus was never found, while others claim that the bus was found days later with three seriously decomposed bodies inside.
Scotland: the Loch Ness Monster
Nessie, as he is affectionately nicknamed, supposedly swims in the depths of Loch Ness, the second deepest loch in Scotland.
Sightings of the creature go far, far back: stone engravings of the Picts (an ancient village living in the east of Scotland) of a mysterious finned beast have been discovered. Sightings really began to increase in 1933, after a road was completed that offered visitors an unhindered view of Loch Ness.One couple claimed to have seen some kind of giant sea creature, and the publicity increased.
Although the famous photograph has been revealed to be a hoax, it has not prevented monster hunters from reaching Scotland.It has been estimated that Nessie brings Scotland £40.7 million ($50.6 million) in tourism money a year.
Scandinavia: the Gjenganger
Translated literally, Gjenganger means “to walk after death.”Traditionally, a Gjengagner is a creature that has a corporeal form like a zombie, but still possesses its mind and memories.
Gjengangers are created when a dead person has unfinished business, or if he is killed violently, by murder or suicide.Belief in them goes back to the Vikings. Gjengangers are said to be infecting the living by pinching them.
Usually, the Gjengnger will pinch someone while sleeping, and the pinched person will be marked by illness and death.
Conclusions
An integral part of the culture of all peoples is their ancestral traditions and folklore. However, as many scholars have asserted, folklore continues to gestate in our day, in the form of urban legends.
But many other people think it’s not folklore or legends. That we truly live in a magical world, populated by wonderful and terrible creatures.
And you do you believe in demons and ghosts? Leave a comment.
