In a lot of ways: it's just a gourd. Every year during the Halloween season, millions of peace, go out and buy their own, and then they bring it home and carve it this gourd mighty over two hundred years old, but the are worth carbon. We'd surface would feel right at home in any pumpkin carving competition, except this centuries old gourd as something special incited human blood. In fact, legend says that at once contain the blood of the bee headed french ruler, King Louis, the sixteenth, apparently some

and wanted to remember that fateful execution day so badly that they soaked their handkerchief in his blood and then drained it into this hollow fruit, and two thousand thirteen scientists put folk lore to the test and took a sample from inside the gourd, It was blood all right and when it was compared to a sample taken from the mummified head of King Louis, the sixteenth they had a match. Maybe that original collector had a morbid fascination with death, or perhaps they heard the kings final words and took them literally. I hope that my blood Louis had said may cement the fortune of the french blood is magical thing from the medical standpoint? It's the life force that flows through our veins. and without it were nothing more than an empty shell. But it's also a symbol of power and life and the most valuable thing a person can give up

our dreams are deserving of our blood, sweat and tears. We shed blood for great causes. Our freedoms were paid for in blood. Thankfully, most of us have no problem, keeping our blood safely behind bars, so to speak, except for those unfortunate accidents that end in spilt blood. We do a pretty good job of keeping our most precious cargo right where it belongs, but there's always the specter of fear lurking in the shadows, because if it's precious and valuable there's always the risk, it might be stolen. I'm Aaron Mahnke and this is lure the Isle of Man,

is a magical little island in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. Its only about, two hundred twenty square miles in size, but what it lacks for in surface area in more than makes up for in folklore, then specifically stories about fairies. There is the fairy ridge, of course, located over the southern River, known as the scent and burn according to lead And anyone who cross the bridge without greeting the little folk as they were known would suffer bad luck. Some would even leave a coin on the bridge just to make sure there message was heard, but it's another tail on the island that caught my attention. It was once the tradition to leave bowls of water out at night for ferries in order to keep from sneaking inside to drink human blood. If a careless farmer neglected to put out the water, some of these bloodthirsty fairies were said to use the blood to bake a blood cake which they would then hide inside. The house

once the homeowner found and ate the cake. They would be free from the curse and stories of blood. Drinking creatures aren't unique to the Isle of Man, in Japan. There are stories of the hunger typically described, as pitiful young woman who is possessed by a demonic spirit under the power The demon the woman is transformed into a monstrous creature, who wonders the land in search of blood, China is said to prefer a drinking the blood of infants, but if the legends about them are any indication, the only real, requirement is that they be alive and available in Germany legends. Big of an evil creature known as the help it is about that seems to prefer a young women, especially those who are pregnant. According to the stories, if a mother to be does something unforgivable, such as eating the wrong foods, the

will come to punish her, but this is where I tell you that the out will beat her like belts, nickel, another german creature, no, the Alps is more invasive. It has the power to turn itself into a cloud of mist and then enter its victims mouth once inside the Apple ACT like a sickness, giving the person nightmares and seizures o n it likes blood, often choosing to feed through the nipple, even in ancient times stories, a bloodthirsty beans were common in mesopotamian mythology, we can find stories of la mash to a female demon who, like the Alp, pursued pregnant women, Leginn tells us that she loved to nor on the bones of her victims and then drink their blood. The vitality of India has a different target in mind, though these creatures prefer to wander graveyards. Looking for the recently buried to feast

while many of the other creatures I mentioned seemed attracted to the living. The vitellius are drawn to the dead, sometimes even taking possession a human or animal corpse if destruction seem to have spread in a community. One of the first assumptions was that of a talus was at work. Probably the worst of the bunch that I have encountered in my research would be the knowledge see a creature from the folk lore of Slovakia, region of Europe. They are described as walking corpses. We wonder the countryside looking for victims there, long black, hair red eyes and sharp teeth are all clues that set them. Apart from the other traveller you might encounter. It said that in the lab sea can kill a person with nothing more than its gaze, but their most preferred method is to crush a victim in a powerful embrace before drinking their blood. They love to talk.

their prey and other stories tell of how those who survive go on to be carriers of a deadly disease and Oh, it's tempting to fall in love with a creature that just wants to hug you to death, don't be fooled once your bones are open you mean about as much too in the lab see as a brown bag lunch without the plastic, baggies and chips. I guess I know it's not the best metaphor in the world, but work with me here. Ok, folklore, it seems, is packed with tales of beans with a craving for a mouthful of blood, some like it hot while others prefer sipping from the recently deceased, but all of them share the same Blood lost that seems to span continents and cultures. The monsters that lurk in the shadows of our stories all seem to want the same thing. Thankfully, there just stories. No one needs to worry about in the lab see stumbling into their town. Looking for a snack, we can rest easy.

Knowing legends can't kill us in our sleep. There are some who disagree, though they believe we should all be very afraid, and that enough- of the world around us is still mysterious enough to hide some very dangerous threats. Proof they say is in the tales that still persist to this day tales of real people encountering real creatures and the destruction that has been witnessed by so many. But if we believe the stories were forced to come face to face with a frightening idea, some monsters just might be real taken one at a time, The details almost seemed believable. Together, though they paint a more bizarre picture,

and it all started in February of nineteen. Seventy five that was the month there number of farm animals in the small puerto rican town of Mocha were discovered, dead, fifteen cows, three votes to geese and a pig to be precise, and each of the animals had a few details in common. All of them had small puncture wounds on their bodies and all of them had been entirely drained of blood By March, more reports would follow. One farmer woke up on March twenty third to discover one of his pigs had been killed. The enclosure for his pigs hadn't been forced open. Now And there were no signs of a struggle now he knew was that one of his pay, was missing an ear and a whole had been pierced in the side of its head asthma, and more reports of dead animals flooded in the press began to put the pieces together, noting the similarities between each body, olive.

had been drained of their blood and all of them had small entry ones as if something had stabbed them with a large needle or a tooth. As a result, they began to refer to the undiscovered killer as the vampire of mocha. During this growing panic, one man had a strange encounter in that seem to offer the hint of answers to their questions. One Muniz claimed While he was outside one day, a large bird, like creature attacked him according to This bird was so large that it actually try to pick him up and carry him away, but he managed to fight it often run for safety and, what's interesting about his scripture. Is that around the same time on the eastern side of the island, some one else had reported a similar income a woman who live near the El Uk rain. Forests claim that one of her dogs had been killed. Its bones all mysteriously removed from its body- and this happened during

period of time when a number of local farmers were reporting the murder of dozens of livestock. It was just a few weeks after discovering that her dog had been attack there. This woman witness something almost impossible to believe a creature. She described as four to five feet: tall walking on its back legs and with bright red eyes ass. She approached she claimed it unfurled a pair of large bat like wings and then flew off into the distance shortly after those two sightings, things appeared to go quiet across port Rico for two decades, when the exciting began again. It was a mixture of old and new details. Perhaps that hinted at an entirely different creature or maybe whatever it was simply adapted I'll. Let you make up your own mind about that. Regardless of what you decide, the stories are chilling. It began, as it had been.

or with reports of dead livestock. It's important to remember that this wasn't a case of theft or even predatory kills the animals never left their farms and they work slaughtered and half eaten all of showed almost no sign of violence at all, except for a small puncture wound and the complete absence of blood. That is this time. The reports were coming in from the towns of recovery, and, moreover, piece which are situated in the middle of the island between March and August of ninety. Ninety five over one hundred fifty dead animals were all reported with similar details, and it was during August at the first sitting of the creature responsible was report a young woman named Madeline Tarantino was nappy,

on a hot summer day, when her mother gently shook her awake, a finger over her lips to keep her quiet, Madeline's mother pointed to the window and the two women carefully moved closer and peered outside and that's when they saw it later. They both described it as about four ft tall and stay, an upright on thin back legs. They claim that the creatures eyes were large and had a line of short spikes down the centre of its back. She and her mother watched it for a few minutes before it wandered out of their yard and across the street disappearing into the tall grass of a vacant lot. That encounter would be the first of many across Puerto Rico, through the late 1990s and one thousand nine hundred and ninety six, a construction worker named Louis Guadalupe, plain to see the creature twenty miles east of the city of Sun one. He described it as a monster with along pointy tongue and skin that seemed gray another can

auction worker made a similar report a short time later. He claimed that here raised animals all of his life and had never had them attacked before, but five of his sheep had been killed. Then the injuries were consistent with other reports. And as the months went by more and more dead animals were discovered across port Rico. In November of nineteen ninety seven more than thirty pigs were found dead from puncture wounds in the neck. There was no sign of violence or wild animal attacks, just the same method of killing and all of the bodies and that same eerie condition. Every drop of blood was gone, but don't be fooled into thinking that these killings

the work of a local animal that had simply managed to stay out of sight. No, there was something unnatural about it all that suggested something less normal than a hungry predator. Looking for a snack among the local livestock, they hinted at something more crafty than a wolf or a dog or a large bird. The killer, it seemed, was intelligent. When Elvin Rosado went outside first thing on the morning of January 26th, one thousand nine hundred and ninety eight, he found three of his cats dead in the yard. He lived in the village of la Pagare that on the southwest

corner of the island. Despite being eighty miles away from the most recent reports, it seemed that the lead of the northeast had finally come to visit. All three of the cats had been surgically killed along clean incision had cut open the skin of their backs. Moving in a straight line from neck to tail, no puncture wounds could be found where there was no sign of blood on any of the bodies. It was something that surely would have woken the dogs, Melvin didn't recall any barking during the night. Even more unusual was the fact that his cats had all been safe inside a gated area of the yard. Just like the chickens that another local former kept on his property that man walked to the sounds of a disturbance but chose to go back to sleep in the morning. He realise just how much of a mistake he made.

every single chicken in his enclosure had been killed and left on the ground. Each of them, as you might be, assuming at this point in the story had puncture ones each had been dead of blood, but this farmer also noted something else that was just as unbelievable. The door to his chicken coop hadn't been knocked in or broken through. No, it had been opened just like any human would have done by lifting the mechanical whenever the killer was, it was something more skilled than a wild animal. More dexterous than any fox or dog could have been in a lot of ways and almost

human, a realisation that doesn't help to make the details any less creepy. I no word was spreading fast. Something deadly was killing livestock all over the island of Puerto Rico each night and it was beginning to capture the imaginations of people everywhere. Although the creature never limited itself to one particular type of animal oppress began to refer to it as the goat, sucker or two COBRA and cheap, a cobra at everyone on edge one man, even volunteered to hunted down whole Soto was the mayor of candles on us. Although everyone, there simply called him chemo after offering to take up the hunt and track down the creature, folk started to think of him as a bit of an adventurer. They called him Chemo Jim bones in homage to Harrison, Ford's legendary film role, Indiana Jones, but if chemo Jones had any success in his mission. I can't find any records of it.

later in eighteen, ninety eight a wealthy farmer by the name of Dominic went outside one morning, only to discover Or of his own animals slaughtered in the same way dominates livestock, though, had been peacocks neighbour, his pride and joy. Four of the birds had been completely drained of their blood and had small puncture. In their necks, fearing for his remaining peacocks Dominic, decided to camp out overnight and keep watch over them from inside their enclosure. He set up a chair brought along a flashlight and sat down in the dark to wait a little after midnight. You found what he was looking for, something large had begun to try and unlatched the gate to the enclosure. He could hear it. working at the mechanism struggling to pull it open and ass. He listened he reached slowly for his flashlight when he was ready. He pressed the button blasting the gate, with a wide beam of light, and then

If rose standing there on its hind legs was a creature roughly four feet tall with big eyes, glowed back red when the light turned on the creature drop to all four legs and than bolted off into the darkness, but as it did, Dominic noticed one other. I detail the creature whenever It might have been had a row of short spikes running down the middle of its back. The creature was spotted a few more times by Dominic, prowling around his property at night, but after a couple of weeks, it vanished and never came back. Others witnessed in other parts of Porter Rico, though, but as the months and years went by fewer and fewer people encountered it or the results of its nighttime feeding sessions in the years. Since countless people have speculated about the true nature of the cheap, a cobra, some think that, because it had once been spotted near the era, Sego Observatory,

connected to UFO activity. Others believe it was nothing more than a dog or coyote suffering from mange or some other disease, the most retaining theory that I've read is that an exotic rhesus monkey had somehow been set loose on the island and it was doing its best to survive. But while that might exe in the creatures ability to turn locks and open gates. It certainly skips over the most horrifying details that all of the story sharing common, namely the puncture marks and the complete lack of blood in the end, will never know as frustrating as that might be. But what we can be certain of is just how power

the mythology around the cheap macabre has become whether it's nothing more than a common animal. That's been obscured by disease and darkness, or a new creature that science has yet to document and study. We can be certain of one very solid truth if the creature is real and still among us, it's out for blood. we are creatures of flesh and blood em. All world around us only sees the flesh or faces and

Limbs and all of that outward expression of our physical bein, that blood is never far from the surface, literally and figuratively, just like the countless generations that came before us, we guard our blood as if our lives depend on it because they do so any time there is a threat to that precious cargo. We instinct Really feel fear whether it's the recent rise in diseases spread by mosquitos antics or something simple as using a knife in the kitchen. It's amazing how quickly people become very cautious about keeping their safe, and I think that speaks to the power of the mythology around the tube macabre, a mysterious creature that prowls through the night. Looking for one simple thing:

the blood of its victims. If the vampire represents the graceful in aristocratic blood drinker in modern popular culture, then the tube macabre is its wild, violent antithesis. Because of that, the stories of the tube macabre haven't stayed in ports Rico sightings of bloodthirsty animals that fit the same description have been reported in Chile, Mexico, the american state of main and even overseas in Russia in the Philippines. I think it safely assume that wherever people fear the loss of their blood, the cheap, a cobra is there in some form or another, but we still don't to look far and wide defined stories that play on that old fear. In recent months. Reply. its have been coming in about a new wave of animal killings in the air around the porter weaken municipality of Barcelona. People have been reporting dead, Animals

This new generation has taken two calling the killer by a new name: gargled gargoyle. Understandably, people have The loss of their livestock represents a loss of livelihood, but also hints at a deeper risk. What if the creature responsible moved up the food chain? What if people were next

To that end, a number of hunters and police have set up nighttime hunts to try and track the killer down, but it's the descriptions of the dead animals that have left people wondering the most. If it's not something new at all, just a reappearance of an older legend. Most of the animals, according to the stories have been found with small puncture wounds in their necks and their bodies completely drained. What the old adage remains as true as it ever was. The more things change the more they stay. The same.

The Juba Kamba has quickly embedded itself in the cultural landscape in a way that few monsters of folk lore ever have, and I hope today's exploration of its origins and routes have left you with a better understanding of just why. That is. but I've managed to track down more stories about a similar creature, and if you ll stick around through the sponsor break I'll, tell you all about them. This episode was made possible by stamp stock, come if you're, a small businesses. you're busy enough as it is either have time to deal with the hassle of going to the post office with stamps dot com. You can skip the trip never waste another dollar or minute steps that come with you print official postage right from your computer. So you can spend less time at post office and more time running your business simply put stamps dot. Com saves time, money and stress for more than twenty years, stamps that come here

an indispensable for over one million businesses, giving you access to all the post office and you pay a shipping services. You need right from your computer and get discounts. You can't find anywhere else like up the forty percent off you S, p s rates and seventy six per se w p s. All you need is a computer in a standard printer, no special supplies or equipment, you'll be up and running in minutes, printing official postage for any letter any package anywhere you want to send it. I've been happy using stamps not come for years and as a business owner, it is a lifesaver say time and money this year was stamped Stockholm sign up with a promo code lore for us.

special offer. That includes a four week, trial, free postage and a digital scale. No long term commitments or contracts just go to stamps dot, com click on the microphone at the top of the homepage and then type in the word lure that stamps dot com offer code lure stamps dot com, never go to the post office again The human mind has an insatiable thirst for answers. It was the driving force behind the exploration of the new world back in the late sixteenth century, man is at the core of

every scientific revolution in history, when confronted with mysteries humans hunt for the answers, I think it goes without saying that these cheap accomplice stories have left many people with a hunger for the truth, and a lot of theories have been offered up over the years. some suspect, the involvement of Ufos, claiming that many chub macabre attacks coincided with UFO activity. As I mentioned earlier, the proximity the era. Civil observatory, which was the world's largest radio rate our telescope of the nineteen nineties was certainly intriguing, others believe, creature, so bizarre could only be the result of human interference, and so they have suggested that genetic Munich nation by various world powers, has created a monster straight out of our darkest nightmares. They whisper about facility he's in the chilean desert and collaboration

and between NASA and other governments. But the theories haven't: stop the stories reports from Central Mexico in nineteen. Ninety six and Brazil in nineteen. Ninety nine suggest that if the killings were connected to a particular creature, that creature was on them the Brazil, sightings were particularly eerie in their details to because they see almost exactly like the events in Board Rico a year before. According to the reports farmer and sorrow Kaaba. Brazil found nine of his pigs dead inside their locked enclosure. Each of them had been punctured by something small and their blood had been completely drained. In the chilean City of Colombia, farmers there expire in their own wave of mysterious animal debts in April of two thousand as many as three hundred farm animals, found killed in a similar manner. Farmers where did hearing what they called terrible, sounds the knight of the killings

an unusual palmprints were found in some locations prince that did not match any known animal A farmer in Mexico heard his dogs howling one night in October of two thousand one and when he went on the following morning, he found over thirty of his sheep dead on the ground. I bet you can guess what was wrong with the bodies too, and if you see puncture wounds and no blood you in a gold star, the last age or attack, I can find in Mexico took place in March of two thousand eight, a farmer step outside defined eight of his hens, along with one turkey

and all been drained of their blood outraged and afraid. The farmer gathered his friends together for a cheaper Cumbria Hunt, hoping to read their territory once and for all of the bloodthirsty beast. Nothing was ever found, this episode of Lore was written and produced by me, Aaron Maggie with research by Marcin Crockett and music by Chad. Lesson I make two other pod casts errand, make he's cabinet of curiosities and unobserved just like lore, both our explorations of dark.

History with cabinet of curiosities focused on small little tales of curious things. While unscared is a twelve episode season, they dies deep into a single topic. I write a narrate both of them and we love for you to check them out. Law exists outside this pod cast too. There is a book, series in bookstores around the country and on line and the second season of the Amazon Prime TV show just arrived on October. Nineteenth check it all out. If you want a bit more lore in your life and you can,

learn about everything going on over in one central place: Thou world of lore dot com slash now and if you're, a social media sort of person, you can follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, just search for lore podcast, all one word and then click that follow button. And when you do say hi, I like it when people say hi and as always, thanks for listening.