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El Dip: The Catalan Vampire Hound

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In the rural mountainside in Catalonia, Spain, there have long been talk about a vampiric beast of a hound that has tormented the livestock and the unfortunate person walking outside after dark. Could this legend be the one where other iberian vampire legends sprung from? 

In the rural villages and grazing lands in Catalonia in Spain, there was a creature feared by shepherds and townsfolk alike for centuries. This being was called El Dip, a spectral dog said to stalk the night with a thirst no water could quench. Unlike ordinary ghosts or eerie shadows, El Dip was a vampiric hound, an otherworldly beast that fed on the blood of livestock and, occasionally, humans.

Read More: Check out all ghostly stories from Spain

Unlike many vampiric myths tied to undead humans, the legend of El Dip springs from a distinctly rural environment between the legends of hellhounds, werewolves and vampires. The legend is particularly significant in Pratdipon village, at the southeastern slope of the Serra de Llaberia, where some believe the village is named after the vampiric legend. 

A Vampiric Dog on the Prowl in Catalonia

Villagers described it as a black or ashen color, with eyes that gleaming in the dark. Like many other figures from Catalan myth, the hellhound is said to have a lame leg. The word is probably from the Arabic word for wolf or beast. 

At night El Dip roamed the hillsides and grasslands, drawn by the scent of grazing livestock and the heartbeats of sleeping animals. Many shepherds claimed that the creature did not merely chase farm animals as any wild predator would. Instead, it bit deep into their throats, draining life as though it were a vampire. 

For villagers whose livelihood depended on cattle, sheep, and goats, such a predator was more than superstition. Blaming an ordinary wolf or jackal did not explain the strange marks or the way some animals were found untouched except for the fatal bite.

According to the legend, sometimes, other prey than the cattle was in danger. Those foolish enough to stay too late in the village taverns, were also in danger to these vampiric beings. 

Association With the Supernatural

The legend is very old from the rugged mountain village in Baix Camp where there is ironically, very little livestock today. As mentioned, the legend has a lot of connotation to the village Pratdip. At the entrance to Pratdip there is a monument to this mythological being, but as it is depicted it has a very kind image. According to tradition, the name of the village comes from these dogs, which are said to have disappeared in the nineteenth century.

Pratdip: Llaberia Overlaps (Conca de Barberà) // Image: Source

Images of these vampire dogs already appear on the altarpiece of Santa Marina de Pratdip, from 1602. According to tradition, young single women who went on pilgrimage to the sanctuary would soon find a husband. The pilgrimage to the hermitage takes place in July.

The Santa Marina Hermitage: Located within the municipality of Pratdip , Baix Camp , about four kilometers from the town, on the Vandellòs road. In 1335 the Santa Marina district already existed and therefore, there was probably already some hermitage in this territory. The altarpiece features the emblematic figure of the dip , both on the town’s coat of arms inside the niche and on the upper part of the niche where there are two more representations. // Image: Jordi Gili/Source

El Dip also appears in another altarpiece from 1730, cut out on a gold background to replace the old one. This altarpiece is possibly the one about which the least information is available, since it was burned on July 25, 1936 by some anticlerical zealots. The only remains that are preserved are in the parish museum of the church of Pratdip, and it is a small piece. In this work of art the dips were also represented, in the form of sculpture in the lower part of the altarpiece.

The Legend Spurs other Legends

Due to his thirst for blood, the dip served to inspire Joan Perucho who, in his novel The Natural Stories (1960). The book tells the story of Onofre de Dip, a vampire with the ability to transform himself into many animals. 

The central part of the play takes place in Pratdip at the beginning of the nineteenth century, in the middle of the Carlist war, and the dip was actually an ambassador of King James who 700 years earlier had gone to the Carpathians on a diplomatic mission and had been attacked there by a noble vampire.

The Coat of arms: The Dip has become the crest for Pratdip Village.

This has perhaps also helped spur further legends about noble men turning vampires, much closer to the modern vampire in Europe. And today, there are stories from fiction books that are now considered a canon folklore tale from older times. 

Another legend from Spanish folklore about vampiric beings is the northern Spain’s Guajona or Guaxa, a vampiric witch. 

Read More: Guajona: The Blood-Thirsty Entity of Iberian Folklore and A Cautionary Tale of the Vampiric Guaxa from Asturia

Legacy of the Vampiric Hound

Today belief in el dip as a literal creature has faded, yet the legend remains a vivid part of Catalan folklore, preserved in collections of regional stories and local mémoire. It is one of the oldest tales of a vampire-like creature from Spain and looking at modern pop culture, it seems like a legend that won’t disappear completely anytime soon.

And although Pratdip is not named after the beast but is a place name of pre-Roman origin, the legend of it remains alongside other fantastical tales. Nearby is a mill, the Molí de més Amunt, where, according to legend, a treasure left behind by the French was hidden. And in the holy houses and in the hills and grazing fields where shepherds once watched through the long hours of night, the story of el dip still lingers. 

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References:

Dip (Catalan myth) – Wikipedia

Pratdip – Viquipèdia, l’enciclopèdia lliure

Pratdip – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Ermita de Santa Marina – Viquipèdia, l’enciclopèdia lliure

Les històries naturals – Viquipèdia, l’enciclopèdia lliure

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The Haunting of Caerphilly Castle – The Lady in Green and the Hag of Death

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A story of doomed lovers and haunted ivy leaves, the Lady in Green is said to haunt Caerphilly Castle in Wales together with the spirit of Gwrach-y-Rhibyn, wailing as an omen of death. 

Caerphilly Castle, one of the grandest fortresses in Wales, rises out of its mist-shrouded moat like a sleeping giant. Its immense stone walls and leaning tower have watched over the Rhymney Valley since the 13th century, built by Gilbert de Clare, the Norman Marcher Lord who sought to secure his power in South Wales. 

Yet beneath its stoic strength and noble history lies a tale of deathly omens, unquiet spirits, and the restless dead that refuse to release their hold upon its battlements.

A Castle Built for War

Caerphilly Castle was built by Gilbert de Clare (1243 – 1295) to control Glamorgan and halt the territorial expansion of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd (1223-1282). It is the second largest castle in size in Britain. It was built in a time of war and struggle for control over Wales and many of its ghosts come from this time. Spectral men-at-arms witnessed on the battlements.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from haunted castles 

On the 11th April 1268 Gilbert de Clare began construction of Caerphilly Castle. He built the castle to secure the area from attack and prevent lowland south Wales from falling into the hands of the Welsh leader Llywelyn the Last (Llywelyn ein Llyw Olaf). Llywelyn realised the threat and tried but failed to prevent the castle from being built. 

He made an attack in 1270 but building began again in 1271. Alterations, including the great hall by Hugh le Despenser in 1322-6, were the last making it a very pure example of late 13th century military architecture and a place of ghosts.

The Lady in Green Haunting

One of the more well known ghosts said to haunt the castle is that of Princess Alice. Alice de Lusignan, or Alice of Angoulême (October 1236 – May 1290), was described as being very beautiful with dark hair and dark eyes. She was also flirtatious and provocative according to people and rumors followed her because of it. She is said to haunt the castle, having died of a broken heart after de Clare killed her lover Gruffudd the Fair, Prince of Brithdir. 

Alice was the first wife of Marcher baron Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, and half-niece of King Henry III of England. In 1253, Alice married Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester (2 September 1243 – 7 December 1295). He was the son of Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and Maud de Lacy. He was ten years old at the time of his marriage. According to the story, she moved with her husband to the castle and fell in love with a prince.

Gruffudd confessed their secret to a monk, but was betrayed as the monk told her husband. Gilbert, filled with rage, sent his wife back to France and ordered his men to find Gruffudd. Gruffudd had caught the traitor monk and hanged him from a tree at a site now known as “Monk’s Vale” in, although it’s unknown if this is a real place. Gilbert’s men caught up with him, and Gruffudd was also hanged in the forest.

As a final step in his revenge, Gilbert sent a messenger to France to inform Alice that he had killed Gruffudd and she dropped dead on the spot.

Her ghost has haunted the ramparts of Caerphilly Castle ever since and her green robes mock her husband’s envy. Her presence has made ivy grow at rampant rates around the castle so it might be said she has eyes everywhere. 

How True was the Story  of the Doomed Lovers?

Did the legend of the Green Lady of Caerphilly Castle actually happen? It looks like history will say no. It actually looks like Alice de Lusignan or Angoulême never stepped foot in Caerphilly Castle. She lived until her husband’s treason against the crown in Tonbridge Castle in Kent, England. She died in May 1290 in Warren, Sussex, England and perhaps it was not of a broken heart at all. 

There were rumors about her infidelity, but that was with her half first cousin Prince Edward, while she was briefly imprisoned on account of her husband’s treason. In later years, “Red” Gilbert would become one of the most powerful and important noblemen in the kingdom. The marriage produced two daughters although the marriage was annulled on 16 May 1285.

But what about ‘Gruffudd the Fair, Prince of Brithdir’? Brithdir is actually a small village in the northern part of the Rhymney Valley near New Tredegar, in the county borough of Caerphilly, south Wales. But there was never a prince connected to it, and even though not all sources claim he was a prince, there wasn’t a ‘Gruffudd the Fair either as far as sources goes. There was however Gilbert’s Welsh rival Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Gwynedd, who later was recognised as one of the last independent  Prince of Wales. Perhaps he was the source of the legend, although he and Alice probably never met in real life.

So what about the Lady in Green said to haunt the castle? There have been countless stories of the green woman throughout the British Isles, often connected with the supernatural, like a crossover between witches, goddesses, fairy folk and the like. What is it that is said to haunt the ivy leaves and green of the castle? Could it just be a made up story, or could it be something else, something older? There was also a room at the castle, built into the wall, and supposedly haunted by an evil entity, but even less is said in regards to this. 

The Haunting of The Hag of the Mist

The Lady in Green is not the only spirit said to roam around the old castle grounds. And something even older is said to be behind the next haunting. 

De Clare family, once proud masters of Caerphilly Castle, were stalked by a spirit not of this world. The Gwrach-y-Rhibyn, the “Hag of the Mist,” was their personal harbinger of doom. To hear her rasping cry or glimpse her thin, leathery form was to know that death would soon strike the family. She would appear cloaked in shadow, her long hair matted, her hands twisted, her mouth opening in a mournful wail that echoed through the halls like the wind before a storm. Her presence foretold tragedy, a spectral messenger calling the family to prepare for loss.

The story of how she ended up at Caerphilly Castle stems from the 1700s. Apparently, she used to live in a swamp outside of Caerphilly. However, when the swamp flooded, she ventured into the town itself, terrifying everyone by flying around, screaming like a banshee. Some of the local boys tried to catch her but she fled into the castle, where she still resides today. 

When the de Clares finally left Caerphilly, fleeing war and ruin, the Gwrach-y-Rhibyn remained behind. The people of Caerphilly whisper that she is still there, bound to the castle’s ruins by grief and duty. Even today, when the de Clare family has died out, she is said to linger. 

On misty nights, when the moonlight shimmers on the flooded moat, she is seen drifting toward the castle’s gatehouse, her form little more than vapor in the cold air. It is said that the Gwrach-y-Rhibyn still walks toward Caerphilly on nights of death and change, her wail announcing another soul claimed by fate. 

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References:

Green Lady of Caerphilly Castle

Caerphilly Castle

The Green Lady of Caerphilly Castle, Wales — Facts-Chology

Alice de Lusignan, Countess of Gloucester – Wikipedia

Caerphilly Castle

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The Haunted Tunnels of Hegra Fortress

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After the battles during world war two, Hegra Fortress was a place that became known to withstand the Germans, although they too in the end had to raise the white flag. After the war, people started to believe that one of the fallen soldiers was still there, wandering the deep and damp tunnels. 

On a rugged ridge above the Stjørdalen valley lies one of Norway’s most storied military strongholds. Hegra Fortress stands today as a testament to resilience, a museum and national heritage site that preserves the memory of Norwegian resistance. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

Hegra Fortress, originally called Ingstadkleiva Fort, was constructed between 1908 and 1910 as part of Norway’s post-union defenses against Sweden. The rugged geological terrain was carved with tunnels, communication passages, and underground halls to support infantry, artillery, and command positions.

Photo: Cato Edvardsen/Wikimedia

Its greatest test came in the spring of 1940, when a small force of roughly 250 Norwegian soldiers and volunteers held out against overwhelming German invasion forces for nearly a month. Led by Major Hans Reidar Holtermann, the defenders resisted bombardment and assault before finally surrendering on May 5, 1940.

The Germans became increasingly present in the area, and on April 14 the actual fighting for Hegra began. The fortress was besieged and shelled with various types of artillery. Nevertheless, new defenders continued to join the fortress. The Germans also began bombing from aircraft, while attempting to storm the facility. The ground attacks were repulsed. The fortress shelled a number of enemy positions over the next few days, several of which were put out of action.

Surrendering: The garrison of Hegra Fortress assembled in front of the fortress following their 5 May 1940 surrender after the Battle of Hegra Fortress.

The soldier who never left

According to local lore and visitor reports, one specter walks the subterranean passages beneath Hegra Fortress: the ghost of a German soldier who is said to have died, or at least stayed in the fortress’s infirmary in April 1940. Although six Norwegian soldiers died during the battles, it is the mysterious German soldiers, the staff believed haunts the fortress today. 

Among the soldiers defending the fortress was “the one woman”, Anne Margrethe Bang, later called Lotta from Hegra. The leadership was supposedly skeptical about letting her in, but Bang, the doctor’s daughter, insisted, was let in, stayed, and distinguished herself as a skilled medical soldier. 

The Norwegians were said to have found a wounded German soldier here in the forest who they took to the infirmary in the room over here. where he was cared for by Hegra Lotten. We don’t know what happened to him, but he is the only German soldier who was here during the fighting according to the stories.

Photo: Cato Edvardsen/Wikimedia

Multiple witnesses claim to have heard footsteps echoing in the tunnels long after closing time. Others speak of sounds like muffled knocks that seem to come from deep within the stone corridors. Some explorers describe flickering lights deep underground, switches that flick off just as visitors enter, as though unseen hands resent the intrusion.

The boy who vanished

But is the German soldier haunting the tunnels alone? One particularly chilling tale attached to the ghost stories involves a local youth who ventured into the fortress shortly after the war and never came back. Local legend attributes some of the eerie happenings in the lower levels to the lost boy. 

According to the legend, he descended into the lower tunnels and was never seen again. Whether he simply got lost in the labyrinthine passages or something darker befell him remains part of the whispered folklore around Hegra. 

This story circulates mostly in local memory rather than historical records, yet it persists among ghost hunters and visitors alike. 

http://adressa.no/tv/i/oWRXOW/spoker-det-pa-hegra-festning 

Haunted Occurrences at Hegra Fortress

Ida-Lise Dirks works as a guide at Hegra Fortress , and could tell about strange events in the rooms and tunnels.

– When I started working as a guide, I was at work on a Sunday night. We had a late opening and I was supposed to go around and pick up some trash. When I entered this room, I heard someone marching down the hallways here, says Dirks.

She was quick to turn around and get out of the pitch-dark room. Dirks also tells of a family with children who were on a trip to the area. They had a camera with them, but when they entered the room where the participants were sleeping, the camera didn’t work. The family goes back outside. They walk around the top of the bunker and the camera takes pictures.

– They think they have to go back to take a picture. They took a picture and my boss got it by email. There we see that there is a shadow of a soldier standing in the door out there, says Dirks.

Haunted Fortress: Some of the soldiers defending Hegra Fortress during the Battle of Hegra Fortress assembled in one of the fortress’ halls.

Dirks also says that her boss used to keep his keys around his neck and down in his breast pocket. Several times the keys have been bent in the pocket, but no one knows why. Per Wold, chairman of the Friends of Hegra Fortress, has experienced the same thing.

– A few years ago, a barrier with a lock was set up a kilometer from the fortress. I had the key to the barrier in my pocket, and it bent. I got a new key, which I never used. It also bent.

Today, Hegra Fortress is open to the public as a museum of national significance, featuring well-preserved trenches, artillery positions, and miles of underground halls once buzzing with wartime activity. Visitors come to learn about the resistance of 1940 and to walk the same paths that Norwegian and German soldiers once trod. 

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References:

Det spøker i bunkeren – NRK Trøndelag – Lokale nyheter, TV og radio

– Er dette et fotografi av gjenferdet? – bladet.no

https://radiorevolt.no/post/her-kan-du-jakte-sp%C3%B8kelser-i-trondheim

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Wolfe Tone Square: The Hanging Judge Who Could Not Rest

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In a cemetery turned into a public park, the Wolfe Tone Square is said to be haunted by John Toler, one of Ireland’s most haunted man and remembered as the Hanging Judge. 

Along Jervis Street in Dublin, the hum of the city never seems to stop and Wolfe Tone Square, a public place that hides a far darker past beneath its modern surface. Long before cafés and benches filled the square, this ground was home to St. Mary’s Church and Graveyard, and later the site of a hospital where countless souls drew their final breath. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Ireland

Around the mid-1800s, the graveyard was so overcrowded, they had to gig up buried people to make rooms for others. Still after the area was turned into a park, the last burial was in the 1950s. The earth here has seen centuries of sorrow, and some say it has never forgotten.

Wolfe Tone Square: This statue is located at Wolfe Tone Square, Dublin, Ireland, beside the Jervis Shopping Centre. // Source:
Ag Crú na Gréine “Enjoying the Sun” (2003)

The Hanging Judge Haunting Wolfe Tone Square

Among the many buried in St. Mary’s is one man whose presence still disturbs the peace is thought to be the ghost of John Toler, the Earl of Norbury, known to history as the “Hanging Judge.” 

During his lifetime, Toler earned his grim nickname for his unrelenting cruelty in sentencing men and women to death, often delivering the verdict with a smile. He was deemed Ireland’s most hated man in the 1700s. 

The Hanging Judge: John Toler, 1st Earl of Norbury, known as The Lord Norbury between 1800 and 1827, was an Irish lawyer, politician and judge. A greatly controversial figure in his time, he was nicknamed the “Hanging Judge” and was considered to be one of the most corrupt legal figures in Irish history. He was Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas between 1800 and 1827.

One of his most infamous judgments was against a young man convicted of sheep stealing, a crime that, even then, rarely merited the noose. But Toler showed no mercy. The young man was hanged, leaving behind a heartbroken widow. He was also the one who hanged the Irish revolutionary Robert Emmet, making him the most hated man in the country. 

Check out: Read more about The Brazen Head: Dublin’s Oldest Pub and Its Restless Rebel ,where it is said the ghost of Robert Emmet is haunting to this day. 

Before she died, the widow is said to have placed a curse upon Toler, condemning him to never find rest in death. When Toler himself passed in 1831, his body was laid to rest in St. Mary’s Graveyard, but his peace was not to last. Some say that his ghost is haunting the area in the form of a black dog. There are also those who talk about eerie sounds near the graveyard — the clanking of heavy chains and the slow, dragging footsteps of something unseen. The noise, they said, would travel from Cabra to Jervis Street, echoing through the night as though the Hanging Judge himself were being marched to an eternal gallows.

There are also people talking about another ghost of a tall dark figure, passing through a wall and walking across the square in the night. The thing is, the bottom part of his legs are underground. 

The Haunted Wolfe Tone Square

Even now, after the graveyard has been cleared and the square transformed, there are whispers that the Earl of Norbury still walks, bound to the earth by the widow’s curse. On quiet nights, when the city falls still, some claim to hear the faint rattle of iron links and the hollow tap of boots across the stones. Few linger long once the sound begins. Wolfe Tone Square may be a place of rest for Dubliners today, but for one soul beneath its soil, rest will never come.

In the early 2000s, excavations uncovered “consideral quantities” of human skeletons were uncovered and sent to museums before the area was covered with gravel and concrete, trying to keep the remaining buried bodies buried. 

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References:

Dublin: 30 Most Haunted Places To Visit

Double Take: The Dublin square that was once one of the city’s most crowded graveyards

Wolfe Tone Square – Wikipedia

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The Cabin Caretaker Still at the Mountain

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The old cabin high on Hardangervidda, Norway is said to be haunted by its very first caretaker. But although Krækkja DNT cabin is said to be his eternal home, it seems like the more people visiting, the more he retreats to the plateau.

Out on the vast, wind swept plateau of Hardangervidda stands DNT cabin Krækkja, isolated by snow, stone, and sky. It is one of six cabins nominated for the title of Norway’s scariest hut. It is also the oldest one and won the second scariest out of over 1100 cabins. Visitors speak of slamming doors, footsteps on empty staircases, and the uneasy feeling of being watched when no one else is there.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

Krækkja is known for having caretakers who stay a long time. The question is whether some of them ever truly left.

Krækkja Cabin: The haunted DNT cabin Krækkja standing alone on the Hardangervidda plateau, surrounded by snow and rugged terrain. Over the years it has evolved from a small single cabin, one of the oldest DNT cabins there is. // Source: Kari Merete Horne, DNT Oslo og Omegn/DNT / Nasjonal turbase.

A Presence on the Second Floor

According to the current caretaker, Kjell Slåtten, the answer is yes. He claims the very first caretaker of Krækkja is still on duty, more than a hundred years later.

Slåtten has lived and worked at the cabin for nearly fifty years. To him, the haunting is no mystery. He is convinced the ghost belongs to the original caretaker and that the spirit resides on the second floor of the old building.

The sounds are familiar. Doors opening and closing. Heavy steps moving through empty rooms. The noises appear most clearly when Slåtten is alone. When the cabin is full of hikers, the ghost seems to retreat into silence.

Krækkja in the beginning: This is from around the year 1900 Krækkja was not a large cabin. There were only two rooms; a kitchen and a combined dining room with living room – and a double bed.

Ole Aker of Krækkja

The ghost is believed to be Ole Aker, caretaker of Krækkja from its opening in 1878 until 1924. He lived in the cabin for most of his life and shaped it into a refuge for travelers crossing the mountain plateau. Ola L. Aaker hosted Krækkja with his wife Kirsti from 1879. He was known to be a tough hunter and skilled shooter. Once he is said to have shot five reindeer right next to the cabin with just three shots. Ole Aker died in 1939, but many believe his connection to Krækkja was too strong to break.

He was known as a formidable hunter, a man who could sleep outdoors in midwinter without a sleeping bag or modern equipment. As manager, he was responsible for leading people over the mountain, because there were no T-marked trails over the plateau yet. Ola enjoyed it, but he was actually more interested in hunting and fishing than guiding.

DNT in Norway: When the Norwegian Tourist Association was founded in 1868, one of the first things the association did was to provide cheap and good lodging for mountain hikers. Many of the tourist cabins are owned or operated by the Norwegian Tourist Association (DNT). In addition, there are cabins operated by private individuals, as well as private and state organizations. // Source: Jørgen Schyberg.

A Cabin that Remembers

The ghost is said to remain mostly in the oldest part of the building, especially on the second floor where Aker once lived. That is where the footsteps are heard. That is where doors move without human touch. During recent renovations, an extra floor was added to the cabin. Slåtten has joked about how the ghost might react.

Ole Aker devoted himself to this cabin and this mountain. It seems only fitting that he still walks the halls, listening to the wind, keeping watch over those who pass through.

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Den skumlaste turisthytta?

DEN USOSIALE VERTEN på Krækkja turisthytte på Hardangervidda – Issuu

Krækkja 

Krækkjas historie – DNT 

Ukategorisert

Guajona: The Blood-Thirsty Entity of Iberian Folklore

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Preying on the blood of the young one, the vampiric Guajona from northern Spain is said to stalk the villages and valleys in Cantabria, thirsting for blood. 

In the grim and windswept villages of northern Spain in Cantabria there walks a terrifying figure from Cantabrian mythology. Known as the Guajona or sometimes Lamia, she is a spectral entity associated with night, hunger, and death itself, an entity between a witch and vampire. 

Read More: Check out all ghostly stories and legends from Spain

Cantabria is a historic community between the Basque country, Asturias and Castile, facing the Cantabrian sea. The area is known as the lush and green part of Spain from the coast to the mountains. Its remote and mountainous region made it possible for them to preserve both their celtic and Roman paganism for a long time. And with it, their monsters as well. 

The Spanish Vampire: Guajona lore is very similar to the neighbouring Asturian mythology of Guaxa. The origin of Guajona or Guaja could be in classical Arabic وحش wahsh, meaning “beast”. Although some give a different explanation. Xulio Concepción claims it comes from the Latin: “enemy,” in turn derived from the Indo-European ghos-ti: “foreigner, guest.”

Guajona and the Face of Hunger

The Guajona is described as a pale, gaunt woman with sunken features and long, stringy hair that drapes her shoulders like tattered cloth. Her skin is pale as bone, and her eyes are often said to glow faintly in the darkness. Her hands and feet are gnarled bird legs, her face is yellow and consumed by rough and hairy warts, her eyes are tiny and bright as stars. Her aquiline nose and mouth contain a single black razor sharp tooth that extends long enough to be under her chin and used to suck blood.

What marks her above all is her appearance of starvation. She is thin to the point of grotesque, as if hunger itself has become her form.

The creature only appears at night. It is unknown where she is meant to sleep during the day although it is suspected to be hiding underground. She feeds upon the life force of those she encounters. Those who see her are said to feel a sudden cold chill, an inexplicable weakness, or a sense of unbearable dread.

The Legend of Lamia: A lot of European myths about vampiric beings can be traced back to the Ancient Greek legend of Lamia, the child-devouring monster that were also known to haunt people and suck their blood as a daimon. As well as sharing many similarities between the legend of Lilith and other ancient succubus entities.  Read more: The Beautiful Queen Lamia Who Became a Vampire Monster. // Image: Lamia (second version, 1909) by John William Waterhouse.

A Nightmare in the Night

Descriptions of her movements are unsettling. She is sometimes said to glide over the ground without making sound, appearing suddenly behind travelers on deserted roads, creeping toward sleeping homes, or waiting in the shadows of forests and village edges. Guajona invades homes without getting noticed and walks silently toward healthy young children to suck their blood in their sleep by sticking her tooth into their veins. 

Cantabrian Mythology: The indigenous mythology of Cantabria , from its earliest origins and throughout history, has become intertwined with Celtic and Roman myths , and is partly related to legends and traditions from the rest of the Cantabrian coast . Christianity in Cantabria was a very late arrival. In the  4th century , the population was still mostly pagan. Among the remnants of myths that still persist as a substratum in Cantabrian tradition is the worship of great protective deities, such as the adoration of the Sun. // Image: Source

She does not kill them, instead leaving them almost bloodless so when they wake up in the morning they will be tired, pale and discolored. Guajona also attacks adults. Some versions of the legend say she not only drains life but also spirit. Those who encounter her may fall ill in inexplicable ways, left pale and weak as though an unseen hand has taken from them something essential. In older narratives, unexplained wasting sickness, sudden death, and lifelong fatigue were all sometimes attributed to an encounter with the Guajona.

A Cautionary Tale of the Guaxa

The legend of Guajona is often told together with the legend of the Guaxa from Asturia, the neighboring region to Cantabria. In fact, most places on the northern part of the Iberian peninsula from Portugal to Spain have their version of a bloodsucking witch entity no one really knows where it comes from. Some would even claim it is the same legend, just going under different names. 

So what is the difference between the tale of Guajona and the Astorian Guaxa? The lore behind the Guaxa follows a lot of the same steps as with the Guajona. She’s described as an old woman, sneaking into people’s homes to drink their blood. She particularly loves the blood of children. 

As the Guajona she is thin, ugly covered in warts and is said to have a single sharp tooth. The Guaxa is often said to be invisible and said to be able to slip though small cracks like the chimney, and even the keyhole. 

As with many vampiric beings from southern Europe, she is associated with owls or other nocturnal birds. In Asturia, people can say “It looks like the Guaxa has swallowed you,” when people have lost a lot of weight, as the Guaxa slowly over time drained people’s lives. 

One thing that is not so often talked about with the Guajona is how to ward off or fight against the Guaxa with amulets or other rituals. 

Read More: A Cautionary Tale of the Vampiric Guaxa from Asturia

Similar creatures are found in Galician lore as well, going under the name of the Meiga Chuchona. The question is, where did the legend evolve from? Should these entities be seen as the same creature with different names, or is their geographical regions and variations enough to make them separate beings in folklore?

Origins of the Legend of the Guajona

Adriano García-Lomas, a scholar of these topics, maintains that the Guajona was invented by the folklorist Manuel Llano, based on its Asturian equivalent. This opinion is widespread and can be considered the accepted one today. At least in Cantabrian, although the Asturian lore would say it’s the other way. 

Research of the lore shows that the legends go back centuries at least. As mentioned, many of the vampiric and witch entities in Europe, especially those areas taken over by the Roman empire, have a lot of things in common with the ancient Greek Lamia. Perhaps it is all a mix from south and north? Perhaps there is something particularly frightening lingering in the misty woods in Northern Spain? 

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References:

Guajona – Wikipedia

Cantabria – Wikipedia

Mitología cántabra – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

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Feltrim Hill: The Hellhound and the Haunted Well

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On the hills where the last wolves in Ireland roamed, ghosts have been spotted on Feltrim Hill, always moving towards the sacred spring that were said to have healing powers. 

Rising quietly over Malahide, Feltrim Hill holds a shadowed place in Ireland’s ancient past. Long before houses dotted the landscape, this was wild country, where wolves roamed freely and whispers of the Otherworld clung to every stone in what was once known as The Hill of the Wolves. The air here feels older, heavier, as though it remembers what the living have long forgotten. 

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It is also reported that Feltrim was the last place in Ireland that wolves were to be found with the last of the species killed here in the 18th century. Hidden among the rolling fields lies a holy well, once dedicated to a Saxon princess said to possess healing powers, although today, most legends are of the haunted kind. 

Feltrim Quarry Gates: Source

Feltrim Hill Quarry and Well

Once, there used to be a historic village called Feltrim Hill. Close to it, it was a sacred spring that they turned into a well and deemed holy. Because of quarrying of the limestone since the 1880s, both the spring and half the hill is gone, but the legends about the place remain. 

As mentioned, there was a Saxon princess who ruled these parts around 689 C.E, and that the well was dedicated to. In ancient times, there used to be 14 beech trees in a line that guided pilgrims to the well where they attended mass. And although the well itself is believed to have been destroyed, the water is still there. In 1947 an archaeological excavation was conducted atop Feltrim Hill uncovering over 500 artifacts including Roman coins and tinned bronze from the 4th century C.E. 

St. Werburgh: Meaning “true city” from c. AD 650 – 3 February 700, was an Anglo-Saxon princess who became the patron saint of the city of Chester in Cheshire. She was the daughter of King Wulfhere of Mercia. Her feast day is 3 February. Following Werburgh’s death, her brother Coenred became king of Mercia. In 708 he decided to move his sister’s remains to a more conspicuous place within the church at Hanbury. When the tomb was opened, her body was found to be miraculously intact. This preservation was taken as a sign of divine favour.

The remains of Fagan’s Castle can also be found on Feltrim Hill. Built in 1427 by the Fagan family, a once powerful Catholic family whose power waned significantly after the Battle of the Boyne and where only small pieces of ruins are still visible. After 1560 Richard Fagan built a manor house at feltrim. His descendants were known as the Fagans of Feltrim.Today, this also lies in ruins, overgrown by woodland.

Some say that the well is still there though, although sealed off from the public by the Feltrim Quarry who owns the land. 

The Hellhound of Feltram Hill

The people of Malahide speak of a hellhound that stalks the slopes after nightfall. Its eyes are said to glow a deep, unnatural red, like embers burning in the dark. Those unfortunate enough to meet its gaze are struck with an overwhelming dread, their hearts pounding as the creature watches silently from the shadows. Some say it is a guardian of the hill, others believe it is a cursed soul condemned to roam for eternity. Its howl, low and mournful, has been heard on stormy nights, echoing across the fields like a warning to stay away.

Picture from the 1930s, showing the holy well, now said to be destroyed and walled up by concrete. Source

But the hellhound is not alone. A phantom horse, pale as fog, is said to gallop across the summit, its hooves making no sound upon the earth. Riders have tried to follow it, only for the apparition to vanish into thin air as it nears the holy well. 

And near that same well, when the mist settles thick upon the ground, the figure of an old woman has been seen struggling up the hill, a heavy bundle on her back. Her face is hidden, her steps slow and deliberate, as she makes her way toward the sacred spring before fading like smoke in the morning light.

Feltrim Hill is a place where the veil between worlds wears thin and where Irish history lurks right behind the fenced off areas. The healing waters may still bless those who come with pure hearts, but the hill also guards darker secrets and Feltrim Hills seemingly looks like one of the most haunted hills around. 

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References:

Dublin: 30 Most Haunted Places To Visit

Feltrim Hill and Well

The Fagans of Feltrim

Feltrim Hill – a place of peace, intrigue and great tradition | Irish Independent

Werburgh – Wikipedia

Murder of fairy changeling and wild dogs with burning eyes… | Irish Independent

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The Lady of Losby Manor and other Ghosts Lingering

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A gathering place for the elite class in Norway, Losby Manor house in the countryside outside of Oslo housed kings and queens. It is also said that some of its residents are haunting the place, especially the ghost of The Lady of Losby, who dedicated her life to her home. 

At the edge of deep forest and rolling fields stands Losby Gods, a manor wrapped in quiet elegance right outside of Oslo. Long ago, the estate was used as a hunting lodge by the powerful timber barons from the capital. Losby Gods was built around 1850, but a sawmill was already operating on the three farms that make up the estate in the 16th century. King Haakon enjoyed himself very much here and his bed still stands on the estate, a bed that is much longer than other beds, simply because King Haakon was nearly two meters tall.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

By day it is a refined hotel surrounded by nature and Losby woods, where the legend claims the ancestral father of the jotne, Hyme lived. By night, when the halls grow still and the chandeliers dim, someone is said to continue her rounds. 

Source: Chell Hill

The Manager of the Estate on the Eastern Wing

One of the ghosts said to haunt the estate comes from the end of the 1800s before the Lady of the Manor moved in. This was during the time Andreas Lumholtz owned it as he inherited it in 1797 and it went bankrupt. In 1829, Lumholtz had financial problems and sold the estate by auction to Jacob Peter Meyer and Isak Muus. The manager of the estate is said to have hanged himself in his room by the bed pole in the east wing. 

The room right by Andreas Lumholtz meeting room is today called The Blue Room and it is said to always have a chill running through it and is haunted by the manager. Right below the east wing was the carriage road and the horses coming back and forth to the sawmill nearby was said to always be spooked riding past the estate, sometimes refusing to pass it. 

A life bound to the estate

Kathrine Boeck was inseparable from Losby Gods and managed it through its golden area, as she was widowed and through the war. Lorentz Meyer Boech who took over the farm in 1893 with his wife Kathrine. She died in 1958 and was called “The Lady on the Manor”. 

For almost seven decades she oversaw life at the estate with precision, dignity, and a firm sense of order. Most of the interior and style of the manor house have come from her. Nothing escaped her notice. Rooms were to be kept proper. Guests were to be treated well. The manor was to reflect respect and continuity.

When the estate was at its peak of entertainment from the upper class of the capital, she used to host parties and would ask her maids, “who was the prettiest woman there?”, expecting them all to answer that she was. She kept a strict diet and was said to be close to sickly thin. Kathrine lived a long life and died in 1958 at the age of eighty nine. For many, such devotion would end with death. At Losby, it did not.

Employees and guests alike have shared stories that sound remarkably similar that are attributed to her lingering ghost. Objects moved slightly from where they were left. Curtains adjusted. Lights turned off in rooms believed to be empty. The changes are subtle, never destructive, but unmistakably deliberate.

Some staff members report the feeling of being observed while working late and sometimes the scent of vanilla lingers in the room, her signature perfume from France. 

The Miserable Maid

One of the last ghosts said to haunt the estate is the sorrowful maid. The help stayed at the west wing. Today it’s where the meeting rooms Pikeværelse and Tosten Arnesøn are. The stairs up to the Haakonsuit were the servant stairs as they were forbidden to use the main one. 

When alive at the start of the 1900s, she fell in love with one of the guests at Boecks. When landowner Lorentz Meyer Boeck ran Losby Gods with his wife from 1893-1936, the estate was known as a hospitable party house and cheerful meeting point for the capital’s most wealthy citizens.

They had an affair, but when they were discovered, she was fired and he was banned from the house, as the upper class didn’t want to see a relationship between the two classes. 

In despair she took her own life in the room he used to stay in in the east wing. She is said to haunt the reflection of the windows there, showing her own reflection rather than your own. 

An estate that remains cared for

Losby Gods continues to thrive as a hotel and cultural site, surrounded by the same landscape Kathrine once walked. The rooms are elegant. The food is a mix between French and Norwegian cuisine it became known for. 

But a faint scent of vanilla perfume, or an unknown face looking back at you in the windows marks that some people never leave completely. 

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Ukategorisert

Westown House and the Ghosts Rising from the Ruins

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In the Naul outside of Dublin, the Westown House was for a long time abandoned and left to ruins. Now the work of restoring the building has started, but the question is, how about the ghosts said to linger there? Are they still haunting their ruins?

Hidden among the quiet fields of Naul, the ruins of Westown House stood like a memory half-buried in ivy and stone after it was abandoned in the 1920s. Once an elegant 18th-century mansion and seat for the Hussey family, the grand home has long since fallen to ruin. Its crumbling walls and overgrown grounds whisper of days of wealth and laughter now long gone. 

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Today, the house is being restored to its former glory, and works have been going on since 2015,, but there are those who say that some of its former inhabitants never left. Among them is the ghost of a man who met a violent end, and whose presence still chills the air around the ruins.

Imagined Reconstruction of the house after the project will finish. // Source

The Ghost of the Poacher

Local legend tells of a poacher who once prowled the woods and fields surrounding Westown House. He knew the land as well as his own breath, moving silently beneath the cover of darkness, hunting the game that belonged to the estate’s owners. One night, his luck ran out. Caught in the act, he was shot dead where he stood. His body was said to have been left where it fell until dawn, the mist rising around him like a shroud. Now, his spirit is said to haunt the grounds, restless and unseen, but never far away.

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Those who walk the paths near the ruins after dark often speak of a presence at their back, a faint sound of twigs snapping under unseen feet. The air grows thick, and a heavy breath can be felt on the neck or heard just beside the ear, close enough to make the heart stop. Some claim to hear the low rustle of a man’s coat or the sound of labored breathing echoing between the trees. When they turn to look, there is nothing but the empty ruin and the sighing wind through the grass.

The Woman from the Third Floor

The Westown House has more than one ghost story lingering over the estate. On the third floor, there used to be several bedrooms for guests. Once upon a time, when the house had its lights on and people came for visits, its said that one of the guests had an unfortunate end. 

Westown House in ruins, Co Dublin by C O’Flanagan

According to the story, one of the guests staying at the house fell out from one of the windows and was found dead the next morning. Ever since then, people have talked about a ghost roaming the area, and many stories have come from students camping and people taking a walk on the grounds, and where they have experienced paranormal activity. Was it the ghost of the poacher they met, or perhaps the guest who met an unfortunate end?

The restoration may bring new life to Westown House, but it seems unlikely that the poacher’s ghost will ever move on. His final breath lingers in the air, caught between worlds, bound forever to the land he once hunted and the house that became his grave.

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The Unseen Guests Haunting Lothes Mat & Vinhus

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In the Norwegian coastal city, Haugesund, Lothes Mat & Vinhus is one of those restaurants that keeps things traditional. But could it be that some of the former residents of the house are behind the strange things that have been going on for decades?

Overlooking the dark waters of the Smedasundet Sound, Lothes Mat & Vinhus, appears inviting. Warm lights glow through tall windows. Glasses clink. Conversation hums softly over carefully prepared food and wine. It is the kind of place where history feels tasteful rather than threatening.

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But once the evening quiets and the last guests leave, something else takes a seat upstairs.

A house with a scarred past

The building that now houses Lothes Mat & Vinhus was originally constructed in 1850 as a private residence by Ole Evensen. As the custom was then, they moved the entire house, so it could be even older, maybe by centuries. It stood through decades of change in Haugesund, watching ships pass and industry rise along the waterfront. 

Then, in 1905, fire tore through the structure. The blaze destroyed much of the building and claimed the life of one man. Who he was, how he lived, and why he was there that night remains largely unknown. His name has faded from record. His presence, according to those who work here, has not. But is he the only ghost lingering?

Sounds without a source

In this house, Lothes Mat & Vinhus has maintained a high gastronomic profile since 1989 after Lothe took over it and made it into a restaurant, wine bar and cafe. Ever since then, people have told him about the haunting going on behind the walls and over the years, he and his staff experienced it himself. 

The second floor of Lothes Mat & Vinhus is where the stories concentrate. Footsteps crossing empty rooms. Drawers opening and slamming shut on their own. Glasses shifting, sometimes falling, sometimes shattering without explanation.

These events do not announce themselves dramatically. They happen suddenly, without warning, and often when only one person is present. Lothe himself mentioned that the strange things happened mostly in the early afternoon or late at night before and after the guests have left. 

Chairs are dragged out from the table and placed in the middle of the rooms. He also says that he has seen a curly haired older woman looking out from the window as he comes and goes. 

The Dead Man in the Corner

Is the man haunting the house this unknown man who perished in the fire, or is it actually something that happened decades later that are the root of the haunting? 

In 1930 a man called Karl Heggedal went through the ice and drowned together with three boy scouts at Villduen. He was put in one of the corners on the second floor for a week as they watched over his corpse. Right behind it is his picture as well as a picture of his funeral. 

When a psychic took a walk through the house, she mentioned that he was probably one haunting it as well. As a religious man and officer of the salvation army, the psychic speculated that he might not be too happy with the wine they are serving at the restaurant. Even when Lothe opened his restaurant in the 80s, the politicians giving permission to serve alcohol were skeptical, being a fairly religious and strong ties to the prohibitionist movement in the early 1900s. 

A presence that does not like to be alone

Employees report a shared reluctance to be alone in the building after hours, and some have even closed up early because they didn’t dare to stay there any longer. The cleaner used to work at night, but  there was a sense that someone was nearby, listening, moving just out of sight. Lights remain on longer than necessary. Doors are double checked. Conversations continue even when no one is answering.

The activity is strongest upstairs, where dining rooms fall silent after closing. More than one staff member has left early rather than remain alone with the sounds.

The spirit does not seem violent. But it is unmistakably disruptive.

A haunting beneath elegance

Lothes Mat & Vinhus remains one of Haugesund’s most beloved restaurants. Its food is celebrated. Its atmosphere is admired. Most guests leave with nothing more than a good meal and a pleasant memory.

But when night deepens and the building empties, the second floor tells a different story. At Lothes Mat & Vinhus, not every guest needs a reservation.

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