Global Nightmares: Unveiling the Darkest Folklore from Around the World
Myths and legends captivate us as human beings, drawing us into their web of wonder and mystery. These stories, whether they originate from ancient times or contemporary culture, have a unique power to compel us, often leading us to dive headfirst into a proverbial rabbit hole of exploration and discovery. The allure of folklore is universal, transcending time and geography, and it is this timeless appeal that makes us yearn to uncover the secrets they hold.
History, much like a double-edged sword, serves as both a repository of truth and a canvas for embellishment. On one hand, we rely on written accounts and witness testimonies to piece together the events of the past with a sense of accuracy and authenticity. These documented truths form the backbone of our understanding of historical events. On the other hand, history is often shaped and reshaped by those in power. Kings, queens, and rulers throughout the ages have been known to craft their narratives, presenting themselves in a light that enhances their nobility and valor. This tendency to manipulate the truth for personal or political gain leaves us questioning the veracity of the stories passed down through generations.
In today's exploration, we will embark on a journey that spans the globe and traverses the annals of time, delving into some of the most memorable, gruesome, and downright terrifying tales of folklore. These stories, rich in detail and steeped in mystery, compel us to question: are they merely fanciful creations meant to entertain and instruct, or do they contain kernels of truth that have been exaggerated for effect? Join us as we scrutinize these legends, seeking to uncover the deeper truths that lie beneath their surface, and ponder the motives behind their embellishments. Are these tales simple folklore, or do they reflect deeper truths, enhanced and distorted for the benefit of those who told them? Let us journey together through the mystique of history's most intriguing legends.
Hi everyone and welcome back to the dark history podcast where we explore the darkest parts of human history. hope everyone is well I’m Rob your host as always. Welcome to season 3 episode 13 Global Nightmares: Unveiling the Darkest Folklore from Around the World, if you haven't have guessed today we will be looking into some of the bloody and dark tales of folklore from around the world. Many tales of Folklore from all four corners of the world often have an allure to society, they’ve keep us in a perpetual state of routine for centuries, but if you read them you will find that if you take a peek beyond the veil of mystery they are a construct for the fear of the unknown, are these stories past down from generation to generation to try and rationalise trauma people have experienced, hopefully today we can find out. before we start I want to introduce to you a new podcast I've been listening to, its called The swerve podcast. Dive into the bizarre and fascinating world with The Swerve Podcast! Every episode, they unravel the mysteries of conspiracy theories, cutting-edge science, forgotten history, the paranormal, and more. Join them with your drink in hand and explore consciousness, myths, UFOs, cryptids, and unexplained phenomena. Tune in for a thrilling journey where the curious mind is never left wanting. We will have a sneak peak of the swerve podcast show later on in the episode.
without further ado please turn off those lights sit back and relax next to the fire for more dark history.
Our first stop on our whistle stop tour of the world takes us to the far east, more specifically china and to a vampiric creature known as the jiang shi.
The Jiang shi is Usually described as having a pale white colour with furry green hair, moss, or mold growing on their flesh. They also has pale, long white, messy hair atop their heads. They are said to have extremely long tongues and black, sharp fingernails, and they walk along with their arms outstretched.
The Jiang shi is a Chinese vampire/zombie that's name translates to 'stiff corpse'. It is a horrific creature that usually hops along, and when it comes across a victim it will suck the life force out of them.
Originating in ancient China, the concept of Jiang Shi can be traced back to traditional Chinese beliefs about the afterlife. They are said to be created when a person's soul fails to leave the deceased's body. According to legend, a person who dies under unusual circumstances or without proper rituals may return to life as a reanimated corpse,
. The Jiangshi is said to be raised by a necromancer, or when the soul of a dead man cannot leave his body due to reasons in life, such as they were a horrible troublemaker, or if they commit suicide. The body looks different due to when they were raised. If they are raised soon after death, their appearance looks almost like a normal human, however if they have decomposed some time before they come to life, they can look horrific and ghastly.
The origin story of these repugnant creatures comes from The relatives of a person who died far away from home and could not afford vehicles to have the deceased person's body transported to the family home for burial, so they would hire a Taoist priest to conduct a ritual to reanimate the dead person and teach him/her to "hop" their way home. The priests would transport the corpses only at night and would ring bells and hold up lanterns to notify others in the vicinity of their presence because it was considered bad luck for a living person to set eyes upon a jiangshi. The priests traveled by secondary or minor roads.. After they died, their bodies were transported back to their hometown because it was believed that their souls would feel homesick if they were buried somewhere unfamiliar to them. The corpses would be arranged upright in single file and be tied to long bamboo rods on the sides, while two men, one at the front and one at the back, would carry the ends of the rods on their shoulders and walk. When the bamboo flexed up and down, the corpses appeared to be "hopping" in unison when viewed from a distance away.
There are many ways to counter jiangshi. They can be immobilized by pinning a talisman to their foreheads. They can be tied up with string that’s been treated with chicken blood, black ink and burnt talismans.
Well be back after this short break in the meantime please enjoy I sneak peak of today's sponsor the swerve podcast.
As we Move on from china and its undead vampiric monsters wecome to Japan, a country steeped in gruesome folklore, whether it be the terrifying Jorōgumo or the spider women who ensnares young men with he'd beauty before devours them or Kuchisake-onna, in English the Slit-Mouthed Woman, is a malevolent spirit who takes the form of a beautiful woman wearing a mask and carrying scissors. If you happen to encounter her in a dark alleyway, she will ask you whether she is beautiful, and if you reply with a no she will stab you. If you reply yes, she will pull down her mask to reveal that her mouth has been slit open from ear to ear.
She will repeat her question, and if you reply no she will stab you, but if you reply yes, she will slit your mouth with the scissors so that you can be beautiful like her. Unfortunately, there is no escaping this, and an encounter with her will lead to either death or disfigurement. She was disfigured during her human life when her husband, a samurai, found out about her adultery and punished her accordingly by slitting her mouth.
One creature that is terrifying from The land of the rising sun is the Gashadokuro. TheGashadokuro are skeletal giants which wander around the countryside in the darkest hours of the night. Their teeth chatter and bones rattle But they are not always noisy. If they should happen upon a human out late on the roads, the gashadokuro will silently creep up and catch their victims, crushing them in their hands or biting off their head.
The Origin story of the Gashadokuro comes from Soldiers whose bodies rot in the fields and victims of famine who die unknown in the wilderness and rarely receive proper funerary rites. Unable to pass on, their souls are reborn as ghosts, longing eternally for that which they once had. These people die with anger and pain in their hearts. That energy remains long after their flesh has rotted from their bones. As their bodies decay, their anger ferments into a grudge against the living, which twists them into a supernatural force. When the bones of hundreds of victims gather together into one mass, they form the humongous, skeletal monster known as the gashadokuro.
Too large and powerful to be killed, gashadokuro maintain their existence until the energy and malice stored up in their bodies has completely burnt out. However, because of the large amount of dead bodies required to form a single one, these abominations are rarer today than they were in the past, when wars and famine were a part of everyday life.
The earliest record of a gashadokuro goes back over 1000 years to a bloody rebellion against the central government by a samurai named Taira no Masakado. His daughter Takiyasha hime was a famous sorceress. When Masako was eventually killed for his revolt, his daughter continued his cause. Using her black magic, she summoned a great skeleton from the bodies of dead soldiers to attack the city of Kyōto.
Moving away from Asia and to the west we come to mysterious and wondrous continent of Africa, another area steeped in myth and legend.
Africa has always had an air of mystery surrounding it, a vast and enigmatic continent, cloaked in shadows both ancient and modern. The Sahara stretches endlessly, a sea of shifting sands where the sun blazes mercilessly by day and the cold bites cruelly by night. Dense jungles conceal untamed wildernesses, where the air hangs heavy with the scent of decay and the cries of unseen predators echo through the foliage. In the depths of the Congo, rivers snake through the underbrush, their dark waters hiding creatures that lurk beneath, waiting to strike.
AS NIGHT SETTLES ACROSS TOGO and Ghana, the adze, it is said, slips through keyholes, under windows, around doors. They fly to the bodies of the sleeping, appearing as mosquito, beetles, fireflies, or simply balls of light. The adze prey on men and women, but enjoy the blood of children most of all.
The Adze from the Ewe Folklore, is a vampire type being which usually takes the form of a firefly in the wild. Originally from Togo and Ghana, the Adze can also transform into human form as soon as it is captured. It also has the power to possess humans.
For centuries, the Ewe people of West Africa have lived in fear of the adze. As legend goes, there’s no potion, spell, or weapon that can ward one off, and no cure for the bitten. The adze will either drain the person of life, or possess them, consigning them to madness or misery—if not both
People who find themselves possessed by an Adze are usually viewed as witches.
In the 19th century, after Christian missionaries from Europe established colonies in the region, the adze evolved into a scapegoat for a range of other evils—personal, cosmic, biological. If an individual showed signs of jealousy, mental illness, bad luck, addiction, marriage problems, or the inability to conceive a child—just to name a few—adze possession was often considered the culprit. I guess you could say what makes this folklore really scary is the fact that any innocent person can be accused to be one and punished severely for it.
In Ewe culture, the adze are said to possess women more frequently than men. A woman who appears envious of her husband’s other wives, a woman who is infertile, or a woman with an uneven temperament are all thought to be possessed by an adze.
When it is in its firefly form, the Adze can pass through closed doors at night and suck the blood of its sleeping victims. The victims would then fall sick and die. There is absolutely no defense against this beast if it were to come for you. Some do believe that the only way to defeat an adze is to force it out of its host and into a quasi-human form, a hunchbacked creature with talons and jet-black skin, and then kill it. As legend goes, this method is very difficult, as the transformed adze is agile and extremely dangerous. The more common method—particularly post-Christian invasion—is considered more effective, quite a bit easier, and familiar to anyone who knows the Christian theology of possession: vigorous prayer.
There’s no record of when the lore of the adze first began. Archaeological evidence shows that the Ewe people settled the coast of West Africa, in the tropical region of what is now Ghana and Togo, around the 13th century.
There are countless tales across Africa of creatures in folklore, in Madagascar there is a man eating tree that tribes people feed sacrifices to, in south Africa and Zimbabwe The Tokoloshe Attacks Women With Its Giant Penis. Its said this hairy, grotesque, dwarf-like creature - with a huge member has a ravenous appetite for sleeping women.
As terrifying as all these are the Popobawa is probably the craziest. The Popobawa is said to have originated on the Tanzanian island of Pemba. The creature is renowned for its nocturnal assaults on both men and women, it exhibits heightened aggression, especially towards skeptics who dismiss its existence.
In Swahili, the name “Popobawa” translates to “bat-wing,” further adding to the mystique surrounding this mythical creature.
In the daylight hours, the Popobawa assumes the guise of an ordinary person; however, as night falls, it undergoes a transformation into a predatory form. This hunched figure, reminiscent of a human shape, possesses gray skin that emitting a sulfurous odor. Notably, it features long, pointed ears, a wide mouth brimming with fangs, and a formidable, singular eye blazing at the center of its forehead. The creature’s menacing appearance is accentuated by a pair of large bat wings, which it can skillfully wrap around itself like a cape.
The Popobawa’s capacity to alter its form adds to its formidable stature within the realm of African mythology. Various accounts describe it either as a bat-like being with wings allowing silent nocturnal travel or as a shadowy figure adept at seamlessly blending into the darkness. This uncertainty regarding its physical attributes injects an element of both fear and fascination into the intricate tapestry of the Popobawa legend.
The Popobawa constitutes an integral element of Tanzania’s folklore and witchcraft traditions. Within the local culture, it is perceived as an malevolent spirit or “shetani.” In the expansive realm of African mythology, the Popobawa frequently intertwines with spirits and entities that traverse the intricate boundaries separating the physical and spiritual domains. Certain narratives draw connections between the Popobawa and jinn, supernatural beings possessing the capacity for both benevolence and malevolence.
For our final journey, we will cross the Mediterranean sea and into Europe, I know what your thinking the Europeans only have pixies, fairies and elves. Well You'd be wrong.
If we were to travel to the very northern tip of the UK we would come to the Scottish isle of Orkney where the wind howls a mournful lament through the desolate landscape. Jagged cliffs rise defiantly from the relentless waves of the North Sea, their darkened edges crumbling into the abyss below. The skies are often a tapestry of brooding clouds, casting a cold, iron hue over the land. Here amidst this desolate backdrop you will find the Nukelavee.
The Nukelavee is a malevolent sea spirit from Orcadian folklore, often regarded as one of the most terrifying and sinister creatures in Scottish mythology. This dreaded being is said to haunt the coastal waters around the Orkney Islands, emerging from the depths to bring death and destruction to those unfortunate enough to encounter it.
The Nukelavee's appearance is nightmarish, combining elements of both horse and man in a grotesque and horrifying fusion. Its body resembles that of a horse, but with a twist, a demonic twist—its skin is raw and blackened, as if flayed, exposing pulsating muscles and veins. Atop this equine form sits a human torso, equally grotesque, with long, sinewy arms and a distorted, skull-like face. Its breath is said to be toxic, wilting crops and spreading disease wherever it roams.
Emerging from the sea, the Nukelavee brings chaos and devastation. It is blamed for droughts, plagues, and the death of livestock, its mere presence enough to spread panic among the islanders. Legends describe it as a vengeful entity, one that cannot bear the touch of fresh water, which is why it rarely ventures far from the coast.
To protect themselves from the Nukelavee, the people of Orkney would perform rituals and offerings to appease the spirit, hoping to avoid its wrath. The only way to escape this monster, according to folklore, is to cross a stream of fresh water, as the creature is unable to follow.
In the eerie and windswept landscape of the Orkney Islands, the legend of the Nukelavee endures, a dark reminder of the power and mystery of the sea, and the ancient fears that still lurk in the hearts of those who call these islands home.
thank you for taking the time out of your day to listen to this dark episode. So yeah that was some of the folklore from around the world. Researching these creatures and folklore from around the world has been a thought-provoking journey. It made me ponder whether these stories were simply a means for people to rationalize the unknown. Many of these tales are centered around death and misfortune, suggesting that in times past, when people faced sudden loss or unexplained events, they turned to these legends for answers. For instance, when medical knowledge was limited and a loved one died unexpectedly, they might have blamed a Jiangshi for sucking their life force, finding solace in attributing their grief to something tangible. These myths and legends provided a way to make sense of the incomprehensible, offering both an explanation and a scapegoat in a world filled with uncertainties.
Taking theJiangshi story some historians speculate that the
Jiangshi were originally made up by smugglers who disguised their illegal activities as corpse transportation and wanted to scare off law enforcement officers.
many folktales have the power to hold a culture and community together. They communicate morals and traditions to the young as a preparation for life’s oncoming obstacles. This is why I believe it’s quite important to know and understand our folktales so we can be able to continue passing down a piece of our culture and history so it is never forgotten. Taking the Adze for example tales of the creature and its effects were probably an attempt to describe the potentially deadly effects of mosquitoes and malaria.
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