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Ankou

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Also known as: Death, The Grim Reaper, Old Father Time, Azrael, The Dark Angel, The Angel of Death, Sammael, Mortis, Mors Head, Mors, Death’s-Head, Harvester of Sorrow, The Graveyard Watcher, Aed, The Graveyard Guardian, Donn, Da Derga, Aericura, The Great Leveller, Jack O‘ The Shadows.
Ankou or Donn was the Celtic personification of Death. Though death often comes unseen, he would also frequently appear as a tall, gaunt or skeletal old man befitted in mourning attire. It is claimed that his head can turn entirely upon his shoulders, and that his eyes are empty black chasms. Apparently cast sightless by Saint Peter himself, who wrenched the orbs from their sockets, the Ankou may be blind or simply indifferent to the suffering and grieving of those left behind - but he does not fail to find his quarry. Many people have attempted to cheat Death and perhaps some have succeeded, but most often they only manage to temporarily delay the inevitable. The Ankou was known to come calling at the dead of night, driving an old-fashioned hearse or body-cart usually hauled either by horses or oxen (sometimes though the beasts of burden are more Demonic or cadaverous and may consist of pigs, dogs or even giant beetles). Sometimes he would walk alongside this vehicle, which was known alternately known as Ankou’s Chariot, the Karrig an Ankou or the Hell-Wain.


 

Hooded Entities

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Across the centuries, mysterious Hooded figures have at times suddenly appeared in various locations across Britain and Ireland. Due to their semblance many observers have taken these phantoms to be the Ghosts of dead Christian Monks and, indeed, many of them could be exactly that, for some British and Irish Monasteries do bear bloody history. Yet Hooded Entities were known within these isles long before the coming of Christianity. These were the Genii Cucullati - ancient fertility spirits. Sometimes faceless, sometimes three-faced, the Genii Cucullati were sometimes depicted in Romano-Celtic art as being the attendants of Goddesses.


 

Screaming Skulls

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Long since the days of the Celtic Head Cult, Screaming Skulls have persisted as a tormenting nuisance even into modern times. Mainly to be found in certain English Country Manors and Farmhouses, the Screaming Skulls normally tend to actually be very quiet and resemble any other human remains of this kind. However this expectable good behaviour would be due to the begrudged and hard-learnt respect of the dwelling’s living occupants and owners. Should anyone try to remove the skulls, even to transfer them to more acceptably appropriate places of rest, then the Screaming Skulls would live up to their name; guttural, blood-chilling shrieks would vent from their cold, lip-less mouths. Some skulls were nevertheless removed despite their hollering, but were reputed to have mysteriously returned to the abode under their own volition.


 

Headless Ghosts

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Also known as: Dullohan, Dallahan.
Many of the phantoms that wander through the Celtic Isles may seem to do so blindly, as they appear devoid of heads. Some of these have been identified apparently as figures of some social standing, such as the unfortunate Queen Anne Boleyn, yet others have a more lowly etiquette. Such an example is the Headless Ghost of Longridge, Lancashire (who may actually have been a Shape-Shifting Bogey rather than a true Phantom), for she was reported to have hurled her own head at a man who’d just previously attempted to chat her up on his way home from the local tavern; his amorous advances rewarded with a disembodied head snapping at his ankles. Another ill-mannered Headless Ghost was the Dallahan of Doneraile in Ireland. He was said to have driven a mourning-coach (known as the Coiste-Bodhar) through the streets every Saturday night, and would throw a bowl of blood into the faces of any who dared to gaze upon him.


 

Poltergeists

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Also known as: Noisy Spirits, Racketing Spirits, Stone Throwing Ghosts, Polter- Ghosts, Polter-Sprites.
From the German ‘Polter’ (to make a racketing noise) and ‘Geist’ (Spirit). Poltergeists are known across Europe and across the world. As far as Hauntings go, Poltergeist activity is especially common and often incredibly distressing for those people inflicted with such a presence. Though generally associated with buildings, or perhaps more significantly with the people living within, Poltergeist activity can just suddenly occur rather than manifesting as course of a long, haunted history. Poltergeists sometimes seem the most modern of Ghosts, however they have been reported for at least 1500 years.


 

Spunkies

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Also known as: Tarans, Spunks, Pisgies, Souls, Soullh, Sowlth.
Appearing as ethereal waifs, disembodied lights or as white moths, Spunkies are believed to be the wandering souls of children who have died before being baptised. As they have not formally been given a name in the eyes of God, and as they did not have chance to be rid of Original Sin (the sin committed by Adam and Eve, said by the Catholic Church to be inherited by everybody at birth and only rid through the sacrament of Baptism), these dead children do not appear in Saint Peter’s ledger and cannot gain entry into Heaven. Instead they are doomed to wander the earth until Judgement Day. Spunkies do not seem to intend any harm to living human beings and may only approach them out of loneliness, or the hope that they may be given a name that will grant them rest. At sea however, where the Spunkies can also appear, they have been blamed for the loss of lives and boats. Mistaking their luminescence for landing lights, sea-faring vessels were said to have headed towards the lonesome Spunkies, only to be torn apart upon the reefs.


 

Ignis Faatus

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Nocturnal travellers, lost in unfamiliar surroundings, may see lights glowing in the apparent distance and take them to be the glow of a homestead, or the lanterns of fellow wayfarers. They may not be the lights of human presence, however, but might actually be the mysterious night-lights known as Ignis Faatus - Fool’s Fire. Rather than leading mortals to safety, however, they would instead lead them to their doom - their bodies often disappearing without trace, perhaps over a steep crag into a quarry or the sea, but most frequently sinking to the bottom of a stinking quagmire. Whether these deaths are due to deliberate malice on the part of the Ignis Faatus or occur as an unfortunate consequence of their being is uncertain. Some folk say that the lights are nothing more than combustive gases rising from rotting organic matter, others insist that they are the lanterns of the dead or Faeries. Others still say that the Ignis Faatus are lost souls or other sentient supernatural beings. Will O’ the Wisp, Jack O’ Lanterns, Foxfire, Corpse Candles and Death of the Druid are just a few of the very many other names attributed to this strange phenomenon.


 

Phantom Armies

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Throughout history and the motions of war, gallons of blood have been spilled onto the landscapes of Britain and Ireland. Strange and sinister brews of violence, fear, hate, sorrow, mental and physical pain have seeped into the soil, plants and rocks of the ancient battlegrounds, charging them with a potent emotional vitality. Little wonder then that the echoes of carnage and bloodshed have been said to resonate across the centuries.
At times only the sounds of trooping or battle may be heard, but sometimes an unsuspecting person may suddenly find him or herself amidst a scene of unbridled fury. Though the spectator generally endures no physical injury to their own person, the full horror and brutality they witness between the opposing forces of a long-past conflict can have a deep psychological effect.


 

Lob

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Across Britain, Brittany and Ireland (possibly originating from Wales), the Lob are attracted by arguments, fights and other acts of violence, sadness, tension and hurt. They may also linger awhile at scenes of war, murder, gruesome accidents and protracted sickness. The Lob are commonly invisible, though their presence can often be sensed rather than seen. At times their visible form may be glimpsed and those with second sight may observe the Lob as a black or dark purple amorphous shape, rather like a storm cloud, though sometimes their limbs and features may be distinguished. The Lob are parasites, their victuals however are not our own undigested food or our flesh and blood, but instead they feed on raw emotions and the more negative the better.


 

The Damned

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Some Sinners are damned not to Hell, but to eternal penance on this world. Often they will be compelled to work on eternal or impossible tasks. Most demanding perhaps were the posthumous chores set to John Tregeagle, from Treorder near Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. In his lifetime Tregeagle was a harsh, corrupt magistrate who had condemned many to death or imprisonment, more so on a lack of a decent enough bribe rather than on true evidence of guilt. Rumours abounded in the locality however that his own crimes extended to extortion, torture, deviancy, murder and - despite his pious condemnation of many accused Witches - it was also feared that he was involved in Black Magic and Communication with Evil Spirits. When he died in 1655, few if any were sad to see him go. They were less pleased when he returned. Spells were bound to keep him occupied though and Tregeagle was compelled to tasks such as emptying a deep, vast expanse of water called Domarzy Pool using only a tiny, cracked limpet shell, to weave rope from the grains of sand in Gwenvor Cove, and to sweep sand from Porthcurno Cove to Nanjisal Cove or Land’s End, all the while being tormented by strange black shadows as he himself had once tormented others. It is said that on calm days the sobbing of Tregeagle may be heard on the surf, whilst on stormy days the roar of the wind is amplified by his anguished wailing as the gale and sea wash away his work once more.


 

Herne the Hunter

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Herne the Hunter may be seen at night throughout Windsor Park in Berkshire, hunting or simply standing watching, armed with a bow and a quill full of invisible yet devastating arrows that could instantly still a man’s beating heart. As Herne coursed by night, the mournful blast of his hunting-horn has been said to wither foliage, kill livestock and even cause distant cows’ milk to run with blood. At times he may be seen to travel on horseback, accompanied by a pack of hounds and sometimes also by a screech owl. Part man, part stag, some think that Herne is a manifestation of the ancient fertility Horned God whilst others say that he is the conjoined suicide-ghost of a hunter and his prey and may even be an omen of death and disaster.


 

The Lham-Dearg

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Also known as: Ly Erg, Spectre of the Bloody Hand, Red Right Hand.
The Lham-Dearg is an ill-tempered phantom Highlander that will stop men-folk in their stead at Glenmore in Inverness, and challenge them to fight by cussing and shaking his red fist. It is considered better to just run away rather than indulge the fiend in rough and tumble, for although proud, sturdy men may consider this slight phantasm to not look like much of an opponent, they would likely be proven woefully wrong. Those who accepted the Lham-Dearg’s challenge were thought certain to be facing death within fourteen nights. In 1669 the Lham-Dearg was said to have brawled with three brothers, all of whom were killed almost instantly.


 

Road Ghosts

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Tales of Phantom Hitchhikers are told across the world and it is usually said that a lone driver was travelling down a remote, quiet byway - usually at night - when ahead of him he sees a solitary person by the wayside, thumbing a ride. The driver stops and lets the hitchhiker into the vehicle. There may a little or no conversation as the journey progresses. Upon turning to face their passenger once the required destination is reached, the driver discovers that he or she is entirely alone in the car. No matter how much they wrack their brain they cannot put themselves at ease by adequately explaining how their passenger suddenly came to vanish. Intrigued and often disturbed by the inexplicable disappearance of their travelling companion, the driver proceeds to an address either mentioned by the mysterious passenger or as stated within an address-book, purse or other personal item they may have left in the car. Upon reaching the residence the inhabitants there inform the driver that their son / daughter certainly fits the description of the hitch-hiker. Upon being shown a photograph, the driver may also confirm that the shown person was indeed their passenger. The driver is then informed that the person on the photo has already been dead for some time.


 

Spectral Carriages

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There are numerous roads in Britain and Ireland that are said to be haunted by horse-drawn vehicles. Probably the most prevalent amongst these are the Spectral Carriages. The passengers, drivers or owners of such ghostly broughams may either be anonymous, or associated to local history and characters. The black Phantom Coach that sweeps across the raw Dartmoor landscape in Devon, followed by a pack of baying hounds, is thought to be that of Sir Francis Drake, whilst another strange carriage that runs from Tavistock to Okehampton (also in Devon) is thought to be the vehicle of Lady Howard, who reputedly died in 1671. This rig is not thought to have been her normal mode of conveyance in life, however, as it is entirely constructed from human bones and is elaborately adorned upon each corner-post by a skull. These remains are thought to be those of each of her husbands, all of whom were rumoured to have been murdered by the lady herself. Usually though, these ghostly waggons are most frequently black and the horses that pull them are often monstrous. Sometimes these beasts are skeletal or rotting, sometimes they are sturdy and as black as the night whilst others may be ethereal, headless, luminous or may even breathe fire. The Horsemen may likewise be horrific, shadowy, headless or skeletal.


 

All artwork and text © Andrew L. Paciorek

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