Buzz
Prior to the Enlightenment in the 18th century, Europeans were often convinced that demons, ghosts, witches, vampires, and other supernatural beings existed. Even some learned individuals, such as judges and priests, seriously considered the paranormal. They discussed and examined many strange 'true' tales, a number of which are still told today.
10. The Haunted Apple of Annecy
In 1585, an apple was spotted hovering above a bridge in Annecy, a town in southeastern France. For two hours, the apple floated in mid-air, emitting a loud sound that frightened pedestrians attempting to cross the bridge.
Finally, a bolder traveler appeared, armed with a stick. He struck the apple, sending it into the water beneath the bridge. As soon as the apple hit the water, the disturbing sound ceased, and calm was restored.
Judge Henri Boguet remarked, 'There can be no doubt that this apple was possessed by devils, and that a witch's plan to deliver it to someone had been thwarted.'
9. The Shoemaker of Breslau
In September 1591, a shoemaker in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) took his own life by slashing his throat. Just weeks after his burial, the townsfolk began to report sightings of his ghostly form in their homes at night. They would wake to find the shoemaker lying on top of them, pressing them down with his weight and physically assaulting them.
In April 1592, the villagers decided to exhume the shoemaker’s body. Surprisingly, it showed no signs of decay. The puzzled authorities left the body above ground for six days before reburial in a different location.
Soon after, reports surfaced of the shoemaker attacking the townspeople once more. On May 7, his body was exhumed one final time. To ensure he would stay dead, his head and limbs were severed, and his heart was removed. His remains were then burned, and the ashes were thrown into a river.
8. The Gandillion Werewolf Family
In 1598, a brother and sister in eastern France were attacked by a wolf, which the boy claimed had a human face. When a group of peasants set out to find the wolf, they instead discovered a girl named Perrenette Gandillion. Noticing blood on her dress, the mob immediately killed the unfortunate girl.
The Gandillion family had long been rumored to have ties to the Devil. After Perrenette's death, her brother Pierre, her sister Antoinette, and her nephew Georges were also accused of being werewolves. Pierre confessed that he could transform into a wolf when donning a wolf's skin, while Georges explained that his change occurred by applying a special ointment.
Judge Henri Boguet, notorious for overseeing the executions of over 600 alleged witches during his career, was assigned to the case. Convinced that the Gandillion family were werewolves, he condemned them to be burned at the stake.
7. Lady Fanshawe's Banshee Encounter
In 1642, Lady Fanshawe, an English memoirist, and her husband, Sir Richard, traveled to the ancestral castle of a friend in Ireland. One evening, while resting in her bed, Lady Fanshawe was suddenly jolted awake by a bone-chilling scream.
She turned towards the window and was horrified to see a woman staring in at her, shrieking loudly. Terrified, Lady Fanshawe observed the mysterious woman scream several more times before she vanished into the air.
The next morning, Lady Fanshawe's host explained that a family member had died in the castle the night before and that Lady Fanshawe had witnessed a banshee, a spectral figure who appears whenever a family member dies. He revealed that the woman was the wife of a distant ancestor, who had drowned her in the castle's moat because his family disapproved of her humble origins.
6. The Resurrected Boy of Dalheim
During the medieval period, it was widely believed that demons had the ability to possess or reanimate the dead by filling their bodies with air or another substance.
In 1581, in what is now Dalheim, Luxembourg, a succubus persuaded a man to murder his own son. After realizing the horrific act he had committed, the man was overcome with grief. Seizing the opportunity for further mischief, the succubus promised to bring the boy back to life if the man swore to love her in return.
Using the succubus's magic, the boy was resurrected and resumed his life as before. However, after a year, the boy suddenly fell ill and inexplicably collapsed, returning to his lifeless state.
It was revealed that the succubus's resurrection had been nothing more than an illusion. The boy's body had been a lifeless automaton, kept in motion only by the demon's limited magical powers.
5. The Airship Visitors of Lyon
In the early ninth century, it was reported that three men and one woman descended from 'aerial ships' into the city of Lyon. The gathering crowd accused the visitors of being evil magicians intent on destroying their crops. However, the visitors claimed they were ordinary, peaceful people from the same land, who had been kidnapped by magical beings and taken to a sky-bound realm called Magonia.
Before the mob could act, a bishop named Agobard arrived on the scene. He quickly dismissed the visitors' story as pure fantasy. Because Agobard was a highly respected figure, the townspeople accepted his skepticism, and the strangers were allowed to leave unharmed.
Nevertheless, some contemporary UFO researchers have deemed the story plausible, suggesting that it could be an early example of alien encounters.
4. The Toad of Flanders
Around 1595, a father and son, enjoying drinks at a tavern near Flanders, got into an argument with a waitress about the cost of their drinks. As they were leaving, the waitress warned them that they wouldn’t make it home that day.
When they reached the riverbank, the father and son found their boat immovable. Despite the help of some soldiers who tried to pull it, the boat refused to budge. Noticing a toad in the boat, the soldiers attacked the creature with their swords and tossed it into the river.
With the toad now gone, the boat miraculously became free to move. To show his gratitude, the father invited the soldiers to the tavern for a drink. Upon arriving, the father learned that the waitress who had served them earlier had fallen gravely ill. Despite having stayed in the tavern throughout the argument, the waitress died that day, with her neck and stomach cut open in the same places the toad had been struck.
3. The Vrykolakas of Mykonos
In 1700, while visiting Mykonos, the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort heard stories about a deceased peasant who would return to life each night. After being murdered by an unknown assailant while working in the fields, the man was said to have risen as a vrykolakas, a type of undead creature resembling the vampires of Eastern Europe.
Initially, the vrykolakas caused little harm, mostly turning over furniture and playfully hugging people from behind. But as the islanders grew frustrated, they exhumed the vrykolakas and removed its heart. Despite this, the creature became more violent, attacking people, destroying rooftops, and stealing alcohol.
According to Tournefort, some residents fled their homes in fear, while others took to visiting the vrykolakas’s grave to strike it with swords as it rested during the day. Eventually, the authorities decided to relocate the vrykolakas to Saint George’s Island, where they burned and destroyed its body.
2. The Berkeley Witch Abduction
In the early 12th century, the historian and monk William of Malmesbury documented the story of a dying woman in Berkeley, England, who confessed to her children that she had been a 'slave of the Devil' and a witch. She begged to be buried in a stone coffin bound with iron chains to prevent demons from taking her body. Her request was granted, and the local church agreed to watch over her coffin for three days and nights before burial.
On the third night, a demon suddenly ripped off the church's front door. The horrified clergy watched as the demon approached the stone coffin, opened it, and dragged the woman's body out. The woman was placed onto a black horse, its back covered in iron barbs, and carried away into the night.
1. The Chained Ghost Of Bologna
In the mid-16th century, Spanish law student Vasquez de Ayola and two friends were searching for a place to live in Bologna, Italy. They stumbled upon a large, abandoned house rumored to be haunted. However, Ayola and his companions didn't believe in ghosts, so they had no hesitation in moving in.
One night, while his friends were asleep, Ayola suddenly heard the distinct sound of chains scraping across the floor outside his room. Upon investigating, Ayola discovered a ghostly skeleton bound in chains, standing by the staircase. The ghost then led him to a spot in the courtyard’s garden before vanishing into thin air.
The following day, after Ayola reported the strange encounter to the authorities, they excavated the area in the garden. There, they unearthed a skeleton, bound in chains, buried beneath the earth. The identity of the remains was never determined, and the 'chained ghost' was never seen again.
+Further Reading
Mysteries and the paranormal have been recurring topics at Mytour over the years. Here are some of our best articles on these intriguing subjects:
Top 10 Bizarre Modern Paranormal Phenomena 10 Eerie Stories of Doppelgangers Top 10 Legendary Real Ghosts
At times, the paranormal turns out to be less supernatural than initially believed:
10 Infamous Paranormal Photos That Aren’t What They Seem 10 Rational Explanations for Ghostly Phenomena Top 10 Debunked Nostradamus Prophecies Top 10 Exposed Psychic Claims
