Will O Wisp

In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp or ignis fatuus (pronounced [ˈiɲis ˈfatu.us]; Medieval Latin for '"fool's fire"') is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travelers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in English folk belief, English folklore and much of European folklore by a variety of names, including jack-o'-lantern, friar's lantern, hinkypunk and hobby lantern, and is said to mislead travelers by resembling a flickering lamp or lantern. In literature, will-o'-the-wisp metaphorically refers to a hope or goal that leads one on but is impossible to reach, or something one finds sinister and confounding.

Will-o'-the-wisp appears in folk tales and traditional legends of numerous countries and cultures; notable will-o'-the-wisp include St. Louis Light in Saskatchewan, The Spooklight in southwestern Missouri, Marfa lights of Texas, the Naga fireballs on the Mekong in Thailand, the Paulding Light in Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Hessdalen light in Norway. While urban legends, folklore, and superstition typically attribute will-o'-the-wisps to ghosts, fairies, or elemental spirits, modern science often explains them as natural phenomena such as bioluminescence or chemiluminescence, caused by the oxidation of phosphine (PH3), diphosphane (P2H4), and methane (CH4) produced by organic decay.

### Etymology

The term "will-o'-the-wisp" comes from "wisp", a bundle of sticks or paper sometimes used as a torch, and the name "Will", thus meaning "Will of the torch". The term jack-o'-lantern (Jack of the lantern) originally referred to a will-o'-the-wisp. In the United States, they are often called "spook-lights", "ghost-lights", or "orbs" by folklorists and paranormal enthusiasts.

First Known Use of will-o'-the-wisp was circa 1661
History and Etymology for will-o'-the-wisp = Will (nickname for William) + of + the + wisp

## General Folklore

**Note: most of the general folklore section was copied from other, open access sources since I can't be ballsed to go digging though all the different books at this time. It will be redone at a later point to more accurately state the points most directly relevant to the Shoebox. All sources are linked at the bottom the page.**

Folk belief attributes the phenomenon to fairies or elemental spirits, explicitly in the term "hobby lanterns" found in the 19th century Denham Tracts. In her book A Dictionary of Fairies, K. M. Briggs provides an extensive list of other names for the same phenomenon, though the place where they are observed (graveyard, bogs, etc.) influences the naming considerably. When observed in graveyards, they are known as "ghost candles", also a term from the Denham Tracts.

The names will-o'-the-wisp and jack-o'-lantern are used in etiological folk-tales, recorded in many variant forms in Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, Appalachia, and Newfoundland. In these tales, protagonists named either Will or Jack are doomed to haunt the marshes with a light for some misdeed. One version from Shropshire is recounted by Briggs in A Dictionary of Fairies and refers to Will Smith. Will is a wicked blacksmith who is given a second chance by Saint Peter at the gates of heaven, but leads such a bad life that he ends up being doomed to wander the earth. The Devil provides him with a single burning coal with which to warm himself, which he then uses to lure foolish travellers into the marshes.

An Irish version of the tale has a ne'er-do-well named Drunk Jack or Stingy Jack who, when the Devil comes to collect his soul, tricks him into turning into a coin, so he can pay for his one last drink. When the Devil obliges, Jack places him in his pocket next to a crucifix, preventing him from returning to his original form. In exchange for his freedom, the Devil grants Jack ten more years of life. When the term expires, the Devil comes to collect his due. But Jack tricks him again by making him climb a tree and then carving a cross underneath, preventing him from climbing down. In exchange for removing the cross, the Devil forgives Jack's debt. However, no one as bad as Jack would ever be allowed into heaven, so Jack is forced upon his death to travel to hell and ask for a place there. The Devil denies him entrance in revenge but grants him an ember from the fires of hell to light his way through the twilight world to which lost souls are forever condemned. Jack places it in a carved turnip to serve as a lantern. Another version of the tale is "Willy the Whisp", related in Irish Folktales by Henry Glassie. Séadna by Peadar Ua Laoghaire is yet another version—and also the first modern novel in the Irish language.

### Americas

Mexico has two equivalents as well. In one they are called brujas (witches), folklore explains the phenomenon to be witches who transformed into these lights. The reason for this, however, varies according to the region. Another explanation refers to the lights as indicators to places where gold or hidden treasures are buried which can be found only with the help of children, in this one they are called luces del dinero (money lights) or luces del tesoro (treasure lights).

The swampy area of Massachusetts known as the Bridgewater Triangle has folklore of ghostly orbs of light, and there have been modern observations of these ghost-lights in this area as well.

#### The Fi Follet

(or feu-follet) of Louisiana is derived from the French, meaning "fool's fire", or more accurately, "foolish fire"; far closer to the Latin root of the word. The legend says that the fi follet is a soul sent back from the dead to do God's penance, but instead attacks people for vengeance. While it mostly takes part in harmless mischievous acts, the fi follet sometimes sucked the blood of children. Some legends say that it was the soul of a child who died before baptism.

* It should be noted that neither Theresa Bane or Rosemary Guiley can produce the legends they claim state the Fi Follet is vampiric, all references they cite are entirely circular and extreamly questionable.

#### Boi-tatá

(Portuguese pronunciation: [bojtaˈta]) is the Brazilian equivalent of the will-o'-the-wisp. Regionally it is called Boitatá, Baitatá, Batatá, Bitatá, Batatão, Biatatá, M'boiguaçu, Mboitatá and Mbaê-Tata. The name comes from the Old Tupi language and means "fiery serpent" (mboî tatá). Its great fiery eyes leave it almost blind by day, but by night, it can see everything. According to legend, Boi-tatá was a big serpent which survived a great deluge. A "boiguaçu" (a cave anaconda) left its cave after the deluge and, in the dark, went through the fields preying on the animals and corpses, eating exclusively its favorite morsel, the eyes. The collected light from the eaten eyes gave "Boitatá" its fiery gaze. Not really a dragon but a giant snake (in the native language, "boa" or "mboi" or "mboa").

#### Argentina and Uruguay

the will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon is known as luz mala (evil light) and is one of the most important myths in both countries' folklore. This phenomenon is quite feared and is mostly seen in rural areas. It consists of an extremely shiny ball of light floating a few inches from the ground.

#### Colombia

La Candileja is the will-o-the-wisp ghost of a vicious grandmother who raised her grandchildren without morals, and as such they became thieves and murderers. In the afterlife the grandmother's spirit was condemned to wander the world surrounded in flames.

### Asia

#### Aleya

(or marsh ghost-light) is the name given to a strange light phenomena occurring over the marshes as observed by Bengalis, especially the fishermen of West Bengal and Bangladesh. This marsh light is attributed to some kind of marsh gas apparitions that confuse fishermen, make them lose their bearings, and may even lead to drowning if one decided to follow them moving over the marshes. Local communities in the region believe that these strange hovering marsh-lights are in fact Ghost-lights representing the ghosts of fisherman who died fishing. Sometimes they confuse the fishermen, and sometimes they help them avoid future dangers.

#### Chir batti

(ghost-light), also spelled chhir batti or cheer batti, is a strange dancing light phenomenon occurring on dark nights reported from the Banni grasslands, its seasonal marshy wetlands and the adjoining desert of the marshy salt flats of the Rann of Kutch near Indo-Pakistani border in Kutch district, Gujarat State, India. Local villagers have been seeing these sometimes hovering, sometimes flying balls of lights since time immemorial and call it Chir Batti in their Kutchhi–Sindhi language, with Chir meaning ghost and Batti meaning light.

#### Japanese folklore

including Hitodama (literally "Human Soul" as a ball of energy), Hi no Tama (Ball of Flame), Aburagae, Koemonbi, Ushionibi, etc. All these phenomena are described as balls of flame or light, at times associated with graveyards, but occurring across Japan as a whole in a wide variety of situations and locations. Kitsune, mythical yokai demons, are also associated with will 'o the wisp, with the marriage of two kitsune producing kitsune-bi (狐火), literally meaning 'fox-fire'. These phenomena are described in Shigeru Mizuki's 1985 book Graphic World of Japanese Phantoms (妖怪伝 in Japanese).

### Europe

In European folklore, these lights are believed to be spirits of the dead, fairies, or a variety of other supernatural beings which attempt to lead travelers to their demise. Sometimes the lights are believed to be the spirits of unbaptized or stillborn children, flitting between heaven and hell.

In Sweden, the will-o'-the-wisp represents the soul of an unbaptized person "trying to lead travellers to water in the hope of being baptized".

Danes, Finns, Swedes, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, and Irish people and amongst some other groups believed that a will-o'-the-wisp also marked the location of a treasure deep in ground or water, which could be taken only when the fire was there. Sometimes magical tricks, and even dead man's hand, were required as well, to uncover the treasure. In Finland and several other northern countries, it was believed that early autumn was the best time to search for will-o'-the-wisps and treasures below them. It was believed that when someone hid treasure, in the ground, he made the treasure available only at the Saint John's Day, and set will-o'-the-wisp to mark the exact place and time so that he could come to take the treasure back. For then he could be fulfilled with treasures.

#### The Aarnivalkea

In Finnish mythology, are spots where an eternal flame associated with will o' the wisps burns. They are claimed to mark the places where faerie gold is buried. They are protected by a glamour that would prevent anyone finding them by pure chance. However, if one finds a fern seed from a mythical flowering fern, the magical properties of that seed will lead the fortunate person to these treasures, in addition to providing one with a glamour of invisibility. Since in reality the fern produces no flower and reproduces via spores under the leaves, the myth specifies that it blooms only extremely rarely.

#### Britain

The will-o'-the-wisp can be found in numerous folk tales around the United Kingdom, and is often a malicious character in the stories. In Welsh folklore, it is said that the light is "fairy fire" held in the hand of a púca, or pwca, a small goblin-like fairy that mischievously leads lone travellers off the beaten path at night. As the traveller follows the púca through the marsh or bog, the fire is extinguished, leaving them lost. The púca is said to be one of the Tylwyth Teg, or fairy family. In Wales the light predicts a funeral that will take place soon in the locality. Wirt Sikes in his book British Goblins mentions the following Welsh tale about púca.

A peasant travelling home at dusk sees a bright light traveling along ahead of him. Looking closer, he sees that the light is a lantern held by a "dusky little figure", which he follows for several miles. All of a sudden he finds himself standing on the edge of a vast chasm with a roaring torrent of water rushing below him. At that precise moment the lantern-carrier leaps across the gap, lifts the light high over its head, lets out a malicious laugh and blows out the light, leaving the poor peasant a long way from home, standing in pitch darkness at the edge of a precipice. This is a fairly common cautionary tale concerning the phenomenon; however, the ignis fatuus was not always considered dangerous. There are some tales told about the will-o'-the-wisp being guardians of treasure, much like the Irish leprechaun leading those brave enough to follow them to sure riches. Other stories tell of travelers getting lost in the woodland and coming upon a will-o'-the-wisp, and depending on how they treated the will-o'-the-wisp, the spirit would either get them lost further in the woods or guide them out.

Also related, the Pixy-light from Devon and Cornwall is most often associated with the Pixie who often has "pixie-led" travellers away from the safe and reliable route and into the bogs with glowing lights. "Like Poltergeist they can generate uncanny sounds. They were less serious than their German Weisse Frauen kin, frequently blowing out candles on unsuspecting courting couples or producing obscene kissing sounds, which were always misinterpreted by parents." Pixy-Light was also associated with "lambent light" which the Old Norse might have seen guarding their tombs. In Cornish folklore, Pixy-Light also has associations with the Colt pixie. "A colt pixie is a pixie that has taken the shape of a horse and enjoys playing tricks such as neighing at the other horses to lead them astray". In Guernsey, the light is known as the faeu boulanger (rolling fire), and is believed to be a lost soul. On being confronted with the spectre, tradition prescribes two remedies. The first is to turn one's cap or coat inside out. This has the effect of stopping the faeu boulanger in its tracks. The other solution is to stick a knife into the ground, blade up. The faeu, in an attempt to kill itself, will attack the blade.

The will-o'-the-wisp was also known as the Spunkie in the Scottish Highlands where it would take the form of a linkboy (a boy who carried a flaming torch to light the way for pedestrians in exchange for a fee), or else simply a light that always seemed to recede, in order to lead unwary travelers to their doom. The spunkie has also been blamed for shipwrecks at night after being spotted on land and mistaken for a harbor light. Other tales of Scottish folklore regard these mysterious lights as omens of death or the ghosts of once living human beings. They often appeared over lochs or on roads along which funeral processions were known to travel. A strange light sometimes seen in the Hebrides is referred to as the teine sith, or "fairy light", though there was no formal connection between it and the fairy race.

#### Oceania

The Australian equivalent, known as the Min Min light is reportedly seen in parts of the outback after dark. The majority of sightings are reported to have occurred in the Channel Country region.

Stories about the lights can be found in aboriginal myth pre-dating western settlement of the region and have since become part of wider Australian folklore. Indigenous Australians hold that the number of sightings has increased alongside the increasing ingression of Europeans into the region. According to folklore, the lights sometimes followed or approached people and have disappeared when fired upon, only to reappear later on.

## In Vampirology

In very broad terms, there are very few genuine folk connections between Vampires and Will O the Wisp. Most of the stories linking the two are purely works of recreational fiction.

Rosemary Guiley was particularly fond of linking vampires to Will O Wisps by claiming that several British and French stories were mistaken when they described as the souls of the dead and were in fact vampires acting as balls of light leading various travelers off the path so they they consume their life and/or blood.

* https://books.google.com/books?id=5soL2qxSBDgC

### Blue Lights of Venice

There is a story that is partially a ghost tale and partially vampiric in nature. Since it is a story often told to tourists on canal boats or those who bring a camera crew with them, if it's a "genuine" tradition or not is up for debate.

Story goes that beginning during the Black Plague spirits of the dead would wander the walkways and float above the canals in the form of Blue balls of light. Either they specifically chose the next to die or they sensed those who were ill and would wander to the person's house. If they were asleep, the person would hear three loud snaps or bangs. If they were awake it would sound like someone was knocking on the door. Anyone who responded to the sounds would be found drained of life and near death the next day.

There is a strong connection to and mention of Knocking which is not surprising as most Death Omens tend to knock on the door for some reason, and given the ball of light portion doubly so, since the piezoelectric effect phenomena is, at it's core electric.

* https://www.tours-italy.com/tour/original-venice-ghost-and-legends-walking-tours\_106

### Soucouyants

a Soucouyant is a 'Fire Ball Witch' from Trinidad and Tobago that is literally a witch that takes on the form of a flame at night. This spirit is, like the other versions, evil -- It enters homes through any gap it can find, and drinks the blood of its victims. Naturally, you can find out much more on their dedicated page but a brief run down:

Soucouyants are a type of Jumbie; a folk tradition that began in Africa and was brought to the Caribbean during the slave trade. They it was intermixed with Catholicism and gained further regional or island specific meanings. A Soucouyant is something of a mixture of witch, **Will O Wisp**, werewolf, Old Hag and vampire traditions. In past generations was almost exclusively an old woman, though now younger women and even men can become one. Most of the time they are described as balls of fire and a person about to take their skin off or cast a spell is said to have flaming red eyes. They fly about slipping in through open windows to hover over a sleeping person both putting pressure on their chest and sucking the life out of them. Aside from the mall of the slightly smoky blankets in the morning, sudden hickies are a sure sign that you have been fed upon.

* Moore, Brian L., ed. (1995). Cultural Power, Resistance, and Pluralism: Colonial Guyana, 1838-1900. p. 150.  https://books.google.com/books?id=cx\_9-X\_-smoC&pg=PA150#v=onepage&q&f=false
* Broussard, T. (ed.). Cultus des Loogaroo (Cult of the Loogaroo): Louisiana's Own Legend & Lore of the Vampyre. p. 197. ISBN 9781304190772. Retrieved 5 August 2017. https://books.google.com/books?id=xYd0CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA197#v=onepage&q&f=false
* Fischer-Hornung, Dorothea; Mueller, Monika, eds. (2016). Vampires and Zombies: Transcultural Migrations and Transnational Interpretations. p. 63. ISBN 9781496804754.  https://books.google.com/books?id=3v6jCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT63#v=onepage&q&f=false
* Maberry, Jonathan (September 1, 2006). Vampire Universe: The Dark World of Supernatural Beings That Haunt Us, Hunt …. https://books.google.com/?id=H1axCZifXdwC&lpg=PA203&dq=Loogaroo%2C%20skin%2C%20tree&pg=PA203#v=onepage&q=Loogaroo,%20skin,%20tree&f=false
* https://triniinxisle.com/2018/08/08/trini-folklore-soucouyant/

## Natural explanations

In modern science, it is generally accepted that will-o'-the-wisp phenomena (ignis fatuus) are caused by the oxidation of phosphine (PH3), diphosphane (P2H4), and methane (CH4). These compounds, produced by organic decay, can cause photon emissions. Since phosphine and diphosphane mixtures spontaneously ignite on contact with the oxygen in air, only small quantities of it would be needed to ignite the much more abundant methane to create ephemeral fires. Furthermore, phosphine produces phosphorus pentoxide as a by-product, which forms phosphoric acid upon contact with water vapor, which can explain "viscous moisture" sometimes described as accompanying ignis fatuus.

The idea of the will-o'-the-wisp phenomena being caused by natural gases can be found as early as 1596, as mentioned in the book Of Ghostes and Spirites, Walking by Night, And of Straunge Noyses, Crackes, and Sundrie forewarnings, which commonly happen before the death of men: Great Slaughters, and alterations of Kingdomes, by Ludwig Lavater, in the chapter titled "That many naturall things are taken to be ghoasts":

Many times candles & small fires appeare in the night, and seeme to runne up and downe... Sometime these fires goe alone in the night season, and put such as see them, as they travel by night, in great feare. But these things, and many such lyke have their naturall causes... Natural Philosophers write, that thicke exhilations aryse out of the earth, and are kindled. Mynes full of sulphur and brimstone, if the aire enter unto it, as it lyeth in the holes and veines of the earth, will kindle on fier, and strive to get out.

In 1776, Alessandro Volta first proposed that natural electrical phenomena (like lightning) interacting with methane marsh gas may be the cause of ignis fatuus. This was supported by the British polymath Joseph Priestley in his series of works Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air (1772–1790); and by the French physicist Pierre Bertholon de Saint-Lazare in De l’électricité des météores (1787).

Early critics of the marsh gas hypothesis often dismissed it on various grounds including the unlikeliness of spontaneous combustion, the absence of warmth in some observed ignis fatuus, the odd behavior of ignis fatuus receding upon being approached, and the differing accounts of ball lightning (which was also classified as a kind of ignis fatuus). An example of such criticism is the following by the American anthropologist John G. Owens in Folk-Lore from Buffalo Valley (1891):

This is a name that is sometimes applied to a phenomenon perhaps more frequently called Jack-o'-the-Lantern, or Will-o'-the-Wisp. It seems to be a ball of fire, varying in size from that of a candle-flame to that of a man's head. It is generally observed in damp, marshy places, moving to and fro; but it has been known to stand perfectly still and send off scintillations. As you approach it, it will move on, keeping just beyond your reach; if you retire, it will follow you. That these fireballs do occur, and that they will repeat your motion, seems to be established, but no satisfactory explanation has yet been offered that I have heard. Those who are less superstitious say that it is the ignition of the gases rising from the marsh. But how a light produced from burning gas could have the form described and move as described, advancing as you advance, receding as you recede, and at other times remaining stationary, without having any visible connection with the earth, is not clear to me.

However, the apparent retreat of ignis fatuus upon being approached might be explained simply by the agitation of the air by nearby moving objects, causing the gases to disperse. This was observed in the very detailed accounts of several close interactions with ignis fatuus published earlier in 1832 by Major Louis Blesson after a series of experiments in various localities where they were known to occur. Of note is his first encounter with ignis fatuus in a marshland between a deep valley in the forest of Gorbitz, Newmark, Germany. Blesson observed that the water was covered by an iridescent film, and during day-time, bubbles could be observed rising abundantly from certain areas. At night, Blesson observed bluish-purple flames in the same areas and concluded that it was connected to the rising gas. He spent several days investigating the phenomenon, finding to his dismay that the flames retreated every time he tried to approach them. He eventually succeeded and was able to confirm that the lights were indeed caused by ignited gas. The British scientist Charles Tomlinson in On Certain Low-Lying Meteors (1893) describes Blesson's experiments as thus:

On visiting the spot at night, the sensitive flames retired as the major advanced; but on standing quite still, they returned, and he tried to light a piece of paper at them, but the current of air produced by his breath kept them at too great a distance. On turning away his head, and screening his breath, he succeeded in setting fire to the paper. He was also able to extinguish the flame by driving it before him to a part of the ground where no gas was produced; then applying a flame to the place whence the gas issued, a kind of explosion was heard over eight or nine square feet of the marsh; a red light was seen, which faded to a blue flame about three feet high, and this continued to burn with an unsteady motion. As the morning dawned the flames became pale, and they seemed to approach nearer and nearer to the earth, until at last they faded from sight.

Blesson also observed differences in the color and heat of the flames in different marshes. The ignis fatuus in Malapane, Upper Silesia (now Ozimek, Poland) could be ignited and extinguished, but were unable to burn pieces of paper or wood shavings. Similarly, the ignis fatuus in another forest in Poland coated pieces of paper and wood shavings with an oily viscous fluid instead of burning them. Blesson also accidentally created ignis fatuus in the marshes of Porta Westfalica, Germany, while launching fireworks.

One attempt to replicate ignis fatuus under laboratory conditions was in 1980 by British geologist Alan A. Mills of Leicester University. Though he did succeed in creating a cool glowing cloud by mixing crude phosphine and natural gas, the color of the light was green and it produced copious amounts of acrid smoke. This was contrary to most eyewitness accounts of ignis fatuus. As an alternative, Mills proposed in 2000 that ignis fatuus may instead be cold flames. These are luminescent pre-combustion halos that occur when various compounds are heated to just below ignition point. Cold flames are indeed typically bluish in color and as their name suggests, they generate very little heat. Cold flames occur in a wide variety of compounds, including hydrocarbons (including methane), alcohols, aldehydes, oils, acids, and even waxes. However it is unknown if cold flames occur naturally, though a lot of compounds which exhibit cold flames are the natural byproducts of organic decay.

A related hypothesis involves the natural chemiluminescence of phosphine. In 2008, the Italian chemists Luigi Garlaschelli and Paolo Boschetti attempted to recreate Mills' experiments. They successfully created a faint cool light by mixing phosphine with air and nitrogen. Though the glow was still greenish in color, Garlaschelli and Boschetti noted that under low-light conditions, the human eye cannot easily distinguish between colors. Furthermore, by adjusting the concentrations of the gases and the environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, etc.), it was possible to eliminate the smoke and smell, or at least render it to undetectable levels. Garlaschelli and Boschetti also agreed with Mills that cold flames may also be a plausible explanation for other instances of ignis fatuus.

In 1993, professors Derr and Persinger proposed that some ignis fatuus may be geologic in origin, piezoelectrically generated under tectonic strain. The strains that move faults would also heat up the rocks, vaporizing the water in them. Rock or soil containing something piezoelectric, like quartz, silicon, or arsenic, may also produce electricity, channeled up to the surface through the soil via a column of vaporized water, there somehow appearing as earth lights. This would explain why the lights appear electrical, erratic, or even intelligent in their behavior.

The will-o'-the-wisp phenomena may occur due to the bio-luminescence of various forest dwelling micro-organisms and insects. The eerie glow emitted from certain fungal species, such as the honey fungus, during chemical reactions to form white rot could be mistaken for the mysterious will-o'-the-wisp or foxfire lights. There are many other bio-luminescent organisms that could create the illusions of fairy lights, such as fireflies. Light reflecting off larger forest dwelling creatures could explain the phenomena of will-o'-the-wisp moving and reacting to other lights. The white plumage of Barn owls may reflect enough light from the moon to appear as a will-o'-the-wisp; hence the possibility of the lights moving, reacting to other lights, etc.

## Ignis Fatuus

Ignis fatuus sightings are rarely reported today. The decline is believed to be the result of the draining and reclamation of swamplands in recent centuries, such as the formerly vast Fenlands of eastern England which have now been converted to farmlands.

### Definition of ignis fatuus

1: a light that sometimes appears in the night over marshy ground and is often attributable to the combustion of gas from decomposed organic matter

2: a deceptive goal or hope

First Known Use of ignis fatuus 1563

History and Etymology for ignis fatuus: Medieval Latin, literally, foolish fire

## Notes/References/Citations

* https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/will-o%27-the-wisp
* https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/willowisp.html
* Trevelyan, Marie (1909). Folk-Lore and Folk-Stories of Wales. London. p. 178. ISBN 9780854099382. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
* "Will-o'-the-wisp". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Houghton Mifflin. 2007.
* Harper, Douglas. "Jack o'lantern (n.)". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
* Wagner, Stephen. "Spooklights: Where to Find Them". About.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-22. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
* Floyd, Randall (1997). "Historical Mysteries: Ghostly lights as common as dew in Dixie". The Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
* "Ghost Lights and Orbs". Moonslipper.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
* Ashliman, D. (January 19, 2019). "Will-o'-the-Wisp, Jack-o'-Lantern". University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
* Jackson, Darla (September 3, 2015). Mystical Mountains. pp. 109–110.
* Jarvis, Dale. "Jack the Lantern in Shoe Cove Bight". www.nlunexplained.ca. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
* Hoerrner, Mark (2006). "History of the Jack-O-Lantern". buzzle.com. Retrieved May 9, 2007.
* Leslie O'Malley (2015-10-15). "HISTORY OF THE JACK O'LANTERN AND THE LEGEND OF STINGY JACK". authenticireland.com. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
* https://www.tours-italy.com/tour/original-venice-ghost-and-legends-walking-tours\_106
* Melton, J. Gordon (1999). The Vampire Book. Visible Ink Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-1578592814.
* "North American Vampires". VampireUnderworld.com. 2012-03-25.
* "O BOITATÁ" [The BOITATÁ]. Terrabrasileira.net (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on December 18, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
* Pandey, Ambarish (April 7, 2009). "Bengali Ghosts". Pakistan Times. Archived from the original on October 25, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
* "Blog post by the author Saundra Mitchel of the novel "Shadowed Summer" at Books Obsession". Booksobsession.blogspot.com. October 9, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
* D V Maheshwari (August 28, 2007). "Ghost lights that dance on Banni grasslands when it's very dark". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on January 14, 2009.
* "I read somewhere that on dark nights there are strange lights that dance on the Rann. The locals call them cheer batti or ghost lights. It's a phenomenon widely documented but not explained." SOURCE: Stark beauty (Rann of Kutch); Bharati Motwani; September 23, 2008; India Today Magazine, Cached: Page 2 of 3 page article with these search terms highlighted: cheer batti ghost lights rann kutchThe Denham Tracts by Michael Denham
* The Haunted Abbot by Peter Tremayne
* Remarkable Luminous Phenomena in Nature by William Corliss
* Het dwaallicht by Willem Elsschot, Cached: Complete View - 3 page article seen as a single page
* Lombardi, Linda. "Kitsune: The Fantastic Japanese Fox". tofugu.com
* Mizuki, Shigeru. "Graphic World of Japanese Phantoms". 講談社, 1985. ISBN 978-4-06-202381-8 (4-06-202381-4).
* The Element Encyclopedia of Vampires (Theresa Cheung), HarperCollins
* PDF Archived February 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
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* "House Shadow Drake - Water Horses and Other Fairy Steeds". Shadowdrake.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
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* https://www.etymonline.com/word/will-o'-the-wisp
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* https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ignis%20fatuus