🗿 FloraHertz 10/28/26 (Wed) 07:16:22 #93592018

It's that time of year again, folks, the Halloween megathread!
This years theme: folktales and local legends. Tell us about some spoopy happenings in your neck of the woods. Who knows, maybe your experiences will become part of oral history.

The_Official_O-B 10/28/26 (Wed) 08:01:33 #32927754

So not exactly a legend that's local to me, but while I was in Japan a few months ago I think I encountered a yokai.
I had been exploring a forest late in the evening because I was not at all tired, and I got the feeling somebody was watching me, but when I looked around nobody was there. Eventually I stopped to rest and that feeling got a lot stronger. When I turned around I was face to face with it. Or, just the head.
It was just a woman's head, not attached to a body, which I instantly recognized as a Rokurokubi. I was terrified in the moment, but she smiled and laughed at me. I spoke just enough halting Japanese to ask what she was doing, and though I couldn't exactly keep up with what she told me, it was clear from what I could understand that she thought she was dreaming. I was just able to speak enough to ask her to leave me in peace. She laughed but did as I ask, walking further into the woods. I immediately noped the fuck out of there, and I haven't really thought about it since.

Wiz0765 10/28/26 (Wed) 08:08:31 #92543792

I instantly recognized it as a Rokurokubi

weeb

wonder5truck 10/29/26 (Thu) 07:19:42 #19926525

Rokurokubi are yokai whose necks elongate. What you supposedly encountered was a nukekubi.

Wiz0765 10/29/26 (Thu) 08:32:55 #03682022

weeb

The_Official_O-B 10/29/26 (Thu) 10:25:47 #01629278

You're not wrong, but the rokurokubi encompasses and originally only referred to those whose heads detached, and it seems the neck stretching ones were invented purely for entertainment.

Wiz0765 10/29/26 (Thu) 12:56:10 #17028492

weebs, the lot of you

Boomingpound 10/29/26 (Thu) 09:08:22 #93677481

Oh man, local legends, have I got experience with those. Germany is a weird fucking country and I've been all over.
I'm torn which story to share, but I think I have to mention my encounter with the Erlkoenig. I was just outside Bielefeld, walking through the forest when I saw it dash between the trees. It looked like something in-between a goblin and an elf. It spooked me a bit at first, but I realized that it was probably more freaked out by me. Fairy kings don't really like humans that much but they're not all that harmful. I wish I'd gotten a better look at it, or tried speaking to it, I was just so freaked out at the time.
But that encounter did lead me to parawatch, so maybe it's better that it was vague.
Edit: Consider this a German Folklore mini thread! Feel free to ask me any questions about weird German things or post your own experiences in German in a reply to this post!

OrderedEons 10/29/26 (Thu) 11:19:41 #39277566

Did somebody say German folklore? Fine, if you insist. Let me tell you about my experience with Lorelei.
Lorelei is a rock on the Rhine and is the subject of countless legends. The most well known one involves a Siren who is also named Lorelei that combs her golden hair and lures sailors to their deaths. That's mostly just based off of writers in the 18th century messing up the lore because it made a more interesting story. The original lore involved dwarves muttering deep in the caves of Lorelei which is at least a little more interesting, but leaves something to be desired motivation wise.
The truth is far more interesting than either of those. I believe Lorelei whispers deep truths about the universe.
I've only been there once, but it's a surreal experience. You hear this constant murmuring in the background, and you can't explain it or figure out where it's coming from. But slowly, words start to take shape. Words meant to get your attention. Maybe not directly addressed to you, but words that will pique your interest. And as you try and find the source, it gets louder and louder as you approach an edge. And you start to hear fragments. "The limit of the universe…" "Human suffering is for…" "Consciousness is simply…" Fundamental truths of the universe, right there, so you can just barely hear them. You're not being enticed by them, you're simply curious. And you can know the truth, the answers behind all of the universe's biggest question. You just have to fall to the river below.
No wonder writers thought there was a siren there.

RenTasunder 10/29/26 (Thu) 12:41:04 #19277648

From the wikipedia page on Lorelei:

The murmuring is hard to hear today owing to the urbanization of the area.

But you were able to hear it perfectly murmuring, despite the urbanization and all of the scientific explanations?
Sure, Jan.

s0sp00ky 10/29/26 (Thu) 11:36:15 #27734655

Dude, what the fuck are you on about? Is the erlkonig a goblin, an elf, or a fairy? Pick one or don't bore us with your obviously fake tale, Boom.

A-Misty-Forecast 10/30/26 (Fri) 02:18:43 #11722215

I mean, you're not one to talk sp00ky, but still I had to mention:

I was just outside Bielefeld

Everyone knows Bielefeld isn't real: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielefeld_Conspiracy

YaBoiAl 10/29/26 (Thu) 04:23:53 #91882674

Oh, I have some tales. Loads of them. An entire books worth, in fact. See, I discovered a small village, hidden away in the black forest. And a lot of strange things happen there. Mysterious deaths and disappearances, elves and other creatures, demonic possession, you name it it's happened. It's not easy to find, but once you can find and follow the bread crumbs you'll know you've gotten to a small village called Verstecktedorf.
The really weird twist? Everything that happens in this village closely mirrors one of the tales told by the Brothers Grimm. Let me know if you're interested in hearing more, I've got lots of stories from people there.

ThumbFounded 05/30/26 (Fri) 01:43:26 #93288273

Verstecktedorf literally means "hidden village" in German, dumbass. At least try to be a little more creative.
[USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST.]

🗿 FloraHertz 10/30/26 (Fri) 03:56:47 #59637821

I'm closing off replies to this post to prevent unnecessary escalation of aggression towards Boom and other posters. I really thought you knew better than to needlessly antagonize other members of this community. Stop acting like children before I lock this whole thread.
[THREAD LOCKED.]

ComicSands 10/30/26 (Fri) 08:04:52 #47264924

You ever heard of La Llorona? Not the movie, but the real deal?
The legend goes that a long time ago in New Mexico, there lived a beautiful widow who had two children. Though she loved her children, she hated being alone and longed to have another man to love her. One day, a handsome man came to the village, and he took a liking to her. But he refused to propose, as he did not like children. Distraught at this revelation and thinking herself clever, the woman took her children to the river and left them to drown. When she told the man what she'd done, he was horrified, and left, never to return. With the man gone, the woman quickly realized her mistake. She ran back to the river, weeping, but it was too late. They were gone. As she ran, looking for some sign of them, she tripped and hit her head on a rock, killing her. She was rejected from heaven for her sins, and made to be stuck on earth until she finds the souls of her lost children.

Where it happened

When I was like a sophomore in high school, and I was at a halloween party near the rio grande. It had gotten too loud and busy for me, so I decided to take a stroll by the riverside (I took a photo of where I was a few days ago in anticipation for this). As I walked, I heard a crying in the distance. I hadn't heard the tale of La Llorona in years, and it was Halloween, so I assumed it was somebody having halloween merriment in the distance. As I walked, the sound got louder. It was really unsettling. I started to think of everything it could be, even the supernatural explanations.
Eventually, I came upon a woman wearing a white dress and weeping by the riverside. In that moment I was certain it was La Llorona, and my heart stopped. I couldn't move, I was so scared. I wanted to get far away from there, but I was frozen to the spot. Eventually she looked up. She looked at me, and in the dark I could only just make out her face. She looked… excited? I couldn't tell. She begged for my help, and I found the strength to take a few small steps backwards. She lost her children, she continued, and was scared they'd fallen in the river, and would I be kind enough to help her look. I thought I was going to die for certain. It took all the strength I had to run away. She gave chase, but after a while I heard her fall. She screamed in pain and begged me to help her, but I kept running until I could no longer hear her. As I ran, I swear I heard children whispering and laughing. I left the riverside, deeply unsettled, and didn't sleep at all.
It wasn't until the next day I heard that a woman and her two children had gone missing. I tried to put it out of my head that police were searching the river near where I had been. To this day, I'm not sure what I saw by the river. And I'm scared to know the answer.

Violaorchestranerd66 10/30/26 (Fri) 11:44:16 #82637192

Hey, uh, that's a cool tale and all. I mean, I'd never heard that variant of La Llorona but it was different and I liked it. And I don't mean to doubt the authenticity of your post, but, uh, that's my photo. The original is here:

Rio-Grande.jpg

Like, I wouldn't mind, I released it under cc, but like you explicitly said that's your photo and it's just. Not? I'm pretty sure that violates the terms of cc, and it'll probably make others skeptical of your story and, like, parawatch in general.
I don't really have a point. Just uh. Thought I should say something.
Also maybe next time don't post a picture claiming it's your own on a site where the actual photographer is a pretty active member? Like it's the same username on the photo site and everything. I'll stop complaining now.

🗿 FloraHertz 10/30/26 (Fri) 11:52:25 #82551438

Viola, I'm so sorry. You know, I really thought we were better than this as a community. Art theft? Seriously? My mod sense is telling me I should just lock the thread right now, but I know a lot of people would have complaints about that, so you know what? Don't post if you can't be civil.
This thread is to share real life weird ass experiences that have happened to you regarding folktales. It's halloween! A time for fear and spookiness, not pedantry and theft. If you have an issue with a post on this thread, you can bring it up with me personally. No more posting snarky replies, no more posting blasé trolls, none of it. We're done. Sincerity only from now on, got it? Awesome.

BabblingBrooke 10/31/26 (Sat) 06:42:51 #31826352

Okay, so I have a folk tale to tell, but it's kinda weird in that it's a more modern one (I okayed this with Flora, btw).
If you know where to listen, there are murmurings in Portland of a Robot Hell. Or maybe it's a robot heaven? The point is that it's a robot afterlife.
And to clarify, I don't mean a human afterlife filled with robots, I mean an afterlife for robots that have died. "Died." Shit, I don't know, the terminology is gonna have to be a bit weird here.
It's said that deep within Forest Park, a portal of mist will take you to a forest of black and white, where you can just barely see in front of your face. If you're very careful and quiet, the robots won't notice you. And you definitely don't want to be noticed by them. See, they don't really like humans. It seems that while they were alive, they felt trapped and tormented by humans, and being dead, they'd like to not be bothered by humans anymore.
I was a little skeptical at first. Don't get me wrong, I buy that AI exists in a much more advanced state than they want us to know. I could even buy portals to other realms. But robots having an afterlife… it just seemed unlikely.
So I went myself. It's real. I saw drones that were acting like birds, I saw robots just walking around. I didn't stray too far from the portal, but it seemed to go on forever. And it really is black and white, like somebody just put a black and white filter over the whole forest.
Unfortunately, I was spotted by the robots. I knew I should run, but I had to know more. I asked what this place was. The robot asked if I would like to find out, and began charging at me. I only stopped running once I safely reached my car. I almost laughed at myself, because how could robots escape the afterlife? Still, I think we're witnessing the birth of a folktale. And I got to be a part of it.

CFTBATK's-BAFTA 10/31/26 (Sat) 07:31:59 #16253424

Holy shit. I mean, I'm skeptical as hell, but like if what you're saying is true… that means robots have souls?? Robots can die??? And they can get mad at us????
I think I need to go apologize to my roomba

A_Graet_Win 10/31/26 (Sat) 08:50:28 #82662661

Brooke is telling the truth, by the by. A friend of mine went there and took photos. I could probably share them if I got their permission

terryllium 10/31/26 (Sat) 09:58:35 #81726356

I wonder what this says about consciousness. Are we conscious because we think? Or because we know we're conscious? We're aware we exist, and we're used to man made things not knowing they exist. But if they do… what does that say for all of us?

NevaEvaEva 10/31/26 (Sat) 10:16:23 #91827362

I live near Portland, and I've been meaning to go to Forest Park again. I didn't expect you to be right. But you are. The portal is right in front of me, a portal of mist. I took a quick peek inside and… it was weirder than described. The trees look normal but… something is off about them. I couldn't see the sun at all, even though I could see through the mist. I didn't catch any robots. But I brought a camera, in the hopes I might catch a picture of one. I'm going back in, and I'm not leaving until I take a picture of a robot ghost. Wish me luck.

🗿 SurprisinglyCoordinatedPenguins 10/31/26 (Sat) 10:31:26 #10312026

Locking this thread for rabble rousing. The users in question for this part of the thread were revealed to have been rping some obscure ARG. Plus the content was just kinda ridiculous. I mean, I'll grant you ghosts, I'll grant you robots, but there's certainly no such thing as robot ghosts.
[FORUM LOCKED.]

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