In the 17th century Carew castle's lord, Sir Roland Rees, a former pirate catptain, kept a Barbary Ape, inside the castle. Rees had acquired the creature on one of his many voyages. Rees was a very ill-tempered and mannered individual, and would host banquets at the castle just to shout insults and laugh at his guests. The ape, whom he named Satan, would mimick him and laugh at the guests too.
One stormy night, when there was strong wind and rain, the ape grew restless while Rees drank heavily in the dinning hall. There was a knock at the door and a Flemish tradesman appeared to deliver his rent, but had only half the money needed. Rees was already upset at the man because he did not approve of his son's relationship with the man's daughter. In a drunken rage, Rees loosened the ape’s chains and goaded it to maul the tradesman close to death. The tradesman escaped but, weak through loss of blood and struggling to make his way out, collapsed in semi-consciousness.
The tradesman was rescued by a benevolent servant who tended to his wounds and hid him away in his quarters, intending to let him go when the violent storm past. As the two men talked a violent cry and mad laughter was heard coming from the dinning hall. They rushed to the scene to find Sir Rees dead on the floor, his throat gashed open, and the ape burning in the fireplace. The ghosts of the ape and its master are said to haunt the castle to this day. Footsteps are reported reguarly, objects throw themselves, and the mad cackling laughter of an ape echoes through the halls.
A place dedicated to the curious and strange. A corner of the web that will attempt to behave like a real spider's web and capture all those deliciosly weird stories out there. Welcome to A Bomb in Nations! Which has nothing to do with high explosives but all to do with abominations, myths and the bizarre.
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
The Devil Makes A Claim
Only his initials survive, time has taken the rest of the man now only known as W.E.. Being somewhat of a thug, a drunkard and a regular brawler he was not a man many people looked forward to bumping into. He once spat in the face of the village parson and punched him, and when a parish clerk unwisely interfered, W.E. beat the hapless clerk severely.
Rumours in the Welsh village were that this brutish man had sold his soul to evil, and he was proud of the many wicked deeds he committed. In fact he revelled in them, believing it great to hold such terror over people. Villagers always imagined W.E.'s end would be violent and shocking and they were not wrong.
One evening the bully disappeared. His house was checked but nothing. The next morning a search was made of the area and a body was discovered on the edge of a river. W.E. had been found and it was a cruel sight. An obvious struggle had occurred between the drunkard and someone (something?) unknown, and it was evident that the fight had started some distance away from the river.
The dead mans footprints showed that he had dug his heels in deep into the earth as if to resist his attacker who was seemingly intent on dragging him to the water.
Indeed as the search party continued to take in what they had found, they realised that W.E. had put up a desperate struggle.
A Hell Of A Fighter
There was an oak tree near the river and one of its boughs had its bark peeled right off. It was clear that the towns reprobate had clung to this bough for dear life until it had snapped because he still clutched it in his death. But the most violent part of the attack had taken place closer to the murky river water. There the body had been dragged underneath roots of trees and pulled through a hole barely big enough for a fox to slip through let alone a grown man. That crushing force extinguished the life of W.E..
But what of his assailant? Could it be that the towns infamous brawler had picked a fight with someone more fierce than himself? Footprints were found all over the grisly scene, however they all belonged to the wretched corpse. No evidence of there being another person could be seen. Not a thing.
Due to this and the fact the dead man had led a cruel, evil life, people in the town believed that W.E.'s final fight had been against something he had no hope of beating and that his murderer was no man but the Devil himself.
Rumours in the Welsh village were that this brutish man had sold his soul to evil, and he was proud of the many wicked deeds he committed. In fact he revelled in them, believing it great to hold such terror over people. Villagers always imagined W.E.'s end would be violent and shocking and they were not wrong.
One evening the bully disappeared. His house was checked but nothing. The next morning a search was made of the area and a body was discovered on the edge of a river. W.E. had been found and it was a cruel sight. An obvious struggle had occurred between the drunkard and someone (something?) unknown, and it was evident that the fight had started some distance away from the river.
The dead mans footprints showed that he had dug his heels in deep into the earth as if to resist his attacker who was seemingly intent on dragging him to the water.
Indeed as the search party continued to take in what they had found, they realised that W.E. had put up a desperate struggle.
A Hell Of A Fighter
There was an oak tree near the river and one of its boughs had its bark peeled right off. It was clear that the towns reprobate had clung to this bough for dear life until it had snapped because he still clutched it in his death. But the most violent part of the attack had taken place closer to the murky river water. There the body had been dragged underneath roots of trees and pulled through a hole barely big enough for a fox to slip through let alone a grown man. That crushing force extinguished the life of W.E..
But what of his assailant? Could it be that the towns infamous brawler had picked a fight with someone more fierce than himself? Footprints were found all over the grisly scene, however they all belonged to the wretched corpse. No evidence of there being another person could be seen. Not a thing.
Due to this and the fact the dead man had led a cruel, evil life, people in the town believed that W.E.'s final fight had been against something he had no hope of beating and that his murderer was no man but the Devil himself.
Bigfoot Returns?
A new video has been posted on Youtube showing a supposed Bigfoot wandering about near some trees in Kansas, USA. Personally I think it was more man-in-monkey-suit than Sasquatch but you can check it out here and see what you think. The mother in the video seems quite convinced.
Monday, 20 June 2011
Soul Taxi
Psychopomps (literally meaning 'guide of souls') are spirits, creatures, or angels in many religions whose job it is to ferry newly deceased souls to the afterlife. Bear in mind their role is not to judge the dead, but simply provide safe passage. Psychopomps have been associated in lots of different different cultures with ravens, crows, horses, owls, cuckoos and even sparrows.
Mirror of Death
Mirror of Death
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Where Swim The Selkies...
Similar to a mermaid this one. The Selkie (or 'silkie' or 'selchie') is another shapeshifting creature in Irish, Scottish, Faroese and Icelandic mythology.
Legend tells that a Selkie can become human simply by stripping off their seal skins, and can return to seal form by slipping back into it. Think Mr Benn but without the time travel and Fez loving shopkeeper.
Stories involving these 'seal people' mostly involve romance and tragedy, where a human falls head over heels with one (unaware of the seal part) and wakes to find them gone. So we can assume Selkies enjoy one night stands. Other stories tell of the human (the normal one) hiding the Selkie's skin, cleverly preventing the poor things from returning to seal form. But this is a tad cruel if the legend is to be believed as the rules go that a Selkie can only make themselves known to one particular human before going back to the ocean, and their time on land is short. (However they can return after seven years).
A stamp featuring a Selkie or Seal Woman
It is told that male Selkies in order to avenge seal hunting, can create storms at sea and is able to sink ships. And should a woman ever get tired of dating human men and decide to try and find a male Selkie she has to visit a beach and weep seven tears into the sea. (Has someone ever tried this?)
And the good news for us guys is, should your lady ever manage to find her dream seal guy, then mourn not because female Selkies make wonderful wives or so the tales go. All you have to do is steal her oily skin to have her in your power. (The one drawback being that she will always stare out to the seashore, her true home).
Stories of these beings have been popular and numerous. One from 'In The Secret of Roan Inish', tells of a fisherman who steals the pelt from a Selkie while she is doing a spot of sunbathing. (Rather rude!) Then under his power she becomes his wife and they have children together. The husband hides the skin and many years later, one of their children discovers it and naturally asks what it is. Upon seeing it the wife drops whatever it was she was doing, grabs her long lost pelt and returns to the ocean to be a seal once more. Good story, but from what I can make of the ending, I guess she didn't like her kids too much. (Although to be fair some tales have their children going to the sea with them).
Other stories are more sinister than romantic, for instance theres one from Shetland which has the seal critters luring the islanders out into the waves where the lusty humans are never seen again.
A Selkie Song (Unknown author)
An Earthly nurse sits and sings,
And aye, she sings by lily wean,
And little ken I by Bairn´s father,
Far less the land where he dwells in.
For he came one night to her bed feet,
And a grumbly guest, I am sure was he,
Saying "Here am I, they bairns father,
Although I be not comely.
I am a man upon the land,
I am a selkie on the sea,
And when I´m far and far frae land,
my home it is in Sule Skerrie."
And he had ta´en a purse of gold,
And he had placed it upon her knew,
Saying: "Give it to my little young son,
And take thee up they nurse´s fee."
"And it shall come to pass on a summer´s day,
When the sun shines bright on every stane,
I´ll come and fetch my little son,
and teach him how to swim the faem."
"And ye shall marry a gunner good,
And a right fine gunner I´m sure he´ll be,
And the very first shot that he e´er shoots,
Will kill both my young son and me."
Peronally I think its quite beautiful, especially the gloomy end which hits you like a slap in the chops, but back to Selkies! Who were they really? And how did such a romantic (albeit strange and tragic) story ever get started in the first place? Well theories abound with the seal folk as much as they do with Yetis, and one idea is that fishermen saw a nomad tribe wearing seal pelts and sailing around in kayaks off the coast and BLAM! The Selkie was born.
While another says that Selkies were supernaturally formed from the souls of drowned people. That sounds deliciously otherworldly, so thats the theory im going to believe.
Legend tells that a Selkie can become human simply by stripping off their seal skins, and can return to seal form by slipping back into it. Think Mr Benn but without the time travel and Fez loving shopkeeper.
Stories involving these 'seal people' mostly involve romance and tragedy, where a human falls head over heels with one (unaware of the seal part) and wakes to find them gone. So we can assume Selkies enjoy one night stands. Other stories tell of the human (the normal one) hiding the Selkie's skin, cleverly preventing the poor things from returning to seal form. But this is a tad cruel if the legend is to be believed as the rules go that a Selkie can only make themselves known to one particular human before going back to the ocean, and their time on land is short. (However they can return after seven years).
A stamp featuring a Selkie or Seal Woman
It is told that male Selkies in order to avenge seal hunting, can create storms at sea and is able to sink ships. And should a woman ever get tired of dating human men and decide to try and find a male Selkie she has to visit a beach and weep seven tears into the sea. (Has someone ever tried this?)
And the good news for us guys is, should your lady ever manage to find her dream seal guy, then mourn not because female Selkies make wonderful wives or so the tales go. All you have to do is steal her oily skin to have her in your power. (The one drawback being that she will always stare out to the seashore, her true home).
Stories of these beings have been popular and numerous. One from 'In The Secret of Roan Inish', tells of a fisherman who steals the pelt from a Selkie while she is doing a spot of sunbathing. (Rather rude!) Then under his power she becomes his wife and they have children together. The husband hides the skin and many years later, one of their children discovers it and naturally asks what it is. Upon seeing it the wife drops whatever it was she was doing, grabs her long lost pelt and returns to the ocean to be a seal once more. Good story, but from what I can make of the ending, I guess she didn't like her kids too much. (Although to be fair some tales have their children going to the sea with them).
Other stories are more sinister than romantic, for instance theres one from Shetland which has the seal critters luring the islanders out into the waves where the lusty humans are never seen again.
A Selkie Song (Unknown author)
An Earthly nurse sits and sings,
And aye, she sings by lily wean,
And little ken I by Bairn´s father,
Far less the land where he dwells in.
For he came one night to her bed feet,
And a grumbly guest, I am sure was he,
Saying "Here am I, they bairns father,
Although I be not comely.
I am a man upon the land,
I am a selkie on the sea,
And when I´m far and far frae land,
my home it is in Sule Skerrie."
And he had ta´en a purse of gold,
And he had placed it upon her knew,
Saying: "Give it to my little young son,
And take thee up they nurse´s fee."
"And it shall come to pass on a summer´s day,
When the sun shines bright on every stane,
I´ll come and fetch my little son,
and teach him how to swim the faem."
"And ye shall marry a gunner good,
And a right fine gunner I´m sure he´ll be,
And the very first shot that he e´er shoots,
Will kill both my young son and me."
Peronally I think its quite beautiful, especially the gloomy end which hits you like a slap in the chops, but back to Selkies! Who were they really? And how did such a romantic (albeit strange and tragic) story ever get started in the first place? Well theories abound with the seal folk as much as they do with Yetis, and one idea is that fishermen saw a nomad tribe wearing seal pelts and sailing around in kayaks off the coast and BLAM! The Selkie was born.
While another says that Selkies were supernaturally formed from the souls of drowned people. That sounds deliciously otherworldly, so thats the theory im going to believe.
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
The Wendigo Ate My Flesh
The Wendigo (also known by other names) is a creature with a cannibalistic spirit which could possess humans. Those who ate human flesh before being transformed were at particular risk. It featured in the mythology of many North American and Canadian native peoples and the Algonquin tribe thought that if a hunter got lost in the mountains or forests and found himself begining to starve, then he would become a Wendigo.
Naturally some folk consider this beast to have sprung from the mind of horror writer, Algernon Blackwood, in his tale The Wendigo because humans will always try to rationalise the mysterious. But to the native tribes, the spirit was very real.
An artists impression of the Wendigo
Basil Johnston, an Ojibwa teacher gives one description of the Wendigo:
"The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody. Unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, the Wendigo gave off a strange and eerie odour of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption."
However skinny the creature was, it had a voracious appetite and was constantly on the prowl for flesh to devour. Whenever it dined on an unfortunate victim, it would grow bigger (and in proportion to the meal it had just scoffed) so that the Wendigo could never be filled. The beast was simultaneously gorging itself and emaciated from starvation.
So how real were these things? Many believe the stories were created as a warning not to partake in cannibalism, while others think it was sightings of mysterious Yeti~like creatures that fuelled the legend. It can never be known for certain but settlers in the regions where the stories were rife definately took the Wendigo to their frightened hearts and not in a soothing way.
It allegedly made a number of appearances near a village in Northern Minnesota from the late 1800's until the 1920's and every time it was reported, an unexpected death followed until finally it disappeared, never to be seen again.
And this is exactly how I prefer such myrhs and legends to end. 'Never to be seen again', which implies it is still out there somewhere, biding its time in some dark cave before emerging to strike terror again.
Naturally some folk consider this beast to have sprung from the mind of horror writer, Algernon Blackwood, in his tale The Wendigo because humans will always try to rationalise the mysterious. But to the native tribes, the spirit was very real.
An artists impression of the Wendigo
Basil Johnston, an Ojibwa teacher gives one description of the Wendigo:
"The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody. Unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, the Wendigo gave off a strange and eerie odour of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption."
However skinny the creature was, it had a voracious appetite and was constantly on the prowl for flesh to devour. Whenever it dined on an unfortunate victim, it would grow bigger (and in proportion to the meal it had just scoffed) so that the Wendigo could never be filled. The beast was simultaneously gorging itself and emaciated from starvation.
So how real were these things? Many believe the stories were created as a warning not to partake in cannibalism, while others think it was sightings of mysterious Yeti~like creatures that fuelled the legend. It can never be known for certain but settlers in the regions where the stories were rife definately took the Wendigo to their frightened hearts and not in a soothing way.
It allegedly made a number of appearances near a village in Northern Minnesota from the late 1800's until the 1920's and every time it was reported, an unexpected death followed until finally it disappeared, never to be seen again.
And this is exactly how I prefer such myrhs and legends to end. 'Never to be seen again', which implies it is still out there somewhere, biding its time in some dark cave before emerging to strike terror again.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
The Shape Shifter
As mythological and weird beings go, the Popobawa is of fairly recent origin. It is believed to have first shown its nightmarish mug on the Tanzanian island of Pemba which sparked hysteria and panic which ran from Pemba right over to Unguja (main island of the Zanzibar archipelago), and way across to Dar es Salaam and other parts of the East African coast.
The name Popobawa or Popo Bawa is derived from a Swahili name which translates as 'bat-wing'. This name is supposed to have come from a description of the dark shadow made by the spirit and does not to its actual form because as a shapeshifter, its looks are prone to change often. It is said the creature is able to take either human or animal form.
A Popobawa
The Popobawa visits homes during the night (but has been spotted in the day) and some claim it has a strong smelling pungent whiff about it. They are not choosy who they attack, men, women and children have all been victims, and sometimes it preys on the entire household before moving on. These attacks can be a physical assault or it can behave in the same way as poltergeists. The Popobawa is also feared for its sexual assaults and the sodomising of both men and women have been reported. These poor victims are often forced to tell others of their assault, for if they do not they are threatened with more visits.
One of the victims of the attacks in 1995, has related his ordeal to the media. He said; "I could feel it, something pressing on me. I couldn’t imagine what sort of thing was happening to me. You feel as if you are screaming with no voice. It was just like a dream but then I was thinking it was this Popobawa and he had come to do something terrible to me, something sexual. It is worse than what he does to women." Hamad claimed that he did not believe in the Popobawa or other spirits before the attack and suggests that is the reason he was attacked. "I don’t believe in spirits so maybe that’s why it attacked me. Maybe it will attack anybody who doesn’t believe."
The Popobawa apparently becomes extremely angry if its existence is doubted or denied. It 'spoke' to the villagers on Pemba in 1971 through a girl possessed by the vicious creature.
An investigator found in 2007 that the story has its roots in Islam, and according to findings, “holding or reciting the Koran is said to keep the Popobawa at bay, much as the Bible is said to dispel Christian demons."
Naturally there are the skeptics and these claim that these attacks are a result of a hypnogogic hallucination during a 'waking dream'. As for myself I try not to discount anything in this world for like the Bard said, 'there are more things in Heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.' Especially when it meant a stiff boogering. Ouch!
The name Popobawa or Popo Bawa is derived from a Swahili name which translates as 'bat-wing'. This name is supposed to have come from a description of the dark shadow made by the spirit and does not to its actual form because as a shapeshifter, its looks are prone to change often. It is said the creature is able to take either human or animal form.
A PopobawaThe Popobawa visits homes during the night (but has been spotted in the day) and some claim it has a strong smelling pungent whiff about it. They are not choosy who they attack, men, women and children have all been victims, and sometimes it preys on the entire household before moving on. These attacks can be a physical assault or it can behave in the same way as poltergeists. The Popobawa is also feared for its sexual assaults and the sodomising of both men and women have been reported. These poor victims are often forced to tell others of their assault, for if they do not they are threatened with more visits.
One of the victims of the attacks in 1995, has related his ordeal to the media. He said; "I could feel it, something pressing on me. I couldn’t imagine what sort of thing was happening to me. You feel as if you are screaming with no voice. It was just like a dream but then I was thinking it was this Popobawa and he had come to do something terrible to me, something sexual. It is worse than what he does to women." Hamad claimed that he did not believe in the Popobawa or other spirits before the attack and suggests that is the reason he was attacked. "I don’t believe in spirits so maybe that’s why it attacked me. Maybe it will attack anybody who doesn’t believe."
The Popobawa apparently becomes extremely angry if its existence is doubted or denied. It 'spoke' to the villagers on Pemba in 1971 through a girl possessed by the vicious creature.
An investigator found in 2007 that the story has its roots in Islam, and according to findings, “holding or reciting the Koran is said to keep the Popobawa at bay, much as the Bible is said to dispel Christian demons."
Naturally there are the skeptics and these claim that these attacks are a result of a hypnogogic hallucination during a 'waking dream'. As for myself I try not to discount anything in this world for like the Bard said, 'there are more things in Heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.' Especially when it meant a stiff boogering. Ouch!
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