Folperd van der Leede

Location: Leerdam (Netherlands, Zuid Holland) - Van der Leede castle (no longer standing)
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Circa Thirteenth Century
Further Comments: Folperd sold his soul to the Devil, and when the debt was due, mysteriously vanished evening only three drops of blood. His former home was said to be haunted, and said to have been demolished in order to banish the spirits.

Former Prisoners

Location: Leeuwarden (Netherlands, Friesland) - The Blokhuispoort (old city jail)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 2009
Further Comments: Becoming a place for artists to work after being a prison for over 400 years may have had an effect on the building's former inhabitants, as it was reported that the site was haunted by angry prisoners.

Fisherman

Location: Maastricht (Netherlands, Limburg) - Area close to Maas (aka Meuse) River
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Two night fishermen on a barge noticed a third figure had appeared from nowhere and was sitting at the front of their vessel. As a distant bell struck one, the lone fisherman stood, walked past the two witnesses and silently stepped off the side of the boat. One of the fishermen claimed the figure had cobwebs for a face.

Oude Rode Ogen

Location: Mechelen (Belgium, Antwerp) - St Rumbold's Cathedral and general area
Type: Other
Date / Time: Early eighteenth century onwards
Further Comments: A story states that a shape shifting eater of children known as Oude Rode Ogen (old red eyes) was caught, hanged and skinned (his skin buried in the basement of St. Rumbold's Cathedral). After the murderer's death, a ghostly figure began to haunt the area, a tall human figure which could be heard growling like a dog. However, there is no historic evidence that this story is anything other than a new(ish) myth, possibly started in or around 2009.

Nekkers

Location: Mechelen (Belgium, Antwerp) - Nekkerspoel Station and Neighbourhood
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This location takes its name from a pool containing water demons (or spirits) which would take the lives of anyone straying into the marshy area. One story says the Nekkers were worshipped until the locals adopted Christianity.

Angels of Mons

Location: Mons (Belgium, Hainaut) - Skies over the area
Type: Other
Date / Time: 22 - 23 August 1914
Further Comments: A well known myth, the story says that the British Expeditionary Force were supported by angels (or bowmen) during an encounter with German forces.

White Women

Location: Montferland (Netherlands, Gelderland) - Forest in the area
Type: Fairy
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This white women were blamed for the death of a farmer named Gert van Beek. Gert left a local pub, saying that if he met the women on the way home he would dance with them. The following day his body was found - some people believing he had 'danced to death'.

Saeftinghe

Location: Nieuw-Namen (Netherlands, Zeeland) - Off coast
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Submerged 1584, bell ring during foggy weather (reoccurring)
Further Comments: The city of Saeftinghe was submerged in 1584. It was said to be extremely wealthy, but greed as rife among the population, and they would chase any beggars out of the city. A captured mermaid warned the city folk to change their ways; they refused, and the city was flooded. Now, when the fog rolls in, the church bells can be heard ringing for help.

Mariken

Location: Nijmegen (Netherlands, Gelderland) - Grote Markt
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Mariken van Nieumeghen lived with Moenen, the Devil, for seven years until she repented while watching a play at the Grote Markt. Moenen threw Mariken high into the sky and let her drop into the audience. By some miracle she survived. A statue of Mariken stands on the site.

Giant's Bed

Location: Norg (Netherlands, Drenthe) - Hunebedden (megalithic structure)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The rocks around this site were once thought to have been moved into place by giants.

Crocodile

Location: Ombret-Rawsa (Belgium, Liege) - Maas (aka Meuse) River
Type: Cryptozoology
Date / Time: August 1979
Further Comments: Appearing only briefly, a metre long crocodile was reported to have been seen in this European river.

Witches' Scales

Location: Oudewater (Netherlands, Utrecht) - The Weighing House
Type: Other
Date / Time: Operating in the Sixteenth century, but still present
Further Comments: It is said that many people accused of witchcraft would travel to Oudewater to be weighed, proving that they were not in league with the Devil (the old belief being that witches were lighter than normal as they had no soul).

Wodan's Well

Location: Pomphul (Netherlands, Gelderland) - Valley of the Spreng
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: A spring in this area is said to have been created by Wodan

Woman

Location: Renkum (Netherlands, Gelderland) - Small body of water near Grunsfoort Castle (no longer standing)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Nights of a bright moon
Further Comments: When this abominable woman, a former owner of the castle, died she was buried at the nearby church. The following morning her coffin was found on top of her grave and the rumour started that she was such a terrible person in life that even hallowed ground didn't want her. The body was unceremoniously dumped by a nearby brook, and now the woman's ghost stands by the water. It is considered unlucky to see her.

Frederik

Location: Rijnwoude (Netherlands, Zuid-Holland) - Lock in the river
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Frederik drowned in the river after his secret love Amalia pushed him in (she did not appreciate the kiss he surprised her with). The ghost of Frederik is said to call out 'Amalia, Amalia, did you love me?'.

Soldiers

Location: Sas van Gent (Netherlands, Zeeland) - Mansion house on Belgium border (demolished 2011)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre 2011
Further Comments: This mansion was said to be haunted by several entities, including a German soldier who was electrocuted after trying to desert and three Canadian soldiers who were killed when a tank was blown up.

Goatriders

Location: Schaelsberg (Netherlands, Limburg) - Hermitage at Schaelsberg
Type: Other
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This site is one of those named as being raided by the devil worshiping and likely mythical goat-riders, who flew around the area on the backs of goats.

Teenager

Location: Schijndel (Netherlands, Noord-Brabant) - Road between Schijndel and St Oedenrode
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A teenage boy is said to haunt this stretch of road, the location where he vanished.

Kobus van der Schlossen

Location: Slabroek (Netherlands, Noord-Brabant) - De Brobbelbies
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Seventeenth century
Further Comments: Kobus was a folk hero similar to Robin Hood. A story says he came across some soldiers in this area and managed to avoid capture by turning into a bulrush.

Crying Boy

Location: Slochteren (Netherlands, Groningen) - Fraeylemaborg (castle)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather dependent: Windy Days
Further Comments: This young boy was hanged for theft, even though he was innocent - the lady of the castle lied to protect the real thief, who was her maid. The boy's cries can now be heard when the wind whistles around the castle.

Luring Voice

Location: Spakenburg (Netherlands, Utrecht) - Zuiderzee and docks
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A fisherman heard a disembodied voice coming from the Zuiderzee asking 'here is the place, where is the man?'. The fisherman rushed to find a minister and took him to the location where the voice had emerged. Unfortunately the minister fell into the water and was drowned - the voice was not heard again.

Lady of Stavoren

Location: Stavoren (Netherlands, Friesland) - General area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Powerful and owning a fleet of ships, the Lady of Stavoren was warned not to be wicked. She took a ring from her finger and after throwing it into the sea, saying that she was as likely to fall into poverty as she was of regaining the ring. A few days later she was served fish at a meal, inside which she found the ring. The port silted up, her fleet fell into ruin, and the Lady of Stavoren was left penniless.

365 children

Location: The Hague (Den Haag) (Netherlands, Zuid-Holland) - Loosduinen
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 1276
Further Comments: Margaret of Holland, Countess of Henneberg, died after giving birth to 365 (or 364) children, described as small as crabs. The children died soon after baptism. Margaret was said to have been cursed after suggesting to the mother of twins that the children had different fathers.

Where Babies Come From...

Location: Urk (Netherlands, Flevoland) - Ommelebommelestien (stone just off the coast)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Stone still present
Further Comments: Locals would once tell their children that babies came from the Ommelebommelestien, a stone thirty metres off the coast. A stork would drop babies off at the stone, and a local man would have to pick up a key from Schokland before rowing to Ommelebommelestien where he would pay a guilder for a baby girl or two guilder for a boy.

Hortense

Location: Utrecht (Netherlands, Utrecht) - Paushuize (Pope House)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Hortense, the wife of King Louis Bonaparte, is said to live within a wall in this building, sometimes emerging to engage in haunting behaviour.