Tuamgraney Woods Manifestation - Ireland

On the 31st October and around Halloween generally, some choose to avoid Tuamgraney Woods in County Clare, it is said that the hollow changes into dense woodland from which one can not escape, and within lurk dark creatures with glowing red eyes.

One tale tells of a young man who decided to ignore the warnings, he entered the woods carrying a large stick when soon a feeling of melancholy and fear came over him, the woods quickly became so dense he could not find the footpath to get out again.
Shortly after this, he saw a large black hound in front of him, with glowing red eyes, it glared at him a while before vanishing, this was followed by a hare, usually a passive  animal, but this one was also menacing, when it disappeared a large, hissing cat was seen, he could feel the threat and anger in the beast and he turned to run. However, the trees were so tightly packed, and the ground so uneven that he could not flee, he simply stumbled headlong into the branches. As it started to grow dark, the man appeared in a clearing where he saw an imposing black ram with the same glaring red eyes, and a cowering deer which was clearly near death following an attack. He became emboldened now, and attacked the ram with his stick, his blows went straight through the ghostly beast, but it in turn knocked him to the ground. When he awoke, the woodland had returned to normal, the trees were easy to navigate and the feeling of fear was gone...but he felt the physical pain of the struggle with the ram.

On telling this tale afterwards at home to his family, they said that others too had this experience, and Tuamgraney Woods were definitely best avoided at Halloween.


Sources: www.yourirish.com www.paranormaldatabase.com

Newspaper snippet

I just came across a little snippet I cut out of a UK newspaper last year (I think) about people's top 10 favourite spooky phenomena, thinking about writing about them all in due course although a couple of them - the origins of Stonehenge especially - are so vast a topic that I wouldn't know where to start, so many opinions, conflicting arguments etc, but fascinating nonetheless. They run as follows:

10 - Hampton Court ghosts, Surrey
9 - Highgate vampire, north London
8 - Devil's footprints, Devon
7 - Rendlesham Forest UFO, Suffolk
6 - Agatha Christie's 'missing 11 days', Harrogate, Yorkshire
5 - Suicidal Dogs at Overtoun Bridge, West Dunbartonshire
4 - Enfield Haunting, north London
3 - Beast of Bodmin Moor, Cornwall
2 - Origins of Stonehenge, Wiltshire
1 - Loch Ness Monster, Scottish Highlands

Is your favourite there? 

The Buckhurst Hill Shuck, Essex.

One of the most recent sightings of this spectral black dog was in 1989. A small group of teenagers were walking through a local graveyard one night when a large hound appeared and scared them, shortly after this, the beast leaped the churchyard wall and 'landed' on the bonnet of a passing car, much to the driver's shock.

The vanishing hound of Aylesbury.

This account dates from before the 20th century. For many nights in a row, a farmer walking to milk his cows early in the morning, came across a large, black dog which blocked his path. Gradually he became annoyed with having to walk around the dog and hit the creature which instantly vanished...the man however was said to be paralysed from that moment, never to speak or move again.

The horse-dog of Clackmannanshire.

Last reported as recently as 1997, and before that 1975, this entity is a strange one. Described by witnesses as a horse with the legs of a dog, this creature is seen around the woods in daylight hours, vanishing very quickly once spotted.

Hound with horns - Clacktoll, Highlands.

A ghost hound is said to chase people who use the road through the village late at night, he is said to have horns - quite rare in the legends of black dogs and shucks.

Messy Dog - Selkirk, Scottish Borders.

A grey hound is said to haunt the road between Selkirk and Langholm and has been reported at both dusk and dawn - a 'messy looking' animal the size of a normal dog, it wanders the road without making a sound.