Vengeful ghosts. Alternative view

You've all heard of the Hook Man, right? Come on, a well-known story: a guy and a girl decided to retire, went out of town, and at that time the radio broadcast that a dangerous criminal had escaped, who was easy to identify because he had a metal hook instead of one hand. Naturally, this scared the girl, and she began to whine for the guy to take her home. The story has two endings. One by one, the guy listened to his girlfriend, took her home and, deciding to demonstrate good manners by opening the door for her, found a hook caught on the door handle.

According to another, the boy showed character by refusing to return, but to prove that there was no danger, he got out of the car to examine the surroundings. He did not return for quite a long time, the girl began to get nervous and suddenly heard a strange sound, as if something was scratching the roof of a car. Gathering up the last of her courage, she looked outside and found her friend, dead and hanging from a tree, right above the car. As the wind swayed his body, the guy's nails scraped along the roof of the car.

This is a little edifying story to discourage you from falling into sin after going to the movies, don’t you think? Let's say that some ghosts, in order to manifest themselves, use ready-made stories, plagiarists of sorts. But there are a few cases that involve real, non-supernatural serial killers targeting couples. Remember, for example, the sensational story of the Son of Sam? And how did the Son of Sam later swear that a black dog ordered him to kill? By the way, about black dogs...however, we’ll talk about them later. Before Son of Sam came along, just after World War II, another lovers' killer was at work in Arkansas. We've read that similar cases have happened before: in Los Angeles, Oklahoma, and practically everywhere. After some research, we came to the conclusion that there was a vengeful ghost at work everywhere, somewhat overly concerned with teenage morality.

Once upon a time we had the opportunity to cross paths with the Man with the Hook. Of course, instead of one hand he had a big, dirty hook. At one time, he staged a whole bloody performance in the name of piety, when he went out at night on his business in order to kill anyone he considered immoral. Basically, he got it from prostitutes, who were easy prey for him. His evil remained in the world even after his death thanks to the hook, which was melted down and used to make various items, including a chain that the father gave to his daughter. The father in this case is the parish priest, who did not always follow his own sermons, if you understand where we are going, and his daughter, concerned about such immorality, unwittingly called the Man with the Hook through her chain. Classic possessed object, classic vengeful spirit.

Here's some more classics for you. You stand in front of a mirror in a dark room and say “Bloody Mary.” Repeat this three times, or three times three, or a hundred or two times. Perhaps you do it at the stroke of midnight. Perhaps by candlelight. You may find yourself spinning in place. Or you walk up the stairs leading down.

Who is Bloody Mary? There is an opinion that we inherited this name from the English Queen Mary Tudor, who was famous for her particular cruelty towards that part of her people that professed Protestantism. However, even after Queen Mary there were people for whom this nickname suited them perfectly. For example, Mary Worth, who was accused of killing her own children. In short, no one can be one hundred percent sure who exactly that Bloody Mary was. Maybe it’s even your fellow countrywoman who committed atrocities many years ago. Or maybe Bloody Mary is the ghost of a woman who was killed right after her wedding without looking at her pregnancy, and you remind her of someone who killed her and her unborn child.

Doesn't matter. In any case, if you called her and she came to you, there are two possible scenarios for the development of events. Either she is going to tell you something about your future, or she is going to rip out your eyes and in such a simple way deprive you of this very future. In general, the mirror often appears in various legends, as it happened historically. This is what dad said:

Fortune telling on a mirror is very common in all cultures, wherever mirrors were used. Before their appearance, some peoples used the smooth surface of water, trying to discern the future in the reflection. The Aztecs invented Tezcatlipoca, the “smoky mirror,” by spraying mercury onto balls. Queen Elizabeth's court magician, John Dee, specialized in mirrors. In the folklore of many nations you can find stories that if you, standing in front of a mirror, voluntarily or involuntarily perform a certain ritual - eat an apple, comb your hair in a special way, call on one of thousands of “wise women” - you will see your future spouse. At the same time, there is a belief that if you see the Grim Reaper in the reflection, you will die before your wedding.

There is also a custom to cover a mirror if there is a dead person in the house, so that it does not draw in the soul of the deceased.

Breaking a mirror is a bad omen because your soul is reflected in it. Thus, you are guaranteed seven years of misfortune, because you have ruined your future.

But how does Bloody Mary fit into the story of mirrors? Sometimes girls, having gathered for a bachelorette party, send one to call Bloody Mary as a joke. This may not have happened to you yet, but if you find yourself in a similar situation, our advice to you: DON’T THINK! And then he will appear...

How do we know?

Because we met. Or rather, we ran into a ghost who was using the urban legend of Bloody Mary to penetrate the material world. Finding out the past of the malicious ghost, we learned that it was the murdered Mary Worthington. The killer cut out her eyes. Her spirit inhabited the mirror in front of which she died. Before her death, she tried to write the name of the killer on the wall, but did not have time, and the secret of her death followed her to the grave. Wherever the mirror was transported, Mary followed it and killed everyone who had a dark secret in their souls.

Yes, that's how ghosts work. They do not divide crimes into more serious/less serious, the world for them is black and white: guilty/not guilty. To be honest, in this we are somewhat similar. It doesn’t matter to us with what joy the ghost became angry, went berserk, and generally hovered between worlds. What motivates him - evil or good, black or white. But if he bothers people, we will throw him out of this world.
________________________________________ ________________________________________ _
Son of Sam is the pseudonym of serial killer David Berkowitz, who terrorized the people of the United States in 1976-77.

Among the undead, there is no creature more disgusting than the one that is driven by nothing but fierce hatred. This hatred concentrates and accumulates, multiplies over the years and becomes bigger and stronger. But initially this creature is possessed only by the desire for revenge - the thirst to restore justice after its death, to punish the murderers or shed light on their actions. But over time, especially if the killers fail to be punished, revenge turns into hatred of all living things and turns into a disgusting likeness - a vengeful spirit.

Appearance and habitats

Most often, the cause of vengeful spirits is described as human betrayal. If a dying person, before his death, manages to curse a murderer whom he knew well during life, then most likely this will lead to the appearance of a terrible creature from the camp of the undead. And the only purpose for the existence of a vengeful spirit is to fulfill the curse that he imposed on his killer. Such a spirit has every chance of ending its existence as an undead as soon as the killer pays for his act.

But sometimes it also happens that a vengeful spirit does not know who to take revenge on. He remembers being killed, but doesn't remember the details. In such cases, this spirit simply hopes that sooner or later he will be able to meet the killer, but in the meantime he kills everyone who wanders into his habitat.

Basically, vengeful spirits are tied to the place where their life was cut short. They remember little about her and most often only remember that they were killed, sometimes - who killed them. Often such ghosts appear at the sites of past battles or mass graves. Not inveterate and forever damned, they kill all living things that wander into their “home.”

Similarities and differences with ghosts

Vengeful spirits differ from ordinary ghosts at least in their appearance. An ordinary ghost can know who he was during his life and even try to help people, in search of something important (for example, a treasure that he hid during his life) or simply in some important matters that he himself did not have time to do. The vengeful ghost, in turn, remembers little about life and since all his thoughts are occupied only with death, he cannot offer people anything else. An ordinary ghost can help a person who solves the mystery of his death (for example, a policeman), but a vengeful spirit blames this person for his death and is more likely to kill him.

The appearance of these creatures also differs. An ordinary ghost tends to retain the features it had during life. Often ghosts appear the same as they were during life, simply deprived of the ability to interact with the material world. Vengeful spirits can easily interact with the physical world, but their appearance is more like a shapeless shadow, not even similar to the deceased, sometimes a black ball, and less often they have no appearance at all. The less human remains in a vengeful spirit, the stronger it is and the greater the scale of betrayal it has experienced during its lifetime.

The Path to Liberation

A vengeful spirit has only one priority - killing. This is where his liberation from existence between the worlds of people and spirits lies. But for true liberation, the vengeful spirit must kill the one responsible for his death or the descendants of this person. It is extremely rare that a vengeful spirit can be given peace by punishing those responsible for its death or by performing the last rituals over its body.

Legends mention cases when people accepted the mission of a vengeful spirit by swearing an oath of vengeance on the guilty over its burial. It is revenge - mere punishment is not enough - that the murderer must be killed. But even in such cases, the vengeful spirit found peace only when it felt that its killer was dead.

Experts say that ghosts are not vengeful, but there are exceptions. For example, a series of suicides of young people on Palm Island, 60 kilometers north of Australia, is explained by the revenge of the black spirit.

Photo: A strange legend surrounds a railroad crossing in south San Antonio, Texas. They say that there was an accident in which several schoolchildren died, whose ghosts remain in this area and from time to time they push stationary cars to cross, although the road goes up. Andy and Debi Chesney's daughter and several friends recently went on a moving trip to check out the legend. The girl took several pictures - in one of them you can see a transparent figure.

The Aborigines lived and lived on Palm Island, big and kind people, but sailors from an American ship arrived, captured a group of savages, took them home and sold the unfortunate Australians to the circus. Tambo, the tallest but also the most vulnerable of all, could not bear the shame and died. The giant's body was embalmed and exhibited in one of the museums in New York. A century later, an Australian millionaire, obsessed with the idea of ​​atonement for the sins of white people before the Aborigines, bought the museum exhibit, transported it to the island and buried it. After some time, real panic began among the white population of the island. The young men began to complain to their parents that a scary, huge aborigine with burning eyes came to them at night. In one hand he holds a spear, in the other a rope loop. These stories were not given much importance until young people, one after another, began to voluntarily take their own lives, choosing death by hanging. Rumors began to spread that Tambo's spirit was taking revenge for the humiliation and forced separation from his homeland. Families with boys growing up are leaving the island en masse...

Avenged the torment.

St. Petersburg schoolboy Vasily B., together with his friend, decided “for the sake of experiment” to throw a stray cat that caught their eye into the stairwell from the twelfth floor. They threw it down and slowly finished off the dying animal with a stick. Two weeks later, both friends stood on a half-empty suburban platform, towards which a train was approaching. Suddenly, a cat appeared on the platform about ten meters from them - an exact copy of the murdered one. The schoolchildren had not yet had time to realize this fact, but the cat was already heading straight towards them, increasing in size with each step. The guys couldn't move. Having approached them three meters, the cat-monster with fiery burning eyes fell to the ground and jumped forward. Vasily B., standing on the edge of the platform, fell directly under the wheels of an approaching train.

Threw stones.

“A special place in American folklore is occupied by legends about “demons of darkness” attacking people and destroying homes. In Gloucester, Massachusetts, these invisible aggressors held an entire military garrison at bay until they were put to flight by silvered bullets and the prayers of chaplains. The Salem witches also sometimes liked to throw “rocks out of nowhere.” So the “devil” stone thrower from Portsmouth is part of a tradition whose history lasts more than two centuries. Since this kind of phenomenon most often turns out to be an act of revenge carried out by an angry spirit, it would be unfair to put all the responsibility on the “main” Devil.

But first things first. In a small house on a piece of land not far from the New Hampshire port there lived a certain widow. John Walton liked the site because of its convenient location; since the woman had neither money nor influential friends, he accused her of witchcraft and, either with the help of judicial tricks or brute force, took possession of someone else’s property. Having received what he wanted, he dropped all charges against the widow, but she cursed her former home, promising that the new owner would not know happiness in it and would not acquire wealth.

Walton laughed, advised the old woman to get out and moved to a new house with the whole family. One Sunday, at one o'clock in the morning, when the household was sleeping peacefully, a terrifying roar was heard: the roof and doors cracked under a hail of stones. The Waltons immediately woke up.
At first, everyone decided that the house had been attacked by Indians, but when the owner looked outside, he did not see a soul in the deserted fields. The only thing that seemed strange to him was that the gate seemed to be lifted from its hinges.

Walton stepped over the threshold, but was immediately forced to retreat: a real barrage of stones fell on his head. The family rushed to board up the doors and windows, but this did not help. Hot cobblestones began to roll down the pipe, which were impossible to even touch. Moreover, stones began to somehow fly into the house through the windows without breaking the glass. All the candles in the house immediately went out. One by one, various objects began to fly into the air and fly out. A “disembodied” hand appeared behind the glass and began knocking on the window. Locks, keys and bolts began to bend and flatten as if under the blows of an invisible hammer. The cheese press hit the wall, and the cheese disappeared without a trace. The haystacks in the field scattered, and the hay hung on the bushes and trees. For a long time Walton could not leave the house: the invisible man immediately began to fire stones at him. A bell, a candle, a witch’s brew - nothing helped.”

Ghost of Kuznetsky Bridge.

Charming Zhuzhu worked as a fashion model in one of the fashion houses on Kuznetsky Most. She was the mistress of the famous entrepreneur and philanthropist Savva Morozov. One morning in 1905, Zhuzhu was riding in a carriage along the Kuznetsky Most when she suddenly heard the cries of a newsboy: “Savva Morozov committed suicide in Nice!” Zhuzhu jumped out of the carriage to buy a newspaper and fell under the wheels of a carriage passing in the oncoming lane. The girl was taken to the hospital, but despite the efforts of doctors, she died. After dark, the corpse of a young newspaperman was found in a gateway on Kuznetsky Most, strangled with a woman's stocking. As the examination established, the stocking belonged to Zhuzhu, although her body was already stored in the morgue. Since then, newspaper delivery men have never appeared on this street again. And the cab drivers, fearing the fashion model’s revenge, reluctantly agreed to drive onto the Kuznetsky Most after dark. Now Juju can be seen on warm spring and summer nights. A tall, slender girl in white seems to be gliding down the street without her feet touching the pavement.

Have time to reach the grave

Thus, the Romans not only believed that the spirit of the murdered man appears and takes revenge on the murderer. They also avoided lemurs in every possible way, which they considered the ghosts of people who had committed many bad deeds during their earthly life and were now disturbing poor mortals.

To scare away the monkeys, special holidays were held, at which the inhabitants of Rome beat huge drums, trying to scare the lemurs and drive them away from their homes. And if they were not afraid of noise, bonfires were lit at the graves of those who rose from oblivion and ritual black beans were burned in them, the smell of which the evil spirits really did not like and were forced to move away.

Similarly, the Indians of South America believed that the rhea ostriches they hunted would pursue their killers after death. They believed that only a special ritual could scare away bird ghosts. Immediately after the hunt, they plucked feathers from the rhea carcass and laid them out in small piles along the entire road to the village.

The Indians believed that the spirit of the ostrich stops at each pile and counts whether all the feathers are there or just some, since it wants to regain its body. In the meantime, the bird ghost was counting feathers, the hunters managed to return home.

According to Eastern legend, an evil ghost - an ifrit - is born from the blood of an innocently murdered Arab. And if a murder occurs, you urgently need to drive a new nail in the place where his blood dripped. Even if it is land. In this case, the ifrit will not be able to be born and take revenge on the killer.

In Malaysia, there is still a belief that if a woman dies in childbirth, she turns into a hideous spirit known as "pe-nangal", which translates to "that which is removed."

According to tradition, the Malays believe that in the dead of night the head of a dead woman and some part of her entrails rises from the grave and flies over the ground, and the open mouth sucks the blood and life from every man who loses strength in the face of this spirit.

This ghost exists only at night and returns to its grave before dawn. If it gets lost and loses its bearings or is delayed on the way, it ceases to exist immediately, at the first rays of the sun.

Malay legends often say that sometimes people found the remains of the Penangal spirit, which, before reaching the grave, got stuck in the bushes or in the tall grass.

Universal Evil

In Rus', the bird-shaped souls of people who died in a foreign land or, more simply, people of other faiths or foreigners, in the old days were called navya-mi - from the ancient Russian word nav - spirits of death.

The malevolence of the Navi was universal: they sent various ailments and diseases to people and livestock, and also caused numerous natural disasters. At the same time, the Navyas themselves were invisible.

At night, in rain or storm caused by themselves, the Navyas flew over the ground or rode on ghostly horses and screamed like hungry hawks. Their scream always foreshadowed only death. Sometimes they sucked blood from sleeping pregnant women and children, and milk from cows and goats.

This is how the Navi invasion of Polotsk is described in the ancient chronicle of 1092: “A wonderful miracle took place in Polotsk. At night, stomping was heard; demons, like people, were scouring the streets, groaning. If anyone left the house, wanting to see, he was immediately invisibly wounded by demons with a wound and died from this, and no one dared to leave the house. Then the demons began to appear on horses during the day, but they themselves were not visible, only the horses’ hooves were visible. And so they wounded people in Polotsk and its region. That’s why people said that it was the Navy who beat Polotsk residents.”

The chronicler also points out a sure way to protect yourself from navi - under no circumstances leave the house when ghost birds are rampaging on the street. The house, in turn, was protected from evil spirits by various enchanted objects that ward off evil spirits.

While remaining outside the confines of their homes, our ancestors, in order to protect themselves from the influence of evil navias, wore various amulets, used spells, and decorated their clothes in those places where navias could penetrate the body (collar, clasp, sleeve cuffs, hem) with special embroidery , consisting of protective magical signs.

It was believed that navyas, if you accidentally forget to close the windows in the house at night, could determine the fate of an unborn child. They say they gather at the bedside of the woman in labor and decide whether the child will live or die. A navya doomed to death was given a special “sign” on his body.

You can't climb over the fence on the rainbow

There was only one way to see the invisible Navii: to contrive and sprinkle them with ash from the stove. And then a person imagined a natural miracle with feathers, or rather, without feathers at all: a huge naked bird with chicken paws and the head of a hawk or kite!

Navii could have been appeased. On a special “navi day” - Radunitsa, which is still celebrated a week after Easter and is considered the day of remembrance of the dead, a special ritual treat was prepared for them, which was placed on the table in the room and then the windows were opened. On this day they were invited to wash themselves in the bathhouse, laying out food for them under a canopy or on the roof. And in the bathhouse itself, you should definitely leave at least some soap, at least a little water at the bottom of the gang.

At the same time, it was strictly forbidden to wash yourself in the bathhouse on Radunitsa. Even if Navii were not invited to take a steam bath, they could come on “their” day without asking. And God forbid we met them! If a bather suddenly heard a quiet whisper behind him and saw chicken tracks appearing in the ashes near the stove, the only thing that could save him from inevitable death was to quickly cross himself and run from the bathhouse in the clothes his mother gave birth to! According to legend, you should also not climb over fences in Radunitsa, otherwise the so-called navya bone will begin to grow in your foot. It appears at the butt of the finger and sometimes protrudes somewhat under the skin. Her appearance indicates imminent death.

By the way, if any of the navias caused particular harm, it was necessary to dig up the grave of the deceased foreigner, remove from the corpse under no circumstances a rotting “navia bone”, burn it, and throw the ashes on the grave. After this ritual, the evil spirit stopped bothering the living.

Over time, the Navi's tricks began to wane and soon stopped completely. Apparently, Satan called them to permanent residence in the underworld - to perform other tasks.

People often view ghosts as deceased people who have unfinished business here on Earth. However, not all of this unfinished business is positive, which is why every culture's history contains myths and legends about ghosts who seem to want nothing more than to take revenge on the living, and usually for no reason at all. apart from malice or anger.

10. Carl Pruitt
Folklore: American

In June 1938, a man named Carl Pruitt learned of his wife’s infidelity, who also cheated on him in their marital bed. Distraught at the betrayal, he grabbed the chain and strangled her while the other man escaped. Once he realized what he had done, Pruitt committed suicide and was buried away from his wife in another cemetery. Local residents began to report that there appeared to be a chain in the tombstone, although there was none there when it was first installed. That's when victims began to appear.

The first victim was a small boy who was throwing stones at a tombstone. While he was riding his bike home, he lost control, as if something (or someone) was controlling the bike, and crashed. During the tragedy, the chain on the bicycle came off and strangled the boy. A few weeks later, the boy's mother took an ax and destroyed the tombstone. When she was hanging her washed clothes out to dry in her home a short time later, the clothesline came loose and wrapped around her neck, strangling her (her clothesline was also made of chain, not rope). When authorities arrived at the cemetery, they found that the tombstone was undamaged.

Three more people, all of whom disturbed Pruitt's grave, died in similar ways. Eventually, after all the other corpses were moved, his grave was forgotten and overgrown with weeds. In the 1950s, Pruitt's grave was destroyed during open-pit mining. At the moment, no one has been punished for this crime.

9. Sundel Bolong
Folklore: Malaysian


One of the most popular ghosts in Malaysian folklore is the Sundel Bolon, the spirit of a beautiful woman who died while pregnant and then gave birth to her child while still in the coffin. Some versions say that she died in childbirth. The ghost wanders the earth, dressed in a long white nightgown with long, black hair reaching to her buttocks, which serves to cover the hole in her back where a child crawled out of her body.

Her main prey is men, and her charms are said to be very difficult to resist. Her name means "prostitute with a hole," which should give you an idea of ​​her method of seduction. Once a sundel-bolon lures a man, she castrates him, and, as a rule, leaves him alive to suffer. Over time, her origin stories began to include rape as the reason for her pregnancy; in some versions she commits suicide due to the resulting pregnancy, which causes her to become sundel-bolon as a curse.

8. Churel
Folklore: Indian
Also known as chudail or chudel, this ghost in Indian folklore especially in North India is famous for its scream. Typically taking the form of a woman, the churel appears when a pregnant woman dies during the festival of Diwali, which is the Hindu Festival of Lights. In some stories, a ghost appears when a woman dies during childbirth. Either way, the creature returns to the world of the living as a vampire, a being hell-bent on revenge due to the bitterness caused by the death of his unborn child.

The churel, which often roams in the wild, has legs that flip 180 degrees, allowing it to move backwards, captivating its prey with its eyes. If you do not get rid of the churela's gaze, usually by throwing a cloth or blanket over its eyes, it will lure the victim to a secluded place and drink all their blood. The churela's favorite victim is her own family because she is angry at her family members for not providing her with proper care during her pregnancy. If the body is buried with care and respect, the churel's bloodlust may also dry up.

7. Onryo
Folklore: Japanese


Onryo is an evil ghost who usually returns to the world of the living to deal with the grievances he suffered in past lives. They are usually female, although male onryo are also found. Tormenting their former loved ones and families brings great pleasure to the spirits, and they often drive the living to commit suicide. Onryo usually wait several days, and even in some cases months, before launching attacks on their relatives because they want to see who is mourning them and who is not.

Onryo is very similar to goryo, which is another type of ghost in Japanese folklore. He also returns to the world of the living to attack and take revenge, but the grief is usually a person who comes from a noble or aristocratic family, and usually dies the death of a martyr. Conversely, onryo often appear due to some kind of trauma, such as abuse from a husband, but their rage is usually non-specific, meaning they may attack family members who had nothing to do with their death. In fact, sometimes the onryo does not even punish the murderer.

6. Phi Tai Hong
Folklore: Thai


In Thailand, people who die excessively violent deaths, or are left unburied or buried without proper burial rites, turn into ghosts known as phi tai khongs. The pregnant woman is considered the most powerful variant of this ghost, as she combines the power of the two thanks to her unborn child. Places of extreme violence, such as those of a terrorist attack or natural disaster, are great breeding grounds for phi tai hong, as young people whose time has not yet come are often killed in these places. Shrines are often built in these places to persuade the ghosts to leave.

As a rule, Phi Tai Hongs remain near the place of their death, waiting for a living person to pass by. If possible, the ghost will attempt to kill the unfortunate mortal, hoping that he will take his place and free him from spiritual slavery. Mangraisat ("Laws of King Mengrai") is a collection of laws written in the 14th century that detail the specifics of murder. When someone killed another person, especially a child, they were often forced to keep the corpse in their home for a predetermined period of time. This was an attempt to create a fi tai hong, which would then torture the killer.

5. Green Lady
Folklore: British, Scottish


Known in other areas as a glaistig, the Green Lady is a water spirit, with the upper part of her body resembling a woman and the lower part of a goat (similar to a satyr). Her human half is covered in gray skin, with long blonde hair that covers most of her body. Additionally, she often tries to hide her animal side by wrapping herself in her green robe, which is how she earned her nickname. The Green Lady is able to change the shape of her body and takes many forms, depending on the intention of the narrator.

She can be mischievous at times, throwing pebbles at passers-by or leading people down the wrong trail, only to laugh at their misfortune when they realize they are lost. There are a huge number of legends about its origin. One of the most common ones says that she was an aristocrat who was killed by one of her employees and stuffed down a chimney. It is in this version that the Green Lady lures men to their deaths with the help of her singing. She is quite easy to appease, since she is a big lover of milk and is therefore usually considered the patroness of livestock.

4. La Siguanaba
Folklore: Central American


La Siguanaba, originally known as Sihuehuet, meaning "beautiful woman", is believed to have had an affair with the son of the Aztec god Tlaloc. However, she was a terrible mother, and often left her son alone to meet her divine lover. As soon as Tlaloc found out about this, he cursed Sihuehuet, making her appear beautiful from afar, but disgusting up close. She took the name La Siguanaba, or "the terrible woman," and was also condemned to roam the wilderness in hopes of luring men into a trap.

In El Salvador, it is believed that when she washes her clothes in the river, she is forced to spend the rest of her life searching for her son, who has been given immortality. Men who brag about their affairs with many women or those who commit adultery are often the targets of La Siguanaba's wrath and she can also be seen bathing in the moonlight, quite an attractive sight in the jungle. Typically, the unlucky man dies of fear, but if he manages to survive, he ends up lost in the wild. From time to time, she also appears to children in the form of their mothers, luring them to their deaths. The best way to protect yourself from La Siguanaba is to bite a piece of metal or a cross and say a prayer to God.

3. Chindi
Folklore: Navajo people


In the Navajo belief system, there is a special type of spirit known as a chindi. Usually a by-product of violence, whether accidental or during warfare, chindi consists of everything bad that was in the deceased person. Chindi can also be invoked without following the appropriate burial rites for the person. In addition, chindi appears when the name of a deceased person is mentioned, so Navajos never talk about their deceased relatives or friends. Sometimes the Chindis can terrorize an entire family for decades, as in the case of the Long Salt family, who were said to have been tortured for over 100 years.

The house or property of a deceased person is the most likely place for chindi to appear, so they often isolate it or destroy it outright. Because of this, Navajos try to die outside the home so that chindi does not appear in the house. Healers can cast a curse on people who have treated them poorly and the cursed will be tormented by chindi. In addition, the Navajo believe that a disease known as "ghost disease" is caused by contact with one of these spirits.

2. Funayurei
Folklore: Japanese


The spirits of those who died at sea, funayurei are a common sight in Japanese folklore, and their name literally translates to "ship ghost". They are believed to have supernatural powers and can make any number of ghost ships appear. The funayurei then use them to force the living captains of nearby boats to veer off course and usually meet their death as a result.

According to some versions, funayurei try to get on board the ship of the living, where they feed on the emotions of unsuspecting sailors. Once on board, the ghost will ask for a special tool called hisyaku, which is similar to a ladle. If the request is granted, the funayurei will turn it over and water will magically begin to flow out of it, stopping only when the boat begins to sink. On small fishing boats, the funayurei uses a tool to scoop ocean water inside until the boat sinks.

1. La Sayona
Folklore: Venezuelan


Another ghost, which, according to legend, comes from one person, La Sayona, lives in Venezuela and other nearby countries. Originally a mortal woman named Melissa, she was very beautiful and found a loving husband with whom she had a son. While she was bathing in the river, which was a common occurrence, a strange man approached Melissa and told her that her husband was sleeping with her mother. In anger, she ran to her house, where her husband and son were sleeping peacefully in bed.

Blinded by rage, she burned the entire house, killing them both. Melissa then went to her mother's house, where she stabbed her to death. Right before she died, her mother cursed her, telling Melissa that she would be forced to walk the Earth killing husbands who cheated on their wives. Today, she may be a beautiful woman walking up and down the highway, luring men into her web. She sometimes takes the form of a loved one to deceive men, and then reveals a rotting skull where her face used to be.