Duskwood

Duskwood is a spooky location under perpetual night and shadow. It's full of sinister creatures and wild beasts. While there are humans living there, it's also a bleak location and a place of nightmares. There's also ghosts, ghouls, skeletons, ogres, wolves and spiders found throughout Duskwood. This is  one of many regions from the World of Warcraft franchise. Duskwood can be found in the continent of Azeroth, and it's not far from a dead volcano, which is a fertile crater of huge trees of significance. It's importance is because of a portal there to the Emerald Dream. Within the region of Duskwood are many sombre areas. Paths lead to different directions, through frightening corners and locations, such as the Tranquil Garden Cemetery, the Rotting Orchard and the Darkened Bank. Villages within Duskwood include Darkshire and Raven Hill. These are still inhabited by people who cling in the hope that the region would be lifted of it's curse. Sadly Duskwood had once been a beautiful lush place teeming with life, was colourful, fertile and the days were full of sunshine. It was once called Brightwood, and then an evil was cast over it. This happened when a priestess named Velinde Starsong arrived, sweeping away demons with a magical scythe. What happened next was a mystery because she simply vanished, leaving behind the scythe, which was claimed by a man named Jitters who didn't know anything about it and summoned an army of werewolves named Worgen, creating a carnage of death. In terror, Jitters fled still carrying the scythe, bringing about the darkness that now envelopes that entire zone. He tried to rid himself of the scythe but found Dark Riders had come and spilled innocent blood in the village. It's not known if the Dark Riders own the scythe or not. Now the trees are dying, it's covered in a dark mist, and the soil is barren, as the sun no longer shines there, and it's overtaken by monsters and other sinister creatures.  

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Lupercalia festival

Before the holiday became known as Valentine's Day, there was a much older ritual held on the 15th February named Lupercalia Festival in ancient Rome. This was a feast for the wolf deity Lupercus, a god that ruled land, harvest, wild animals and fertility. Farmers sought out the strength and protection of Lupercus and made offerings to him. This god is connected to a she-wolf named Lupa that helped care for the twin boy babies, Romulus and Remus. The brothers were sons of Mars, the god of war, and also Rhea Silvia, a beautiful mortal woman who was a princess and a Vestal Virgin. The brothers grew up to be powerful men who later founded the city of Rome. It was in honour of the founders that the celebration of Lupercalia was great as it celebrated Lupa the foster mother and Lupercus the great wolf of the wilderness. The feast itself was gruesome and dark. Men would try to channel their inner wolves during this feast day, so much noise and howling would've gone on. They would sacrifice a goat and a dog, combining both of their blood into a bowl, and a knife would dip into the mixture, then removed dripping. Two noble children would have this blood smeared on their foreheads, while cloth would be soaked in milk from a nanny goat, and used to wash away the blood on the children's foreheads. The children would've been encouraged to laugh even if they were scared. This was to show everyone that they were unafraid of the wolf's magical powers. There were different forms of worship of each wolf. Those who followed Lupa the she-wolf formed a branch named the Luperci. This included men becoming wolves chasing women in the streets and beating them with whips, then taking them home for sex or keeping as wives. This became toned down later on and eventually was replaced by the gentle and softer Christianised version of Valentine's Day. 

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Succubus

The succubus is a female entity that seduces men as they sleep. The term of succubus is from Latin Succuba that means "to lie beneath". They can be considered demons, that resemble beautiful women. Their male counterparts are called incubus. Many associate this with folklore and dream visions, also with nightmares and psychosis. Some experts in psychiatry believe this is part of a phenomenon called "sleep paralysis", which occurs in the stage of waking up and may be considered hallucinations during hypnagogic state. Some people experience sheer terror and feel unable to speak or even move but during this phase, they also may have horrific visions of being attacked by entities. Some stories about the succubus, for example, are frightening and she appears to attack men violently in bed. Many people suffering experiences like these seek the help of priests or doctors, and certain medicines ease it. The succubus and incubus have parallels with other creatures associated with sleep. I plan to do a post on Sleep Paralysis soon.

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Hoia Baciu

 

Transylvania is a creepy place and is so vast that its famous for all kinds of horrors. 

Within Transylvania is a dark mysterious forest named Hoia Baciu. It's been described as haunted and it looks often eerie, especially in nightfall, during winter and in fog. Many have disappeared into thin air while in the forest, including a shepherd and 200 sheep. Some defy explanation. A little girl vanished in the forest, and then five years later she emerged not having aged and still wearing the same clothes as if new. A woman got lost there, and then emerged with a 15th century coin in her pocket. Some have left the forest suffering burns, headaches and fever. No one can understand why the forest has so much intense paranormal activity, including ghosts and UFO's. Radiation levels are high in that forest and some explain that this is caused by natural uranium based subsoil. 

The trees tend to look odd too. Some have twisted and seem deformed, growing in strange positions, while others appear "immortal". All of the plants in one area of the forest form a perfect round circle. People that visited the forest are unnerved by many weird experiences in there, including the sounds of terrified screams and glowing green eyes peering at them in the darkness. Some people have met aliens, cryptids and ghosts. It's a bizarre location where timeslips have happened to some who came back to tell their tales.    

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The Cursed Amethyst

This magnificent gemstone is known as The Cursed Amethyst and it's not something you want to have as a gift. Also called the Delhi Purple Sapphire, which was locked away in the Natural History Museum in London. Once discovered there by curator Peter Tandy, after being hidden for so long, there was a note attached with it that described a terrible curse stained with blood. It was originally from the temple of the thunder god Indra, but was looted by the British Army in the 19th century. This was called the Siege of Cawnpore. One of the soldiers who robbed the temple was dazzled by the "purple sapphire" and wanted to keep it. After returning home, he experienced a sting of bad luck. He was so unhappy that he gave the gemstone to another, who then also experienced a lot of misery. Every person who owned the gemstone always suffered horribly with misfortunes. 

A British scientist named Edward Heron-Allen took the purple stone and gave it to a woman. She was already gifted with a beautiful singing voice but as soon as she owned the Cursed Amethyst, her voice was gone! Many more dark things followed, and Heron-Allen was so afraid that he flung the amethyst into a canal. Strangely, the gemstone returned to him! While the canal was being cleaned, the stone was recovered and then handed back to its owner, and Edward Heron-Allen was horrified. He then had the stone place in a fashioned jewel and locked it away in a bank. He left instructions for his daughter that three years after his death, she should remove the amethyst and hand it over to the museum. He died in 1943. Flash forward to 2007, the amethyst went on display at the museum. The curator who transported the amethyst had spoke of a strange lightning storm around his car! Now the Cursed Amethyst is in a vault at the museum. 

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Draugr

 

In Norse mythology are frightening creatures called Draugr. They're zombies with a difference. They're described as being physical ghosts, with certain powers and diseases that make them pass on their very abilities to others, a contagious form of spreading more like them. These can attack the living and make a person another draugr. These creatures have great strength as they can break every bone in their victims bodies. The draugr gives off a terrible stench of rotting flesh, but they can look like corpses that are deathly pale blue, or even decayed black. Some are even bloated to the size of a bull! Some have been described as huge in size and height, capable of fire breathing and making thunderous roars. They have long black claws to scratch their victims to death. Despite their horrific appearance, the draugr are magical too. They can see into the future and can control the weather. They have the ability to shape-shift into animals, and one such draugr turned into a seal during a storm (perhaps created by one of them) and caused shipwrecks. Also one draugr became a mutilated bull, and another turned into a bloodied horse, while another turned into a monstrous cat who suffocated its victim as they slept. Draugr can enter peoples dreams and are capable of telepathy, as well as cursing people. Although super powerful, the draugr hate sunlight. Protection against draugr is light from the sun or even from foxfire, a bioluminescent fungi. Draugr are immune to weapons but they dislike iron. It's best to remove the head of  draugr and burn them, to stop them coming back. Another tactic against the draugr is to make a corpse door, a type of false room that a draugr can be imprisoned inside. So first leave the corpse door open and when a draugr enters, slam the door shut quickly and then brick it up so the draugr is forever trapped inside. 

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