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    The Alleged Counterparts of the Banshee: Magical Creatures, A Weiser Books Collection
    The Alleged Counterparts of the Banshee: Magical Creatures, A Weiser Books Collection
    The Alleged Counterparts of the Banshee: Magical Creatures, A Weiser Books Collection
    Ebook28 pages27 minutes

    The Alleged Counterparts of the Banshee: Magical Creatures, A Weiser Books Collection

    By Elliot O'Donnell and Varla Ventura

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    About this ebook

    Varla Ventura, fan favorite on Huffington Post’s Weird News, frequent guest on Coast to Coast, and bestselling author of The Book of the Bizarre and Beyond Bizarre, introduces a new Weiser Books Collection of forgotten crypto-classics. Magical Creatures is a hair-raising herd of affordable digital editions, curated with Varla’s affectionate and unerring eye for the fantastic.

    Perhaps the most feared creature in Irish fairy lore, the Banshee is the ghostly, female apparition whose shriek portents the demise of a loved one. Elliot O'Donnell explores the terrifying Banshee-equivalents of cultures around the world-- from the Highland Castles of Scotland to the seaside villages of Italy-- and his tales of these creatures make the Irish Banshee look like nothing more than a cherubic Christmas-caroler.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRed Wheel Weiser
    Release dateApr 1, 2012
    ISBN9781619400603
    The Alleged Counterparts of the Banshee: Magical Creatures, A Weiser Books Collection
    Author

    Elliot O'Donnell

    Elliot O' Donnell was an Irish author known primarily for his books about ghosts. He claimed decent from Irish chieftains of ancient times, including Niall of the Nine Hostages (the King Arthur of Irish folklore) and Red Hugh, who fought the English in the sixteenth century. O'Donnell was educated at Clifton College, England, and Queen's Service Academy, Dublin, Ireland. As he became known as an authority on the supernatural, he was called upon as a ghost hunter. He also lectured and broadcast, via radio and television, on the paranormal in Britain and the United States. In addition to his more than 50 books, he wrote scores of articles and stories for national newspapers and magazines. O'Donnell claimed, "I have investigated, sometimes alone, and sometimes with other people and the press, many cases of reputed hauntings. I believe in ghosts but am not a spiritualist."

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      Book preview

      The Alleged Counterparts of the Banshee - Elliot O'Donnell

      Is That a Banshee or Are You Just Happy to See Me?

      How many a lonesome night has been spent listening with trepidation to the howl of the wind? In spite of our rational minds and our sound judgment, there is nearly always—especially in that passage of time between midnight and three in the morning—a sound that simply cannot be explained away. Oh, but we try. To the rattle of the windowpane and the thump upon the porch, we say, ‘Tis only the wind! To the squeak of the floorboards and the bang on the roof, we declare, This old house is settling! But deep inside, and we have all likely felt it at one time or another, there is an uneasy understanding that something very supernatural is afoot.

      And the odds are this feeling of uneasiness is accurate. There are many, many things out there clawing in the night, snarling in the shadows—sinister beasts that make the sad Irish banshee look friendly.

      Banshees are among the most feared creatures of the fairy kingdom, and this may be due in part to the sympathies they invoke when you hear their wailing. You could easily be lured into the dark of night, hoping to help such a pathetic creature who sounds as if she is in mourning. Some tales recount that banshees are the ghosts of women who have died in childbirth; others say they are the restless sprits of unrequited love.

      Their international counterparts include the German Lady in White, the misleadingly sweet-singing phantasm of Italy, family ghosts, mysterious hands and fish-specters of Scotland, hags, witches, and woeful bridal phantoms along with many, many other terrifying creatures that haunt the globe.

      Elliot O'Donnell was an Irish author who wrote more than forty books on ghosts, paranormal encounters, and creatures of the fairy race. Unlike so many authors of his time who conducted psychic experiments and often took the skeptical or sensational point of view, O'Donnell had

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