Connect with us

Ghosts

The Elmore Rider

Published

on

The sleepy town of Elmore in Northern Ohio boasts a population of 1410 and reportedly one ghost. Since the middle of the 20th century people have reported seeing a strange light approaching the Mud Creek Bridge at great speed then suddenly disappearing. Could these lights be a residual haunting by a motorcyclist who met his untimely death on the bridge?

The legend goes that before the start of World War I a young man and woman fell in love in Elmore. The man was conscripted to fight in the army but the woman promised to wait for him to return. While fighting he often thought of his lover back home and thoughts of her helped him get through the horrific events of the war. When he returned home from the war he bought himself a brand new motorcycle to celebrate and rode it all the way to his lovers house cutting the engine as he approached so he could surprise her. He snuck into the house and hugged her from behind. Once the woman realised who was hugging her her face contorted in horror. She was told her lover had been killed in combat and she had since accepted a proposal from another man.

The man was devastated and barely gave the woman a chance to explain before storming out of the house. He jumped on his bike and took off at great speed careening around the roads in his rage. When he reached the Muddy Creek Bridge he lost control of his bike and crashed, being decapitated in the process. Police officers rushed to the scene and found the body of the man but were unable to find his head. Local folklore is that the motorcyclist can be summoned by parking on the bridge, honking your horn three times and flashing your lights three times.

Elmore has become famous for this tale and many local residents claim to have seen a headless motorcyclist speeding onto the bridge only to disappear before exiting the other side. Even more people claim to have seen a bright orb of light approaching the bridge at great speed before disappearing.

An internet user named Mary Ann claims that her and a group of friends spotted the Elmore Rider in the late 1960s. One of the group decided to hide in a ditch on the side of the road about a quarter of a mile from the bridge. The rest of the group parked on the bridge and completed the ritual with the horn and the lights. They suddenly saw a bright light coming at them from down the road and were stunned. The light reached the car and it was filled with a bright light which then disappeared once it had passed through them. One member of the group jumped out of the car to see if they could see a prankster running from the scene but saw only darkness. The boy hiding in the ditch claimed he didn’t see anything at all.

Perhaps these sightings could be caused by a residual haunting by an individual who passed on the bridge. There is a theory that events that cause extreme emotions are able to imprint themselves onto the environment and repeat themselves at random intervals. Ball lightning could also be a potential cause of the orbs of light but the chance of this occurring often in a single location is remote. Perhaps all of the witnesses are simply mistaken. We may never know for sure but the legend of the Elmore Rider will live on.

Sources

https://www.astonishinglegends.com/astonishing-legends/2019/10/6/the-elmore-rider

The Legend of the Elmore Ghost Rider

https://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/story/news/local/2014/09/17/group-investigates-elmore-rider-haunting-tales/15803129/

Continue Reading

Ghosts

Walking Sam: The Suicide Spirit of Pine Ridge

Published

on

By

Walking Sam: The Suicide Spirit. Photo: Ranker.

In 2015 a spree of suicides took place in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Some believe these were caused by an evil spirit called Walking Sam.

Who is Walking Sam?

An artist’s depiction of Walking Sam. Photo: Ranker

Walking Sam is known by various names, including “Tall Man” and “Stovepipe Hat Bigfoot.” He is a towering figure standing at seven feet tall and has eyes but no mouth, sometimes wearing a stove-pipe hat.

When he raises his arms, people can see the bodies of his past victims hanging beneath him. Walking Sam is said to call out to teenagers and try to convince them that they are worthless, urging them to take their own lives. Some believe that he targets young people because they are more vulnerable to his manipulations.

According to Native American legends, Walking Sam is an ancient being closely linked to “Stick Indians,” who are dark and shadowy spirit entities.

Kids grow up hearing spooky stories about these evil forces that haunt reservations and try to lure unsuspecting victims to their doom. They’re always followed by a creepy cloud of death that just hangs around them.

If you hear whistling, it might be one of these Stick Indians nearby. But if you follow the sound, you could get paralyzed, hypnotized, or even lose your mind completely.

If you disrespect them, they’ll hold a grudge and seek revenge no matter what. Some tribes are so scared of them that they won’t even talk about them, so we don’t know everything about these beings. But Walking Sam is supposed to be one of the most powerful ones.

There are those who believe that Walking Sam represents the pain and trauma that the Lakota Indians endure on a daily basis. Given the deep spiritual connection that the Lakota people have with their land and heritage, some see Walking Sam as a physical embodiment of this suffering.

The Pine Ridge Suicides

A video telling the story of Walking Sam

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is located near the Black Hills of South Dakota and is home to the Oglala Lakota tribe. It’s one of the largest Indian reservations in the US. Sadly, Pine Ridge has a sad past as hundreds of Lakota Indians were killed during the Wounded Knee Massacre.

It’s one of the poorest counties in the US. In 2015, a number of young people committed suicide on the reservation, and some people thought that supernatural forces like the legendary Walking Sam were to blame.

From December 2014 to March 2015, there were a staggering 103 suicide attempts, with nine of them being successful, and tragically, none of the victims were older than twenty-five.

The majority of those who died had used hanging as the method of suicide. Although there had been other clusters of suicides in previous years, this was the largest. As the community struggled to understand and deal with the crisis, some looked to traditional Native American beliefs for answers.

Lakota children are raised hearing stories about “suicide spirits,” “stick people,” and shadow people who try to lure young people away from their homes at night. These stories may have evolved over time, influenced by the popularity of Slender Man, into the figure now known as Walking Sam.

Walking Sam Sightings

During meetings of reservation officials, one of the topics that often comes up is Walking Sam. These officials advise reservation members to avoid walking on the streets at night as it would be an ideal time for Walking Sam to approach his victims.

Several residents have expressed concern and requested the police to keep a lookout for Walking Sam. Many residents have reported seeing his shadow and have shared their encounters with the police. Some residents have even reported hearing whistling sounds coming from nowhere.

Have you ever seen Walking Sam? Let us know in the comments.

If you enjoyed learning about Walking Sam you might also be interested in Diao Si Gui: Chinese Hanged Ghosts or La Ciguapa: The Woman with Backwards Feet.

Continue Reading

Ghosts

Diao Si Gui: Chinese Hanged Ghosts

Published

on

By

A Diao Si Gui or Hanged Ghost. Photo: Cryptid Wiki

According to Chinese legend, Diao Si Gui are the souls of those who took their own lives or were executed. These spirits may manifest as a body with a protruding, lengthy red tongue and attempt to persuade those who cross their path to join them in the world beyond.

The Legend of the Diao Si Gui

Diao Si Gui, or Hanged Ghosts can be created in two ways: when a person takes their own life by hanging or when they are executed by hanging as a punishment for their crimes.

The more prolonged and painful the death, such as by slow suffocation instead of a quick snap of the neck, the greater the likelihood of them becoming a Diao Si Gui.

These ghosts are said to haunt the vicinity of the location where they committed suicide and are often depicted with a noose around their neck, dangling feet, and long red tongues hanging from their mouths.

It is believed that one should avoid making eye contact with a Dio Si Gui as they may lure you into a hypnotic state and persuade you to hang yourself.

In some versions of the legend, if the ghost successfully persuades someone to hang themselves, that person becomes a Hanged Ghost while the original ghost goes free.

Other versions suggest that a Hanged Ghost is not limited to a specific location and can torment a person for days, gradually convincing them to take their own life. When the time is right, the ghost will appear to the person in a high place and lower a noose to them.

Stories About Diao Si Gui

In the Chinese Fairy Book by Dr. R. Wilhelm (1921), there is a story known as The Hanged Ghost, which tells the tale of a soldier seeking refuge for the night in an old, run-down temple.

While there, he witnesses a female ghost descending from the rafters, unaware of his presence in the shadows. Intrigued, he follows her to a farmhouse where he discovers the ghost urging a young mother and her child to hang themselves. The soldier intervenes, saving the woman’s life and causing the ghost to flee.

On his way back to the temple, the soldier takes the rope left behind by the ghost, but she appears on the road and demands that he give it back.

He refuses and wraps the rope around his arm, causing the ghost to transform and attack him. The soldier defends himself by flinging his own blood at the ghost, causing her to retreat. He continues his journey with the rope now part of his arm, unfazed by the encounter.

A video telling the tale of Diao Si Gui or hanged ghosts

Possible Explanations for the Diao Si Gui

It is possible that the legend of the hanged ghost came about as a way to help families come to terms with the unexpected suicides of their loved ones. It’s easier to believe that a loved one may have been manipulated in to killing them self by a spirit than it is to believe that they wanted to die.

Have you ever seen a Diao Sui Gui or Hanged Ghost? Let us know in the comments.

If you enjoyed learning about the Diao Sui Gui you might also be interested in the mysterious stain left behind by the body of Margaret Schilling or how the ghost of Teresita Basa solved her own murder.

Continue Reading

Trending

Generated by Feedzy