the bird on fire

We finally made it to the Halloween season. Here are some scary stories the Blog Crew found.–Scary Stories Editor: Erik Bearman

By Sara Habibipour

We’ve all probably heard classic scary stories of vampires, zombies, and serial killers. But have you heard of these folktales from around the world? 

North America: The Ghost Witch of the Wabanaki Tribes

Long ago, a witch died of old age. In her day, she was feared by all throughout the Dawn Lands. When she passed away, there were no friends or colleagues to attend to her body. The few relatives she had finally wrapped her in blankets and placed her body in an old, gnarled tree deep in the heart of a black forest. 

The forest became a place of dread. People saw strange things flying in and out of the trees on moonlit nights. Hunters heard terrible sounds echoing from the burial grove. Eventually, people and animals stopped visiting the forest all together. 

Several years later, a man and his wife were traveling east. They did not know many people in those parts, so, instead of asking for a night’s lodging, they decided to sleep under the stars. Looking for a good place to spend the night, they saw the old forest and set foot into that dark grove. Suddenly, chills overcame the wife, and she questioned her husband about their night’s stay. He merely laughed away his wife’s fears and attributed them to superstition. “You shouldn’t fear the dead. It’s the living out there in the real world that we have to be mindful of.” He then prepared a fire and cooked their supper.

It was not long after they went to sleep that the wife began to hear a gnawing sound. At first, she convinced herself that it was the old tree branches rubbing against each other in the wind or a small animal gnawing on its dinner. Just when it seemed that she could take no more of the gnawing, it stopped. The wife reached out to wake her husband, but he did not stir, so she let him be.

When the sun finally rose, the wife roughly shook her husband by his shoulder. To her horror, he rolled onto his back with a face frozen in terror. He was dead, and the left side of his chest was a ruined mass of blood. The wife screamed. In terror, she then ran with all of her might to a lodge. She tried to tell her story, but her words were incoherent and jumbled. When she could finally put words together and explain what happened to her husband, the people in the lodge recalled the story of the ghost witch, and immediately knew that the witch was the murderer of the woman’s husband. With weapons in their hands, they marched to the haunted grove where the ghost witch resided. 

In order to cleanse the grove of all evil spirits and ghosts, the men burned the trees in the haunted grove. From that day forth, the old forest was a little bit brighter and cleaner. Shadows no longer held unseen menace, and animals once again returned to the grove.

* * * *

South America: La Casa Matusita in Lima, Peru

La Casa Matusita is an ordinary-looking yellow building located in downtown Lima. But although it looks normal on the outside, local legend says that the building was the scene of a horrible crime.

One version goes that a local Peruvian man slaughtered his entire family and committed suicide, while another says that hallucinogens were served at a dinner party, resulting in a gruesome massacre. 

Regardless of the story, the second floor is told to be the most haunted area in the house, with those who venture upstairs quickly going insane. In fact, a journalist in the 1960s attempted to prove this theory wrong, but lost his mind while he was on the second floor. 

* * * *

Europe: The Dutch Story of Witte Wieven (White Women)

Once, when a woman was getting water from a well, she suddenly felt the touch of an icy hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw that at least twenty white women had surrounded her. They came nearer and nearer, leaving the woman no room for escape. In fear, the woman called out to her husband, but he didn’t hear her.

The white woman who had put her hand on the woman’s shoulder said, “Why are you so frightened–come with us to dance on the hills.” The woman tried to resist, but she couldn’t escape. 

Later, when she didn’t return home, her husband was struck with dismay.

Instead of going to work the next day, he waited in front of the door to his farmhouse. He suddenly heard people quietly talking inside. “Did you sleep well, my child?” “And has the little one eaten the nice porridge yesterday?” “Has the little child been good?” Among them was the voice of his wife, with a melancholy sound. Softly he opened the door. The child was lying in the bed with his hands stretched out and a big smile on his face. But, there was no one else to be seen.

Later, the farmer was able to get his wife back, but with a certain condition. No one could say the words, “Away, you pig!” or she would be in the hands of the White Women for eternity. The husband didn’t express any concern. After all, it wasn’t a common phrase. 

A few days later one of their workers was busy binding the grain. He didn’t notice the pig waddling towards him till it came near and sniffed the grain. He kicked the animal….Soon it came back. “Away you pig!” he cried. Then he remembered the words, and he left the grain. He made his way to the husband as fast as he could.

They frantically searched for the woman, but she was nowhere to be found. 

* * * *

Africa: Uniondale’s Lost Lover Looking for a Ride

This urban legend comes all the way from South Africa. 

According to urban legend, Marie Charlotte Roux had recently become engaged to Giel Oberholzer in 1968. Over the Easter Weekend of that year, the couple embarked on what was to become a fateful evening on the outskirts of Uniondale in Karoo.

Roux was asleep on the backseat of Oberholzer’s Volkswagen Beetle when her fiancé lost control of the vehicle in stormy weather. The car rolled on the Barandas-Willowmore road, roughly 20 kilometres from the Uniondale, killing Roux.

Yet, according to some motorists, Roux can still be seen waiting on the side of the road, waiting for the return of her fiancé and a lift to her final destination.

According to several reports, motorists driving along the desolate stretch of road at night come across a woman hitchhiking. This woman, who apparently fits the description of Roux, asks for a lift, and most motorists oblige.

However, a few kilometres down the road, Roux vanishes. Some shocked motorists have described the woman’s laughter and a sudden cold chill in the air.

* * * *

Asia: Japan’s Red Room Curse

This urban legend is one of Japan’s most famous and recent. And honestly, probably one of the scariest ones because it involves modern technology. 

The story centers on the idea that a cursed pop-up will appear on a random victim’s computer. The pop-up is just an image of a door, and a recorded voice will ask, “Do you like the red room?”

The pop-up will continue to appear until the voice can finish its question, even if it is closed. Those who see the pop-up are later found dead, the walls painted red with their own blood. 

This story began as an animation about a boy who was cursed and died after seeing the pop-up. In real life, the pop-up is set to appear on the user’s computer at the end of that animation video. The video’s status as an urban legend was cemented when it was discovered that the 11-year-old murderer who committed the Sasebo Slashing (the killing of her 12-year-old classmate) had the video as a bookmark on her computer.

Sources: 

https://www.nativetales.com/fireside-chat/the-ghost-witch

https://nearshoreamericas.com/la-casa-matusita-haunted-latin-america/

https://letterpile.com/creative-writing/The-White-Women-the-Dutch-legend-of-the-Witte-Wieven

https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/south-africa-five-favourite-ghost-stories-explained/

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/best-japanese-urban-legends-and-myths/

Image Sources: 

https://www.deviantart.com/tag/skudakumooch

https://www.livinginperu.com/terrifying-legends-peru-1-la-casa-matusita/

5 Spooky German Ghost Stories to Amp Up the Horror

https://skolmen.wordpress.com/2020/01/16/the-ghost-of-uniondale/

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/best-japanese-urban-legends-and-myths/

Scary Stories Editor: Erik Bearman