The Ghasts on Hangman’s Hill
The Unquiet Dead
The unquiet dead form a large part of the work carried out by spooks. Being seventh sons of seventh sons, we can see and hear the dead and have conversations with their spirits. Ghasts we can do nothing about, but with ghosts our rate of success is high.
Unlike priests, who try to exorcise ghosts using the ritual of bell, book, and candle, we talk directly to them, as you would to a living person. Our first priority is to find out why they have become trapped on earth. This is usually a consequence of some crime they have committed or their own sudden violent death. Many do not even realize they are dead. After convincing them that this is so, the next step is to persuade them to think of a happy memory from their former life. Concentration upon that usually solves the problem and gives them sufficient peace of mind to be able to find their way through the mists of limbo to the light.
The art of speaking to the dead must be practiced and the necessary skills developed. Some spooks are better at this than others. To be effective in this regard, we must empathize with ghosts and understand their pain and disorientation.1
SYMBOLS USED FOR THE UNQUIET DEAD
These are usually marked close to where the spirit lurks, perhaps carved into a tree or door. A Greek letter gamma (see opposite) is used for both ghosts and ghasts. The type of spirit is indicated at the top right. In this case, the letter sigma labels it as a strangler ghost.
Note the ranking system used: to the bottom right of the main symbol is a number; ranks 1 to 5 are ghosts; 6 to 10 are ghasts. In the example here, the strangler is a rank 3.
Abhuman spirits are indicated by the Greek letter alpha. They are not classified into types, but a ranking is given from 1 to 10.
Abhuman Spirits
Abhuman spirits are human souls that have degenerated and fallen so far from their former condition that they are more akin to beasts, sometimes taking the form of hybrids, half human, half animal. This is often a result of spending a long time trapped in limbo or having committed some terrible crime on earth.
An Abhuman
A Group of Abhumans
Although a spirit can usually be persuaded to go to the light by focusing upon a happy memory of its former life, this always proves far more difficult when dealing with abhuman spirits. Often they cannot remember much of their existence on earth, much less any brief periods of happiness.
Most of these poor unfortunates cannot be helped by a spook and are doomed to exist in that tormented condition until the end of time itself. Nevertheless, if the opportunity presents itself, it is still worth making the effort to free them from that miserable existence.2
Ghasts
Ghasts are fragments of spirits that have been able to move on to the light only by leaving the evil part of themselves behind. Their behavior is repetitive and compulsive: Over and over again they repeat some act that they once performed when they were alive. Often it is a crime such as murder, but occasionally they are the victims.
The largest ghast visitation in the County takes place on Hangman’s Hill, where, after a savage battle during their civil war, a large number of soldiers were executed. They can sometimes be seen there, hanging from the trees as they slowly choke to death.3
Ghasts feed upon terror. It makes them stronger. They are ranked from 6 to 10. Most people would be hardly aware of a 10, but those of the highest rank sometimes drive people insane from pure fear. Sometimes they try to touch the living with their cold fingers or even squeeze the throat or press on the chest to make breathing difficult.
The house in Horshaw, where I was born, harbors the ghast of a miner in the cellar. As soon as their training commences, I take all my apprentices there to see if they have sufficient courage to face the dark. I also attempt from time to time to deal with ghasts myself, but so far without success. As yet a spook can do nothing about such entities, and we must continue
to search for a way to get rid of them. It is fortunate that they fade slowly over time, eventually disappearing altogether.
Ghosts
Ghosts are full spirits still trapped on earth and unable to pass on, either because they are victims or have committed some heinous crime. Some may be bound to the scene of their crime; some to their own grave. Occasionally they have a message for those still alive and may linger for years, waiting for the opportunity to pass this on.
Ghosts are ranked from 1 to 5; strangler ghosts are always ranked from 1 to 3. A rank 1 strangler, although rare, is extremely dangerous and can asphyxiate its victims. Ghosts can choose whether or not to make themselves visible.
There are, very rarely, other visitations from beyond the grave. These never make themselves directly visible but sometimes cast a shadow. More usually there is a noise in the air—a cracking or tearing sound, as if the very fabric of our world is being ripped asunder and an entrance created. Very occasionally there is a physical sensation of warmth that announces the presence. I have never experienced such a phenomenon myself but have spoken to other spooks who have, and I’m convinced of the truth of such encounters. I suspect that such visitations come directly from the light and are both powerful and benign.4
A CONVERSATION WITH A STRANGLER GHOST
In the third year after the death of my master, Henry Horrocks, I was summoned to Balderstone to deal with a suspected strangler ghost. Three deaths had occurred in less than a year, in a hamlet that had only forty remaining inhabitants. I was able to view the most recent corpse but was unable to interrogate its spirit, which had already moved on to the light.
Only rarely can strangler ghosts kill people; I knew that if this was what I was dealing with, then it must be exceptionally powerful, because it had exerted enough pressure to actually leave finger marks on the victim’s throat. And there was a chance that the murderer was human. There are many examples in the County record of killers who have attempted to blame supernatural agencies for the deaths they have been charged with. But in this case all the victims had died on the western edge of the hamlet, close to a small dell, and that’s where I eventually found the strangler.
There was no moon and the night was dark, with heavy cloud cover and hardly a breath of wind. I saw the ghost as a faint column of light moving through the trees toward the village. The strangler was no doubt seeking out its next victim. When I called out to it, the column of light halted and then proceeded swiftly in my direction. No doubt it thought I’d be easy prey. Stranglers and other ghosts are deterred by groups of people and are always more likely to manifest themselves to lone humans.
When it was no more than a staff’s length away, it halted for a moment, at which point it became aware that I was not the easy victim it had anticipated. Nonetheless it attacked me, and I felt it place its cold fingers around my throat. It tried to choke me, but a seventh son of a seventh son has a degree of immunity, and it lacked the strength to do me any serious harm. So I tried to talk to it.
“How came you here?” I demanded. “Why are you bound to this place?”
“Love this dark dell,” replied the strangler. “Killed many here before they caught me. Three women, a child, and an old man. Put my hands around their necks and squeezed until they struggled no more. But they caught me at last. . . .”
“Did you hang?”
“Nay. They kicked me with their heavy boots until all my bones were broken. Battered me until my spirit fled my body to escape the pain. Here I am now. Can’t go too far from this place, but it’s not so bad. Not so bad at all. Three I’ve taken in the last few months. So good, it is. So nice to put my cold fingers around warm plump necks!”
“You must leave here now,” I warned him. “Each life you take only makes it harder for you. Go to the light. Go now while you still can!”
“What chance have I got of ever reaching the light?” the strangler asked in a melancholy voice.
“It’s difficult, but it can be done,” I explained. “Think of a happy memory. The moment on this earth w
hen you were most happy!”
There was silence for over a minute; then at last the strangler spoke. “I remember one summer’s morning when I was hardly higher than my mam’s knee. She’d just given me a good slapping for doing something wrong—I can’t remember what—when I saw a large butterfly hovering over a clump of long-stemmed dog daisies. It had red wings that shone in the sunlight, and I remember feeling so jealous that it should look that way when I was ugly and misshapen myself—my mam always said I should never have been born. It just didn’t seem fair that it should be able to fly as well, when all I could do was hobble about.
“So when it settled on a flower head, I seized it quickly and pulled off both its wings. That showed it! Now it was just an ugly little insect and couldn’t fly. I felt happier and better than I had in a long time. Aye, I remember that morning well. It taught me how I could make myself feel better by hurting others.”
At that, I knew that the strangler was beyond salvation. Part of me felt sorry for that poor twisted spirit. It sounded as if he had endured a difficult childhood. But others are afflicted by worse and yet still rise above their pain. My duty was clear.
“Look toward the light!” I cried. “You should be able to see it now . . .”
“I can’t see the light. Just a gray swirling mist . . .”
“Enter the mist and you’ll find it. The light is just beyond it. Do it now!”
Within moments the column of light faded. But I had tricked it. The ghost was too tainted by its evil ways to ever reach the light. I had sent it off into the gray mists of limbo. The light did indeed lie beyond that region—I hadn’t lied about that. But the strangler ghost had no hope of reaching it and would wander in limbo, perhaps for all eternity. It was cruel, but it had to be done. My first duty is always to the County and its inhabitants. No more people would die in that dell at the hands of the strangler.
This sketch is of a creature I glimpsed at dusk on the edge of Crow Wood. Whether demon or elemental, I am not sure. I raised my staff toward it and it flittered away into the gloom, never to be seen again. There are many unknown entities at large in the County. We must continue to observe and record; a spook’s work is never done. – John Gregory
* * *
1 Having completed my training as a spook, I was very disappointed to be unable to send the ghosts of my mam and dad to the light. Abe died in an accident; Amelia killed herself because she could not bear to live on alone. Still they haunt the mill. I have returned to Chipenden to ask my former master, John Gregory, to see if he can do anything for them. —Bill Arkwright
I tried my best but could not send them to the light. The dead husband could leave but refuses to do so without his wife. For some reason all my skill and experience in dealing with such matters proved useless. —John Gregory
The water witch Morwena revealed that the Fiend had prevented Arkwright’s mam, Amelia, from going to the light. That explains why all the efforts to free her came to nothing. Then I bargained with the Fiend, agreeing to go out onto the marsh and face Morwena if, in exchange, he would release Amelia’s soul. Now at last she and her husband, Abe, are at peace. —Tom Ward
2 Within the Ord, the citadel of the Ordeen, I saw a large number of abhuman spirits. They had degenerated as a result of passing back and forth between this world and the realm of the dark. It would have been impossible to free them by the usual means of talking them through to the light. —John Gregory
3 As a child, I was terrified by the ghasts on that hill. I could hear them swinging on the branches and choking as they hanged. When it got really bad and I couldn’t sleep, my mam went alone up the hill and made them quiet for more than a month, something that not even a spook can do. —Tom Ward
4 On the way back from Greece on board the Celeste, I had such an experience. I believe it was Mam returning briefly to say good-bye and let me know that she was all right. —Tom Ward
The Minotaur
Demons
Demons, like boggarts, are spirit entities, but they are much more powerful and intelligent. They have complete control of their shape and appearance, becoming visible or invisible at will. They also have highly developed language skills. Some of them aspire to be gods, like the Old Gods, and spend their time trying to augment their power at the expense of their human victims. The stronger ones want to be worshipped.
They do not dwell in the dark like the Old Gods, who pass into our world through portals. Demons are bound to this world, usually frequenting a particular location from which they cannot wander far.1 Although they are less powerful than the Old Gods, they can be extremely dangerous.
Bugganes
The buggane is a category of demon that frequents ruins and usually materializes as a black bull or a hairy man, although other forms are chosen if they suit its purpose. In marshy ground, bugganes have been known to shape shift into wormes (see under Water Beasts, page 200).
The buggane makes two distinctive sounds—either bellowing like an enraged bull to warn off those who venture near its domain, or whispering to its victims in a sinister human voice. It tells the afflicted that it is sapping their life force, and their terror lends the demon even greater strength. Covering one’s ears is no protection—the voice of the buggane is heard right inside the head. Even the profoundly deaf have been known to fall victim to its insidious sound. Those who hear the whisper die within days unless they slay the buggane first. It stores the life force (see Animism Magic, page 120) of each person it slays in a labyrinth, which it constructs far underground.
A Buggane
Bugganes are immune to salt and iron, which makes them hard to kill and to confine. The only thing they are vulnerable to is a blade made from silver alloy, which must be driven into the heart of the buggane when it has fully materialized.
Another source of their strength is the alliance they sometimes make with witches or mages: In return for human sacrifices, they will destroy an enemy.
They are most common on the Isle of Mona, which lies to the northwest of the County coast, where a particularly dangerous one haunts a ruined chapel at the foot of Greeba Mountain. Bugganes, like some types of boggart, are occasionally open to persuasion or may be prepared to move location in exchange for something they badly want.
Harpies
These are said to be female; they are winged, and descend upon their prey faster than a stone falls through the air. The only warning that they are heading in your direction is a stench that is carried toward the victim no matter which way the wind is blowing. Sent out by Zeus, the former leader of the Old Gods, they hunt down those who have displeased him, to rend and tear them apart with their sharp claws. The bodies of the slain are contaminated by their visit, along with the surrounding land; plants and animals die, and nothing will grow in the soil there for many decades afterward.
Harpies
These observations were recorded from the ancient writings of the Greek spooks, but it seems likely to me that harpies never existed. Sightings of flying lamias probably gave birth to this legend. Without evidence we must always be skeptical. Note also that Zeus is no longer the leader of the Old Gods and through lack of worship has declined in power.
Kelpies
The kelpie is a type of malevolent demon that lives in rivers and lakes and has a great hunger for human flesh. It’s a shape shifter that usually takes the form of a black horse or pony. It allows a human to ride on its back before galloping into the water to drown him. If particularly hungry, it bites off the feet of its victim.
A Kelpie
The kelpie loves extreme weather conditions and often manifests itself during thunderstorms, when it shape shifts into a very hairy man, leaps out of the water and crushes its victim to death, snapping every bone in the process. Whether in the form of a man or a horse, however, a kelpie’s teeth are barbed and slope backward. Once it has bitten into flesh, it is almost impossible to pry its jaws open. A kelpie can be bound with a silver chain—though only with difficulty, because o
f its great agility. Like other demons, it is vulnerable to a silver blade.
Selkies
Selkies are water demons and usually live in the sea, appearing in the shape of a seal. But they can also take the form of a beautiful woman and live on land undetected. In this guise, selkies have been known to live with an unsuspecting man for years at a time. Selkies are benign creatures and like music, particularly sad songs. They are essentially lonely and thrive on human companionship. But they age very slowly indeed, and if one does choose to live with a man, her youth can attract the attention of neighbors, particularly jealous women. Although harmless in themselves, their presence makes people uneasy and nervous, given that they are a type of demon. Then a spook may be called in to help.
The best way to deal with a selkie is to hunt the creature, usually with dogs, which attempt to catch it and tear it to pieces. If the selkie escapes, she returns to the sea and again takes on the shape of a seal.2
Strigoi and Strigoica
Strigoi are masculine; strigoica are feminine. These vampiric (blood-drinking) demons live in Romania, mostly in the province of Transylvania. Often content to exist for years in spirit form, many eventually choose to possess the living; when their host dies, they move on to seize another body. Others prefer to animate the dead and choose a corpse soon after it has been buried.
These demons enter a living host through a cut or wound. Romanians are so fearful of this that they will endure the pain of cauterization—the wound being burned with a hot poker to seal it against that threat. The dead have no defense, and strigoi and strigoica follow wormholes into a corpse.