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The Janissaries Vampires in Veliko Tarnovo

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During a time when Bulgaria was under the Ottoman Empire, there was talk about a vampire haunting the streets of Veliko Tarnovo. The rumours got so bad, that the Islamic rulers had to turn to pagan belief to rid themselves of the bloodthirsty creatures. 

Vampire cases in Europe have been documented very well. Often, they occurred in the border land of the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire in now eastern Europe. Today though, most of the written down sources are from the Europeans. One can almost count the found Ottoman accounts of vampires on one hand.

In 1833, a document was sent to the capital by Ahmed Şükrü Efendi, who was Kadi or a judge of Tirnivo about something strange going on in the city. The Bulgarian city Veliko Tarnovo was in the 19th century a Balkan city within the Ottoman Empire. The document was published in issue 69 of the Takvîm-i Vekâyi’ Gazette, the first official state newspaper from the 19 Rebiulahir 1249 /October, 1833.

Veliko Tarnovo: Veliko Tarnovo is one of the oldest settlements in Bulgaria, with a history of more than five millennia. Tarnovo was a stronghold of the First Bulgarian Empire and capital of the second. The Ottoman Empire captured the city on 17 July 1393. Bulgarian resistance against Ottoman rule remained centered in Tarnovo (then known as Tırnova) until the end of the 17th century. On 7 July 1877 ended the 480-year rule of the Ottoman Empire.

The Vampire in Veliko Tarnovo

Vampirism was not a common belief in Muslim Anatolian populations like it did with the Slavic people, although there are definite stories of it. Almost all of the instances recorded in Ottoman sources concern Christian populations and show the gaze of the Ottoman authorities, commissioned to uphold the principles of Islamic orthodoxy, in the context of which the souls of the dead had no way of returning among the living. Still, there kept coming in stories of the undead.

According to the reports, they started assaulting the houses in the city after sunset. They were not accused of rising from the grave to drink the blood of the locals though. They were said to turn invisible and torment them instead. They mixed together foods like flour, butter and honey, or spoiled them with earth. They tore the pillows, the blankets, the mattresses and the wrapping clothes that they found in the cupboards to pieces. They threw stones, earth, jars and pots onto people. Nobody could see anything though, but it is claimed that the vampires also assaulted some men and women. 

These latter have been summoned and interrogated by the state. They said they felt like a water-buffalo was sitting on them, but no perpetrators were found. Because of the troubles in town, it is claimed that the population of two quarters left their homes and fled elsewhere. The inhabitants of the town agreed that all these things were the works of evil spirits called cadı. 

Vampires or the Ottoman Empire: The cadı is often translated into witch or some sort of sorcery, but was in some cases used for vampirism cases like this. According to Arminius Vambery, one of the founding fathers of the science of Turkology, reported that “According to a widespread belief in the Ottomans, vampires hide in tree hollows and hunt there. Vampires that are captured are beheaded, put in a sack, and thrown into the sea.”

A man named Nikola, called Cadıcı Nikola, reputed for exorcism in the town of Islimye was brought from Sliven, and hired for eight hundred kuruş. His scheme was to hold a painted piece of wood, to go to the graveyard, and to turn the piece of wood on his finger. Almost like an ouija board. The painting showed the grave haunted by the evil sprit.

A huge crowd went to the graveyard. As he turned the painted piece of wood on his finger, the painting stood in front of the graves of two brigands, Tetikoğlu Ali and Apti Alemdar, formerly members of the Janissary corps, and bloody tyrants when they were alive.

The Janissary Corps: was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan’s household troops. Its members were recruited/enslaved from among the Christian youth of the Empire, especially in the Balkans. They gradually became a formidable war machine, certainly one of the best infantry troops in military history. They were forbidden from marriage until their retirement at 40. They lived in huge military barracks in the midst of Istanbul, a kind of holy shrine, whose access was strictly prohibited to civilians.

The graves of the former Janissary soldiers were opened in front of everyone. It was discovered that the bodies had grown, and their hair and nails had also grown three or four times longer. Their eyes were covered in blood, and looked terrifying. The entire crowd in the cemetery saw this, the article claimed. In hindsight though, there has been speculation that the entire situation was some sort of propaganda stunt. 

The Janissary Threat to the Ottoman Empire

When alive, these men had committed all kinds of mischief, including rape, theft and murder; when their corps was abolished, they had not been delivered to the executioner, interestingly, as evidenced by their age they had died a natural death. How? Not many years ago, the sultan had actually purged the Ottoman Empire for Janissary soldiers to replace with a new order. The story goes on to claim that they returned as evil spirits. 

The Janissary Assassinations: As Western Europe modernized its military organization and technology, the Janissaries became a reactionary force that resisted all change within the Ottoman army. By the 18th century, they had become an undisciplined army, extorting the entire city of Istanbul, refusing to go to war and participating actively in the intrigues of the Palace. In 1826, Mahmud II annihilated the Janissaries by using his modern troops, specifically the artillery, trained in the European fashion, with the help of the civilian population and the Muslim clergy. Within two days, thousands of Janissaries were killed, arrested, or exiled, perhaps as many as 6000. The survivors were persecuted in the whole empire and, when arrested, delivered to the executioner for strangulation. Even their tombstones were dismantled

Could it all have been a propaganda stunt to unite against the former order? Or was the cemetery actually filled with people waiting for the hired exorcist to get rid of the city tormentors? 

According to the description of the witch Nikola, in order to drive out such evil spirits, a wooden stake was driven into the navel of the corpses and their hearts were boiled in boiling water. Both Ali Alamdar and Abdi were exhumed and a wooden stake was driven through their navels and their hearts were boiled in a pot of boiling water. But it had no effect. The witch said, “These bodies must be burned.” An official religious permission (fatwa) was obtained for this matter, and the bodies of the two Janissaries, which were exhumed, were burned in the cemetery. This was said to have worked. 

Bulgarian Vampire Panic: This was not the only time the city had vampire cases though. A skeleton was found in 2012. The skeleton is of a man about 30 years of age, and it is yet to be dated, but Bulgaria’s top archeologist, Nikolay Ovcharov, is quoted saying it is several centuries-old. Ovcharov explains that the man has not been a vampire, but was buried with a pagan rite to prevent him from turning into one after the death. The skeleton was found during archeological digs in a monastery near the central city of Veliko Tarnovo, where 10 years ago Ovcharov’s team came upon a very similar find. // Source

The described incident follows European witchcraft methods with slight differences. For example, in European belief, the stake is driven into the heart line instead of the navel, and cutting off the heads of corpses is traditionally an effective remedy as well as boiling the hearts. 

It is estimated that such baseless rumors like about the janissary vampires were put forward to incite the people against the undisciplined Janissaries as part of the state propaganda to further defame the soldiers. And as the newspaper was often used for propaganda stories for the state, we can wonder if this really happened at all. Or was it actually vampires tormenting the people of Veliko Tarnovo?

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References:

Xortdan — Vikipediya

Janissary – Wikipedia

Balkan Vampires before Ottoman Courts

Ottoman Accounts of Vampirism (Review essay: S. F. Kırgi, Osmanlı Vampirleri: Söylenceler, Etkileşimler, Tepkiler, Istanbul: İletişim 2018)

Meçkey – Vikipedi

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The Legend of the White Lady of Utstein Monastery

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In the windswept landscape of Norway’s west coast lies the Utstein Monastery, a site steeped in history and haunting tales. Known as Norway’s best-preserved medieval monastery, its ancient stone walls and iconic Gothic windows whisper stories of faith, love, and loss as well as the ghost of a Lady in White.

Utstein Monastery stands quietly on the island of Mosterøy, its ancient stone walls carrying the weight of centuries on the stormy west coast of Norway. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

It is Norway’s best-preserved medieval monastery with whitewashed walls and Gothic windows. The monastery was built from the 1260s, but it is possible that some parts of the building are older and date from a former royal farm. Built as a place of faith and reflection, it is also bound to one of Norway’s most enduring and sorrowful ghost legends. Long after prayers faded from its halls, a tragic promise was broken, and something was left behind.

The Haunted Monastery: Utstein Monastery on the island of Mosterøy, said to be haunted by a woman scorned in her death when her husband married another woman. //Source.

A Promise Made Before Death

Hundreds of years ago, a man named Christopher Garmann, a landowner and bailiff in Ryfylket lived at Utstein Monastery with his beloved wife, Cecilie Katharina Widding Garmann. Back then, the ten to twelve monks who lived there had left the monastery for centuries and it was a farm. This was in the mid-18th century. 

Portrait of a Ghost: Cecilia Catharina Widding 1734 – 1759 is said to haunt her former home at Utstein Monastery in Norway.

Their love was deep and sincere, but it was cut short when the woman fell gravely ill. They had two children, Karen and Johan, but when she was in labour for their third child the winter of 1759, something was wrong. 

She was laboring in the anteroom, on the second floor and gave birth to a son, but didn’t make it herself. As death drew near, she made her husband swear a final vow. He was never to marry again after she was gone. Devastated and helpless, the man promised her this with all his heart. When she died, he mourned her deeply and kept his word for many years.

For twenty long years, he remained faithful to that promise. Time passed, loneliness grew, and eventually he allowed himself to become engaged to another woman, the thirty-six-year-younger Danish noblewoman Helene Margrethe Kamstrup. 

On the day of the wedding,February in 1779, as he stood inside the cathedral in Stavanger, ready to be married, the past returned to claim him. A transparent female figure in a white dress made itself known from behind the altar, and he recognized it as his late wife. Without warning, he collapsed on the spot and he died eight days later. Many believed his broken vow had sealed his fate.

The White Lady Appears at Utstein Monastery

After that day, stories began to spread that the spirit of his first wife still walked the monastery grounds. She became known as Den Hvite Dame, the White Lady, always seen wearing a flowing white dress. She is said to move silently through the old rooms, a pale figure bound to the place where her heart was broken and her promise betrayed.

Olaf Meister/Wikimedia

Over the years, countless visitors have claimed to see her. She is particularly reported on through the narrow stone staircase up to the second floor of the monastery, by the antechamber in the living room. Some report a quiet presence, others a sudden chill or the sense of being watched. She is most often described as calm but sorrowful, as if endlessly waiting.

Many employees refuse to stop working at the monastery after dark for fear of meeting her. She opens and closes doors and turns the lights on and off. A guide at the monastery has described Cecilie’s presence as an icy, suffocating veil over her face.

A woman who was on a tour felt a pull towards the painting of Cecilie in the living room. Here hang portraits of Christopher Garmann (1720-1779), his second wife Cecilie Catharina Garmann née Widding (1734 – 1759) and his parents Karen Garmann née Frimann (1683-1770) and Johan Garmann (1675-1730). The living rooms are also furnished as they might have looked in the 18th century. When she took a few steps towards the picture, her legs gave out under her, and she fainted.

Interior of Utstein Monastery: The east wing, living room at Utstein monastery, Klosterøya, in Rennesøy municipality, Rogaland county. // Photo: Frode Inge Helland 2006

A Royal Encounter

One of the most famous encounters is said to have taken place many years later when Queen Sonja visited Utstein Monastery. Before the Queen entered, a lady in waiting was sent ahead to ensure everything was in order. When she returned, the guards asked if all was well. She replied that everything was fine, except for a woman dressed in white who had been sitting in a rocking chair inside. When the lady in waiting called out to her, the figure vanished without a trace.

A Royal Haunting: Queen Sonja of Norway, adorned with royal regalia and a tiara. Was she witness to the haunting going on at Utstein Monastery?

The woman had never heard the legend of the White Lady before that moment. Yet her description matched the old stories perfectly.

A Spirit That Refuses to Leave

To this day, many visitors claim the White Lady still wanders Utstein Monastery. Whether she is guarding a broken promise, mourning a lost love, or simply unable to let go of the place where her life ended, no one can say for certain. But as the monastery grows quiet and shadows stretch across the stone floors, some believe she is still there, dressed in white, waiting for a vow that can never be undone.

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References:

DEN HEVNLYSTNE HUSTRUA på Utstein kloster på Mosterøy – Issuu

Utstein kloster

Garmann-stuene – Utstein Kloster

Utstein Gard

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The Lord Edward Pub: The Rebel’s Restless Spirit

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After dying for the cause of Irish Independence, it is said the ghost of Lord Edward is haunting the pub he is buried close to and bears his name. 

Across from St. Werburgh’s Church, where the patriot Lord Edward Fitzgerald lies buried, stands the Lord Edward Pub, a familiar landmark that holds more than just the hum of conversation and the clink of glasses and the sound of ghosts in the walls. 

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The pub was established in1890 and its name alone recalls one of Ireland’s most tragic heroes, a man who fought fiercely against the Crown and paid for his defiance with his life. The rebellion of 1798 may have been crushed, but those who step into this historic tavern say that the spirit of Lord Edward himself has never truly left.

Source

The Ghost of Edward Fitzgerald

Lord Edward Fitzgerald was discovered in nearby Thomas Street, wounded and cornered by soldiers who sought to arrest him for treason. Though gravely injured, he resisted capture until he could fight no longer. Taken to Newgate Gaol, he died from his wounds before he could see the rebellion unfold. 

Lord Edward: He was the 5th son of the Duke of Leinster and his ancestral home was the Carton Hall in Co. Kildare. Lord Edward reached high rank in the English Army, and served in the American and West Indian Colonies. Because of his family background, he was given a seat in the Irish Parliament. He became disillusioned with their policy rigging, and joined The United Irishmen (Free Ireland Movement) and helped plan the Abortive Rebellion of 1798 against the Crown with Robert Emmet, Wolfe Tone and Napper Tandy.

His body was laid to rest in St. Werburgh’s Church, across the street from the pub that would one day bear his name, a fitting tribute to the man who became a symbol of courage and resistance. Yet those who work and drink within its walls often speak of something uncanny in the air.

Source

The Haunted The Lord Edward Pub

The supposed haunted pub has not many specific activities to report, nor does it say anything about where the stories come from. There are whispers that Lord Edward’s shade roams the bar, watching over those within as if standing guard over his people once more. People drinking apparently have felt sudden chills and some claim to have caught glimpses of a figure dressed in old military attire reflected in the mirrors behind the bar, only for it to fade when looked at directly. 

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References:

Top 11 Haunted Dublin Pubs Full Of Spirits! | Spooky Isles

The Lord Edward Pub | Explore Haunted Ireland

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St. Patrick’s Cathedral: The Restless Spirit of Jonathan Swift

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In the ancient St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, there are said to be restless spirits still lingering. One of the more well known is said to be the ghost of Jonathan Swift, perhaps best known as the author of Gulliver’s Travels. 

In the shadow of its towering spire, the national St. Patrick’s Cathedral stands as one of Dublin’s oldest and most sacred landmarks from 1191. Its ancient stones have witnessed centuries of worship, music, mourning, and the silent passage of the dead. 

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Beneath its echoing arches lie hundreds of bodies, their names carved into time and dust. Among them, one spirit is said to stir still and haunt the cathedral. And it is said that the ghost wandering here is that of Jonathan Swift, the great satirist, clergyman, and author of Gulliver’s Travels.

The Ghost of Jonathan Swift

Swift served as Dean of St. Patrick’s from 1713 until his death in 1745, and in life, he was both revered and feared in life as in death. 

He was buried in St. Patrick’s Cathedral beside Esther Johnson, known as “Stella,” the woman whose love haunted his life as much as his own mind did. After she died in 1728, he made a death mask of her and him and asked to be buried next to her.

But death did not bring him peace. When his tomb was opened nearly a century later, his remains were exhumed for study, his skull handled, measured, and displayed. William Wilde who was the father of poet Oscar Wilde joined a team to exhume the bodies for examination in 1835. Perhaps that disturbance was enough to tether him forever to the place he once called home.

Visitors and clergy have long spoken of strange happenings within the cathedral walls after dusk. Footsteps echo through the empty nave, the steady tread of boots that pause near the Dean’s chair before fading away. Shadows flit across the marble floors when no one is there to cast them. Some have felt the faint brush of cold air along the pews, as if someone unseen had just passed by.

He has been seen standing near his memorial, a tall figure in clerical robes, his face pale and grave beneath the flicker of candlelight. One tale comes from Reverend Victor Griffin who was the Dean of the Cathedral from 1969-1991. A few times he claimed to have seen a figure wandering in the Deanery and going up and down the stairs. Although Swift is said to be the one haunting the cathedral, this Dean believed that the ghost could actually be one of the staff members who cared for Swift in his later years and is still doing his duty in his afterlife. 

Swift Haunting Marsh’s Library as Well

He is also said to be haunting the Marsh’s library that is right next door. They made casts of both Swift’s and Stella’s skulls as part of the study. Although it was seen as a very unchristian thing to do, the library preserved the skull and the one belonging to Stella is in one of the cages at the back of the library. It is said that Swift comes to visit the Marsh’s Library to see Stella, as his skull is still in the cathedral. 

Read More: Check out the Haunted Marsh’s Library in Dublin for more about the other ghosts said to linger there. 

In addition to the library, the ghost of Jonathan Switf has also been reported in The Phoenix Park as well for some reason. 

The Ghost of Glasnevin Cemetery

Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, Ireland’s largest burial ground, is a place where history and haunting intertwine beneath the watchful gaze of angels and crosses. Spanning over 124 acres with more than 1.5 million burials, it is home to both the nation’s heroes and its restless dead. Among its most famous legends is that of a Newfoundland dog who refused to abandon his master, Captain John McNeill Boyd, after the sailor’s death in 1861. 

Read the whole story: Glasnevin Cemetery and the Faithful Ghost Dog still Waiting for his Master 

The loyal creature is said to have starved to death by his grave, and even now, witnesses claim to see his ghost wandering the pathways or hear the soft padding of phantom paws in the dark. It is also said that the faithful dog has been seen around the cathedral by the statue of Boyd, as well as around the cemetery. 

If you ever visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral when the crowds have gone and the last hymn has faded, listen closely. You may hear the faint murmur of a sermon whispered through the stone, or feel the weight of eyes that no longer belong to the living. Jonathan Swift, it seems, still keeps watch over his cathedral as well as his beloved secret wife. 

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References:

Dublin: 30 Most Haunted Places To Visit 

St. Patrick’s Cathedral | Explore Haunted Ireland

St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin – Wikipedia

Ukategorisert

The Hauntings of Stortorvet Gjestgiveri Restaurant

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In one of the city’s oldest buildings, the freshest food is served in the ancient locale. For years though, there have been talks about Stortorvet Gjestgiveri restaurant being haunted, and even made it as one of the most haunted clips in the national ghost hunting show. 

At the edge of Oslo’s historic square stands Stortorvet Gjestgiveri, a building whose walls have witnessed centuries of human excess, celebration, and secrecy. Long before it became a beloved restaurant, the structure traced its origins back to the 1600s and has served many lives since then. 

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With such a long and turbulent past, it is perhaps no surprise that many believe something has refused to leave.

A Building That Remembers

Stortorvets Gjæstgiveri in Oslo is an18th -century apartment building located on the corner of Stortorvet and with the cathedral are the last remaining remnants of the building environment that grew up at the city’s new square outside the ramparts around 1700.

Over the centuries, the building has been many things, including a wine monopoly and later a strip club, before finally becoming the restaurant it is today. Each transformation seems to have left an imprint behind. Staff and management alike speak of an atmosphere that shifts once the doors are locked and the lights are dimmed, as if the building awakens after closing time.

Tables That Will Not Stay Set

Daily manager Igor Kalcic has personally witnessed some of the strangest activity. On more than one occasion, he carefully set long dining tables before leaving as the last person in the building. When returning the next morning as the first to arrive, he found the table settings disturbed, chairs moved, and the room left in disarray. Tools and furniture have also been known to change position overnight, despite the building being securely locked.

Stortorvet Gjestgiveri: Bjoertvedt/Wikimedia

The Ghostly Boy After Hours

Several employees have reported encounters with what appears to be a ghostly boy around fifteen years old, seen wandering the restaurant after closing hours. Others have told of lights turning themselves back on after the staff had already locked up for the night, forcing them to return and check the premises. These moments are often accompanied by an uneasy feeling of being watched by unseen eyes.

A Partial Calm After Investigation

Stortorvet Gjestgiveri later took part in the Norwegian paranormal television series Åndenes Makt. According to the staff, the activity lessened after the investigation, but it did not disappear entirely. Strange sounds, subtle movements, and unexplained changes still occur from time to time, reminding everyone that whatever lingers here has not fully moved on.

During filming, an entire cutlery drawer was kind of pushed out of the shelf. It didn’t fall straight down, but flew a bit into the room before ending up there, according to the tv-presenter.

Dining With the Unseen

Today, Stortorvet Gjestgiveri remains a popular place to eat, drink, and gather in the heart of Oslo. Yet behind the warm lights and lively atmosphere, there is a lingering sense that some of the guests never leave. As you dine, you may feel a presence at the corner of your eye, or notice a chair slightly out of place. If so, you may be sharing the room with customers that only the building itself can see.

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References:

Tør du besøke Oslos skumleste steder?

Glemmer aldri «spøkelset» i Ålen – adressa.no

Stortorvets Gjæstgiveri – Wikipedia

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The Headless Ghost of Buck Jones: Dublin’s Restless Sheriff

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Haunting Jone’s Road in Dublin, a headless horseman is said to roam after his life turned dark after scheming peers. And the former Dublin Sheriff, Buck Jones has become one of Ireland’s most well known headless horseman ghosts. 

If you take a walk up Jones’s Road in Drumcondra, Dublin after midnight, when the crowds are gone and the hum of the city fades into a low, uneasy silence, you might feel the ground tremble beneath your feet. A faint, rhythmic thudding like the distant echo of ghostly hooves. 

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Dubliners know that sound well. They say it belongs not to any living horse, but to a ghostly rider who has haunted the area for centuries: the headless ghost of Buck Jones.

The Fall of a Dublin Sheriff

Frederick E. Jones, or Buck Jones as he was mostly known as, was once a man of considerable standing in the city. As Dublin City Sheriff, he held influence, wealth, and status, living comfortably in the grand Clonliffe House north of Dublin city. The house is also known as The Red House on Clonliffe Road today.

Red House: His former home on Clonliffe Road. // Source

He was considered one of the most handsome men and well mannered with an interest for culture and theater. But his success was undermined by a dark addiction. Gambling became both his pleasure and his ruin. Night after night, Jones would wager more than he could afford, chasing luck that never turned in his favor. Eventually, his debts caught up with him, stripping away everything he owned.

Disgraced and destitute, the once-proud sheriff was imprisoned in a debtors’ jail after his theater failed. After serving time, he ended his days in a small cabin provided by his last remaining friends. It was there, among the stench and sorrow, that Buck Jones met his miserable end in 1834. Some say he died cursing the men who had ruined him, swearing that his spirit would not rest until he had exacted revenge.

The Headless Horseman of Jones’s Road

Not long after Jones’s burial, the first sightings began and continued into the 1900s. A phantom horseman, a well known ghost motif in Irish ghost lore. They say that on certain nights, when the wind rolls in off the Liffey and fog thickens over the streets, the air along Jones’s Road grows unnaturally cold. The lamps flicker, the silence deepens, and then the hooves. Fast, furious, and unrelenting.

He is headless and cloaked in shadow, galloping atop a great white steed along Jones’s Road near Croke Park that is named after him. Witnesses described how the rider held his severed head beneath one arm, though others claimed the head was nowhere to be seen at all.

Some say Buck Jones rides still, searching for the men who betrayed him. Others believe he is bound to the road that bears his name, cursed to wander for eternity as penance for his own sins. Whatever the truth, few Dubliners care to test the legend.

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References:

Temp Head | Irish Independent

Buck Jones and Clonliffe

Frederick Edward Jones – Wikipedia

Clonliffe – Wikipedia

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John Kavanagh’s ‘The Gravediggers’: A Pint with the Dead

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Next to the Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, there is a pub called John Kavanagh’s ‘The Gravediggers’, where they went to have a pint after working at the cemetery. Rumor has it that the pub is haunted by those buried next door. 

Dublin is a city where history and hauntings often sit shoulder to shoulder, and few places capture that atmosphere more vividly than John Kavanagh’s, the pub most known as The Gravediggers. John Kavanagh The Gravediggers is famed for great pints of plain and its ghost stories.

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Standing right beside Glasnevin Cemetery, Ireland’s largest burial ground, this family-run establishment has been serving locals since 1833. For nearly two centuries it has welcomed mourners, rebels, poets, and, if the legends are true, more than a few lingering spirits.

Glasnevin Cemetery

The Gravediggers from the Cemetery

The nickname The Gravediggers comes from the cemetery workers who would slip into the pub after long days among the dead. Tradition tells that they signaled their arrival by throwing a shovelful of earth against the wall, as if knocking in the language of the grave. 

Some say the sound of dirt hitting stone still echoes on quiet nights, even when no one is outside. It’s also rumoured that some of the million-plus Irish souls buried next door regularly frequent the pub.

Source

The most enduring tale concerns a silent man in a tweed suit who sits quietly with a pint. He never speaks, never stirs, and when finished, he does not walk to the door. Instead, he fades into the wall itself, returning to the cemetery on the other side. Many believe he is one of the countless souls buried at Glasnevin, unwilling to give up the comforts of his favorite haunt.

The neighboring Glasnevin Cemetery is also said to have some ghost of its own, where particularly the ghost of a Newfoundland dog is said to haunt the place after his master was lost at sea.

Read the whole story: Glasnevin Cemetery and the Faithful Ghost Dog still Waiting for his Master

Today the pub is famous for its stout, hearty food, and authentic atmosphere with no music and focus on the conversation. Yet beneath the warmth of conversation there lingers an unease, as if the weight of more than one and a half million graves presses against the walls. 

If you find yourself in Dublin, raise your glass at The Gravediggers. Listen carefully. The laughter of patrons may mingle with whispers from Glasnevin, and the man in tweed might be seated not far from you.

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The Armenian Vampire Dakhanavar of the Valleys

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Said to be a protector of the Valleys in Armenia, the Dakhanavar vampire hides in the caves in the mountains, waiting for intruders to quench his thirst. 

In the landlocked mountains and valleys of Armenia, where silence stretches across cracked earth and night falls with a cold, empty wind, a bloodthirsty creature is said to live the mountain range around Yerevan. Known as the Dakhanavar, this entity occupies a unique place in Armenian myth. 

The Dakhanavar, or դախանավար, is less a revenant of human death and more a vampiric guardian of the wild, protecting the valley from intruders. It is said that he never killed the locals living there, and only those trespassing were at risk. 

The Armenian Vampire Dakhanavar of the Mountain Valleys

Unlike many spectral legends that haunt graveyards or ruins, the Dakhanavar stalks the empty spaces between settlements in the south Caucasus region, particularly where water is distant and the stars are bright. It is a creature of the open night, roaming the lonely roads that connect villages across the Armenian highlands.

The Highlands of Armenia: The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century. The area has also been under the rule of Ottoman and Persian empires as well as the Russian Empire. The average elevation of the country is tenth highest in the world and it has 85.9% mountain area, more than Switzerland or Nepal. From its many influences and its secluded mountains, Armenia has amassed a very unique mythology and superstition.

From the Library of Apollodorus, an Armenian superstition tells about the fear of wakening the undead: In Armenia, when a person falls sick soon after the death of a member of the family, it is supposed that the sickness is caused by the dead man, who cannot rest in his grave until he has drawn away one of his kinsfolk to the spirit land. To prevent this catastrophe, the body of the deceased is disinterred and decapitated, and to make assurance doubly sure the head is smashed or a needle is stuck into it and into the heart.

Bloodthirsty Monsters from Armenian Mythology: The Nhang was a river-dwelling serpent-monster with shape shifting powers, often connected to the more conventional Armenian dragons. The creature could change into a seal or lure a man by transforming into a woman, then drag in and drown the victim to drink its blood. The word “Nhang” is sometimes used as a generic term for a sea-monster in ancient Armenian literature.

Some of the first and only writing we have of the entity was reported by Baron August von Haxthausen in his mid-19th century account of Armenia and Russian Transcaucasia, the book Transcaucasia: Sketches of the Nations and Races Between the Black Sea and the Caspian. The tale was told to him by his travel guide, Peter Neu when they were travelling by the glaciers of Allagas and at two miles from Erivan (Yerevan) by the mountains of Ultmish Altotem as he calls them in his writings. It is not really known what specific mountains he is referring to. There were said to be 366 Valleys there, and the domain of the Dakhanavar.

The Legend of the Vampire and the Travelling Brothers

There once dwelt in a cavern in this country a vampire, called Dakhanavar, who could not endure anyone to penetrate into these mountains or count their valleys. Everyone who attempted this had in the night his blood sucked by the monster, from the soles of his feet, until he died. 

The vampire was however at last outwitted by two cunning fellows: they began to count the valleys and when night came on they lay down to sleep, taking care to place themselves with the feet of the one under the head of the other. In the night the monster came, felt as usual and found a head: then he felt at the other end, and found a head there also. 

‘Well,’ he cried. ‘I have gone through the whole 366 Valleys of these mountains, and have sucked the blood of people without end, but never yet did I find any one with two heads and no feet!’ So saying he ran away and was never more seen in that country; but ever after the people have known that the mountain has 366 Valleys.”

The Ale and Tpgha Spirits: According to folk superstitions, pregnant women and newborns were most vulnerable to evil spirits and demons. the ale (Alk) could enter the womb of a pregnant woman and drink the blood of the child or blind it. The alers, who took the form of young or old women (often with snake hair and fiery eyes), mainly stole the lungs, liver, or heart of newborns, or abducted a healthy newborn, leaving her fragile demonic offspring in its place.

Even today some travelers in Armenia, particularly those going into the region of Mount Ararat, generally take precautions against evil beings such as Dakhanvar. Often, they put small cloves of raw garlic in various pockets or mash it up and rub the paste on their shoes. At night, if camping out of doors, these travelers build a large fire and toss garlic bulbs into the flames. The combination of garlic aroma and a blazing fire will drive almost all of the world’s many species of vampires away.”

Survival and Legacy

The Dakhanavar represents a fear older than towns and roads. It is the fear of being alone in the dark. A reminder that in the vast spaces of earth, where water is scarce and night arrives fast, the unseen may still watch. Its name could come from the Armenian word dajan, meaning cruel.

The Only Primary Source: August Franz Ludwig Maria, Baron von Haxthausen-Abbenburg (February 3, 1792, in Bökendorf, Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn – December 31, 1866, in Hanover) was a German agricultural scientist, economist, lawyer, writer, and collector of folk songs, best known for his account of conditions in Russia as revealed by his 1843 visit. He was also friends with the Brothers Grimm, and the only primary source for the tale of the Dakhanavar vampire legend.

But where did the story really come from? As mentioned, the travel stories from Haksthausen are basically the only written source,and there is absolutely no data on this in Armenian sources, as well as in modern research. The part about people protecting themselves with garlic when going through the Mount Ararat era comes from American writer Jonathan Mayberry.

No one knows where the story really comes from, and no one really knows where it’s going. Perhaps it is as the legend said, the vampire was vanquished and never returned to the valleys. Or perhaps it’s still there, in the isolated highlands of Armenia. 

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References:

https://books.google.ru/books?id=nMslAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA191&dq=dakhanavar&hl=ru&sa=X&ei=9HZTU7O1D4fL4ASfwIGgAQ&ved=0CGcQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=dakhanavar&f=false

Dakhanavar – Wikipedia

Strange Armenian Superstition – PeopleOfAr

Armenian mythology – Wikipedia

https://panarmenian.net/m/arm/details/232437

August von Haxthausen – Wikipedia

Ukategorisert

Connolly Station: The Soldier Who Waits for a Train That Never Comes

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Could the Connolly Station in Dublin be haunted? Some claim that the ghosts of the victims from the Dublin Bombing in world war two could still be lingering near the tracks. 

Connolly Station, one of Dublin’s busiest gateways, carries thousands of travelers each day through its historic halls. Yet when the last trains have departed and the lights dim, the old station in North Dock becomes a far quieter, more unsettling place.

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Long after midnight, doors are said to open on their own, echoing footsteps are heard along the empty platforms, and security cameras have captured movements where no one should be.

Connoly Station: Image/The Carlisle Kid

The Figure on the Platform

Although most of the haunted tales surrounding the train station are more vague than your usually haunted place with a story, there is a particular recount of something seemingly paranormal that seems to have made its rounds online. 

Image: Thomas Nugent

In 2011, a night guard watching the monitors spotted a figure moving along one of the disused platforms. The man appeared to be wearing the faded uniform of a soldier, walking with a slow, weary gait before vanishing into the shadows. When the guard rushed to investigate, the platform was deserted. The building was locked, and no trace of the visitor could be found. It was as if the soldier had never been there at all.

The Tragedy of the Dublin Bombing

What could the figure be from? Although the location has a very modern interior today, the place is actually very old, and was first built in 1844. Some have made the haunted link to the tragic Dublin bombing from World War Two. 

The apparition may trace back to the station’s own tragic past. On the 31st of May, 1941, during the Dublin bombing, four German bombs fell over north Dublin North Strand Road, where the bombing damage was heaviest, killing twenty-eight people only meters from the station. 

North Strand Bombing: Image/Maria McGrane Courtesy of The NPA

Though Ireland remained neutral, the explosions tore through homes and streets, and it is said that one of the dead was a young man in military dress who had been on his way to the coast. Since then, travelers and staff alike have reported the sense of a watchful presence near the platforms, as though someone is still waiting for a train that will never arrive.

Other Ghosts Rumored to Haunt the Station

Some also say that Connolly Station’s platform 5 is the home to a spectral soldier and a man in a grey suit. There have also been accounts of a woman that are seemingly from the Victorian era close to the staircase. 

Image: R.M. de Langen

In the Bus Area there is supposedly a woman wearing a 70s sun hat appearing to people, especially in the ladies toilets, appearing in the mirror to the women entering. 

Today, Connolly Station stands modern and busy above its haunted foundations, its ghosts drowned out by the sound of rolling trains and hurried footsteps. Yet on quiet nights, when the city stills, the faint clatter of boots and the creak of an unseen door remind Dublin that not all of its passengers have gone home.

Madigan’s Bar: Spirits Beside the Tracks

Just steps from the ghostly corridors of Connolly Station sits Madigan’s Bar, a place where travellers pause for a drink before their journey  and where some never seem to leave. The pub has earned its own haunted reputation over the years, although it is unclear if it is the same haunting as the station, or something else. 

Staff have told of strange happenings when the last trains have departed and the station falls silent. Glasses rattle behind the bar without cause. Cold drafts sweep across the floor, even when the doors are firmly closed.  In 2011, the Irish Ghost Hunters carried out an investigation at Connolly Station and Madigan’s Bar after countless reports of paranormal activity. 

Could it be that the victims of the Dublin bombing are also haunting this place? Some believe the spirits are those who died tragically on the railway and it is the ghost of passengers, soldiers, or workers tied eternally to Dublin’s great hub of departures and returns. Or could it be something else entirely that we are yet to know the full story of?

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References:

Haunted Dublin Landmarks: Unexpectedly Creepy Places

Have you caught the ghost train at Connolly Station? | Irish Independent

This Popular But Scarily Bizarre Review Of Connolly Station Raised Lots Of Eyebrows Online – Lovin Dublin 

Bombing of Dublin in World War II – Wikipedia

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The Headless Undead in the Ruffinihaus Courtyard

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Once a place for executions, the place the Ruffinihaus in Munich, Germany is built upon is said to be haunted. It is said that in the dead of night, the undead rises from their graves, still carrying their heads the executioners took. 

The Ruffinihaus is a commercial building on Sendlinger Strasse in Munich’s old town, made up of three connected sections arranged around a triangular courtyard. It rises four stories and features bay windows and stucco decoration across its street-facing facades.

Read More: Check out all ghostly legends from Germany

It doesn’t look like it now, but once, it used to be an execution ground. And from this, ghost stories come out at night. 

East corner facing the Rindermarkt, with the Ruffiniturm fresco.

The Raven Stone Executions

Gabriel von Seidl designed the Ruffinihaus between 1903 and 1905, building it on the site of the medieval Ruffiniturm, a tower that had been part of Munich’s old city defenses. The tower was demolished to make way for the new building, which kept the name of the structure it replaced.

Diagonally opposite the Ruffinihaus , at the corner of Sendlinger Straße and Färbergraben, is a relief of a horse with the inscription “Rappeneck”. However, according to older records, it is actually the “outer Rabeneck” – a name that refers to the raven, a bird of death associated with gallows sites.

In the Middle Ages, execution sites were often called “Raven Stone” because of the ravens that swarmed around them. The house at what is now Roseneck was called the “inner Raven Corner” as a counterpart to this. After the city expansion in the 13th century under Louis the Strict, the execution sites were placed outside the new city walls.

Raven’s Stone Execution Grounds: The name Rabenstein (Raven’s Stone) derives from the phenomenon of ravens and other carrion birds regularly circling execution sites. This phenomenon can be found in many cities in Germany.

Next to the house at Rappeneck, the executioner’s house is said to have once stood on Sendlinger Straße, with the execution site behind it, in an open field. Indeed, old documents also refer to the houses at the corner of Färbergraben and Hofstatt as “am Rabenberg” (at the Raven Hill). The execution site is believed to have been located precisely where the Hofstatt (farmstead) now stands.

The Skeletons Haunting the Night

Over the years, the ground has been disturbed several times as the city grew and buildings were built on top of it. Bones were found during excavations, as those hanged were usually buried on the spot. Some claim that the area is haunted, and the executed are supposedly seen there at night, carrying their heads in their arms.

Today, strange beings are said to appear at the site every few months and then crumble to dust back to the earth, translucent figures with gaping mouths, as their final scream and words.

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Ruffinihaus – Heritage commercial building at Rindermarkt, Münchner Altstadt, Germany

Schauriges München: Grusel-Tour durch die Altstadt

München: Das sind die gruseligsten Orte der Stadt | Regional | BILD.de