Hell Kettles

There are three mysterious ponds in a marshy piece of open land near Croft-on-Tees, England. It's freshwater fed by springs and is estimated to be 20 feet deep. They might've appeared there during the Middle Ages. These ponds were mentioned in the Brompton's Chronicle, written in 1328, describing it as making an incredible show at Christmas.

"The ground rose up so high with such vehemence that it was equal to the highest tops of the mountains, and towered above the lofty pinnacles of the churches, and at that height remained from the ninth hour of the day even to sunset. But at sunset it fell with so horrible a crash, that it terrified all who saw that heap, and heard the noise of its fall, whence many died from that fear; for the earth swallowed it up, and caused in the same place a very deep pit." 

(This is the English translation from Latin that it was originally written). Some suggest that what happened back then were collapsed coal pits. People living around the location have often called them kettles of Hell and Devil's Kettles. It's also believed that tormented angry spirits were living inside them. Many claimed to have heard screams and shouting coming from within the kettles. 

Even after the Age of Reason, people found the kettles unsettling. During the Victorian era, the water in the kettles were "boiling" hot! It was written that there was foam also in the water, accompanied by eerie sounds that were like human screams. Found to be haunted, the gothic Victorians connected the kettles with ghosts. The temperature of the water changes from hot to cold, and followed by a smell of sulphur. 

The kettles formed in a horrific way back in 1179 when the ground rose up at a towering height and then fell down with a thunderous loud crash that made some die of heart attacks. Theories about what this was range from collapsing pits to natural breakup of a gypsum and mudstone landslide. To me it sounds like a natural geyser that erupted due to an amount of pressure. If it were then it's the only recorded natural geyser to have happened in that part of the UK. 

She Wolf Night 

Kuma Lisa

Kuma Lisa is a naughty vixen and is known as a trickster character. She's a sister, daughter, princess and a godmother. She's referred to as Godmother Lisa and goes by another name Lisa Petrikeyevna. Kuma Lisa appears in a load of stories found in myths around Eastern Europe in many Slavic countries. 

She likes to play pranks and one of her victims is the honest wolf Kumcho Vulcho, who is opposite her and keeps suffering from her tricks. The stories are about her thinking of ways to get up to mischief in order to get what she wants. Interestingly, she might be a shapeshifter as she's got human traits and this includes physically looking like a woman but sometimes she's a fox.   

A well known story is about Kuma Lisa and the vineyard. She becomes hungry looking at juicy grapes dangling from vines growing behind a big tall fence. She manages to squeeze through a small gap in the fence, and then she eats a load of grape greedily. When she's had enough and wants to leave, she's not able to squeeze through the gap. So she lets some time pass so that she loses a lot of weight and can escape. By the time she leaves, she's hungry again and muses: "I was hungry when I got in, and I am hungry when I have to go out."

Kuma Lisa also enjoys stealing chickens from a farmer that she likes messing with on purpose. Kuma Lisa also likes teasing a hedgehog. She tricked him into thinking she was sick and weak. The hedgehog felt sorry for her and took her to see a rabbit who was a healer. Then Kuma Lisa killed and ate the rabbit after pretending to be ill. She didn't have any remorse and has often made others miserable. Kuma Lisa has many similar traits to the Kitsune fox women of Japan and China. 

Read "Sister Fox and Brother Wolf" story at Poems For Kids.  

She Wolf Night

Worm moon

March is a time when the full moon is called Worm Moon. This is because the appearance of earthworms above the soil is a sign that Spring is on the way and Winter is leaving. The worm moon is also the last full moon of Winter but the first full moon of Spring. Spring is coming.

Other names for March full moon include Lenten Moon, Wind Moon, Plough Moon, Chaste Moon, Death Moon, Crow Moon, Snow Crust Moon, Sap Moon and Sugar Moon. What's more special about this year's moon is that there's going to be full lunar eclipse on 13th and 14th of March. This will also be a significant "blood moon". This month's moon will be in Virgo, which is said to be about healing and creative energy.  

Also it's worth mentioning  that the sun will be making an interesting show. Across the northern hemisphere will be a visible solar partial eclipse on 29th March 2025. It will be seen from North America and Europe. The sun will be in Pisces and this will mean a symbolic time of dreaming and magic. 

She Wolf Night

Dark swine

There are many types of creepy entities in pig form. These include the Pig-man cryptid that was reported in many countries. Although it sounds like a fairy tale to many newbies of the paranormal field, others laugh at the idea. Let's explore. 

The Pig-man was responsible for missing people, such as a case in Northfield, USA. There was a dangerous "pig" there, or many believe was a man dressed up as a pig. An urban legend surrounds this strange story, about a boy named Sam Harris who went out alone on the night of 30th October to go trick or treating in 1951. It was said he wanted to do this during "Picket Night" or mischief night, the eve before Halloween. He never returned home. Many claimed to have seen Sam, or assumed it was him over the years, living wild and shabby, covered in hair and killing pigs. This character frightened passers-by, and he got a reputation as a hideous evil pig-man. For more on this go and visit the Burlington Free Press article on the legendary pigman here. 

There are similar stories of monstrous pigs such as a massive mega boar that was found in Georgia. The animal was nicknamed Pigzilla. It was hunted and then photographed with an entry in the national press. There are more enormous wild pigs but some have supernatural origin, such as the Beast of Dean in the woods of Gloucestershire, England. It has a similar behaviour as other cryptids that are briefly seen, cause fear among those who witness it, and vanishes. Another similar entity is found in Indonesia, called the Babi Ngepet also referred to as a boar demon. Some say it appeared in a village of Cianjur back in 2012 while others say it was an ordinary wild boar.

There is the wild cryptid in Hawaii that looks like a half-man and half-pig (a werepig) named Oahu Hog-Man. It lives in forests and seen by Mount Tantalus in Oahu. People witnessed it at the roads while driving. It's assumed that this is probably linked to a mistake as the islands haven't got wild boars. However it's got feral pigs that are a menace to the environment, damaging crops and spreading diseases. 

Then there is the legendary Pig-Man of Cannock Chase, explored in the book UFO's, Werewolves and the Pig-Man by author Lee Brickley. 

It was once believed there were demonic black pigs living in London's underground sewers. People were afraid when these vile creatures would leave and run amok through the streets, killing and spreading nasty germs. It was this urban legend that started during the 18th century and lasted until Victorian times. 

She Wolf Night 

Spooky quicks March 2025

Many surprise stories have happened recently that I can briefly mention. Some are weird, others mysterious and also paranormal. Opening up this month's supply of spooky stories in short nutshells, beginning with some space news.

Last month everyone was thinking an asteroid could hit Earth in 2032. The asteroid was discovered by Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey and found it was at high risk Level 3 of collision with our home world. However, it was then discovered it's chances of hitting Earth are Level 0 (zero). Kind of a relief for everyone as this wasn't exactly a welcoming present.

For those who believe in ancient aliens, there's been a strange discovery in Peru. The two bodies with unknown DNA and were thought to be aliens by ufologist Jaime Maussan, were found buried near Nazca. After examination, the bodies revealed advanced dentistry work on their teeth. This suggests that they are real and not fakes as many had claimed.

Now for ghosts or really a tragedy involving a ghost hunting electronic device. This happened in Pennsylvania earlier this year. A man named Jared Wolfe murdered his girlfriend and blamed it on ghosts using a paranormal EVP metre. Apparently Jared had been smoking marijuana before it happened. The victim was Jane White who was a mother of two children. 

On another ghost related news, Dr Ian Stevenson has come up with a unique way of communicating with the dead. This involves a method of combination lock test for survival. The idea is based on the fact a combination lock has up to six numbers might prove that spirits could make themselves known using this as a key. His research continues. 

She Wolf Night