Jean Bodin, Monk, Political Adviser and Demonologist

Jean Bodin was a Member of Parliament of Paris, political philosopher and also a professor of law.  He was also a respected writer about demonology.

Bodin spent his early childhood at Angers where he lived a modest life.  He received his education at a monastery of Angers, where he passed as a novice monk.  There is a little documentation about his early life,   there are accounts saying that he visited Geneva sometime in the year 1547 but the information stated on that document is a bit vague and ambiguous, experts said that they might be referring to another Jean Bodin.

Jean Bodin got involved in numerous political works, but one thing peculiar about him is his participation in the investigation against witchcraft and also werewolves.  He proposed a harsh punishment to those who were proven to engage on witchcraft practices.  He believed on the wicked ways of witches, werewolves, shape shifting and eating flesh of human during the Sabbaths.

Bodin acquired fame when he wrote the De la Demonomanie des Sorciers.  His books have been reprinted several times which serves as a guide to people hunting witches.

Bodin believes that witches has made a pact with Satan and perform miraculous work with the help of the demon.  He claimed that Witches have extraordinary powers that were granted by Satan, some of their powers are their ability to fly, cast demons, and their ability to turn themselves into werewolves.  Bodin has no mercy when doing the interrogation, not even with kids.  He forced those kids to testify against their parents.  He believes that Witches need to suffer for their evil deed.  He is not in favor of burning them at a stake since the agony of that experience is a mere half hour.

Bodin also discuss some prominent werewolves in his book.  He said that the likes of Gilles Garnier and the Werewolves of Poligny has the ability to shape shift and those fact were supported by the writing of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.  His book De la Demonomanie des Sorciers was approved by the church.  Bodin died due to the bubonic plague in 1596 in Laon. 

Sergeant Francois Bertrand-Berserkir

In the year 1848, a series of bizarre desecration of corpses happened in Paris which also includes the Père-Lachaise cemetery.  The tomb was discovered open and the corpses were found scattered in pieces.  The people first blamed it on the wild animals attack but a footprint of a man left on the scene convinced them that a human is probably responsible on this tomb vandalism.  Officers were designated at Père-Lachaise Cemetery but no culprit was arrested.

The unknown executor struck once more at the S. Parnasse Cemetery triggering a spring gun trap.  The guards who quickly rushed to the place saw a man in a military outfit that leap over the wall and escape.  The man left a noticeable trail of blood which is a clear indication that the man might have suffered a wound.  In addition to what they saw, they also discover a torn piece of cloth from the military garb.

Police went and search every military barracks to search for the perpetrator.  Finally they were able to found a man with a gunshot wound named Sergeant Francois Bertrand.  The police gave him an ample time for his wounds to heal before he was brought to trial.  On a court martial Bertrand gave a shocking confession.

Bertrand joined the camp when he was age 20. On February 1847, while Bertrand was walking with a companion they accidentally came across a cemetery.  He made an excuse to his companion and got rid of him.  He suddenly felt the intense desire to dig the corpse.  His exact words were:

 “Soon I dragged the corpse out of the earth, and I began tohash it with the spade, without well knowing what I wasabout. A laborer saw me, and I laid myself flat on theground till he was out of sight, and then I cast the bodyback into the grave. I then went away, bathed in a coldsweat, to a little grove, where I reposed for several hours,notwithstanding the cold rain that fell, in a condition ofcomplete exhaustion. When I rose, my limbs were as ifbroken, and my head weak. The same prostration andsensation followed each attack.” Two days after, I returned to the cemetery, and openedthe grave with my hands. My hands bled, but I did notfeel the pain; I tore the corpse to shreds, and I flung itback in the pit.

That madness was followed after four months, when he and his regiment were sent to Paris.  The intense desire to dig up a grave and tore the corpse into pieces came into him when he was passing Père-Lachaise cemetery.  He went back on the cemetery that night to dig up a corpse of a girl and tore it to half.  Then it was followed by a woman who died while giving birth and a 50 year old woman.  Accounts said that Sergeant Francois Bertrand used his own teeth to tore the corpse into pieces and sometimes eat them.

He told the court that during his stay in hospital, he hasn’t felt any urge to dig up the corpse, and he believed that he’s already cured.  Apparently the court believed his alibi and gave him a light sentence.  He was released after spending only a year in prison.  Experts said that his condition can be attributed to berserker a behavior well associated with clinical Lycanthropy.

The Most Popular Werewolf of Europe, Jean Grenier

One of the most famous incidents of Lycanthropy happened during 1604.  A 13-yr old boy under the name of Jean Grenier who lives at Landes located at the southern portion of France was accused of being a werewolf.  He claimed that it was the mysterious man who gave her the skin of the wolf that granted her the ability to transform into a werewolf.

The story began when two girls approached an odd looking boy with a red hair.  The boy looked emaciated; with fierce eyes and visible protruding canine teeth.  He exhibits an eye larger than the norms and his fingernails are sharp; his name is Jean Grenier, the son of the priest. He approached the two girls and asked who between them is prettier since he planned to marry that girl.  Grenier claimed that his weird appearance is due to the wolf skin given by a man named, Pierre Labourant. He added:

“I have killed dogs and drunk their blood; but little girlstaste better, their flesh is tender and sweet, their bloodrich and warm. I have eaten many a maiden, as I havebeen on my raids together with my nine companions. Iam a werewolf! Ah, ha! If the sun were to set I wouldsoon fall on one of you and make a meal of you!”

Grenier had a close ties with a girl named Marguerite Poirier.  She’s 13 years of age and Grenier usually confessed to her about his crimes and bizarre habit.  She asserted that Grenier told her about killing dogs and girls and that Grenier preferred the meat of the girls over the dogs.  She also told the authority about the incident that Grenier threw the remains of the girl to the other wolf and a girl that he bit to death and ate every single pieces of her except the shoulders and arms.

On a separate incident, Poirier was looking after her sheep when a beast suddenly attacked her and tore her dress.  She hit it with the staff that she used for tending the sheep. Fortunately, she was able to escape.  She recalled that the beast resembles the appearance of a wolf but not entirely like it.

The news quickly spread all over the town.  Due to the details of the story presented by Poirier, Grenier was arrested and investigated.   The investigation revealed that he is not the son of a priest, furthermore he already left the home and accepted some jobs like tending sheep but he was reprimanded for neglecting his duties,

He admitted to the crimes that he committed and said that his power of lycanthropy was given to him by Monsieur de la Forest.  An ointment and a wolf skin enable him to take the form of the animal.  He confessed about trying to kill Poirier and also other crimes that involved murdering children.  He said that his urge to hunt and kill children is commanded by the Lord of the Forest.  He also divulged that his father is also a wolfman.  Surprisingly, the details of his confession matched the accounts of attacks and killings.  His father was also arrested but released afterwards due to lack of evidence. 

The court judge also sentenced Grenier with life imprisonment inside the monastery.  After seven years of detention, Grenier was visited by a known demonologist named Pierre Delancre.  Eversince then, his health slowly deteriorated, and he died at the age of 20.

Aswang in the Philippines

Aswang is the equivalent of any bloodsucking creatures in the Philippines.  The story about such creature started even before Pre-Spanish colonization era.

There’s a popular story in the Philippines about aswang, some says it’s real other’s says it’s just a part of their culture, a hoax, urban legend.  Some aswang stories have variations depending on the province.  But there is one story about a certain Teniente Gimo that seems to be consistent though a long time has already passed.

Teniente Gimo’s daughter was studying in a University. She invited two of her college friends to visit their province and experience the grandeur and beauty of the environment, something that a city cannot offer you.  She also added that they will be celebrating the town fiesta.  The two classmates quickly agreed to her offer since it is not that often that someone asked you to spend your summer vacation in a far away province, plus Fiesta in the Philippines are known to be colorful and lively.

They took the first trip the other day and arrived at Duenas, Iloilo that night.  Feeling tired cause of the long trip, they decided to sleep early.  But one of the girls is finding it hard to sleep, since she’s not used to spending her time on other houses, it will take time before she can adjust herself to a new house.  After sometime, she heard voices and giggles of some people down stairs.  She felt excited, they are known to be hospitable and from the sounds of the people downstairs, they are really planning to throw a big feast for the Fiesta.

She tried to peek on a small hole, there are number of women slicing and peeling veggies, men and children are having the time of their lives.  She saw a big iron cauldron, judging from its size, they are planning to cook something bigger than a goat, probably a cow.  Then she heard Teniente Gimo asking one of the men.

“Which one is it, the one in the middle or the one on the left?”

“Let’s just hack its head quickly to avoid commotion”

“Bring the others with you in case one of them would struggle”

The hair at the back of her neck stood up, they were talking about them.  She quickly returned to her sleep, she pushed the daughter of Teniente Gimo at the middle and took the right side of the bed where the daughter of Teniente Gimo used to sleep. She also wrapped each of the girls with a blanket covering them from head to toe. After that, she covered herself with the blanket and pretended that she’s sleeping.   She can clearly hear the sound of the footsteps of men walking through their directions; she tried hard not to panic.  Moments after, she heard a hack that jolted their bed.  She can feel the commotion while the men picked the body of Teniente Gimo’s daughter whom they thought was hers. 

When she was already sure that the men are no longer upstairs, she tried to wake up her friends but to no avail.  She decided to left the house in silent.   The sound of someone pounding a pound of meat resonates as she leaves the house.  She took advantage while they are busy beating the body of Teniente Gimo’s daughter. 

She ran as fast as she could, with no idea what direction she’s taking, the only thing she knew is that she had to reach the main road and ask for help.  While running for her life, she heard the sound of agony and scream, right there and then she knew that the villager are now aware that they killed the wrong person.  Moments after she heard the sound of men running through her direction, she decided to hide but she couldn’t find a good hiding place.  Then she noticed a not so tall tree.  She immediately climbed the tree and hide on its bushes.  The men searching for her passed her location, they could’ve seen her if only one of them looked up, but thank god no one did.   Then after a few minutes they came back, tired and hungry, these time they did not passed under that tree.  She decided to wait until dawn thinking that if they are busy partying all night, they would probably be dead tired by now or sleeping.

It was not clear how she found a help that day, but accounts told that she managed to return to her home.  Unfortunately, her state of mind was affected due to the incident.  She was admitted to a mental institution right after.  As for Teniente Gimo, legends says that he was so furious, the image of his dead daughter devastated him so he decided to pack his bags and move to other place.

Last April 9, 2014.  An old lady suspected to be an aswang was killed in Capiz.  She was hacked to death by her daughter in law and two sons.  They removed her organs to prevent her from regenerating.  Capiz, a place in the Philippines believed to be infested by Aswang is only a few miles away from where the story allegedly happened.

Elizabeth Wojdyla

Barbara Moriarty and Elizabeth Wojdyla, both 16 years of age and studying at La Sainte Union Convent which is near Highgate, London was on their way home after a visit with a friend who lives on Highgate London.  That trip requires them to pass through Swains Lanes that intersects a graveyard, the Hillgate cemetery.  They could not believe their eyes upon reaching the graveyard; it was an eerie sight of the undead emerging from their graves.

Both of them walk in silent, scared that the undead might notice them.  But as soon as they reached the bottom of the lane, they found their voice to ask each other whether they have seen the same thing.  The experience that night was so terrifying that Barbara Moriarty decided never to speak about the said incident ever again.

But Elizabeth Wojdyla decided to share that experience to a renowned author of paranormal incident, Sean Manchester.  It was recorded on a tape and was seen on live Television via a documentary show, Highgate Vampire case.

Elizabeth’s memory about that bizarre moment is fresh; she gave a very detailed story about that experience.  Elizabeth claimed that both of them saw the scene in the grave.  The graves were allegedly opening up and the people inside it were rising.  All the time that they are passing on the lane their though is fixated on the scene in the graveyard.

After that, Elizabeth suffered bizarre nightmares with similar things in common. An image of her bedroom’s window and seems like something is trying to enter her room.  The image is similar to those of the zombies emerging from their grave that she saw that night. 

Sean Manchester took the time to visit Elizabeth on the summer of 1969.  She looked anaemic and lifeless.  Elizabeth relayed her nightmares to Sean Manchester and fortunately he was able to record that conversation.  Based on the testimony of Elizabeth, the face of the creature looks like a wild animal and its eyes are glaring.  It also has sharp teeth and a grey face.

After two weeks, Sean Manchester received a message from Keith, Elizabeth’s boyfriend and shared that she seems to be getting weaker and weaker.  The condition of Elizabeth is becoming worse.  Some relatives believed that she is being overcome by a supernatural being.

Sean Manchester also shared a noticeable mark on Elizabeth’s neck which was also confirmed by Keith.  He said that there are marks on the side of Elizabeth’s neck.  The mark resembles a certain skin inflammation and the focal point has a small punctured wounds.

There were also instances that they saw a mark of blood on Elizabeth’s pillow.  Manchester will then decide to start traditional method to drive away manifestation of the undead after Elizabeth said that something is luring him and the Highgate Cemetery seems to attract her.  The cross that she used to wear was missing for quite a time now so they decided to replace it with a bigger crucifix.

Elizabeth’s health was restored and her anemic condition was gone after sometime.  The mark on her neck and any sign of the undead disappeared.  Elizabeth well then decides to relocate after.

The Bray Road Beast

The werewolf that lurks around Elkhom Wisconsin, popularly known as the beast of the Bray Road has been a source of fear from residents of Wisconsin and other parts of Illinois.  Witnesses described it as a huge furry creature similar to a Big Foot.  It resembles the appearance of a wolf able to walk upright.

Alleged sightings of the Bray Road Beasts

1936

Mark Schackelman saw someone digging in an old Indian grave, or so he thought.  The site was believed to be a burial ground of Native Americans.  He watched it briefly and found out that it is a huge furry creature that looks like a dog and standing on its hind legs.  The next night due to his curiosity, he went back to the same spot where he saw the creature.  This time he didn’t only saw the furry creature but he also heard it speak to him in a disgruntled voice, he said the word coming from the bizarre cyptid sounded like “ga-da-ra”

1939

A young lover was taking the same route to where Mark Schakelman reported the sighting when they saw a man-wolf creature.  They described it the same way Schakelman described it.  The light from their car startled the beast causing it to flee into the dark part of the road.  They went straight to the police department to report their unusual sighting.

1964

Illinois, Dennis Fewless

Dennis Fewless who worked at the Admiral Television Corporation was on his way home when he encountered the beast, he described it as a huge wolf-like man, weighing at around 400-500 pounds standing at around 7-8 ft in height.  The beast ran off the street and jumped on a fence where he lost sight of it.  The next day, they returned on the same location to search for evidence of the sighting but the only thing they saw was a row of corns pushed aside to which they thought could be the path that the werewolf took.  Fewless stood by his statement that what he saw that night was not a human creature.

1972

The police department received a call from a woman reporting a break in, upon further investigation they found out that what she’s describing resembles that of the Beast of the Bray Road.  The creature tried to break in the house and then turned back and went on his way.  It also inflicted a serious wound on one of the farm animals.  This time the beast left a huge footprint measuring at around 12 inches long.

1989-1999

Reports about the sightings of the strange creature started to surface the public when Doristine Gipson reported an incident that involves a furry creature, but until then people are reluctant to share their stories due to public humiliation and disbelief.

When Gipson reported her sightings, Scott Bray shared the same experience that happened to him at around 1989.  His pasture is near the Bray road where other occurrences happened. And just like before, the only trace it left was a huge footprint.

Around this time, Russell Gest reported another incident where he heard a rustling of leaves.  He thought that an animal was causing the bush to rustle but to his surprise a huge bear-like creature appeared standing upright. Scared for his life, Gest ran off as fast as he could. He believe that the beast is a breed of wolf and a dog since it possess a strong canine features.

On the same year, Lori Endrizzi, a bar manager was driving on the same road when she witness someone kneeling. She was at a distant of 6 feet away from the creature to which she described as someone covered with fur, with fangs and pointed ears.  The creature’s eyes are glowing even though the headlights of her car were not reflecting them.

Heather Bowey story is similar to Gipson’s.  Bowey’s story spread like a fire inside the school that will eventually reach Pat Lester due to the students talking about the incident inside the school bus.  Pat Lester, the school driver, was also the mother of Lori Endrizzi.  Bowey explained what happened that day after Lester relayed the story to Linda Godfrey.  At around 4:30 pm Bowey was on her way home after playing with her friends when she saw a huge canine creature passing along the creek.  The children, thinking it was a dog, called its attention.  The creature took a couple of steps towards their location, stood on its hind legs and charged the kids.  The creature followed them until they were half way to Heather’s home.

At around March of 1990, Mike Etten, a dairy farmer, elaborated a similar incident.  Though he was drinking on the time that the incident occurred, he is firm on his belief that what he saw that time was not a human.  He described a beast sitting like the animal raccoon, holding its food using its front legs.  He initially thought it was a bear until reports about the sightings of the creature was reported by numbers of people during 1991.

Doristine Gipson’s report

Doristine Gipson was driving along the Bray road on October 31st when she felt something jolted her right tire while approaching the intersection on the Hospital Road.  She went off the car to see what could’ve caused that to happen and to her surprise a large furry creature was quickly moving towards her direction.  Surprised and scared Gipson quickly went inside the car and drive away.  The creature jumped onto the trunk, fortunately the beast was unable to get a good grip due to the wet exterior of the car.

Petre Toma

Officers were investigating an incident of staking at Craiova situated southwest of Romania that involves 6 villagers.  They claimed that the person has transformed into a vampire and feast on the villagers blood every night.  They unearthed the corpse of the suspected vampire took his heart, burned it, mixed the ashes to water and gave it to the family.  Sounds medieval, right?  But this incident only happened last 2004.

The authorities investigated the incident as they were avoiding any controversies that time.  The people involved said that they felt as if they were drained out of blood after Petre’s death.  The granddaughter of Toma, Mirela Marinescu states that she saw the presence of Petre on her room one night and when she woke up she felt so weak and could not even stand up. The villagers said that a practice of exorcism has been done on their town for a very long town and has been proven effective against vampires.

The eerie incident started to happen when Petre Toma died, soon after families are experiencing a sudden illness.  Gheorghe Marinescu, the brother in law of the suspected vampire led the unearthing of the corpse.   They said that the position of hands and head of the corpse change since they left him and his lips are also stained with dry bloods.  They took the corpse heart and they said they heard him release a deep sigh.  The heart was fresh and full of blood.  They burned it and mixed the ashes with water and gave it the supposed victims and they suddenly became well.  But Toma’s daughter seeks the help of the law enforcers.

Upon investigation they found out that there were almost 20 similar incidents that happened in the past.  Six people were sent to jail due to the said incident.  In Romania, some of the people believe that vampirism is not a tale but a chilling reality.

Gheorghe Marinescu upon further interrogation said that he did not witnessed the appearance of Toma on his dreams, but his family confirmed that they saw Toma and one by one they started to get ill.  His ancestors’ had told him of signs to spot any vampirism and how to perform exorcism. Feeling nervous for the safety of his family, he acted on his own will and performed the traditional method of driving away the undead.

Dumitru Moineasa recounted the same experience that happened to him when his uncle died.  He said that he suffered a sickness that doctors cannot explain after the death of his uncle.  They performed the same traditional exorcism and surprisingly, he went well after that.  Several other villagers attested to the effectiveness of the said exorcism.  Nevertheless the authorities decided to file charges to those 6 people involve in the said ritual.

Kiangshi

Kiangshi/Chiang –Shi is the Chinese version of vampire.  Their vampires are more of a reanimated zombie but instead of walking or running kiang-shi is known for hopping.  Kiang-shi is also known in other regions, Vietnamese call them cuong thi, gangshi is what the Koreans called their hopping vampire while kyonshi is the Japanese term for Kiangshi.  This creature is known to be wearing ornamental dressed typically of the Qing dynasty, they move by hopping while their arms are stretched in front.  Instead of sucking blood they steal their victim’s chi (life force).  This undead attacks during the darkest of night, it can usually be found hiding on caves or other darker place during the daytime.

Kiangshi

They said that the reason a dead man turned into a Kiangshi is due to the moonlight or the sunlight.  People on East Asia believe that all people possessed two sides, the good and the evil or the yin and the yang.  If a corpse will be left out in the open and let the moon or sun shine upon it, its evil side will strengthen and he will eventually become a kiangshi.

There is an old story about the kiangshi, it tells a man named Liu, who decided to clean the tomb of his ancestors.  Before returning to his post, he requested his wife to prepare him a delicious breakfast and wake him up in the morning.  The wife did as she was told.  After finishing the meal, she decided to call her husband, but the room remained silent so she went to her husband to wake him up.  She was astounded upon seeing that her husband is headless without a trace of blood.

The villagers say that the wife is accused of infidelity.  They reported the woman to the magistrate.  They instructed the people to open the coffin to perform a thorough investigation.  The wife was proven guilty and was sent to prison for only a few months due to what they found out next.

One day the neighbors are passing by and found out that one of the grave yards was left opened.  He noticed that the coffin is slightly opened and thought that a thief might be the one responsible for doing this.  He told it to the other villagers and they decided to open the coffin.  What happens next left them gaping in awe as they saw the body of Liu, holding his own head.  They were so scared that they immediately reported it to the magistrate.

Officials was ordered to take away the head of the corpse, but no matter how hard they try to remove it, the grip of the corpse seems too tight.  Finally they decided to chop down the corpse’s arms. Fresh blood came flowing from the wound even though Liu has been dead for months.  They decided to burn the corpse of Liu and the villagers were convinced that his wife has no fault on his death.  The magistrate ordered the release of Liu’s wife after the incident.

Jigogonja (Jigar Khoy)

In the tribe of the Kols, Santals and Bhils in the Northern region of India, a type of vampire-witch exist in their legends.  The Jigar khoy, would place a victim into a daze and would steal a seed inside the victim’s body that is believed to contain the life force of that person.  The Jigar Khoy would then place the seed into his calf muscle and then he would use his telepathic ability and start to call the other jigar khoy to feast on that life energy.

The creature would roast his leg into the fire causing the seed to grow in size.  The leg muscle of the creature would instantly heal using a special magic that the vampire witch perform.  When the seed achieve a certain size the jigar khoy would cut the seed and serve it to the other jigogonja.  The seed will be served together with some of the flesh of the jigar khoy.  The person who originally owns the energy seed will die when the group of jigar khoy managed to consume every single piece of the seed.

This creature also seeks out a worthy apprentice to teach his knowledge about dark magic.  After the student managed to learn everything, he would need to eat a cake made of a person’s liver as an initiation rite.  Once he finished devouring the entire cake, that person is already a jigar khoy (liver eater).

This creature is also known to eat pieces of the victim’s intestine in some instances.  But it seems that he does not eat the entire intestine as he returns some of the pieces inside the person and enjoys seeing his victim in a terrible pain.

In a tribe, a jigar khoy is said to be dangerous.  Any member of the tribe who is suspected of being a jigar khoy would be bounded on a large boulder and the boulder is then rolled into a river or any body of water.  They believe that if that person is a jigar khoy he will not let the boulder sink no matter how big is it.  But I doubt if that person can manage to stay alive before he reach the body of water.

If a jigar khoy is caught, one has to be sure that at least 2 ½ days had passed since he last ate.  In order to make sure, the jigar khoy was deliberately made to fast for 3 days.  Then after three days he was branded with a certain glyph on his every joint and temple.  His eye would then be rigorously rubbed with salt to cleanse all the evil things that he witnessed.  When the cleansing is done, the body of the jigar khoy is taken on a cave and suspended on the ceiling for at least 40 days.  Within those 40 days, the tribe will perform rituals and incantations that is said to cure the body of anything evil, given the chance that he is still alive after that 40 days.

Skyquakes

Skyquakes have been referred to as a strange sonic-boom like sound that has been occurring for quite some time now.  In actuality, this unexplained phenomenon was accounted on July 4, 1808 during the expedition of Lewis and Clark while they are exploring the Rocky Mountain.  These skyquakes are a lot similar to the earthquakes however; there is no distinct explanation of where they come from.  It resembles the sound of a cannon fire or a stifled thunder.  Most of the account reported that there is a possibility that the sound came from the sky which is definitely not an earthquake.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition

Based on the Lewis and Clark expedition account that witnessed the skyquake:

“Since our arrival at the Falls we have repeatedly heard a strange noise coming from the mountains in a direction a little to the north of west. It is heard at different periods of the day and night, sometimes when the air is perfectly still and without a cloud, and consists of one stroke only, or five or six discharges in quick succession. It is loud, and resembles precisely the sound of a six pound piece of ordnance at the distance of three miles.”

The origin of skyquakes

Numerous individuals have credited these skyquakes to be an alien inception. A few scholars hypothesize these unusual sounds are connected to parallel universe or UFOs. The most prevalent encounters to skyquake are the Barisal Guns and the Moodus Noises. These skyquakes have been noticed everywhere throughout the world and by absolutely inconsequential sources.

There has dependably been much perplexity as to the origin of these skyquakes or from what source they start which apparently is originating from the air. In any case, science appears to recommend these are by results of tremors and seismic movement, claiming that the sounds are exuding from below the ground. Essentially, this is a reverberation from movement that began underground.  Despite the fact that researchers estimate these skyquakes are identified with tremors, they cannot clarify why the commotions are heard in a few definite places and not on the others.

Based on some of the reports, usually if a skyquake is heard, it is followed by another bizarre sound that resembles a giant hammer hitting after 20 minutes.  Some residents from California reported a common manifestation of the sound.  A few have complained about having a difficulty to sleep because of the disturbing sound that the skyquake produced. 

Star Jelly

The reports of the star jellies have been going on for long years now.  On the medical writings of John of Gaddesden he mentioned the name “stella terrae” and described it as a mucilaginous element that is lying on the ground.  He suggested that it might be able to cure abscesses.  It was then mentioned again on a medical account of the 14^th century under the name “uligo” noted as a fatty substance that the earth emits which is commonly referred to as a star that has fallen. In 1440 a term “sterre slyme” was found on an English-Latin dictionary that is translated to Latin as assub meaning falling star.

It is also referred in a different term on the Oxford-English Dictionary; star jelly, star-shot, star falling, star-fallen, star-slime, star slubber, star slutch andstar slough.  The local community of Veracruz, Mexico referred to this as caca de luna which literally translates to moon’s excrement.  Other people are claiming that this substance have an extra terrestrial origin that floats on the space.

Analysis

Different research was conducted on the origination of the substance but they were unable to procure a definite result.  Some researchers failed to find any DNA on the substance which implies that it is not a product of living organism at least here on earth.  The colour of this gelatinous substance varies from different account.

Accounts of Star Jelly

November 11, 1846-a gelatinous object fell measuring at 4ft in its diameter at the Lowville in New York.  It left a foul smell which immediately disappeared.

1950-4 police authorities form the county of Philadelphia PA discovered the same substance that measures at around 6ft in diameter.  They attempted to pick it up but it instantly disappeared upon contact.  This account is the inspiration behind the movie Blob.

August 11, 1979- a sighting of purple goo from Frisco, Texas was reported by Sybil, Christian.  The incident happened after the Perseid meteor shower.

December 1983-Thomas Greenley stated that he found the luminous item on the sidewalks and the road.

1994- several account about the star jelly was reported on different occasion in Oakville, Oregon.

1997-Everett , Washington reported the similar compound fell on their area.

More sightings were reported on the succeeding years including in 2009 at the Scottish hills, 2011 at the Ullswater, 2012 in Dorset and in 2013 at the Ham Wall.  The latest sighting was broadcasted on BBC in their program “Nature’s Weirdest Event” last January 14, 2015.

Beast of Bandai

Mt. Bandai is an active volcano located at the Tohoku area, Fukushima, Japan.  The mountain is known for the eruption that happened in 1888 that took the lives of at least 477 people and left thousands of families homeless.  But long before the eruption happened there is a bizarre creature sighted on the mountain that allegedly attacked the village located at the foot of Mt. Bandai on 1700s.

Prior to the attack, the villagers already reported eerie sightings about the creature.  The creature is said to be a humanoid with a huge mouth, thorny furs and claws.  The creature is often sighted during night time or twilight hours.  People said that his eyes are glowing and is similar to a cat.  Though the creature possesses a frightening appearance, it can easily be frightened.  It would immediately run through the woods and bushes at a small shine of light.  But as the days passed by, the creature become bolder and villagers also reported about increased sightings.

The creature also makes a frightening sound. Its howl and shrieks can be compared to a wild animal.  Little by little the creature showed disturbing behavior such as growling to those who witness it.  It also started to follow local people without the effort of concealing itself.  It would follow them as long as there is a dark path.  In an effort to drive away the creature, the town’s folks started putting torches at the outskirt of town, but their effort proved to be futile.

Days gone by and the villagers started reporting about missing animals.  One of the farmers complained about his set of missing chickens that magically disappeared overnight leaving only scattered feathers.  The disappearance of the animals continued and eventually the people suspected that the beast of Bandai has something to do with it.  Their suspicion was confirmed when a farmer witnessed the creature devouring a dog.  Based on the account of the farmer, the creature was in the process of disemboweling the dog when he saw it.  The creature then dragged the remains of its prey into the woods.

The attack began to divert on the community.  Every night, people would report about weird sound and deep breathing outside of their house.  They also started experiencing thumping and pounding on their doors and windows as if someone was testing the sturdiness of it.  By this time, several children went missing and attacks on adults became more often.

In 1782, a hunter reportedly killed the creature.  The carcass was described as a humanoid with a large mouth and razor sharp teeth that are larger than anything he had ever seen.  It is also covered with hair and has spines on its back with sharp nose and short webbed limbs.  The carcass also releases a foul odor, reason why the villagers immediately discarded the remains.

Wolf of Soissons

Though not a werewolf account, the wolf of Soissons is about a wolf that devours human and tormented the village of Soissons which is in the Northeast of Paris for two days in the year 1765. Around 18 people were attacked and four of them died from their fatal wounds.

First of the victim of the Wolf of Soissons would be a pregnant woman, and the unborn child.  They were allegedly attacked by the wolf in the church of Septmont during the final day of February.  Concerned citizen took the infant which is only about 4-5 months old right to the mother’s womb hoping that it will be baptized before he die.  The Wolf of Soissons reportedly attacked again, few moments after the first attack was recorded and only a few yards away from the scene.  Madame d’Amberief was able to survive the attack by fighting back together with her son.

On the 1^st day of March, the attack continues near Courcelles.  A man was reportedly attack by the vicious Wolf of Soissons.  Fortunately he only suffered a head injury.  Two young boys were unlucky to meet the ravenous wolf on a road to Paris. Marechal and Boucher were savagely attacked by the creature and were seriously wounded.  Then a farmer lost half of his face after the wolf bit it, fortunately he was able to escape on the local mill.  But on the local mill a seventeen-year-old boy was already killed by the wolf of Soissons.

The next recorded attack of the wolf was on Bazoches.  A woman’s head were nearly decapitated and a girl who ran shrieking and in panic to the village to get a help was fatally wounded by its attack.  And in the town four more villagers were attacked by the Wolf of Soissons.  Other people arrive in the scene that startled the wolf causing it to flee.  They chased it to the courtyard where it had a fight with a dog.  Then the wolf went to the Pasteur where it reportedly killed a number of sheep and mutilated the body of a servant.

Finally a man named Antoine Saverella which is an ex-militia member pursued the Wolf of Soissons, where he was able to kill it with a pitchfork.  He was rewarded with an amount of 300 livres by Louis XV of France.

Shtriga

Shtriga is different from Strigoi, they can shape shift into an insect and feed on the blood of the infants while they were asleep.  Sometimes the infant would acquire sickness that only a shtriga would be able to cure.  In most of the Shtriga Lore, they are often depicted as a woman with an eerie gaze that is always wearing a hood to cover her flawed face.

Based on the Shtriga Lore, the Shtriga would infect those infant with a disease.  She must spit those infant in their mouth to cure them.  Those who are not cured by the shtriga would eventually die.  As the Shtriga Lore said, someone is not cursed of being a shtriga.  Being a shtriga is not a destiny but a choice.  It is believed that she was not really evil.  She was not really an evil creature; she just turned into an evil creature after she found out that she was unable to bear a child.  Due to this she learned how to use evil craft and promise that he will destroy every child in the world due to his jealousy.  Other one is that the Shtriga is an undead. 

Shtriga is often described as a woman with a pale complexion.  They also have those bizarre stare that made people uncomfortable.  People should refrain from staring at the eye of the Shtriga cause they believe she possess the evil eye.  In order to ward of the evil spirit, a ritual must be performed.  They must take salt into their hand and rub their closed eyes, heart mouth and their belly.  They must throw the grain of salt in the flames while uttering some incantations.

In Albania version of Shtriga Lore, people use a garlic to drive away the Shtriga.  They also make a puppet and placed it in a house that is being built in order to catch a shtriga.  There are also other ways on how you can keep yourself safe from a shtriga.  One is by making a cross out of a pig bone and placing it on the place of worship during Easter Sunday. Any Shtriga inside the place of worship would be unable to leave the place.  Another belief is that the Shtriga would often go to the deep forest after a feast to regurgitate the blood of her victims.  It is believed that if you dip a silver coin on that blood, the coin becomes a powerful amulet to repel the shtriga.

Glaistig

Glaistig is a vampiric ghost that is a part of the Scottish lore.  They usually inhabit the pools and bodies of water.  They are gorgeous spirit with a grey skin and long hair that usually wears a green dress.  They wear a long dress to hide the other half of their body which is actually a goat.

The Glaistig targets the adult men as their victim.  Their victim would be enchanted by their siren song.  After that, they would then drain them of their blood upon luring their prey on the pool.

Glaistig would often be spotted on the local market, looking for a worthy prey.  There was also a story about a young man from the market following a glaistig to the pool.  The creature and his prey accidentally passed a woman who has a gift of second sight and she was able to uncover the true identity of the woman.  The woman approached the friend of the young man who was lured by the glaistig.  The group of men rushed to the location to rescue their friend, but unfortunately they were too late; their friend was already in the pool of the vampire creature.  The men tried to approach further but a massive pool of blood suddenly appeared on the pool, which can only mean that their friend has already been devoured by the creature.

But even though a glaistig is deemed as a dangerous creature, sometimes they were also depicted as a helpful creature that guards cattle, elderly and dim witted people.  They would gladly offer the help in exchange for a glass of milk.

Like most of the vampiric creature, a glaistig is scared of salt and iron.  They will flee the land if they were offended, like the case of a man who allegedly offered boiling milk to the said creature.  The tongue of the glaistig was burned and decided to leave the land.  When going to a market, a Glaistig can be identified through its hair and dress.  If a woman’s hair and dress is soaking wet while roaming around the market then she is believed to be Glaistig.

Fouke Monster

For more than a century, reports about a legendary cryptid have been circulating in the town of Fouke, Miller County Arkansas.  The sightings allegedly began in the 1970s and continued up to this day.  There were also reports about families being attacked by this hairy creature.  The sightings seem to be congested in the Boggy Creek where it was initially blamed for the destruction of livestock.  Later, it was revealed that the same creature was sighted in different locations.

The legend of the Fouke Monster was so popular that it was reported in the local media in Texas and covered by the state desk.  The Fouke Monster has also been an inspiration to a number of books and movies.

Between the years 1971-1974 those who allegedly saw the creature describe it as someone that walks upright and covered with dark hair.  It stands at around 2 meter tall and weighs approximately at 250- 300 lbs.  On later sightings the creature was reported even larger at about 3 meter tall. 

They said that the creature possesses a stench similar to a wet dog and it was believed to have a laudable agility.  It also has bright red eyes that are about the same size as a silver dollar.  There were claw marks and prints found that are suspected to be owned by the creature.  One print is said to be 17 inches in length and 7 inches wide.

Residents in the town of Fouke claimed that there were earlier reports about the creature during the 1960s but those reports have been unverified since the sightings was not yet reported by the local news.  During those times, the creature was called Jonesville monster.

On May 1, of 1971 the creature was blamed for the attack in the house of the Ford couple.  Elizabeth Ford mistook the creature for a bear that her husband chased away.  But later that midnight the creature supposedly returned and attacked them.  Bobby was able to survive that attack and he was taken to the nearby hospital to treat his wounds.

During the said attack, the Fords claimed that they managed to shoot the creature but unfortunately, no trace of blood was found by the authority.  The creature was sighted on different instances after that event including in an incident that happened on May 23, 1971 when three people reported a creature that is crossing a highway.

The Corpse with a Green Fungus

The incident about this certain corpse happened in 1970.  During this time a cemetery at Pittsburgh built a new mausoleum.  The crypts were pre-sold long before they were finished, those who successfully acquire a space on the crypt was given a temporary crypt that is positioned above the ground.  After the mausoleum was finished, it was the duty of the grave diggers to exhume the bodies and placed it in the assigned crypts.

The sight of the grave diggers transferring the body of the dead is so disturbing.  Some of the bodies has liquefied and leaked out of the casket.  The remains are also required to be physically identified by the mortician who performed the embalming.

The supervisor was able to remember every corpse they examined.  But one of them in particular is so bizarre that it is still fresh in his memory.  Compared to other with signs of decomposition and turned into a gelatinous element, this particular coffin that they opened looks like he just recently died.  But his whole body is covered with green fungus.  His flesh has been eaten by the fungus except for his face which was able to maintain its perfect figure.  They immediately identify the corpse and brought him back to his coffin and placed him in the 2^nd level of the newly constructed mausoleum.

The maintenance group went back to the office on Monday, and they were shock to find out that the door isn’t locked.  On top of it, one of the crypts was opened and it’s empty.  The group decided to call the police and ask for help.  They searched the whole cemetery, after a few moments they saw the old make shift crypt cement which was made as a temporary crypt for the dead.  They noticed that one of the crypts was open and something was inside of it.

It was the crypt of the man covered with fungus.  It went back to its old place where it remained for the last five years.  They opened the coffin to make sure that no grave robber has desecrated the body.  When they saw that the corpse was still perfectly intact together with the jewelries, they placed him back to the 2^nd level of the mausoleum and cemented it.

They noticed that there are fragments of mold that is similar to the fungus found on the dead body scattered on the floor.  There was also a smear on the glass door that is also similar to the green mold.  Two weeks had passed and it happened again.  Everything that happened on the first day that it went missing happened again. 

But this time it rained.  You can visibly see the tracks of the casket being pulled by someone.  There was also a foot print that was found on the ground.  The handle of the casket also contains substance that is similar to the mold found on the dead person.  It appears as if the man dragged his casket and placed it back to the original location.

The incident was never followed after that day.  His casket has been maintained well everyday fearing that he might rise up again and drag his casket back to the old crypt.

Ruvanush and the account of a man named Kropan

Ruvanush is a roman term for a wolf man, it comes from the combination of the word ruv means wolf and manush which means man.  The ruvanush is believed to be created by those vampiric witches that suck the blood of their victim during the night.  Those victims who survived the attack of the vampire-witch will turn into a werewolf at night.  But even if the ruvanush would return to his original human form during the day time, he will only be craving for raw meat and blood.

There are also accounts that a witch can also turn into a ruvanush.  There was a case of a poor man named Kropan during the 19^th century that states about a witch that shape shifted into a werewolf.  Kropan is a fiddler, he is aware that his wife would leave their house during the night.  Kropan suspected his wife of having an illicit affair.  Every night his wife would wait until he is asleep and leave their bed.  One day Kropan decided to watch her.  She followed her wife, but to his surprised his wife is not having a relationship with someone.  He saw her changed into a wolf form and return in a human form the next day.  At the end of every hunt, she would bring those meats and cook it for her husband.

Kropan did not even bother to confront his wife.  He was well aware that his income as a fiddler is not sufficient to provide their daily need.  So instead of hating his wife, he was grateful for her to serve him these foods.  There was a time that the couples started selling those meats on the nearby town since they cannot consume all of it.  They were able to find success on this type of business.  Eventually they decided to open an inn to serve inexpensive dishes to the customers.

But the villagers started to doubt the credibility of the couple.  They blamed them for the disappearance of the livestock and thought that the wolf attack was initiated by the wife.  After some time, a priest decided to exorcise the couple.  The priest sprayed holy water to the couple, and as expected the wife shrieked in pain.  The wife eventually vanished and they turn their anger to Kropan killing him in the process.  Two peasants were convicted due to the murder of Kropan but they were later released on 1881.