Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana from The Netherlands & Belgium
Walking Through Wall
Location: Boxmeer (Netherlands, Noord-Brabant) - Building not known
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A seamstress moved into a room which was haunted by the sounds of something being rolled across the floor. She was found dead after someone spotted a phantom dog walk through the wall of her room.
Nun
Location: Breda (Netherlands, Noord-Brabant) - Klooster op de Nieuwstraat, former monastery
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Midnight, although last sighting unknown
Further Comments: This phantom is said to manifest at the stroke of midnight, jingling a set of keys as church bells ring.
Devil's Bridge
Location: Breda (Netherlands, Noord-Brabant) - Duivelsbrug
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Dark evenings
Further Comments: One legend says that the Devil took the local church bells and threw them into the river. If the bells are heard while standing on the bridge it is likely that the Devil is near.
Capirussa
Location: Brielle (Netherlands, Zuid-Holland) - Maas (aka Meuse) River
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Seventeenth century
Further Comments: A local priest reportedly spotted this creature in the local river. The Capirussa is / was normally found in Indonesia, and had a woman's face, pointed ears, cloven hooves instead of hands and feet, and a tail.
Sunken Church
Location: Brummen (Netherlands, Gelderland) - Pool by the river IJssel (also known as Gelderse IJssel)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 25 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Sunk by upset local pagan spirits on Christmas Day, the congregation can still be heard singing once a year on 25 December.
Rixt van het Oerd
Location: Buren (Netherlands, Friesland) - Beach
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather dependent: Stormy Weather
Further Comments: Rixt would place a lantern on the beach during storms, fooling ships into the sandbanks so she could loot the cargo. One stormy night Rixt lured a boat to the banks and stumbled across a drowned sailor. Picking through his belongings, she realised the body was that of Sjoerd, her son. Now whenever there is a storm in the area, Rixt can be heard screaming her son's name in the wind.
Hunter
Location: Dalfsen (Netherlands, Overijssel) - Rechteren Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A local legend says that a hunter who contracted rabies was tricked into entering a room in the castle before being locked in. No one dared reopen the room, and it is now said that doing so would release his spirit.
Hound
Location: De Lutte (Netherlands, Overijssel) - Cemetery, and Paasberg and Duivendal areas
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: Prior to a death
Further Comments: The area was said to be the home of a demonic dog, and if seen in the cemetery, death would soon follow.
Sommeltjes
Location: De Waal, Texel (Netherlands, Noord-Holland) - Mound near De Waal church (now levelled)
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sommeltjes were goblin-like creatures which turned to stone during the day and reanimated during the night. Two statues of Sommeltjes can be found close to where the mound once stood.
Louise
Location: Denekamp (Netherlands, Overijssel) - Brecklenkamp House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Although she had expressed a wish to die at her home, Louise Zeegers passed away suddenly while visiting The Hague in 1900. Her body was buried on the estate, although this was not enough for her ghost, who is said to take the form of a white woman who wanders the area.
Nun
Location: Denekamp (Netherlands, Overijssel) - Singraven estate
Type: Crisis Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to personal disaster
Further Comments: This nun was said to have been bricked up in one of the buildings on the estate. To see her is a warning of impending doom.
Basilisk
Location: Dokkum (Netherlands, Friesland) - Not known
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 513
Further Comments: Eighteen people were said to have died after encountering the Basilisk.
Window Breaker
Location: Druten (Netherlands, Gelderland) - Unnamed house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Ten days during 1995
Further Comments: A brief but intense poltergeist outbreak in a Turkish family home involved windows being broken, police officers having sand thrown in their faces, and a bottle flying through the air and smashing against a door.
Dog Bear
Location: Dubbeldam (Netherlands, Zuid Holland) - Road known as Stevensweg
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: Circa 17 July 1899?
Further Comments: Walking through the area, a man dismissed a woman begging for money. After issuing him with a threat, she disappeared. Soon after, a small dog started to follow the man, and without warning, the dog transformed into a bear and attacked. The man pulled out a knife and stabbed the creature, the iron in the blade banishing the supernatural creature.
Ghost or God?
Location: Duiven (Netherlands, Gelderland) - Magerhorst manor house
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Lord of Magerhorst and the Lord of Ploen had a duel at midnight on Christmas Eve, even though the local pastor asked them to stop. The Lord of Magerhorst was killed, while the Lord of Ploen was seriously injured. A few days later fire consumed Ploen's manor house, leaving people wondering if the Lord of Magerhorst's ghost carried out the deed, or it was divine punishment for fighting on Christmas Day.
Mermaid
Location: Edam (Netherlands, Noord-Holland) - Exact location not known
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 1403
Further Comments: After the dikes were breached during a storm, a mermaid was found struggling in the shallows. She was taken home by some girls and lived for another 15 years, although never uttered a word.
White Lady
Location: Ede (Netherlands, ) - Kernhem House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Lady unknown, stone still present
Further Comments: A daughter of one lord fell in love with a knight who had promised to marry her when he returned from one of his trips. The daughter waited, wandering for years around the estate looking for her knight who never came back. After she died, her ghost was reported still walking around the area looking for her love. Another local legend says that a stone on this estate will bleed if pricked by a pin on nights of the full moon.
White Women
Location: Eefde (Netherlands, Gelderland) - Wittewievenbult (White Woman Hill)
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: 24 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Once a year, white women (fairy or nature spirits) are said to appear and dance around this hill.
Cursed Cross
Location: Eikelhof (Netherlands, Overijssel) - Stone Cross
Type: Curse
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: It is said that any attempt to move the cross will result in the perpetrator being haunted by phantoms. The only escape is death or fixing any damage to the stone.
Ellert and Brammert
Location: Ellertsveld (Netherlands, Drenthe) - Exact location not known
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Ellert and Brammert were a pair of giants who roamed the land looking for people to rob. One version of the legend says that the pair were looking for the key of happiness - after seeing Brammert smile, Ellert thought his partner in crime and found the key and hadn't shared it, so cut off his head and left it on a spike.
Jager van het Meer
Location: Enschede (Netherlands, Overijssel) - Marshland
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The Jager van het Meer, or Hunter of the Lake, was a man who spent his Sundays hunting instead of attending church. As punishment, he was doomed to spend his afterlife on earth, until he managed to drain the marsh using a thimble. The area is also home to a white woman with her spinning wheel, and a blue flame which gave chase to any viewer.
Tracks
Location: Everberg (Belgium, Flemish Brabant) - Exact location unknown
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: 10 January 1945
Further Comments: A set of strange hoof-like tracks were found in the snow, leading for some three kilometres, have been placed in the same league as the so-called Devil's Hoof prints, although rational explanations exist.
Wandering Lights
Location: Faenwâlden (Netherlands, Friesland) - Goddeloaze Singel (Godless Canal)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dwaallichtjes, or will-'o-the-wisps, are balls of light which wander this area. The canal is also said to be home to a phantom white woman and the haunt of demonic hounds. An old toll house which was demolished in the 1930s was particularly haunted.
Thrower
Location: Faenwâlden (Netherlands, Friesland) - Skiliche Pypke (bridge, demolished 2010s)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The entity which lurked on the bridge was known for being able to pick people up and throw them into the waters below. An exorcist by the name of Hendrik Mients, together with six other men, was able to banish the ghost by tricking it into entering a carriage which was then driven into a lake.
Glowing Ball
Location: Gemert (Netherlands, Noord-Brabant) - Area between Gemert and Boxtel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghostly glowing ball is said to haunt an area where a murder took place.
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