The Blood Line (24 page)
Authors: Ben Yallop
APPENDIX
Extracts from the diary of Adam Hain relevant to the events of
The Blood Line
Entry 25
I have been reading about Hoia Baciu Forest. The place sounds terrifying. I am not surprised that Weewalk did not wish to return.
The Hoia Forest is located in the Transylvania region of Romania, west of Cluj-Napoca and is apparently well known as a site of various paranormal phenomena. At its heart is the mysterious Poiana Rotundă, the Round Meadow. There seems to be no explanation as to why there should be an almost perfectly round space in the centre of the forest where only grass grows and the tree line does not encroach but it is often cited as the focus for the strange happenings in the forest. And the events are certainly strange to those who do not know about lines and presence.
On 18 August 1968 a man called Emil Barnea was out with his camera when he managed to take a series of now famous photographs of a UFO over the Round Meadow. These pictures, unlike so many other UFO photos, have been difficult for men to assign some explanation to. Other events have included sightings of ghosts and apparitions, with faces sometimes appearing in photos which were not visible to the naked eye.
People entering the forest tell of feeling anxious and of being watched, feelings which intensify the nearer they get to the Round Meadow. There are frequent reports of visitors developing sudden and inexplicable rashes, scratches, burns and even bite marks as well as feelings of nausea, headaches and sickness. Sometimes disembodied voices are heard and people are pushed and shoved as if by invisible hands.
People also tell of missing periods of time when they are in the forest. There is one story of a five year old girl who disappeared in the forest only to reappear five years later in the same clothes not seeming to have aged at all. But perhaps this is a little far-fetched unless she stumbled through the line.
Still, if anyone were to doubt the truth of all these weird events then they only need look to the trees. Even the trees in Hoia grow a strange shape in places, their trunks curling into large fishhook shapes for reasons that no-one can determine. Often these trees and other, more ordinary straight ones, have signs of burning and charring on them which cannot be explained. Lights are seen amongst and sometimes above the trees and electronic devices taken into the forest often fail, with batteries draining away almost instantly. Tests have been conducted on the soil in the Round Meadow. No-one can determine why plants refuse to grow there.
In one place I read that there is a theory that the centre of the forest holds some invisible portal, some kind of doorway that can be used to contact entities from another world.
Entry 30
Shambhala has sometimes been mispronounced as Shangri-La in this world and as such as developed into a legend as a lost kingdom hidden in the hills of Tibet. Shambhala is mentioned in ancient Buddhist and Hindu texts.
A text called the
Kalacakra tantra
predicts that the world will fall into a time of war and greed but that when all seems to be lost a king will emerge from Shambhala with a huge army to vanquish the dark force which rules the land. In doing so the king will usher in a new Golden Age. Some have calculated that this event will happen in the year 2424.
Entry 36
The mystery of the Mary Celeste is well known. She was a ship which was found adrift but completely deserted in the Atlantic Ocean in December 1872. No trace of the crew was ever found. The ship itself was under partial sail, no cargo or belongings of the crew were missing and the ship was well supplied and provisioned. Yet the captain, his wife, their daughter and the crew of seven were never seen or heard from again.
Various theories for the disappearance have been put forward including an attack by a giant squid, a waterspout and alien abduction but, in truth, no-one knows what happened and probably never will, although many writers have had fun with the mystery.
The most famous of these writers is probably Arthur Conan Doyle who wrote a story in 1884 about the Marie (rather than Mary) Celeste. His story was called ‘J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement’ and Jephson was one of the passengers who carries some sort of magical charm which a madman named Septimus Goring desires.
Another theory, although this one is intended to be serious, was put forward in ‘The Strand Magazine’ in 1913. In this account there was a survivor named Abel who saw the rest of the crew eaten by sharks when they unexpectedly found themselves thrown into the sea when a platform collapsed.
I wonder whether these names have any basis in reality. I have never heard of anyone called Habakuk or Jephson. Abel I have heard of but only in relation to the story of Cain and Abel, the latter being killed by the former, his brother.
Entry 47
More on the garoul but this time in the way they are described as black dogs, rather than werewolves. The appearance of a black dog, often associated with and thought of as having been sent by the devil, was thought to be a portent of death. Perhaps this is why they have also been known as a ‘grim’. They have been associated with storms and of appearing at places of execution such as the sites of gibbets.
There is no doubt that their appearance is bad news and the tales are seemingly endless. The myths seem to have grown up regionally and in parts of England legends of the Barghest, Black Shuck, Hairy Jack and Lean Dog are well known. In Scotland the beasts have been known as the Cù Sìth. In Wales it is the Gwyllgi and sittings still occur. Sometimes black dogs are said to run with the Wild Hunt.
Of course, it is not just in the UK that sightings have been made. Black dogs with glowing eyes appear in stories all over the world. But in the UK there are many other names associated with them, including Capelthwaite and Padfoot and several writers have incorporated them into stories, such as the Hound of the Baskervilles. Interestingly, in some legends of Padfoot around Dewsbury the dog is seen as not threatening and even helpful if offered kindness. But usually, if you see one then death will follow soon after. There are several reports of them appearing within churches with the arrival of Shuck on 4 August 1577 in Bungay, Suffolk perhaps one of the better known. “All down the church in midst of fire, the hellish monster flew, and, passing onward to the quire, he many people slew.”
Entry 49
Chupacabre, another monster crossed over from Mu. I am not sure what their name in that world is, but here they are called chupacabre, literally the goat sucker, somehow related to coyotes and perhaps distant, if smaller, cousins of the garoul.
Entry 52
I became interested in vampires as one of the most commonly known myths in this world which I had not encountered in Mu. Weewalk claimed that something seemed to haunt the treetops in Romania but I don’t think the vampire exists. Much like dragons, I have found countless tales of them in folklore, but do not know anyone who has ever actually seen one. Yet, I remain open-minded. Who knows what stalks the vast plains of Mu. I have heard of the legendary dragon herders in Mu, but never seen one. I am not sure these are real.
Anyway, vampires, it seems, could be explained in other ways and, for once, seem to be a monster which is not attributable to something from Mu crossing through the lines. Some human diseases seem to have vampiric symptoms. I found an excellent article which I paraphrase here:
Rabies seems to be one of the more likely explanations for the legend. Rabies is more properly known as hydrophobia because it causes an intense fear of water. It attacks the nervous system and suffers can become consumed with rage – including a tendency to bite – as well as becoming hypersensitive to sunlight and other visual stimuli, including mirrors. It also upsets sleep patterns which may account for the legends of night-stalkers. And with all this it is perhaps unsurprising to learn that the most common animal carrier of rabies is not the dog, as many assume, but rather the bat.
There is another disease which might fit the bill called porphyria which is just one of several diseases which can cause a very severe reaction to UV light and sunlight to the extent that the sufferer’s skin can blister within minutes. This group of diseases affect the ability of the blood to carry nourishment and can lead to pale skin and a thirst for blood.
Other than that there a series of neurological conditions and phobias. Hatred of garlic can be thought of as alliumphobia and is a neurosis just like any other acute phobia. There was a belief in Eastern Europe that its strong smell could ward off evil spirits and that seems to have stuck. Eisoptrophobia or catoptrophobia is a documented fear of mirrors which can be so acute that people have an anxiety attack when faced by their reflection.
My absolute favourite discovery was that it used to be a commonly held belief that vampires could be defeated with mathematics. To fool a vampire one only needed to throw a handful of rice or grain – the vampire’s nature was such that he could not help but count each grain. In the Middle Ages people poured poppy seeds into coffins on the hope that it would deter vampires. Perhaps this is where the legend of the ‘Count’ Dracula comes from and perhaps even explains the compulsive obsessive behaviour of Count von Count in the children’s show Sesame Street.
So maybe not every scary story is the fault of Mu!
Entry 53
Although I intend perhaps for this journal to be useful in detailing many of the links between Mu and this world, some secrets are not mine to share here. That said, it is worth me including an entry about Owd Hob, kobolds and boggarts.
The legends say that house kobolds or boggarts are generally malevolent or at least prone to pulling pranks which might instil fear in the human homeowner. There are stories of boggarts crawling into people’s beds at night and scaring sleepers by touching them or pulling off their sheets. But they are also seen as being linked to silkies or brownies who are generally thought of as being more kindly.
I did read that in one part of England there is a belief that if one speaks the true name of a kobold aloud then he will become very angry and cannot be reasoned with. Ah, friend Weewalk, I wonder if this is anything to do with you. I never spoke your true name.
Kobolds, boggarts, bogles whatever you like to call them seem to have been the subject of blame for many an accident. In older times the disappearance of people on the marshes or the unexpected shying of a horse were all blamed on invisible boggarts. In Lancashire a boggart named ‘Nut-Nan’ was said to go around shouting a shrill cry to scare anyone nearby. Incidentally, it was the Lancashire boggarts who were said to have a leader called ‘Owd Hob’ who looked like a devil, complete with cloven hooves and horns, like a satyr. It may be that the better known name of Oberon is derived from the name of Owd Hob. Oberon is thought of as the king of the fairies.
Their appearance has been the subject of much debate with some very elaborate and monstrous descriptions. I suspect that such embellishments are simply born out of fear of the unknown and were designed to ensure the good behaviour of young children. Generally, men have thought of boggarts as human-like in their looks, although small of course. One such description I found runs thus "a squat hairy man, strong as a six year old horse, and with arms almost as long as tacklepoles". But in other places, such as in Yorkshire, the "Boggart of Longar Hede" was said to be rather scary and the size of young cow with long shaggy hair and huge eyes. He used to scare people by carrying around a rattling chain. The "Boggart of Hackensall Hall" in Lancashire was apparently even bigger, the size of a huge horse. I suspect this wasn’t actually a kobold. I’ve never met any much bigger than Weewalk.
The Knocker - known as a tommyknocker in America – seems to be a jumbled description of the mine kobold and related to descriptions of leprechauns and brownies. They are said to live underground and can be mischievous or malevolent. The malevolent ones are said to hammer at walls and timber supports to cause cave-ins. The mischievous ones are spoken of as being more kindly and of knocking to warn miners of impending collapses. It is to the latter that miners used to throw the crust of their pasties in the tin mines of Cornwall.
Skilled Cornish human miners were attracted to parts of America in the gold rush days. They took the tales of the knocker with them and, when the miners became notorious for being able to predict and avoid tunnel collapses, they attributed their success to the knockers in the dark. The Cornish miners even used to require the American managers of the gold mines to assure them that knockers were already in place and on duty. I even read of the closure of a large mine in the late 1950s where the miners who had left Cornwall as much as six generations ago circulated a petition asking that the owners set the knockers free. The mine-owners duly complied.
Entry 61
The woodwose or wodewose are known as the wildmen of the woods but have had other names in other parts of the world including the orke or orco in parts of Europe which seems to be the beginning of the fictional ‘orc’ and ‘ogre’. Stories of the wild men or forest men go back many, many hundreds of years. The name lives on in the English surname ‘Woodhouse’ or ‘Wodehouse’. Not much is known about them other than they were often thought of as having the appearance of men but completely covered in hair or moss.
