Category: Mythical Creatures

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Spirit Animal: No
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Lama, Lamma, or Lamassu (Cuneiform: 𒀭𒆗) is a mythological hybrid, an Assyrian protective deity known to “turn back an evil person,” that is composed of the head of a human, the body of a bull or lion, and the wings of a bird. The horned cap attests to its divinity, and the belt signifies its power. These figures are depicted in the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the textual sources for the iconography of these figures.

The lamassu and shedu were household protective spirits of the common Assyrian people, becoming associated later as royal protectors, and were placed as sentinels at entrances. The Akkadians associated the god Papsukkal with a lamassu and the god Išum with shedu.

Initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian times, when it was called Lamma, it was later depicted from Assyrian times as a hybrid of a human, bird, and either a bull or lion—specifically having a human head, the body of a bull or a lion, and bird wings, under the name Lamassu. In some writings, it is portrayed to represent a goddess. A less frequently used name is shedu (Cuneiform: 𒀭𒆘) which refers to the male counterpart of a lamassu.

The goddess Lama appears initially as a mediating goddess who precedes the orans and presents them to the deities. The protective deity is clearly labelled as Lamma in a Kassite stele unearthed at Uruk, in the temple of Ishtar, goddess to which she had been dedicated by king Nazi-Maruttash (1307–1282 BC). It is a goddess wearing a ruffled dress and wearing a horned tiara symbolizing the deity, with two hands raised, in sign of prayer. From Assyrian times onwards, Lamma becomes a hybrid deity, half-animal and half-human.

The motif of a winged animal with a human head is common to the Near East, first recorded in Ebla around 3000 BC. The first distinct lamassu motif appeared in Assyria during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser II as a symbol of power.

Lamassu represent the zodiacs, parent-stars, or constellations. They are depicted as protective deities because they encompass all life within them. In the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, they are depicted as physical deities as well. Although lamassu had a different iconography and portrayal in the culture of Sumer, the terms “lamassu”, “alad”, and “shedu” evolved throughout the Assyro-Akkadian culture from the Sumerian culture to denote the Assyrian-winged-man-bull symbol and statues during the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Eventually, female lamassu were identified as “apsasû”.

A 2,700 year old alabaster sculpture of a lamassu from northern Iraq. The head of the sculpture had been looted and smuggled abroad in the 1990s but had been later found and put in the collection of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. During the Islamic State Jihadist Group’s occupation of the area in 2014, residents of the village of Khorsabad hid the rest of the relief before fleeing to government held territory, sparing it from destruction.

Monumental lamassu sculptures from the 9^th to 7^th century of Mesopotamia have been found all over the Middle East as the kings of Assyria ruled over a vast empire centered in northern Iraq. Similar to the Chinese foo/ fu dog or imperial lions as well as the shisa dogs of japan, lamassu are guardian sculptures, typically appearing in pairs that were often placed outside of prominent sites. To protect houses, the lamassu were engraved in clay tablets, which were then buried under the door’s threshold. They were often placed as a pair at the entrance of palaces. At the entrance of cities, they were sculpted in colossal size, and placed as a pair, one at each side of the door of the city, that generally had doors in the surrounding wall, each one looking toward one of the cardinal points. Since they were part of city gates or citadel gates (where the temple and palace would be located), they often had a structural purpose as well.

During the Assyrian period, Mesopotamian kings established palaces in cities such as Nimrūd and Dur Sharrukin. The great Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 B.C.), undertook a vast building program at Nimrūd, ancient Kalhu. Until it became the capital city under Ashurnasirpal, Nimrūd had been no more than a provincial town.

The palaces were a display of the kings’ power, and lamassu served to guard them. Inscriptions in cuneiform declared a king’s might and punishment for those who opposed him were added to some of these sculptures. Many of these stones weighed as much as 40 tons or more.

Lamassu may be shown with four or five legs. For those that have five, two legs can be seen from the front; in profile, four legs are visible. This “double-aspect” causes the figure to appear to be standing still or walking when viewed either from the front or the side, respectively.

Winged bull with a human head, guardian figure (lamassu) from the gate of the palace at Dur Sharrukin, near Nineveh; currently housed in the Louvre.

Lamassu also have horned crowns and elaborate beards, and they have earrings in their ears, some of which are human and others are of a bull. According to some scholars, individual parts of a lamassu have specific meanings: the body of the bull represents strength, the wings represent freedom, and the human head represents intelligence.

Lamassu can still be found today in pop culture. They are featured in many movies and even video games. The British 10th Army, which operated in Iraq and Iran in 1942–1943, adopted the lamassu as its insignia.

A man with a bull’s body is found among the creatures that make up Aslan’s army in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. He appears at the Stone Table, challenging the White Witch “with a great bellowing voice”.

In the film Alexander (2004), lamassu are seen at the Ishtar Gate in Babylon. In the Disney film Aladdin (1992), a gold lamassu can be found in the scene where Aladdin and Abu enter the cave in the desert to find the lamp.

I had never known what these were called before. I love history and I’ve seen them loads of times in books and different references to Babylon and Uruk. I was actually pretty excited to know what they were finally so of course I had to do deeper research on them and finally do a post! Have you ever heard of Lammasu or seen them before? Let me know in the comments!

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This is a slightly longer post than usual and I thought it would be a few paragraphs at most, but the more I researched, the more information I found. Between the different eyewitness accounts, descriptions of the beast, political interference, and amount of times it took to try and kill it, it became quite a bit longer than normal. However, it is most certainly a story worth the read.

The Beast of Gévaudan, La Bête du Gévaudan in French, is the historic name associated with a man-eating animal or animals that terrorised the former province of Gévaudan (consisting of the modern-day department of Lozère and part of Haute-Loire as well as the Auvergne and south Dordogne areas of France), in the Margeride Mountains of south-central France between 1764 and 1767.

The killer was thought to be a huge animal, which came to be known simply as “the Beast”; but while the creature’s name remained simple, its reputation soon grew extremely complex. The attacks covered an area spanning 56 by 50 miles. Descriptions of the time vary, and reports may have been greatly exaggerated, owing to public hysteria, but the beast was generally described as a wolf-like canine with a tall, lean frame capable of taking great strides.

It was said to be the size of a calf, a cow, or, in some cases, a horse. It had an elongated head similar to that of a greyhound, with a flattened snout, pointed ears, and a wide mouth sitting atop a broad chest. The beast’s tail was also reported to have been notably longer than a wolf’s, with a prominent tuft at the end. The beast’s fur was described as tawny or russet in color but its back was streaked with black, and a white heart-shaped pattern was noted on its underbelly

Gévaudan was just as mysterious as its monster. “It had the reputation for being a remote, isolated backwater where the forces of nature had not been full tamed, where the forests were indeed enchanted,” says Jay M. Smith, a historian and the author of Monsters of the Gévaudan: The Making of a Beast. It was the perfect place for a Grimm-like fairy tale starring a possibly supernatural creature. But for villagers under attack, reality was more brutal than any book. This isolated region is made up of rocky landscapes and vast woods, its population living in an austere environment.

Witnesses described the Beast as an ambush hunter which stalked its prey and seized it by the throat. The wounds found on the bodies were typically to the head and limbs with the remains of 16 victims reportedly decapitated. The creature prowled in the evenings and in the mornings. The Kingdom of France used a considerable amount of wealth and manpower to hunt the animals responsible, including the resources of several nobles, soldiers, royal huntsmen, and civilians. The number of victims differs according to the source. A 1987 study estimated there had been 610 attacks, resulting in 500 deaths and 49 injuries; 98 of the victims killed were partly eaten. Other sources claim the animal or animals killed between 60 and 100 adults and children and injured more than 30.

Not only was the Beast of Gévaudan said to prefer attacking women and children (and above all small girls), according to firsthand accounts published in the press it often “removed the victim’s head and drank all her blood”, leaving nothing behind but a pile of bones.

Illustrators had a field day representing the Beast, whose appearance was reported to be so monstrous it beggared belief. One poster, printed in 1764, described it as follows: Reddish brown with dark ridged stripe down the back. Resembles wolf/hyena but big as a donkey. Long gaping jaw, six claws, pointy upright ears and supple furry tail — mobile like a cat’s and can knock you over. Cry: more like horse neighing than wolf howling.

The Beast of Gévaudan committed its first recorded attack in the early summer of 1764. A young woman named Marie Jeanne Valet, who was tending cattle in the Mercoire forest near the town of Langogne in the eastern part of Gévaudan, saw a beast “like a wolf, yet not a wolf” come at her. However, the bulls in the herd charged the beast, keeping it at bay. They then drove it off after it attacked a second time.

Shortly afterward The first recorded fatal attack of the Beast occurred on June 30, 1764 when a 14-year-old shepherdess, Jeanne Boulet, tended a flock of sheep. She was killed near the village of Les Hubacs near Langogne. Her death was reported in the parish registers of Saint-Etienne-de-Lugdarès in the Ardèche Department, and marked the first of a long list of people killed by the ferocious beast. The main records of these attacks were the parish registers, where births and deaths were recorded, sometimes specifying the cause of death. These registers mention a “Bête,” the French word for “beast.”

Throughout the remainder of 1764, more attacks were reported across the region. Very soon terror gripped the populace because the beast was repeatedly preying on lone men, women, and children as they tended livestock in the forests around Gévaudan. Most of the victims were illiterate peasants living in a harsh environment, far from the king and his court. People became afraid of going out of their homes or sending their children to the fields. No one dared to go out at night, and villagers added bars to their windows and locks to their doors in the hope of keeping the monster out.

For Gabriel-Florent de Choiseul-Beaupré, bishop of Mende, the most eminent religious authority in Gevaudan, God sent the beast to punish men for their sins. Choiseul-Beaupré published a pastoral letter explaining that the lack of religious education and loose morals, especially among girls and women, attracted God’s fury. He compared the Beast of Gevaudan with other vengeful animals in the Christian tradition, such as snakes or lions.

The bishop used the fear provoked by the beast to serve his own intentions to straighten the peasants up. He urged the population to pray for redemption. Choiseul-Beaupré enhanced the terror, which resulted in the resurrection of old beliefs among the population, such as tales of witches and werewolves.

By late December 1764, rumors had begun circulating that there might be a pair of animals behind the killings. This was because there had been such a high number of attacks in such a short space of time and because many of the attacks appeared to have occurred or were reported nearly simultaneously. Some contemporary accounts suggest the creature was seen with another such animal, while others report that the beast was accompanied by its young.

France was in a slump at the time, on the heels of the Seven Years’ War with Great Britain. The nation had lost battles to Prussia and the British and Louis XV had lost overseas colonies including Canada. First breaking in the Courrier of nearby Avignon, it was quickly taken up by the papers of Paris and from there spread abroad. La Gazette de France, the first weekly newspaper published in France, created under the reign of Louis XIII, was looking for new exciting stories to tell.

The Beast offered a perfect foil to rally around. La Gazette de France spread the news of a beast eating women and children, especially young girls, in Gevaudan and contributed to its growing fame across the kingdom. The story of the Beast, meanwhile, was spreading and covered in newspapers from Boston to Brussels, becoming one of history’s first international media sensations. Almost a hundred articles were published, contributing to the spread of the story of the Beast of Gevaudan.

A German print from September 1764 shows the Beast, looking more like a quadrupedal kangaroo than a wolf or hyena, attacking an improbably well-dressed man in a rather Teutonic-looking landscape.

Along with articles, engravers produced prints of what the beast supposedly looked like; a monstrous furry animal with sharp, deadly teeth. La Gazette and other journals circulated the beast’s image far beyond the country’s borders. Along with it came an unflattering portrait of Louis XV and the affair soon became political. The Beast of Gevaudan exemplified France’s weaknesses. From Great Britain to Boston in North America, people made fun of the French king and his armies, incapable of capturing or killing a single animal, evidence of France’s weakness. Louis XV had to respond. His first act was to reward a young boy’s bravery.

On January 12, 1765, 10-year-old Jacques Portefaix and seven friends ranging from ages eight to 12 were attacked by the beast who took one of them. After several attacks, Portefaix  rallied the group and drove it away by staying grouped together and were able to rescue the young boy from the beast’s teeth. The children succeeded, and they all survived. The encounter eventually came to the attention of Louis XV, who awarded 300 livres to Portefaix and another 350 livres to be shared among his companions. The king also rewarded Portefaix with an education at the state’s expense. He then decreed that the French state would help find and kill the beast.

The king’s next action was to put a price on the beast’s head: there was now a 6,000-livre bounty, equal to a year’s salary for workingmen, on the creature’s head. Hunters came from all over the country and beyond to try to kill the beast and receive the prize. Wolf hunting was an important discipline at the time, as they represented a threat to the sheep and cattle. Professional wolf hunters followed a set of rules established since the 16th century. Dogs helped them in their work, and hunters had to bring back the wolf’s head to receive a prize. Against strong and speedy animals, only the best hunters succeeded.

As the headcount rose in 1764, local officials and aristocrats took action. Étienne Lafont, a regional government delegate, and Captain Jean Baptiste Duhamel, a leader of the Clermont Prince dragoons and his local infantry troops, organize the first concerted attack. At one point, the number of volunteers rose to 30,000 men. Duhamel organized the men along military models, left poisoned bait, and even had some soldiers dress as peasant women in hopes of attracting the beast. For men like Duhamel, the hunt was a way to redeem his honor after the war.

Although extremely zealous in his efforts, non-cooperation on the part of the local herders and farmers stalled Duhamel’s efforts. On several occasions he almost shot the beast, but was hampered by the incompetence of his guards. When the village of Le Malzieu was not present and ready as the beast crossed the Truyère River, Duhamel became frustrated.

“Hunters who are in pursuit have neither been able to stop it, because it is more agile than they,” a local French paper wrote at the end of 1764. “Nor lure it into their traps, because it surpasses them in cunning, nor engage in combat when it presents itself to them, because its terrifying appearance weakens their courage, disturbs their vision, sets their hands shaking, and neutralizes their skill.”

When Louis XV agreed to send two professional wolf hunters from Normandy, Jean Charles Marc Antoine Vaumesle d’Enneval and his son Jean-François, Captain Duhamel was forced to stand down and return to his headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand. Cooperating with d’Enneval was impossible as the two differed too much in their strategies; Duhamel organized wolf hunting parties while d’Enneval and his son believed the beast could only be shot using stealthy techniques.

Jean-Charles, the father, boasted he’d already killed 1,200 wolves, relevant information assuming the predator was, in fact, a wolf. But no one was sure of that. “It is much bigger than a wolf,” wrote Lafont in an early report. “It has a snout somewhat like a calf’s and very long hair, which would seem to indicate a hyena.” Other witnesses claimed the beast had supernatural abilities. “It could walk on its hind feet and its hide could repel bullets and it had fire in its eyes and it came back from the dead more than once and had amazing leaping ability,”

Father and son D’Enneval arrived in Clermont-Ferrand on February 17, 1765, bringing eight bloodhounds that had been trained in wolf hunting. Over the next four months the pair hunted for Eurasian wolves, believing that one or more of these animals was the beast. However, when the attacks continued, the D’Ennevals were replaced in June 1765 by François Antoine (sometimes wrongly identified with his son, Antoine de Beauterne), the king’s 71-year-old sole arquebus (gun) bearer and lieutenant of the Hunt, who arrived in Le Malzieu on June 22. Failing was not an option as the king’s reputation was involved.

Among the most notable tales of bravery was when 19- or 20-year-old Marie-Jeanne Valet was attacked by the Beast on August 11, 1765 while crossing the River Desges with her sister. Armed with a bayonet affixed to a pole, Valet impaled the Beast’s chest. The creature got away, but Valet became known as the “Amazon” and the “Maid of Gévaudan.” Today a statue stands in her honor in the village of Auvers in southern France.

On September 20 or 21, Antoine killed a colossal grey wolf measuring 5 ft 7 inches long and weighing 130 lb, immediately acknowledged as the Beast of Gevaudan. The wolf, which was named Le Loup de Chazes after the nearby Abbaye des Chazes, was said to have been quite large for a wolf. Antoine officially stated: “We declare by the present report signed from our hand, we never saw a big wolf that could be compared to this one. Hence, we believe this could be the fearsome beast that caused so much damage.” Even Marie-Jeanne and her sister recognized the animal as their attacker by the scars on its body inflicted by the victims defending themselves. François Antoine became the hero who killed the famous Beast of Gevaudan.

The wolf was enormous, but no human remains or bones were found in its stomach. Also, it was found in a region far away from previous attacks and villages. Despite these unanswered questions, the wolf of Chazes was immediately and irrevocably recognized as the Beast of Gevaudan. Its body was sent to Versailles to be stuffed and presented to the king. François Antoine, not sure if it was the beast, stayed the following weeks in Gevaudan, and no more attacks were reported.

Antoine stayed in the Auvergne woods to chase down the female partner of the beast and her two grown pups. Antoine succeeded in killing the female wolf and a pup, which seemed already larger than its mother. At the examination of the pup, it appeared to have a double set of dewclaws, a hereditary malformation found in the Bas-Rouge or Beauceron dog breed. The other pup was shot and hit and was believed to have died while retreating between the rocks. Antoine returned to Paris and received a large sum of money (over 9,000 livres) as well as fame, titles, and awards.

But attacks started again in December, according to an account in the 1898 volume of the Parisian Illustrated Review.  On December 2^nd two boys aged 6 and 12 were attacked, suggesting that the beast was still alive. The beast tried to capture the youngest, but it was successfully fought off by the older boy. Later that month successful attacks followed and a young shepherdess of 11 was found dead. Some of the shepherds witnessed that the beast showed no fear around cattle at all unlike previously. A dozen more deaths are reported to have followed attacks near La Besseyre-Saint-Mary.

Nevertheless, for Louis XV, the case was closed. The king had just lost his only son, Louis, Dauphin of France, and the attacks in Gevaudan were the least of his worries. The royal court chose to ignore these new attacks, insisting that Antoine had killed the creature and that they had other matters to attend to. Even the newspapers stopped recounting the attacks of the Beast of Gevaudan. Finally, a sudden outbreak of attacks in early June 1767 compelled a local nobleman, the Marquis d’Apcher, to organize a hunt.

Local farmer Jean Chastel had been involved in a previous hunt, but was thrown in prison by Antoine for leading his men into a bog. But his past crimes turned to bygones when he managed, at last, to bring the creature down with a bullet on June 19, 1767. The killing of the creature that eventually marked the end of the attacks is credited to Chastel, who shot it at the slopes of Mont Mouchet (now called la Sogne d’Auvers) during a hunt organized by a local nobleman, the Marquis d’Apchier, on June 19, 1767. In 1889, Abbot Pourcher told the edifying oral tradition which said that the pious hero Chastel shot the creature after reciting his prayers but the historical accounts do not report any such thing. The story about the large-caliber bullets, home-made with Virgin Mary’s medals, is a literary invention by the French writer Henri Pourrat.

The body was then brought to the castle of Marquis d’Apchier, where it was stuffed by Dr. Boulanger, a surgeon at Saugues. Dr. Boulanger’s post-mortem report was transcribed by notary Marin and is known as the “Marin Report” on the beast. Upon being opened, the animal’s stomach was shown to contain the remains of its last victim and the animal had non-wolf characteristics as described by witnesses. The attacks ended, but while it was assumed that the beast Chastel bagged was the Beast, doubts remained that it was indeed a wolf.

The Marin Report describes the creature as a wolf of unusually large proportions “This animal which seemed to us to be a wolf; But extraordinary and very different by its figure and its proportions of the wolves that we see in this country. This is what we have certified by more than three hundred people from all around who came to see him.”

the corpse of the beast was brought to Paris, in hot sunny weather. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, the naturalist and famous author of the Histoire Naturelle, barely examined the rotten corpse of the beast. It was finally buried in an unknown location, preventing scientists and future generations from studying and unveiling the mystery surrounding the beast of Gevaudan’s true nature.

The king never acknowledged Jean Chastel as the beast’s killer, yet history remembers him as the story’s true hero. The story of the Beast of Gevaudan fascinated people for centuries, and many of them came up with their own theories. Its true nature still perplexes historians and zoologists today.

If there was a real animal behind these sightings and reports, it is obscured by a great deal of folklore. Locals believed it was a werewolf, or, more specifically, a sorcerer who shapeshifted into a monstrous predator in order to feed on human flesh. It was supposed to be bulletproof as well, until the day that a hunter named Jean Chastel tried a silver bullet.

Descriptions of the Beast varied so much that most researchers believe there had to be at least two of the creatures, if indeed the panic wasn’t causing the populace to incorporate almost any large animal into these sightings. The color of the Beast’s fur was especially variable.

According to modern scholars, public hysteria at the time of the attacks contributed to widespread myths that supernatural beasts roamed Gévaudan, but deaths attributed to a beast were more likely the work of a number of wolves or packs of wolves. Attacks by wolves were a very serious problem during the era, not only in France but throughout Europe, with tens of thousands of deaths attributed to wolves in the 18th century alone.

The most prominent theory is that the beast was exactly what the first witness described — a Eurasian wolf. Or, more likely, the Beast of Gévaudan was a particularly aggressive pack of wolves. Gévaudan had a serious wolf infestation.

Wolves are native to the region and had attacked humans before—some statistics show that wolves attacked humans 9,000 times in France between the 17th and 19th centuries. In most cases these types of attacks were by rabid wolves.

There are some potential flaws to the wolf theory, including the frequency of the Beast’s deadly attacks, suggesting it was not a single rabid wolf. Also none of its victims seem to have contracted rabies, suggesting that their attacker also did not carry rabies.

Although there are strong voices arguing multiple theories about the identity of the Beast of Gévaudan, all admit that the truth will never be fully known. Without any genetic or forensic evidence, the Beast of Gévaudan is bound to forever remain a mystery.

Other theories have suggested that the beast was an escaped exotic animal, like a hyena or a lion. Most people in France would have never seen animals like this, so they would appear like mythical beasts.

Karl-Hans Taake, a biologist and author of The Gévaudan Tragedy: The Disastrous Campaign of a Deported ‘Beast,’ argues the Beast may have been an immature male lion. Like the hyena, it is possible that a lion escaped from captivity. The Beast reportedly was an ambush hunter that seized prey by the neck and could possibly decapitate a victim. A lion, Taake argues, could exhibit these predatory behaviors.

Lions have been known to prey upon humans as food sources, such as the famous case of the lions of Tsavo, in which a lion pair killed over 130 victims in under a year. Another supporting fact is that the territory of the Beast, at roughly 56 by 50 miles, aligns with a lion’s typical range.

Eyewitnesses in France at the time were likely not familiar with living lions and what they did know about them came from very stylized imagery. A sub-adult male does not have a fully developed mane and sometimes has a mohawk type of stripe running down its back. This matches descriptions of the beast by eyewitnesses, Taake argues. One hunter at the time, Captain Jean Baptiste Duhamel, wrote, “You will undoubtedly think, like I do, that this is a monster [hybrid], the father of which is a lion. What its mother was remains to be seen.”

There is, in fact, a type of animal that fits the core description of the Beast exactly, but it is extinct, and would hardly be expected to have survived in Europe of all places. This group of animals would be the mesonychids, a presumably extinct group of hoofed predators. The biggest mesonychid looked much like a hyena, and was the size of a horse. Some other reports that may describe mesonychids come from Armenia and Assyria about the year 800, and describe pig-like beasts that are vicious predators, but these have huge, floppy ears instead of the Beast’s tiny round ears. Another possible mesonychid is reported from a more plausible place, the Amazon rainforest of South America. This creature is called the tapire-iauara.

Even today, some believe they were the work of werewolves or meneurs de loups (magical “wolf whisperers”, or “leaders of wolves”, who can command wolves to do their bidding). But most historians now agree that the Gévaudan — a sparsely inhabited, extremely impoverished rural area — was infested with wolves. 250 years since the Beast of Gévaudan last stalked the forests and fields of southern France, its fairy-tale-like legacy looms large.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beast_of_G%C3%A9vaudan, https://www.history.com/news/beast-gevaudan-france-theories, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/beast-gevaudan-terrorized-france-countryside-180963820/, Jay M. Smith’s Monsters of the Gévaudan: The Making of a Beast, https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-beast-of-gevaudan-1764-1767, https://allthatsinteresting.com/beast-of-gevaudan, https://www.thecollector.com/beast-of-gevaudan/

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San Antonio, Texas

San Pedro Springs Park is located in the Bexar County city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. Surrounding the source of the springs, the 46-acre park is the oldest in the state of Texas. It is the location of a Payaya Indian village known as Yanaguana, and is the original site of the city of San Antonio.

The site of San Pedro Springs Park was inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years, long before the Spanish arrived in 1718. The park has numerous archaeological sites relating to both prehistoric peoples and those who used the area from the Spanish Colonial period through the early 20^th century.

Archaeological findings have uncovered evidence that human presence in the area dates back 12,000 years. The bones of mastodons, giant tigers, dire wolves, Colombian elephants and extinct horses have been found here, along with projectile points and stone tools. The earliest recorded inhabitants of the springs were the Payaya people, who referred to their village as Yanaguana. Spanish Franciscian priest Damián Massanet led the first European contact with the area, a military expedition in 1691.

In 1709, Spanish Franciscan missionary Isidro de Espinosa and a retinue of Spanish soldiers traveled to the area. In his diary, Espinoza described the springs in detail and noted they had named it Agua de San Pedro (Waters of Saint Peter). Martín de Alarcón founded the city of San Antonio by establishing San Antonio de Valero and Presidio San Antonio de Bexar at the Springs in 1718. He built an irrigation canal in 1719. The springs and surrounding area became designated as public land by King Philip V of Spain in 1729. When the Canary Islanders began arriving in 1731, they first camped in this area.

The city officially declared it a public park in 1852, making it the oldest park in the state of Texas. By 1856, the U.S. Camel Corps had camel stables on the site. In 1860, Sam Houston stopped here to deliver a two-hour speech opposing the proposed Texas secession from the United States. During the Civil War the park was used as a prisoner of war camp. After the Civil War, Buffalo Soldiers used the park as a training camp.

Park facilities now include a gazebo, swimming pool, restrooms, softball and tennis areas, a playground, a skate plaza, the San Pedro Library, and the San Pedro Playhouse

San Pedro Springs is the second oldest park in the U.S. There are many haunting legends and mysterious tales associated with the San Pedro Springs and Park. For example, Francisco Rodriguez, a Canary Island immigrant to Texas in the 1730’s, is reported to have buried several chests of gold and silver coins near the Springs, perhaps in caves under the northern edge of the Park. He died before telling anyone the location, and they have never been found. The same caves were reputed to have been used as hideouts for bandits in the mid-19th century.

Another legend that persists to this day concerns a tunnel that once connected the Alamo and San Pedro Springs Park. The passageway was supposed to have been formed by a cave that ran much of the distance between the two sites, beginning in the Flag Room at the Alamo. Some say the opening at the San Pedro Park end was in the “bear pit”, a small quarry that was a part of San Antonio’s first zoo and that has been covered since 1897. Others say the tunnel emerged under the gazebo and was so large one could ride a horse through it. Geologists say it’s highly unlikely such a tunnel ever existed because it would have had to go underneath the San Antonio River. Today, there is a tunnel under the Alamo, but it wasn’t built until the 1980s, for the purpose of flood control

There have been reports of park visitors hearing children’s voices and laughter even when there’s no one else in the park. The children were probably kindergarten students at the School of Childhood, which was built in 1878 at 429 W. Dewey Place, where San Antonio College’s McAllister Auditorium now sits across San Pedro Avenue from the park. Teachers of the time probably brought their students to the park to play but life expectancy was shorter then and they likely returned because it was a place of joy. A few passersby even claimed to have spotted childlike wraiths running and playing, perhaps in a game of hide-and-seek or ring around the rosie. Security guards at SAC and even park police have heard the laughter.

There have also been sighted small groups of Native Americans performing a drum ceremony. No one sees them arrive or leave; they just appear and start drumming. Clad in traditional garb, carrying a huge drum and dancing slowly. Skipper Williams, a gentleman of Native American ancestry, has said that the area was Comanche country, and the Indians often held special ceremonies on the sacred nights of the “Comanche moon.” Every year, he said, there are four Comanche moons. According to tradition, a Comanche moon is a full moon in the autumn that is bright enough to allow night travel.

He also said that the park was the site of many Comanche ceremonies and the burial place of their chiefs. The somber drumbeats heard, he said, were part of a funeral dirge.

People who live around the park report being outside and seeing Native Americans at random, day and night. Psychics claim the Indians want their land back, as the springs were a huge part of their identity and the land was taken from them.

The main legend of San Pedro Park is “The Lure of Lolita”. In 1851 a man named Vincent Boone was traveling through San Pedro Park and sought refuge from a storm at the Block House. A very old, dark man who called himself Pedro Lara answered the door and, noticing that Boone carried a large money bag, offered him food and the opportunity to stay the night in a hut nearby. He introduced Boone to Lolita, an extremely beautiful young girl that Lara said was his daughter. Boone was wary of Lara, and decided to spend the night with his gun on his chest and his clothes on.

During the night, Boone heard noises in his hut, struck a match, and saw Lara approaching with a knife. The match went out, and Boone shot into the darkness. He lit another match, but Lara was nowhere to be seen. Then, Lolita ran up to the hut and revealed a trap door that led to a shallow cave where Lara lay dead. She begged Boone for mercy, saying she was not Lara’s daughter but had been bought by him as a young child and had been used time and time again to lure travelers into staying in the hut so Lara could rob and kill them. She said the cave already contained the bodies of two people Lara had killed. Whether or not any of this is true no one can say. But in 1900, city workers were extending San Pedro Avenue past Dwyer Street and found a shallow cave with three skeletons.

Native American and historic sites throughout the park are protected both as state archaeological landmarks and by city ordinances. Visitors to the park are requested to not disturb or collect artifacts from the park grounds.

LOCATION – 800 W Ashby Pl, San Antonio, TX

HOURS – 6 AM – 11 PM Daily

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I thought this was pretty cool because it kind of gives you a feel of just how much paranormal activity is in your life. I got 255 out of 460. Not too shabby!

My home is incredibly haunted and I have quite a few ghostly residents. I have a man I named Frank, a kitty ghost I named Fluffy Frank, and now my sweet Niku. Although Niku doesn’t come around as often as I want him too…. I have seen many a ghost and even those who have come to my home have seen them here. One time, a ghost with a super gravelly voice whispered in my ear while I was sleeping “KNOCK KNOCK” and it freaked me out. I yelled to never do that again and I haven’t heard it since. The ghost kitty likes to rub against your ankles and rubs his nose against you pretty often. I see shadow figures all the time all over my house.

I’ve actually taken part in multiple ouija board events but we have never been able to contact anything, unfortunately. I have seen many an orb and I have caught many orbs on camera. I’ve seen tons of objects move around my house for years. My friends and I have even gone on ghost hunts in haunted hotels and other locations which is always fun! I’ve even gotten a few pics of them on camera. I have also seen a strange black mist in my home floating about two feet off the ground. It was very odd. I walked by and had to do a double take because I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. It disappeared when I walked into the room to better look at it. I still don’t know what it was but it was right where the initial words “Knock knock” were said in my ear.

At the first clinic I worked at, we often heard our names whispered in the women’s bathroom/locker room. No one would be in there and you would hear your name usually when you were in the first stall. Super weird but that clinic was definitely haunted in a few different ways. I love spooky places and I have gone to more haunted places than I can name. If I waited for someone to join me, I would never get anywhere. So I often go alone. I don’t wait for anyone!

This is just a few things I have experienced personally. What are your totals and some of your own experiences? I would love to hear them in the comments below!

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Throughout the world, bridges have been an integral part of numerous civilizations, serving as important landmarks and symbols of progress. Texas has plenty of folklore, but the Donkey Lady Bridge of San Antonio, a popular, fascinating, and mysterious local urban legend, is easily one of the most well-known. A paranormal entity known as the “Donkey Lady” is rumored to lurk near the bridge at Applewhite Road and Elm Creek, seeking vengeance for the horrible tragedy she endured as a young woman.

Located in Central Texas near the town of San Antonio, this bridge has become a popular destination for locals and tourists alike due to its unique story. San Antonio is a city full of history and culture, but many locations throughout the city have stories of ghosts, spirits, and other supernatural phenomena. One hidden gem in the town is the Donkey Lady Bridge and its surrounding area. The Bridge itself is just a short drive from San Antonio, easy to reach and to find, located on the west side of San Antonio, and has been a storied part of local folklore for decades. The true origins of the Donkey Lady Bridge Legend are unknown.

This unassuming San Antonio bridge looks harmless enough during the day but come nighttime, it’s an entirely different story. The charming, lush vegetation seems to press in around you, and there is little light to see your surroundings. Many people claim that the area has a heavy feel to the air and that it always feels like someone is watching you. This, of course, could be the Donkey Lady watching and waiting to terrorize those who venture into her territory. The tale has been around long enough that there are multiple colorful versions of it, some dating back all the way to the 1800s.

This bridge has a varied, historic past, but all origins and accounts lead to the same conclusion: that the bridge is haunted by a spectral being resembling a woman disfigured and resembling a donkey. All iterations of the story come to the same conclusion, however, that the Donkey Lady haunts the area out of pain, grief, and restlessness.

Stories say she was disfigured in a horrible fire started by her husband, others speculate her soul merged with that of her domesticated donkey when they were drowned together. Though many of the details about the Donkey Lady are not agreed upon, they all hold that the Donkey Lady haunts the area around Elm Creek, going after anyone who dares to cross. Some visitors to the bridge claim to have spotted a person with a donkey’s face, others report finding hoof-like indentations on their car. Many claim to hear the sound of rushing hooves. The folklore is worth reading about and the trailheads around the bridge are a lovely visit. Just beware, if the Donkey Lady doesn’t get you the ivy, snakes, or feral hogs might.

One legend dates back to the 1920s and tells of a woman who lived near it throughout her lifetime. Legend has it that she kept donkeys as pets and thus was known as the “Donkey Lady” in these parts. She would sometimes be seen walking along the bridge with her donkeys late at night or early in the morning, which added to her mysterious presence in this area. Although there have been several reports of sightings of this woman over many years, today, no one knows if she still resides nearby or not.

This bridge has become notorious for its supposed paranormal activity. It is said that she was once an ordinary woman living on the outskirts of San Antonio. But one day, something strange happened to her, and she grew donkey-like features and began living in the nearby woods like an animal.

According to local folklore, the woman who was transformed into a half-woman, half-donkey hybrid haunts the area around the bridge at night. It’s said that she can be heard screaming and braying like a donkey while looking for food as she roams nearby woods and creeks. Some say she can even stand on her hind legs and walk upright like a human. Those brave enough to approach her to say that she looks almost human but has long ears, large eyes, and coarse fur covering her body. The legend claims that anyone who sees her will be cursed with bad luck unless they manage to run away quickly enough. Another version of the story claims that the bridge is haunted by a woman whose lower half takes the form of a donkey.

One of the most well-known and worst versions of the story started when a farming family living outside San Antonio met a horrific end. The farmer set fire to his home, murdered his children, and left his wife horribly disfigured. Her fingers were melted down to stumps, creating hoof-like appendages, and the skin on her face was charred and gave her face an elongated, donkey-like appearance. Grieving the loss of her children and the betrayal of her husband, she haunts Elm Creek and torments those who try to cross.

According to another variation of that particular story, it wasn’t the farmer who caused the fire, but a stranger who came across the family in his travels. In this version, the family keeps a donkey, and the stranger begins to beat it mercilessly until they chase him away. Later that night, he returns and sets their home on fire, killing the farmer and the children. The mother forces her way out of the house, screaming in agony, her body already disfigured to resemble a donkey. She chases the cruel arsonists away and falls into the river, but her body is never found.

Local lore suggests that during the late 1800s, a Chinese immigrant woman who was rumored to be a witch was denied entry into San Antonio as her skin color made her an easy target for discrimination. In retaliation for this rejection, she cursed anyone who crossed her path with disaster and misfortune. Eventually, she took refuge near a creek on what is now known as Donkey Lady Bridge and disappeared from public view—but not local memory.

For years, countless tales have been about the mysterious “Donkey Lady” living on or near the bridge. Some say she is an older woman who rides around on her donkey at night, while others claim she was cursed by a witch and still haunts this place today.

If you’re brave enough to seek out the Donkey Lady for yourself, visit the bridge after dark. Some people experience nothing but jitters and the feeling of being watched, but others claim to have seen something out there. Some folks claim to have witnessed a creature with a donkey’s face screaming at them from the window and later found hoof-like indentations on their car. Many people hear rushing hoof-claps when they visit. Simply call out her name, and she just might appear right before your eyes — whether you’re ready for it or not. The best way to get her attention is by honking your horn.

Just like the origins of Donkey Lady, there are also many reports of area locals experiencing odd happenings and even terrifying encounters with the lady herself. One local’s account, found on Weird US, tells the story of how he and his friends went to the bridge at night to see if they could find anything, and then were chased through the woods by the Donkey Lady, who was enraged at their presence. Many others have similar stories, and many also have car dents shaped like hooves and even broken windshields as proof of their ordeals. Residents also believe that if you cross the bridge during a full moon, you will be blessed with good luck for months to come.

A nearby paved trail allows for further exploration as several people have reported that cars are no longer allowed on the bridge. Trailheads close at sunset, you may find others there at night too though. There is limited parking at the entrance of Old Applewhite Trailhead (closest to Donkey Lady Bride), but you may find a spot on the side of the road. The bridge is blocked off to where you can only drive so close. You’ll find the bridge at the intersection of Elm Creek and Applewhite Road, about four miles north of Loop 1604 on the South side of San Antonio. Be aware of your surroundings, wild animals, and locals. Bring water if you plan on walking the entire 14 miles of trail.

2440 W Jett Rd
San Antonio, Texas, 78264
United States

San Antonians up for a good Halloween scare no longer have to drive to an old, dilapidated bridge at night, in a dark corner of the Southside, to hear the legendary Donkey Lady. From midnight Oct. 31 through Nov. 6, they only have to call a local phone number. Each night, a new 45-second message awaits callers to the Donkey Lady Hotline. Her story will unfold in a series of segments as she reflects on present-day San Antonio, according to Marisela Barrera, a performance artist who claims to have had personal contact with the legendary lady.

The Donkey Lady hotline: 210-960-3826.

The hotline itself retains the air of legend, Barrera said. Back in the 1970s and 1980s she’d heard the stories, each with its own neighborhood-specific variations. Friends tell her they used to call the hotline and hear creepy sounds, or sometimes even talk to her if she surprised them by picking up. Other times, callers will hear a prerecorded message, updated daily through Election Day, then every Saturday through Dec. 31. There is no charge for the call.

Whether or not the Donkey Lady is real, she’s a lingering presence in the folklore of central Texas. There’s even a beer named after her.

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South Africa is a country of stark contrast, the beautiful modern cities shares its space with tribal societies that still practice rituals and believe in legends thousands of years old, and vampire creatures are one of the darker legends. the Asasabonsam belongs to the folklore of the Akan and Ashanti of southern Ghana, as well as Côte d’Ivoire of the areas of the Ivory Coast and Togo.

according to A Dictionary of World Mythology, “the hairy Sasabonsam has large blood-shot eyes, long legs, and feet pointing both ways. Its favourite trick is to sit on the high branches of a tree and dangle its legs so as to entangle the unwary hunter.”

The asanbosam is a vampire like creature said to live deep in the forests where it preys mainly upon hunters. It sits on tree tops, and its legs dangle down to the ground. It looks mostly human, except that it has teeth made of iron and its legs are hooks which pick up any one who comes within reach. The Asanbosom is said to drop from the trees at night and drag its victims back into the tree and feast on its victim’s brains and blood.

Similarly is the Sasabonsam. This vampire is very similar to the asanbosam, for they also live in trees and drink the blood of anyone that walks under them. The difference though is in their appearance, while the sasabonsam also looks humaniod, it doesn’t have hooks or iron teeth. Instead, it looks like a mix between a human and bat. Its arms are short and stubby and it has big wings. Some legends say that its wingspan reaches twenty feet.

“In Africa there are any number of folkloric or legendary creatures that subsist on the blood of the living, but these are not truly the undead.”

John L. Vellutini, Editor of the Journal of Vampirology, Interview 2016

Danger Level: Dangerous

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It is estimated that over the course of only 300 years, from the 14th to the 17th century, up to 100,000 people were executed in Europe on the charge of being werewolves. France and Germany especially found themselves under attack by these supernatural creatures, and in both countries the lycanthropy “epidemics” caused a real collective fear.

The werewolf could sometimes be the victim of a curse, but more often he was seen as a worshiper of Satan. Since turning into a wolf was considered the result of magical arts, lycanthropy trials fell into the wider phenomenon of witch-hunt.

The werewolf of Ansbach was a man-eating wolf that attacked and killed an unknown number of people in the Principality of Ansbach (in the area around the modern Bavarian city of the same name) in 1685, then a part of the Holy Roman Empire before being executed in a manner befitting a convicted human criminal. this lupine menace began by taking an unusual amount of the livestock being grazed in the countryside. Soon it began to turn its attention to those tending the animals, mostly women and children in Ansbach. The number of peasants the wolf killed is unknown, but its depredations were such that, during a period when people lived with wolves and occasionally lost their lives to the creatures, fear spread through the region.

The idea immediately spread that this was no normal wolf, but rather a werewolf — on whose identity there was little doubt: the detested Michael Leicht, Bürgermeister of Ansbach (a figure halfway between a mayor and a ruler), had recently died after subjecting the town to its cruel and fraudulent yoke for many years. , and his death was unlamented. It was soon rumored that the evil magistrate had returned from the grave as a werewolf, and was seeking revenge on those who cared so little for his death. It was rumored that this much-hated public officer had actually managed to escape death by transferring his spirit into the body of a wolf. Some swore they saw him attend his own funeral; a contemporary flyer shows Michael Leicht who, in the form of a wolf wrapped in a white-linen shroud, returns to his old apartment, scaring the new tenants. Soon there was a concerted effort to slay the creature and banish the late, lycanthropic Bürgermeister.

Thus hunting the fierce wolf became an imperative not only in order to protect children from further carnage, but to free the city from the spirit of the Burgomaster still haunting those places, and to avenge years of harassment. The hunters prepared a Wolfsgrube. This “wolf pit” consisted of a hole with stone walls, about three or four meters deep, covered with branches and straw, and it was used to trap wild animals. Pieces of raw meat were placed at the bottom of the well, and often a live bait was used: a sheep, a pig or a goose. The wolf, smelling the prey, would wander around the scrubs until it fell into the trapping pit.

The great mob found the troublesome (were)wolf, and tirelessly pursued it with hounds across the country. Wolves have impressive stamina, but eventually, the Werewolf of Ansbach needed a rest, and so it leaped down the Wolfsgrube. The dogs stood baying above, leading their masters to the trapped beast, which of course had no means of escaping. It was slain with a variety of weapons, including cudgels and pitchforks (every angry peasant mob needs the latter). Surprisingly, though, the wolf did not resume its human form upon being beaten, which ran contrary to accepted werewolf-lore, and remained lupine.

Either from embarrassment or unwavering faith in the true nature of the animal, the wolf was then treated as if it were human. After skinning the animal, the men severed its muzzle and placed on its head a mask with Leicht’s features; they dressed it with a wig and a cloak so it came to resemble the deceased Bürgermeister, and Triumphantly paraded the corpse through Ansbach. the wolf was hung from a gibbet erected on a nearby hill for all to see, so that it was clearly visible This was a common practice for human criminals whose bodies served as a warning.

On the one hand, depriving the wolf of his fur and replacing it with human clothes meant showing Satan himself that his tricks did not work. The townspeople of Ansbach were able to recognize the man concealing under the fur; this was therefore a warning, addressed to the Devil himself

On the other hand, there was an undeniable political aspect. This was a “by proxy” execution of the former ruler; the commoners, who had failed to overthrow their oppressor while he was alive, did so post-mortem.

A translated poem from the time written by Franz Ritter von Kobell reads:

I, wolf, was a grim beast and devourer of many children
Which I far preferred to fat sheep and steers;
A rooster killed me, a well was my death.
I now hang from the gallows, for the ridicule of all people.
As a spirit and a wolf, I bothered men
How appropriate, now that people say:
“Ah! You damned spirit who entered the wolf,
You now swing from the gallows disguised as a man
This is your fair compensation, the gift you have earned;
This you deserve, a gibbet is your grave.
Take this reward, because you have devoured the sons of men
Like a fierce and ferocious beast, a real child eater. “

Sources: https://historycollection.com/12-real-werewolf-cases-throughout-history/7/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_of_Ansbach, https://www.bizzarrobazar.com/en/2018/11/27/il-licantropo-di-ansbach/

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San Antonio, Texas

Nestled in the heart of San Antonio along Salado Creek, Victoria’s Black Swan Inn sits on 35 acres of lush grounds, covered in 100 year old oak and pecan trees, lavish gardens, and lawns.  From the charming patio with its large stone fountain and wrap around veranda, to the beautiful garden enclosed gazebo, the property is a unique country setting.  Dense woods isolate it from the rest of the world in a quiet spot of city. Victoria’s Black Swan Inn, named after Shakespeare’s favorite bar, is a charming local venue for weddings, memorials, and bachelorette parties. It’s also a paint-chipped monument to San Antonio history, possessing a nationally recognized paranormal reputation. Victoria’s Black Swan Inn is said to be one of the Top Ten Haunted Places in Texas.

The Greek-revival style plantation house, constructed in 1867 on the historic site of the 1842 Battle of Salado, has been a home to some of the most prestigious people in San Antonio’s history.  The hauntingly romantic house sits on a grassy knoll overlooking the Salado Creek in San Antonio.  Just 20 years before it was built, the site is where General Caldwell and his men massacred over 60 Mexican soldiers in the bloody Battle of Salado, defending the Republic of Texas.

From before 5000 B.C. to around 1000 A.D the area was the site of Native American encampments. Artifacts from this time can still be found here. Archeologists have provided evidence showing that Native Americans once lived in the area where the house currently sits.  There have also been signs of a sweat lodge where Native Americans performed rituals.  An ancient Indian burial ground is thought to be under the house.  There have been stories of  boys fishing in Salado Creek being chased away by what appears to be Native American ghosts.  Some people have said they smell smoke and hear a light drum sound.

On September 18, 1842 General Adrian Woll, Sam Houston and his men massacred more than  60 Mexican soldiers during the bloody Battle of Salado.  . The battle was another attempt by Mexico to reclaim the territory it had lost after the Battle of San Jacinto, but like the others since 1836, it was a failure. Their bodies were left to rot where they fell.  Only one Texan lost his life, Steven Jett, during the battle.  There have been sightings of a ghostly confederate soldier near the gazebo in front of Victoria’s Black Swan Inn.  The sound of a military bugle is heard on occasion.  In 1936, the property was designated as a Battle of Salado historic site by the State of Texas during the 1936 Centennial Celebration.

Historical Marker Reads:

THE BATTLE OF THE SALADO

Decisive in Texas History, was fought here, September 18, 1842. Col. Mathew Caldwell and Capt. John C. Hays, commanding a force of Texas volunteers, opposed the Mexican army under General Adrian Woll that had captured San Antonio, and, with the loss of only one man, checked the last Mexican invasion of Texas and thereby prevented the capture of Austin, capital of the Republic of Texas.

Thirty-five years later, German immigrants, Heinrich “Henry” Mahler and Marie Biermann Mahler, bought the property on January 10, 1887.  They built the first house on the property in 1887.  Their children were Samuel George Mahler, Louisa Catherine Mahler Prange, Sara “Suzie” Mahler Schlegel, Daniel Henry Mahler.  They also built a milking barn and named the farm Bluebonnet Dairy.  Henry and Sam were known as the Cotton Kings and lived on the property with 200 acres after Marie died. The Mahlers ran the dairy farm here until the mid-1930s. Carl Mahler from Germany had a daughter named Sophia Louise Mahler Meyers, a spinster who lived in the house until she was 82 but haunts the house as an 8-year-old girl singing and laughing and known for playing tricks on people

According to psychics and EVP Audio, Gustov is believed to be one of the three spirits that haunts the dairy barn. His ghost is figure that appears to have a head, arms and what looks like to be wearing a tank top, looks at people through a window on the thermal imaging camera.  He also makes loud noises.  The barn that still stands to this day is the location where Henry ran his prized dairy. Many believe he haunts the barn because he loved it so much and roams the property, including inside the main house.  There is supposedly another big burly German man who haunts the barn although no one is quite sure who he is but he is likely to be Sebastian Rippstein.  All three of the spirits in the barn are aggressive towards women but do not like men. EVP’s have been captured of a deep voice telling people to “GET OUT!”. In the front yard and house there seems to be a spirit of a child, a little girl who many believe is Sara Mahler, Henry’s daughter. She likes to play and jump on mattresses and pulls pranks in a building located behind the Black Swan. Sebastian also haunts inside the house.

Henry and Marie’s son, Dan, and his wife, Mary Mahler, lived on the property with 237 acres.  They sold the house and surrounding land to two sisters and their husbands in 1941. Katherine S. Joline Holbrook and Joseph “John” Younger Holbrook, along with Mary Blanche Joline Woods and Claude B. Woods purchased the property.  The sisters called the house White Gables.  They conducted extensive remodeling, adding two wings to enlarge the mansion to accommodate the two families.  The house was then called “White Gables”.  After purchasing more land a second house was built in 1901 but it later burnt down.

Psychics have also identified the elderly Mrs. Woods, Joline’s mother, ensconced in a small bedroom in the south wing.  There, the spirit of a young woman if often spotted, seated on the bed. Those lucky enough to catch sight of this female ghost often liken her to a young Mrs. Woods. She spent several years confined here before she had to be placed in a nursing home.  Although her final resting place was actually in one of the downstairs bedrooms. It’s in that room that many experience an overwhelmingly oppressive heaviness and a feeling of sadness.

Attorney Hall Park Street, Jr. and Joline Woods Street.  They inherited the house in 1952 from Joline’s mother, Claude Woods.  After the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Holbrook and Mr. Woods, Mrs. Woods lived in the house with her son-in-law, Park, and her daughter, Joline.  During this time a second story was added to the main house.  While Park and Joline owned the property Earle Stanley Gardner visited the house and wrote some of his famed Perry Mason television series scripts here.  Joline died of breast cancer in 1959.  Park, Jr. was later found dead in 1965 hung by a neck tie with his hands tied behind his back…the death was ruled a suicide.  They were survived by their daughter, Joline “Jingles”, who was only 19 at the time and their son, Hall Park Street III.

A psychic consultant with Syfy’s television program Sightings communicated with former resident, Hall Park Street, whom he believed was murdered in a south wing closet, then moved to another location, where the murderer made the death look like a suicide. They believe Street was killed because of a treasure he still guards in the south wing.  Others believe that Heinrich’s ghost drove Park to commit suicide.  The most unnerving spectral presence at the property is that of a man who has been spotted stalking angrily all over the house. Rumor has it that he is the ghost of Hall Park Street. Is he perhaps looking for his beloved wife Joline, whose spirit is also said to haunt the Inn after tragedy struck her at the tender age of thirty-eight when she died of cancer? Dressed in a luxurious white gown with a beaded jeweled medallion in from of headband with a feather at the back over her dark hair, this is a very beautiful female spirit roams the property aimlessly, especially around the gazebo, but Park and Joline never seem to meet.

George L Mehren and Ingeborg Mehren bought the house in 1973 from Hall Street Park III, Joline S. and her husband, James Patrick Robinson.  She renamed it “Mehren House”.  The house was remodeled, including a large kitchen area to hold larger dinners, conferences, and receptions. Ingeborg had a distinguished guest, Franz Wilhelm, the Prince of Prussia, who stayed at the house during an extended stay in San Antonio.  Ingeborg later planned to use the property for the Mehren House subdivision as a Salado Investment. In 1980 the Mehren’s sold the property to E. Werner Schmidt.  Ernst Werner Schmidt sold the property to Sunbelt Self Storage, Inc. in 1987.

Sunbelt Self Storage, Inc. sold the property to current owner, Jo Ann Marks Andrews, now Jo Ann Marks Rivera, in 1991.  She named the house “Victoria’s Black Swan Inn”, after one of William Shakespeare’s favorite pubs.  Out of the Black Swan, she based her Victorian garment manufacturing business, and later began renting out the space as a venue for special events. The house is Jo Ann’s private residence and her children, Victoria Ann, Nathaniel Robert Rivera, Madison Renee Rivera, as well as her friend, Phil Martin Ross and grandson, Elijah Everitt Rivera who is Victoria’s Son.  Jo Ann’s other daughters, Rachel Lauran Maze and Meredith Rose Maze also lived in the house.  Jo Ann’s mother, Fay Nell Marks, spent a lot of time at the house and passed away in her bedroom after an illness.

Doors would swing open and slam shut at random intervals. Other paranormal phenomena at the Black Swann Inn include notable dips in temperature, unexplainable noises and lights that are often turned off and on at random. Lights would mysteriously flicker on. In one bedroom where her young children circulated through, they described the presence of a “shadow man” who would talk to them and sometimes pinch them while they slept. Rivera would notice bruises on her daughter’s legs mornings following these reports. The Rivera family adopted nightly rituals, setting boundaries with the spirits, which ultimately proved helpful. Respect the spirits and they’ll respect you back. The same rules apply to people.

Rivera recounts a time a repair crew was working upstairs and mentioned that there was a blonde toddler in a blue dress sitting alone in one of the vacant bedrooms. When she went upstairs to check, the child was gone. After over 30 years living at the Black Swan, a place entrenched in history that seems to attract and foster paranormal frequencies, Rivera says she typically experiences some sort of paranormal activity on a daily basis. At the Black Swan, the undead are just a fact of life.

The home has had several paranormal investigators visit it over the years.  In December 1996, the television show “Sightings” filmed a segment at Victoria’s Black Swan Inn.  The house was also featured in the Travel Channel’s TV series “Ghost Adventures” in 2013.  During this time some of Texas’ most famous musicians, such as George Strait, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Flaco Jimenez have performed and filmed here.  Numerous artisans, film makers, and photographers have also filmed and worked on the property. 

While setting up for an event in 2015, there were several strange, unexplained occurrences.  One person was bitten and bruised on the inner thigh by an unseen toddler through a long heavy dress.  Another person was pinched by a little girl and boy ghosts. Objects were randomly relocated throughout the woods when no one was around. 

The Black Swan still regularly hosts events and experiences, like the popular “Haunted Cocktail Hour” and now operates a series of ghost tours. Rivera raised three of her five children in the building, and still lives there with her partner, a lawyer named Philip Ross. It continues to be a venue for weddings, the Black Swan Artisan Market, paranormal investigations, historic tours, and several other types of social events throughout the year including the Masquerade Ball in October. 

Below are just a few of the images that I have taken when I went to visit Victoria’s Black Swan Inn:

If you are interested in visitng for their artisan markets, festivals, or other events, visit their website for more information!

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Familiar: No
Spirit Animal: No
Spirit Guide: No
Totem: No
Mythical: No
Supernatural: Yes
Cryptid: No
Urban Legend: No
Creepypasta: No

The Chonchon is a mythical bird from Mapuche religion also present in Chilean and southern Argentine folk myth. The Chonchon is the magical transformation of a kalku (Mapuche sorcerer). It is said only the most powerful kalkus can aspire to master the secret of becoming this feared creature.

The kalku or sorcerer would carry out the transformation into a Chonchon by an act of will and being anointed by a magical cream in the throat that eases the removal of the head from the rest of the body, with the removed head then becoming the creature. The Chonchon has the shape of a human head with feathers and talons; its ears, which are extremely large, serve as wings for its flight on moonless nights. Chonchons are supposed to be endowed with all the magic powers of, and can only be seen by other kalkus, or by wizards that want this power. Sorcerers take the form of the chonchon to better carry out their wicked activities, and the transformation would provide them with other abilities, such as drinking the blood of ill or sleeping people.

Although the fearsome appearance of a chonchon would be invisible to the uninitiated, they would still be able to hear its characteristic cry of “tue tue tue”, which is considered to be an extremely ill omen, usually predicting the death of a loved one.

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South Africa is a country of stark contrast, the beautiful modern cities shares its space with tribal societies that still practice rituals and believe in legends thousands of years old, and vampire creatures are one of the darker legends.

In Zulu/Xhosa mythology, Tikoloshe, Tikolosh, Tokoloshe, Tokolotshe, or Hili is a mischievous dwarf-like water sprite African folklore taking the form of a short little man, living in the water, and being friendly to children. It looks like a freakish baboon and can be found in the southernmost African plains. The tikoloshe is a kind of psychic vampire that doesn’t feed upon blood, but instead on the energy of its victims.

Tokoloshes are called upon by malevolent people to cause trouble for others. At its least harmful, a tokoloshe can be used to scare children, but its power extends to causing illness or even the death of the victim. The creature might be banished by a pastor (especially with an apostolic calling), who has the power to expel it from the area. It is also considered a part of superstition and is often used in a satirical manner as a reference to overcome.

It is best known for it horrific sexual appetite – most stories tell of this monster raping and then feeding off of the life force of women. Some say that a witch-doctor can trap and destroy a tikoloshe’s powers by luring it with milk.

The client – usually a jealous person – will approach an evil witch doctor to take vengeance on someone. The client has to promise the soul of a loved one, but cannot choose who, as the Tikoloshe will choose the soul it decides to take. The witch doctor locates a dead body to be possessed, piercing the eye sockets and brain with a hot iron rod so that it cannot think for itself, and sprinkling it with a special powder, shrinking the body. The Tikoloshe is then let loose to terrorise its target, taking its payment of the soul of the client’s loved one weeks, months, or maybe years later.

According to legend, the only way to keep the Tokoloshe away at night is to put a few bricks beneath each leg of one’s bed.

The advent of the phantom Tokoloshe came about through Bantu folklore to explain why people inexplicably died while sleeping in their rondavels at night. Traditionally, these people slept on the floor on grass mats encircling a wood fire that kept them warm during sub-freezing cold winter nights on the highveld in the rarefied air.

They never realized the fire was depleting the oxygen levels, leaving noxious carbon monoxide, which is heavier than pure air and sinks to the bottom. Eventually it was realized that anyone who happened to be sleeping in an elevated position escaped the deadly curse of Tokoloshe, which was described as a short man about hip high who randomly stole one’s life in the night unless they were lifted to the height of their bed.

“Some Zulu people (and other southern African tribes) are still superstitious when it comes to things like the supposedly fictional tokoloshe—a hairy creature created by a witch doctor to harm his enemies (also … known to bite off sleeping people’s toes).”

Danger Level: Unsafe

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