3 Spooky Halloween Short Stories from Around the World

It’s almost Halloween. Wrap yourself up like a mummy and get wrapped up in these three spooky Halloween short stories from abroad. We’ve got a mythological monster, a dead man who is still active in his community, and a baroness who made her poor servants’ lives a living hell.

These stories come to us through oral history, language translation, and localization (so we don’t feel like we’re hearing it from a robot or miss any of the juicy details.) There’s a fair amount of gore in these stories so perhaps calling a medical translator could be in order. Don’t read with the lights out!

1. Fenrir: Wolf of Halloween (Scandinavia)

In Norse mythology, Fenrir is a monstrous wolf who never stops growing in size and has supernatural strength. When he was born, the gods were intimidated by the havoc he would wreak and decided to raise Fenrir themselves in Asgard. The only god brave enough to approach and feed Fenrir was Týr.

Fenrir was getting too big to be kept in Asgard. The gods twice tricked Fenrir into becoming bound in chains, but both times his strength won. For their third attempt, they presented a special, lighter chain. Fenrir became suspicious and understood the gods’ intentions wasn’t tomfoolery, but capture.

So, Fenrir said he would let them bind him again if, this time, one of the gods rested a hand in his jaws during the process. The terrified gods knew Fenrir’s intention was to bite the hand off. Knowing his sacrifice would be for the good of the Nine Worlds, Týr chose to volunteer.

As soon as the tethered Fenrir realized that the new magical chain was unbreakable, he chomped down on Týr’s hand and swallowed it whole. Týr lost his hand, but Fenrir was finally contained – for now.

2. Petar Blagojević: Dead and Kicking (Serbia)

The word “vampire” comes from the extremely similar Serbian word vampir. And the first vampire in Serbia was a real man who once lived. His name was Petar Blagojević. A peasant in a small village, he led an ordinary life. It wasn’t until he was deceased that his name spread across Europe.

In a wave of vampire hysteria, Petar was held responsible for nine murders – even though he was already dead. Within eight days of his passing, nine people died. On their deathbeds, the decedents reported that Petar Blagojevic had visited their rooms at night and tried to choke them.

Petar’s family also received postmortem visits. His wife reported that he came to her asking for his sandals. In response, she moved away from town, as did many others who feared a chance meeting. Petar then visited his son, asking for food. When his son did not comply, Petar bit and murdered him.

The villagers decided to disinter Petar’s body. To their astonishment, the body looked as though it were alive and active – in fact, with fresh excess blood spilling from the mouth, it looked like the corpse had recently made a kill. Ultimately, they drove a stake through the chest and incinerated the body.

3. Elizabeth Bathory: Creepy Halloween Queen (Hungary)

Born Erzsébet Báthory in 1560 in the Kingdom of Hungary, this real-life historical figure is known for the one atrocity that she probably didn’t actually commit. The legend goes that in her middle-age, she would drip-dry young virgin girls for their blood, collect it in a tub, and bathe herself. Very, very dark.

Unfortunately, the verified facts are not less dark – Elizabeth Bathory was a serial killer. It all began with her early life influences. As a child that suffered from epileptic episodes, she underwent the treatment of the time, which consisted of rubbing the blood of a non-epileptic onto the lips.

At the age of 13, she would bear and dispose of an illegitimate child. When she was married at 14, her husband had the child’s father, a peasant, castrated and thrown to a pack of wild dogs. Whenever the couple was together, they bonded over a shared interest in the torture of their servant girls.

By the end of her life, Elizabeth and her inner circle murdered 650 girls, with 306 testimonials filed against her in court. Because of her social stature, an agreement was made whereby she would not have to stand trial, sparing her family the embarrassment. Instead, she would go straight to prison.

Halloween Spooks and Delights

It’s amazing to think these ancient spooky stories have been immortalized through simple document translation. That is the relevance of language services. Not only can cultures all over the world take part in the fun but, amazingly, these stories inspire new articles and web content every day.

Every enterprise has a story. Tell other countries the story of your enterprise through translation, conference interpreting, and web localization. If you’re in the business of medical or legal issues (hopefully not like the ones described in today’s Halloween stories), we can be of service.

Happy Halloween 2021!