On July 17th 1899 the Dordrechtsch Nieuwsblad newspaper featured a bizarre story (Dordrecht is a city in the Dutch province ‘Zuid Holland’ – South Holland’) concerning a monster.Mathijs translates the article as follows:
In a village called Dubbeldam there were rumours that a street (or way) called the Stevensweg was supposed to be haunted. One evening a man was walking in the area when suddenly a woman appeared and asked him for money. When the man refused, the woman shouted, “I will get you for this!” and disappeared.
The man continued on his journey but soon a small dog appeared and began to follow the him. Suddenly the dog transformed into a huge bear which started to attack the poor man.
There’s an old belief that ghost bears are frightened of iron knives and the man was armed with such a weapon. He grabbed his knife and stabbed at the bear. It disappeared and the man was alone in the darkness again. Since then the Stevensweg was feared at night by many.
Interesting story, Neil!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there is any history of what color the dog is supposed to be.
Im curious if there is a connection to the phantom black dog legend as well.
Great post.
Best regards,
Raven