Keeping on the topic of creepy canines ,in this Post we discuss the topic of ghostly Dogs. There is One very popular spectral Hound in folklore that is found throughout the british isles,parts of mainland europe and even in America!
In ancient times dogs were seen as harbingers of death,perhaps because like crows they are often seen scavenging for scraps anywhere that death and dead bodies were to be found. In Mythology a Spooky demonic dog was often found to be guarding the gates to the underworld as was Cerberus’ job.
Keeping this in mind it’s not hard to see how remnants of this idea could keep alive the idea of a spectral spooky hound in the dark when one finds themselves walking the woods alone on a foggy autumn night. It is no coincidence that Sirius Black’s Animal form in the Harry Potter books was given the name ‘Padfoot’ as this was one of the many names the famous dog of folklore had.
Some of the other names were:
Bogey Beast (Lancashire)
Bargheust (Yorkshire and the North)
Black Shuck (East Anglia)
Capelthwaite (Westmorland, Cumbria)
Cu Sith (Highlands, Dark Green)
Gallytrot (Suffolk)
Guytrash Gurt Dog (Somerset)
Hairy Jack (Lincolnshire)
Mauthe Doog (Scotland)
Old Shock, Black Shuck (Suffolk)
Padfoot (Yorkshire)
Pooka (Ireland)
Skriker (Lancashire, Yorkshire)
Huay Chivo and Huay Pek (Mexico)
Uay/Way/Waay Chivo/Pek, Cadejo (Central America)
Lobizon (Paraguay and Argentina)
In some incarnations he was headless! In some,the dog was a benevolent beast who might safe guard your children. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ was inspired by the tales of the black dog. Some were seen as guardians of treasure,other still were harbingers of Doom. To see one meant death was imminent. Often times they were described as larger than a wolf with red glowing eyes.
I would be remiss if I did not mention an inspirational famous haunted Pooch close to my heart. What topic discussing ghost dogs would be complete without mentioning ZERO!
This guy is the loyal pal of the character Jack Skelington from The Nightmare Before Christmas Movie,who is with him even in the after life. With his jack o lantern nose he made the perfect spooky Rudolph replacement when fog juice threatened their take off in their coffin version of Santa’s Sleigh. And even when he doubted the outcome of Jacks plans, faithful Zero stayed true to his friendship and helped Jack anyway. A dog who’s bark is definitely worse than his bite, you can’t stay lonely for long with this guy at your side.
For more ghost dog tales,including a faithful pup who keeps wayward trick or treaters from stepping into the road accidentally,check out this link:
