Marie Laveau

Marie Laveau was one of the greatest influences in people practicing the Voodoo.    She is also often associated with the legend of zombie.   Mari Laveau was born at around 1801 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Based on the documents, the only occupation she has was as a liquor importer in the street of Dauphine in New Orleans.  But based on the stories, Marie Laveau also worked as a hair dresser.  She had a lover named Christophe Dominick Duminy de Glapion, they had 15 children which includes Marie Laveau II who also practiced Voodoo.

Every year, the supposed wishing tomb of the Voodoo Queen is visited by thousands of believers across the globe.  The tomb is located at the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 found in New Orleans where some of the tourist that took photo claimed that a ghost appeared on the photo and some said that they are receiving message from the world beyond.

Just as how the cemetery was visited by numbers of tourists and believers, they quickly disappeared before nighttime, believing that the cemetery is haunted and the restless soul of Marie Laveau might show any minute and turn them into a zombie.

Marie lived in a house not far away from the infamous La Laurie Mansion.  She became a close friend of Madame Delphine La Laurie.  Madame La Laurie is aware of the reputation of Marie Laveau as the Voodoo Queen. La Laurie started to be curious on the matter after being acquainted with Laveau.  During this time, La Laurie and her husband would take the Voodoo beyond its original purpose.  They started experimenting on the slaves and they end up in an unfortunate ways in the hand of the doctor.

It is also said that the great Baron Samedi took interest on Marie Laveau.  The Baron gave her a fair bargain, that in exchange for a short romantic relationship, the baron revealed to her a secret on how to turn someone into a zombie instantly.

Marie Laveau retired on the eye of the public and her daughter Marie Laveau II who has a striking resemblance to her appearance took her post as the Zombie Queen.    She died on June 15, 1881.  But there are rumors that the Voodoo Queen is still alive up to this day.  They said that she still lurk somewhere in New Orleans.  They believe she was able to achieve immortality by her knowledge about zombification.

German vampire: Nachzehrer

Nachzehrer is derived from the German word nach which means afterwards and zehrer meaning devouring energy.  It is a part of the German folklore which is also popular in the Silesia region and Bavaria.  Though they are under the family of the vampire, the nachzehrer exhibits a ghoul like behavior.  They do not suck the blood of the living; hence they prefer to devour the flesh of the corpse.

Based on the legend, the bite of this creature cannot turn you into a nachzehrer.  This creature was created after someone commit suicide or due to accidents.  They also believe that this creature is responsible for a massive death when a plague happens in a certain area.  The locals believed that the first person who died due to the plague is believed to be this vampire creature.  There is also a tradition of removing the name tag on the clothes of the dead one.  If the family forget to remove the name of the person in his clothing before his burial then he is likely to become a nachzehrer.

It is also believed that the nachzehrer would completely devour its former flesh when waking up, the more they feed on their corpse, the faster that the health of the family will deteriorate.  In the Vampire Encyclopedia which is written by Bunson Matthew, a different belief on nachzehrer was presented.  It states:

 “Some Kashubes believed that the Nachzehrer would leave its grave, shapeshifting into the form of a pig, and pay a visit to their family members to feast on their blood. In addition, the Nachzehrer was able to ascend to a church belfry to ring the bells, bringing death to anyone who hears them. Another lesser known ability of the Nachzehrer is the power it had to bring death by causing its shadow to fall upon someone. Those hunting the Nachzehrer in the graveyard would listen for grunting sounds that it would make while it munched on its grave clothes.” 

This kind of belief was recorded in Venice where a skeleton of a woman was found with a brick between his teeth to prevent her from eating her shrouds.  It was believed that the woman was the first one to die on the plague and was blamed for being a nachzehrer.

They said that a nachzehrer can be identified when its left eye is open when you opened the casket.

Johann Otto Hoch

There are types of vampires that get married and would kill their partner by draining their energy.  In real life there is a serial murderer who caused the death of his wives.  Johann Otto Hoch also known as the “Bluebeard Murderer” was said to be responsible on the death of 15 individuals (others believed it was 50).

Johann Otto Hoch immigrated to the United States at a young age where he married several women.  Usually he would take the surname of his last victim.  He would kill them (usually by injecting them with arsenic) and swindling them with money.

He was dubbed as America’s greatest mass murderer at the age of 51.  He was known to have married at around 55 women during the period 1890-1905.  Reports of the media linked him to 25-50 murders but the police were only able to connect him to 15 murders.  And in the end he was only charged with 1 homicide.

On February 1895, he was spotted in Wheeling West Virginia using the name of “Jacob Hoff”.  He married Caroline Hoch on April 1895 and Caroline mysteriously fell into sickness after three months.  Caroline called Rev. Hermann Haas during her final days.  Rev. Haas said that he saw Hoch inject what he believe was a poison to Caroline.  Caroline died days after the incident.  And just like the previous victims, he cleaned out her bank account.

Then as a form of keepsake, he kept the surname of his last victim, “Hoch”. A police inspector named George Shippy received a letter from Reverend Haas about the suspicious substance that he injected to Caroline.  On a deeper investigation Shippy uncovered a connection to a more than dozen missing women and Hoch, but he was not able to form solid evidence.  They exhumed the remains of Caroline but they were surprised to see that all vital organs of the victim were missing.

On the 5th of December, 1904 Hoch married Marie Walker and killed her instantly.  After killing her, he proposed to Marie Walker’s sister on the night of Marie’s death.  They got married after a mere 6 days after the funeral.  Medical authorities were able to found a taint of poison on Marie Walker’s system.  Hoch was charged with murder and his picture was posted on local newspapers.  Other women recognized him such as a landlady who knew him as Henry Bartels.  On his arrest, police were able to confiscate a revolver, wedding rooms and a pen with arsenic.  But Hoch said that the arsenic was intended for him.

The number of his murdered wives and victims continue to remain a mystery up to this day.

Sampiro

Someone who is an Albanian or Turkish descent no matter how righteous she is is destined to become a sampiro after her death.  The curse will also be inflicted to those Albanian who committed unnatural acts with a Turkish such as bestiality, prostitution, homosexuality, heterosexuality or transvestitism.   Those who are attending a Moslem service and eat a meat that is given by an Albanian is also set to become a Sampiro.  Thieves and those who have a notch of lying will also become an undead creature.

The sampiro will return from the grave three days after its death.  The sampiro will appear while its shroud is still wrapped all over its body and wearing a high-heeled shoe.  Their eyes were said to be glowing and huge.  She also possessed a small amount of dirt taken from her graveyard that she kept on her navel.

The Sampiro rise from its grave every night, but it particularly loves the foggy night as it makes her glowing eyes more visible.  People said that her eyes are as bright as the headlight of a car.  Once she finds a victim, the sampiro would follow him while her high heeled shoes are making a kissing sound.

It will drain the blood of her victim, and will immediately flee the scene after feeding on her target.  But the victim does not die instantly.  He will feel weak and tired.  The creature would repeatedly assault him and drain him of his blood until he dies.  After her feeding habit or during the time that she is not attacking, she will go to the homes in the community and peek inside their homes.  Its glare can spread disease on the family members. 

They are not in good terms with werewolves.  Werewolves would hunt them down once they notice that a sampiro is within their territory.  If a werewolf managed to tear a limb of a sampiro, she will return to her grave and will never rise up again.  It is also a vengeful spirit; it will take revenge to those who tried to kill her.  She will kill them in a horrible way that involves extreme violence.

It is easy to spot a grave of a sampiro.  The soil on her grave tends to be loose as it commonly leave and return to the same spot.  There is also a blue light that hover over her grave.  A stake should be driven into her chest which is made up of yew wood in order to destroy the creature.

Dr. Teet Haerm and Dr. Allgen Thomas

Dr, Teet Haerm and Dr. Allgen Thomas was said to be responsible for killing 8 prostitutes.  They also claimed that they are members of a secret medical society focused on encouraging individuals in committing cannibalism and necrophilia.  During their trial, the two of them gave a lot of information about the secret society but refused to divulge the true identity of the individuals concerned on this society since they plead allegiance to it.

Prior to this Haerm was already used by the authorities to examine the bodies of the victims that died to the hands on sexual psychopaths.   On July 19, 1984 a body of a prostitute was found in a garbage bag by the authorities.  Her body was carefully dissected in a way that only an expert surgeon can do.  Dr. Haerm was again summoned by the authorities to examine the corpse.  He was able to reconstruct her body except for a missing head and one breast. 

After a week another body of a prostitute killed in a same manner was found.  They then again seek the help of Dr. Haerm who said that she was also killed by a sexual psychopath with the ability of a good surgeon.

Over the next few weeks 5 more prostitutes went missing.  One prostitute claimed that he would be able to give the police some information that they need but that prostitute also disappeared.  They then questioned every prostitute in the area that they could find but they were not able to find anyone that could identify the perpetrator.  They however gave a similar identification about a white VW that the criminal used.

The authorities then noticed that Dr. Haerm was using a white VW.  They then decided to summon Haerm, this time not to examine a corpse but for interrogation purposes.  The police searched his house and found some disturbing stuff including a photo of his wife that appears to be choking to death.  But the police were not able to provide enough evidence to connect him to the series of crimes.

Dr. Haerm is known to be a close friend of another doctor, Thomas Allgreen.  He was arrested by the police for molesting her little daughter.  He also said that Dr. Haerm is present on some occasions that he molested his 4 year old daughter.  He also confessed that he helped Dr. Haerm to kill the prostitutes.  He said to the police that killing prostitutes made Haerm hungry that he decided to eat some of them.

But during a retrial, the judge found insufficient evidence to declare them guilty of the charge of murder.  The judge decided to set them free.  As far as I know, the two of them are still living as a free man.

Vampire Obsession

Allan Menzies is a diehard fan on the “Queen of the Damned”.  He claimed that he watched the movie for more than 100 times.  Queen of the Damned is a story about Akasha played by the late artist Aaliyah.  She is a vampire whose thirst for blood is unquenchable.  According to the novel written by Anne Rice, Akasha is the first ever real vampire.  She first converted her husband into a vampire and soon spreading her blood all over humanity, which means the other vampires are linked with her.  She went to sleep and eventually awakened by the songs of Lestat.

Thomas Mc Kendrick, a close friend of Allan Menzies, brought a copy of the Queen of the damned and they watched it together.  Eventually Menzies borrowed the copy and he started to get addicted with the movie, he confessed that sometimes he’ll watch the movie 3 times a day.  Due to this obsession, Menzies was convinced that the characters in the movie are real.  He even adapted a vampire name “Leon” and people started calling him as such.

Menzies firmly believed that Akasha offered him an eternal life in exchange for the souls of the people.  He would normally spend all day inside his room talking to no one.  His father confessed that he can hear his child talking to himself about vampires, blood and other stuff concerning the undead.

Thomas McKendrick pay a visit to Menzies on December 11, 2002, little did they know that it was the last time that they’ll see McKendrick.  His father went home that noon and noticed some blood stains on the wall but Allan Menzies said that the bloodstains were from an injury that he acquired on a can.  Allan Menzies even approached McKendrick’s Mom and asked her a way on how to remove blood stains.  The police decided to include him on the prime suspect after that incident.  But they are still lacking some hard evidence that can associate him to the crime.

Clothing of Thomas McKendrick was found on January four near the Menzies family.  Allan took an overdosed prescription of drugs after the interrogation of police and stayed for two days inside the hospital.  McKendrick’s body was found buried in a grave on the 18th of January 2003. Forensic expert said that he was stabbed forty two times with a large knife and was hit in the head with a hard stuff for 6 times.

Menzies confessed to the murder and stated that he attempted to eat the head and drank his blood.  He said that by doing so, he will be reborn in different state and in a different form.  During the trial, Menzies came to senses and claimed that he was not in his sane mind when the murder happened.  He said that the crime was committed by his alter ego that manifested on his obsession on the film Queen of the Damned.

Menzies claimed that McKendrick insulted Akasha that led to his death.  He said that he believe he’s now a vampire after listening to the movie soundtrack for so many times and eating raw livers.  He was sentenced to serve 18 years of imprisonment but he was found dead inside his cell on Nov. 2004.  Police ruled it as a suicide.

The Swamp Child

The account of the Swamp child is relayed by Angela Thomas, a renowned psychic in the book of Brad Steiger.  She said that it started with a call from her Mama Cee talking about a certain Richard; Mama Cee’s voice is in panic that would only means she’s in trouble.  Angela Thomas immediately went to her house to see what’s happening.  Mama Cee is known all over the area as a woman who has knowledge in healing and folk magic.   Some are claiming that Mama Cee is wielding both light and darkness magic of the Voodoo but Angela Thomas said that she never witnessed things as such.  Mama Cee used to live near the river but she left that place for a reason no one can tell.  The only reason she can give is that the river became too dark.

Angela Thomas arrived on the scene and saw the policeman questioning a woman about what happened on the place.  The place looked trashed and there were droplets of blood on the floor.  The woman said something about Richard, the swamp child that Mama Cee raised.   She said that she heard Mama Cee screaming and something break in the house.  She could only guess that it was that swamp child.

Then a Creole woman with an undeniable beauty approached Angela.  She said that the swamp child took away Mama Cee.  She tried to help her but Mama Cee advised her not to go anywhere near the child.  The child’s eye looks like an incarnation of evil.  They have no idea where the creature took Mama Cee, the only clue they got is that he lives in Bayou LaCroix.  After hearing the story, Angela quickly decided that Mama Cee needs her help.

The Swamp Child was the result of a magic performed by Mama Cee on the dead child to raise him from the dead.    Angela Thomas was present on the incident and she witnessed how Mama Cee was able to bring back the child.

When Angela arrived on the area, there were already people searching for her.  Fortunately Angela was able to seek the help of the villagers.  A young boy named Anthony led her into the Cassabon camp where Richard was supposed to be.  Upon entering the camp house, Angela already felt the evil aura surrounding the house.

After a few moments they were able to find Richard, but he doesn’t seem to respond to any type of conversation.  Something is wrong with his eyes; it looks like he has lost his grip.  Then Angela heard someone crying over the pier.  She followed the sound until she found a boy tied on the post of the pier.  The child has a mark of “X-wound” on his forehead, the same marking that was found on the forehead of Richard when he was murdered at a young age.

As he was helping the boy, Richard was also there.  He attempted to attack Angela but Anthony managed to fire a shot on him.  A few moments later, the policemen came and told them that they already found Mama Cee.  They found Mama Cee with no sign of life, standing inside the hollow of a tree.  Furthermore, Richard’s body was never recovered by the police.  Stories said that the swamp boy is still lurking somewhere in the area waiting for his next victim.

Boone Helm

Born in the year 1828, Boone Helm was a mountain man who was also known as the “Kentucky Cannibal”.  Boone Helm was a serial murderer who also committed an act of cannibalism on his enemies and sometimes his companions.  While others might do these during a desperate situation, Boone Helm claimed that he was collecting human flesh in order to prepare for that desperate situation.

Boone Helm was born in the state of Kentucky and by the year 1850, he decided to move to California to search for gold.  Helm was supposedly accompanied by his cousin Littlebury Shoot, but he backed out.  Helm was apparently angered on the backing out of Littlebury and started stabbing him to death.  Littlebury’s brother together with some of their friends pursued Helm.  They were able to capture him and sent him to prison.  But he was later transferred to a mental asylum due to the odd behavior that he is exhibiting while he is in prison.  While he was in an asylum, it seems that he has developed a good relationship with the guard.  But unknown to him, it is a part of Helm’s plan.  He apparently convinced him to walk him to the woods.  It became a daily routine that one day he tricked the guard and escaped.

He then headed to the West of California.  While on his journey, he apparently committed murder on several occasions and even eating some of them.  Helm apparently confided on his group that he has devoured some of his victims.  "Many's the poor devil I've killed, at one time or another... and the time has been that I've been obliged to feed on some of 'em."

They were attacked by the natives that forced them to take the path through the wilderness.  Short on food and starving, Helm and the remaining members of the vigilantes killed the horses and ate their meat.  They also made snowshoes out of its hides.  Eventually only two men were left, Helm and Burton.  Burton can no longer continue the journey; Helm allegedly left him for a while.  Helm heard a gunshot and returned to discover the dead body of Burton.  He ate one of Burton’s legs and he wrapped the other in cloth and took it to his journey.

Helm committed a series of murder and cannibalism after that until he was finally captured by the authority.  Helm was hanged together with a group of Outlaw that he teamed up with.  He apparently jumped on the hangman’s box before someone could kick it away.

Aside from while they were in the wilderness, it seems that the act of cannibalism committed by Helm was a sort of pleasure for him.  What drove a man who came from a well respected and hard working family to commit these gruesome murders?

Paja Tomic

In 1923, a case of vampiric manifestation happened in Bosnia. The story started on the death of a village peasant named Paja Tomic on April 9. 1923 (Some says that it was May 1923, but the date May 1923 is the day that the case was published in the local newspaper, but based on the book of Alan Dundes  The Vampires: A casebook the incident happened on April 9, 1923).  Soon after his death, his wife named Cvija, was alarmed about the sightings of her husband during the night.  She claimed that her husband appeared on random guests and scares the occupants.  She also said that her husband has turned into a vampire.  Some villagers immediately believed her claims but some of them disregarded it.  But when her sons Krsto and Stevo told them that they also have an eerie experience with the vampire, the villagers started to grown weary.

The two siblings called the attention of the town and asked them on what measures they should take in order to repel this evil creature.  Finally they made the conclusion that this vampire should be destroyed.  The two siblings together with some of the town members storm to the cemetery to hunt the vampire.  They exhumed the body of Paja Tomic and struck the corpse with a stake made up of Hawthorn, which they believe has a magical element that strongly opposed the undead element.  They also burned the body of Tomic and dispersed the ashes.  The remaining bones were returned into the grave.

The incident was picked up by a local newspaper. According to the report published on May 23 of 1923:

“…an old peasant Paja Tomic…died…the 9th of April this year.  Shortly after his death, his wife Cvija began to complain that her dead husband had begun to return nights as a ghost and that he ran throughout the house scaring the inhabitants.  There are some who believe Cvija and some who did not, though she has unceasingly asserted that her husband is a vampire and that he returns every night.  Thus things went on for a whole month and then, it is said, her sons also became aware that there was a vampire in the house.            Stevo and Krsto Tomic, the sons of the deceased man, called the whole village to a discussion of what could be done about their father who had become a vampire.  All of the peasants were in agreement that the vampire must be destroyed.  They decided that they must dig up the corpse, burn it and disperse the ashes.  The decision was put into action.  The peasants, armed with pickaxes and shovels, went to the cemetery.  Some carried wood for the fire and one prepared a pointed hawthorn pole.  The peasant crowd, led by the sons of the deceased Paja, arrived at the cemetery.  The corpse was dug up, it was pierced by the hawthorn pole and thrown onto the stakes.  After the body was burned, they dispersed its ashes, and those few charred bones which remained were thrown back into the grave…”

Ion Rimaru AKA The Wolf Man

Ion Rimaru was a serial killer born on the 12^th of October 1946.  He committed a series of murders at around 1970 to 1971.  Ion is the eldest of the three sons.  His father would constantly beat his mother that would eventually lead to their separation.  His father, Florea moved to Bucharest where he took the occupation of a driver.  Years after his death, Florea was discovered to be a serial killer. 

He had a quite troublesome youth days.  He had to repeat his ninth grade education.  He also started a public scandal when the people discovered that he was having an intimate relationship with the daughter of a school teacher who is a minor age.  He also had to spend some time inside the prison for aggravated theft.  But during his high school era, Ion always received an outstanding grade in conduct.

Ion’s usual target would be those waitresses who occasionally go home late at night.  He is known to use knife, iron bars, hammer and also an axe when attacking his victims.  He would always attack during late at night when the area is having an abnormal weather condition.  The testimony of the victim who survived his attack led to his arrest on the 27^th of May 1971.

Here are the 16 grave offences that led to his conviction: (based on murderpedia.org)

·         8/9 April 1970 – Elena Oprea – premeditated murder (not raped because a neighbour scared him away)
·         1/2 June 1970 – Florica Marcu – rape (knocked unconscious in front of her house, carried to Sfânta Vineri cemetery, pushed hard off the fence there, raped, stabbed and had her blood sucked while walking home with him, saved by a truck driver)
·         19/20 July 1970 – OCL Confecţia store – theft of public property
·         24 July 1970 – Margareta Hanganu – aggravated theft
·         22/23 November 1970 – Olga Bărăitaru – aggravated attempted murder, rape and aggravated theft
·         15/16 February 1971 – Gheorghiţă Sfetcu – aggravated attempted murder and aggravated theft
·         17/18 February 1971 – Elisabeta Florea – aggravated attempted murder
·         4/5 March 1971 – Fănică Ilie – aggravated premeditated murder, rape and aggravated theft
·         8/9 April 1971 – Gheorghiţa Popa – aggravated murder, rape and aggravated theft (48 stab wounds to the head, chest, groin and legs, five blows to the head, ribs crushed by stomping, genitalia bitten out)
·         1/2 May 1971 – Stana Saracin – attempted rape
·         4/5 May 1971 – Mihaela Ursu – aggravated murder, rape (he was interrupted in the act and left unsatisfied, leading him to seek a new victim)
·         4/5 May 1971 – Maria Iordache – aggravated attempted murder (attacked two hours after Ursu; escaped when he dropped the metal bar with which he was beating her while she was running)
·         6/7 May 1971 – Viorica Tatu – aggravated attempted murder
·         6/7 May 1971 – Elena Buluci – aggravated attempted murder
·         May 1971 – Iuliana Funzinschi – aggravated theft of public property and aggravated theft of private property.

The authorities went on heightened alert after the death of Popa.  Her body was so mutilated that only wild animals can do this.  He suffered a total of 48 stabbed wounds all over her body, her ribs were all crushed and something has bitten out her genitalia.  Rimaru was known as one of the most vile serial killer due to his method of killing, hacking them in the head, raping them while they are out of their consciousness, biting their flesh, drinking blood, in some cases there are also signs of missing parts on the body of the victim.  Authorities believed that Rimaru cannibalize those parts.

He was executed on a firing squad on the 23^rd of October, 1971. After a year of his execution, his father, Florea died on an unfortunate accident.  His body was sent to the Medico Legal Institute where his dead body was examined.  His height and shoe size caught the attention of those personnel.  They took his fingerprints and it matched on a series of murder that happened on 1944.  Incidentally both their first victim possess the name Elena.

Johannes Cuntius, Vampire of Silesia

The Silesian Vampire case was accounted by Henry More in his book “An Antidote Against Atheism” published on 1653.  Johannes Cuntius was accidentally kicked by his horse in the groin area, it eventually lead to some sickness that caused his death.  But before his last breath, he pronounced that his sins were unforgivable even by the Gods and that he made a pact with the devil.  Upon his death, his son saw a black cat scratched the face of Johannes violently.

Cuntius was dead for about 2 or 3 days when a nasty rumor started to circulate around the village.  Talks about an incubus taking Cuntis’ form are roaming around the town, sexually assaulting women and events believed to be cause by poltergeists.  Bizarre sounds and random movements of object started to happen inside the house of the deceased Cuntius.  People who are sleeping during nighttime reports about someone disturbing them, in addition dogs around the village would not stop barking especially during the night.  Footprints that clearly do not belong to a man were left by the unknown entity.

There were more reported eerie events that happened in the town.  The molestation of the woman did not stop, and the specter of Johannes was also blamed for strangling different men.   Some of the unexplained accounts of the witness includes, turning milk into blood, sounds of galloping horse inside the house, leaving a pot of blood inside the church, killing dogs, devouring chickens, cows dried up of bloods, vomiting fire and foul smell that emanates from the house of Cuntius.

Signs of vampirism were also reported by the villagers like holes that extend through the coffin.  Though the villagers would try to fill in the holes and cover it, the holes would reappear the next day.  The exhuming of Cuntius’ body was accounted by Montague Summers in The Vampire in Europe.

“His Skin was tender and florid, his Joynts not at all stiff,but limber and moveable, and a staff being put into hishand, he grasped it with His fingers very fast; his eyes alsoof themselves would be one time open, and another timeshut; they opened a vein in his Leg, and the blood sprangout as fresh as in the living; his Nose was entire and full,not sharp, as in those that are ghastly sick, or quite dead:and yet Cuntius his body had lien [sic] in the grave fromFeb. 8 to July 20 which is almost half a year. . . .His body, when it was brought to the fire, proved asunwilling to be burnt, as before to be drawn; so that theExecutioner was fain with hooks to pull him out, and cuthim into pieces to make him burn. Which, while he did,the blood was found so pure and spiritous, that it spurtedinto his face as he cut him; but at last, not without theexpense of two hundred and fifteen great billets, all wasturned into ashes. Which they carefully sweeping uptogether . . . and casting them into the River, the Spectrenever more appeared.”

Nicholas Remy

Remy Nicholas is a French lawyer and demonologist who claimed to put at least 900 witches to their death.  Nicholas Remy believed in Sabbaths, black magic, witchcraft and their ability to shape shift with the help of an enigmatic ointment.  His book entitled Demonolatry was used by other people engaged on witch hunting.  Remy was from a family of renowned lawyers.  He took up his college education at the University of Toulouse and decided to practice his profession in Paris during the period 1563-1570.  Remy has also some notable works that became a part of the history. 

When Nicholas Remy was in a younger age, he witnessed a trial of a witch.  Eventually when Remy reached his maturity, he decided to start his own battle against the evil creatures.  This was after the death of his son.  Apparently, Remy was convinced that a witch casted a spell upon his son that killed him.  He suspected an old woman whom he refused to give alms; incidentally after that event, his eldest son dies weeks after.  The old woman was prosecuted for supposedly enchanting his son.  He has a similar principle to Jean Bodin who believes that witches should suffer.

He started writing his famous works “Demonolatry” after his retirement.  The book contains most of his first hand experience during the trial of the witches.  He said in one section of his book, that all witches that were put into trial have the ability to take the form of a vicious wolf.  He also based his judgment on the credible trials of the witness who also said that they saw the suspect to change into a wolf.

This excerpt was taken on the trial of Petrone of Armentieres, 1581:

Petrone . . . was so moved with hatred or envy against theherdsmen of neighboring flocks, he used to utter certainwords by which he was changed into a wolf; and being insuch disguise, safe from all suspicion of ill doing, hewould then fall upon and rend in pieces every beast of theherd that he could find. 

There is also the case of a woman who was granted the ability to change into a wolf by the demon:

She had contracted an immoderate hatred of a shepherdof that village, and, wishing by any means to produce hisheavy punishment, sprang in the form of a wolf uponhis sheep as they were grazing. But he ran up and threwan axe at her and wounded her in the thigh, so that shewas disabled and was forced to take refuge behind thenearest bush, where she was found by the pursuingshepherd, binding her wounds with strips torn from herclothing to staunch the blood which was flowing freely.On this evidence she was taken up, confessed everythingas I have related it, and paid the penalty for her crimesin the fire.

Though there are other demonologist who claimed that a human could shape its form and that a spirit of a human is impossible to inherit the soul of an animal, the testimony of the accuse witness proved that they have the ability to change into a wolf.  So Remy decided that the shape shifting ability could only be an illusion presented to them by the devil:

The Demon can so confuse the imagination of a man thathe believes himself to be changed; and then the manbehaves and conducts himself not as a man, but as thebeast which he fancies himself to be . . .Secondly, these illusions can be caused extrinsically,when the Demon causes an actual object to assume theapparent shape which suits his purpose at the time, andso deludes a man’s senses into the belief that an object canbe changed into a different form.

Remy also agreed that the claims of these witches to transform into animals have basis.  He said that anything that is not natural is made possible by the devil and that includes changing the appearance of a witch into an animal:

 But there is another far stronger argument which mightappear to prove the actuality of these transformations. Itis not only the external physical shape that appears to bechanged; the witch is also endowed with all the naturalqualities and powers of the animal into which she isseemingly changed. For she acquires fleetness of foot;bodily strength; ravenous ferocity; the lust of howling;the faculty of breaking into places, and of silent movement;and other such animal characteristics, which are farbeyond human strength or ability. For it is a matter ofdaily experience that Satan does actually so empowerthem. Thus they can easily kill even the biggest cattle inthe fields, and even devour raw flesh, when they descendupon them as swiftly as any wolf or ferocious beast; andthey enter locked houses at night like cats; and in everyway imitate the nature and habits of the animals whoseshape and appearance they assume. Now this cannot beexplained away as a mere glamor or prestige by which oursenses are deceived in the manner already set forth; forthey leave behind them concrete traces of their activities.

Out of the 900 cases of withes trial that Remy claimed, only 128 is included in his book.  Furthermore no documents can prove that the supposed 900 cases are real.

Chris Holly

Chris Holly is a paranormal investigator who learned about the world of the undead including vampires, ghouls, zombies etc when she was a teenager.  It started when she first acquired her junior driving license.  It was a Saturday night and he was allowed to drive the convertibles together with her friends until the night.  They were having some fun time in the usual fast food chain were they hang out with some of their friends.  Eventually the time to return the convertible came.  She took the convertible home and parked it at their driveway.

After reaching their house, Chris together with two of her friends rushed to the bathroom in order to pee.  Chris ended up on the last line and had to hold her pee before her turn came up.  One of her friends, Sally said that there is something inside the house.  Chris also said that he heard something unusual and it sounded like a bump.  The three of them immediately rushed out of the house.

After a moment, Chris realized that she forgot her pocket book inside the house.  She was about to get the keys and return inside the house when the lights on the front door started flickering.  On and off it goes, like someone is playing with the switch.  The three of them jumped back to the car to get a help from the authority.  As they were leaving the house, one of her friends said that the person toying with them is inside Chris’ room.  The lights inside her room started to turn on and off.

As they were on their way, they came across Sally’s brother who was with her football pals.  He instructed one of her friends to call 911.  All of them stood from a distant as they watch the lights went on and off.  After a few moments all the lights inside their house is switched on.  Then suddenly someone inside of the house let out a scream, a scream that is non human. The creature is starting to break free out of the house while growling and making animal sounds.

The incident was also witnessed by a policeman who came for help.  Two of them asked for the keys of the house to Chris’ father and searched the place; a moment after her father also joined the search.  After a few minutes, the police instructed her friends to go straight home.  The police said that whoever went inside of their house ripped the back door and took some of their clothing and makeup and spread it all over the house.

By the time that they were inside the car talking about what happened inside, there were already many policemen outside.  Her father was asked to go inside the house and eventually they too were asked to enter the house.  The police was distracting Chris when they showed something to her Mom down the basement.

Chris’ makeup seems to be used by the creature to paint strange things on the wall.  The police stayed on their house for a couple of hours.  They asked her dad if he knew something that could help them in this investigation and he said that there is a similar incident that happened in the town.

As they were about to sleep, the creature came back, but this time it came back to torment their neighbors.  After a few moments the police came back and searched the neighbor’s house but they found nothing.  The creature managed to escape once again.  Whatever is inside the house remained a mystery up to this day.

Ivan Vassili

One of the most terrifying parts of the history concerns a ship with an unseen entity.  Ivan Vassili was not really haunted at first, until the Russian started to prepare itself for the war with Japan. In 1903, Ivan Vassili was ordered to bring a cargo that contains materials needed for the wars in Vladivostok.

The ship is already on sail when the crew felt an invisible presence inside the ship.  No one literally saw that alleged “presence” but everybody was sure that someone is with them inside that ship.  The crew claimed that they can feel if the creature is near, it feels like someone is watching them and they would suddenly feel the cold ambience.

Then one night, the crew saw the presence that was on board with them in the Ivan Vassili ship.  It was like a fog glowing in the form of a human.  The crews were stunned on the apparition of the supposed creature.  But they decided to go on with the sail since it is not doing them any harm.

Until they routed to China to refuel, it is said that one of the crews just screamed in horror and went insane.  Suddenly every man on deck was fighting each other without any particular reason.  The fiasco ended when Alec Govinski throw himself out of the board that caused his death. After he died, the men who were on berserk suddenly collapsed.

The incident happened again on the third day.  It was eerily similar to the first event when everyone would just attack each other.  Suddenly all of them collapsed just like how the first event ended.  After a few moments they found out that someone threw himself out of the Ivan Vassili again.

When they reached their destination in Vladivostok, 12 men left the ship.  They started to be scared on whatever is present inside that ship.  But 4 of them were caught and taken back to the ship and place under strict surveillance.

After the cargo has been delivered they went on sail once again to go to Hong Kong.  While they were on their trip to Hong Kong, the fight erupted yet once again among the crew members and one member was killed.  The next night a repeat of the nightmare happened once more that result to the death of another crew member.  It seems as if the event is occurring more often now compared on the first time.  Not long after these incidents, Capt. Sven Andrist threw himself out of the Ivan Vassili and drowned.

This time all of the crew except Christ Hansen and 5 seamen decided to leave the boat.  They could no longer bear the horrors that they experienced while on board.  Hansen took over the role of a captain and hire new crews.  They then decided to sail to Sydney.   Then one day, Hansen just took out his gun and shot himself with no reason at all.

The crew members left again except for Harry Nelson.  He decided to search for crew who do not believe with ghostly apparition.  The ship sailed again, this time it is destined to go to San Francisco.  Not long after they left, 2 members went crazy.  They were placed into the prison but they were later found dead the next morning.  The next morning, the captain who apparently does not believe in ghost shot himself in the mouth.  By this time no one is brave enough to continue the voyage.  During the winter of 1907, they burned the ship hoping that it will end the curse, before it sank to the deep ocean; the witness claimed that they heard a loud scream coming from the Ivan Vassili ship.