The modern world is full of strange stories that challenge our understanding of reality. From a child's unwavering memories of a past life to a legend of a real-life portal to hell, some "wyrd news" stories prove that the unexplained continues to find its way into our lives.
One case, in particular, captured the attention of many. A three-year-old boy from the Golan Heights, near the Syria-Israel border, made an astonishing claim: he remembered being murdered in a previous life. He gave chillingly precise details of the crime, including the location of his body and the murder weapon. When villagers dug, they found both a skeleton and an axe, exactly as the boy described. His story was further supported by a long red birthmark on his head, which he claimed corresponded to the fatal axe wound he suffered. As he grew older, the child even named his killer, leading to a private confession after the body and weapon were discovered.
Just as fascinating is a story that recently surfaced about a boy, no older than four or five, who insisted to his mother that "werewolves were real!" He explained that every full moon, portals to hell open in certain hidden places, and that is where the creatures emerge from. This idea is a theme that echoes throughout history, most famously in the legend of Huska Castle in the Czech Republic. Built in the 13th century, it is not a typical castle built for defense. It was built directly over a great crack in the earth—a literal "Hellmouth"—from which demons and monsters would emerge. This belief was so strong that the castle walls were built to face inward, not outward, to contain the evil within.
The Czech Republic itself has a dark, quirky charm to its folklore. The country is home to the Sedlec Ossuary, a Catholic chapel decorated with the bones of over 40,000 people. With its chandelier made of human bones and mounds of skulls, the site is a poignant reminder of death. The country's capital, Prague, also has the famous Astronomical Clock, whose creator was allegedly blinded so he couldn't build another one.
These tales remind us that the strange and unexplained are not confined to the past. Whether it’s a terrifying beast from a portal to hell or the astonishing memories of a past life, the weird is still very much a part of our world.