Scary legends about the forest. Horror stories. Tragedy in the Volga region

A couple of young people wanted variety in lovemaking and for this purpose they went to the nearest forest about which there were bad rumors.

Locals tried to go nearby in search of mushrooms or berries. But young people, as usual, do not believe the rumors, and then severely pay for their carelessness. This story is taken from real life, but with a little artistic addition.

LAST VICTIMS IN THE FOREST

The car stopped at the edge of the forest. It was only a little dark, but the forest was almost completely dark. The girl jumped out of the car and ran into the forest.

— Lisa, where are you going? — the guy became worried. He heard scary stories about the forest from his friends and was afraid that the girl would get lost.

“But if you catch up, then everything will be fine,” I heard in response.

Grigory closed the car and ran after him. dark forest to look for the girl, but she was nowhere to be found.

- Lisa! - Lisa! Where are you? - Gregory called, but there was no answer. A log fell under his feet and Grigory, stumbling, fell head over heels down a small hill. He lay down for a while, and then got up and moved his limbs. There were no fractures, only minor bruises. He raised his head and froze. At some distance from him, red lights appeared in a circle, as if from lanterns. They didn't move, they just hung in the air and flickered with red fire. Suddenly, a creature similar to a person appeared in front of him, but in some kind of terrible mask. The next moment a stick flashed before his eyes and Grigory received swipe on the head. His vision went dark and the guy fell.

Four days later, a local huntsman came across the car as he was making a round of his territory. I didn’t find any passengers anywhere. It was clear that they hadn’t been near the car for a long time; it was covered a little with dust and fallen leaves. The dog found drops of blood on the ground and barked loudly, calling its owner. There was also a bloody stick with which the man had been hit. The huntsman called the police.

Investigators using local residents and the military combed almost the entire territory forest area in the area, but neither the missing people nor their dead bodies were found anywhere.

An examination of the condition of the car determined the day when it was left here and the number of passengers in the car. An interview with witnesses showed that that evening eyewitnesses saw luminous balls in the forest and in a field near the forest, and were sure that these balls had taken the missing people with them.

This supposedly happened before, but the missing people were not found. Investigators decided that these were local legends, and the criminals could have buried the missing people anywhere in the forest, the forest is large, and it is almost impossible to find graves.

This uncertainty gave rise to rumors and legends. A week-long search for Lisa and Gregory did not yield any results; there were no theories about their disappearance. Another serious “hang” will completely spoil the statistics of detection rates and the investigator for especially important cases Nesterenko decided to transfer the investigation of this case to the shoulders of the FSB, and there is a good reason, these are not the first people missing in this forest.

THE INVESTIGATION IS LEAD BY FSB AGENTS

The next day, FSB paranormal investigators Mikhail and Sonya arrived at the scene. They noticed small circles of burnt grass.

- Sonya, but people were telling the truth about fireballs who kidnap people, here are the traces left by them.

- Do you want to talk about aircraft some kind of mystical aliens? “It’s more like the places where local pioneers made fires,” Sonya objected.

“Maybe so, but I remembered the recording of the last interrogation of a victim in a similar situation who managed to survive. Do you remember how he said: - “Fireballs... They wanted to kill me and take me away, like the others... They wanted to profit from my flesh... The main thing is not to let yourself be killed and you can be saved... I managed to escape... It’s very scary... Don’t let yourself be killed... If they kill you, they will eat you...". True, he later went crazy from such stress and was placed in a psychiatric hospital.

“But it was in a completely different place, almost a thousand kilometers from here.”

- So what, it means the aliens have chosen another place for themselves and are now “working” here, although there are doubts that feeding creatures live in some other world human meat. Maybe they’ve had some strange cataclysms and have nothing to eat, so they go hunting—Mikhail voiced his version.

“Misha, look what I found, come here,” Sonya’s voice was heard from a nearby small clearing in the forest. Look, there's a stake in the center of the black circle of burnt grass.

— This is a sacrificial stake, it is also called a stake for protection against evil spirits.

Suddenly a local huntsman appeared in the clearing.

- You are still looking for something or have already found something.

- Yes, they found it, it’s not in any police report.

“So what, there are plenty of such stakes in the forest, so report them all,” answered the huntsman.

“It is possible that sacrificial rituals were carried out near these stakes, and you were still silent. It is possible that there is a certain sect of Satanists or other worshipers evil spirits about which we know nothing at all, similar to the “white brotherhood” sect.

“But there are no sects in our area, I know that for sure,” the huntsman assured Mikhail.

- So the newcomers, we need to make an ambush only when they arrive. The scary story about the forest continued

CULTISTS ARRESTED

FBI agents resorted to the help of local police, from which people were allocated for an ambush in the forest.

Scary dense forest at night... and a lot of mosquitoes. Fortunately, I only had to wait a week.

On one of the quiet warm nights, in the distance, in the clearing, the noise of cars was heard. The night watchmen became wary and began to move towards the noise, but everything fell silent.

Suddenly, in a completely different direction, many red balls appeared above the trees arranged in a circle, and another ball began to approach that place large diameter, which slowly floated out from behind the crowns tall trees. The police immediately called for help and provided the coordinates, and they themselves moved in the direction of the red balls.

Various singing was heard and a large fire appeared through the trees, surrounded by people in masks and black capes with hoods. Suddenly they became alarmed, looked in our direction and, seeing the weapon, ran away. They ran so fast that there was no point in chasing them, and the forest was already blocked by the police; those running away were not going anywhere.

We approached a fire that was burning around a similar pillar. Nearby lay a bag from the morgue, and in it dead man. The red balls turned out to be Chinese celestial balls with lit candles, but only attached to the ground with nylon threads. That largest ball disappeared without a trace. In the confusion, we didn’t even notice where he had gone.

All members of the sect were arrested, except for the leaders of this gang, which killed and roasted people at the stake. When asked about that white ball of large diameter, all those interrogated immediately fell silent; it was impossible to get a word out of them. They all got what they deserved.
But the matter did not end there. Local fishermen, having heard about the liquidation of the gang in the forest, immediately wanted to fish in the forest lake. They threw a seine into the lake, but what they pulled out shocked them, and they ran away from the lake with only their heels sparkling.

Luckily, we hadn't left yet and made it to the lake. On the shore there was a net in which there were many human bones. The examination established that the lake contained the remains of all those who died over several years, as well as our wanted couple.

The bones were completely clean, with traces of scratches from teeth. It turned out that the sectarians ate human flesh fried over a fire, or someone else ate it, and threw the bones into the lake. They could not burn a person, otherwise there would have been a persistent smell of burnt meat in the forest, but there was none. It was not possible to establish any information about the white ball.

Thus ended the terrible story about the forest where people died.

My father knew the taiga very well, so he felt at home in it. He knew how to hunt since childhood. At first it was a help for the family, and later hunting became a hobby, an outlet for free time from work. For my father and his friends, it was important to just be in nature, chat, and with hunting trophies- depending on your luck. Shooting birds and animals was not an end in itself for them. And in their company, of course, hunting tales were always heard. Once upon a time my father's acquaintance seasoned hunter Mikhail told him an incredible story mystical story, which shocked me too.

The events that will be discussed took place in the early 1980s. Mikhail took a vacation and decided to spend part of it in the taiga with his friend Vasily and his 17-year-old son Kostya. It was August, peak hunting season. upland game. The men were going to shoot hazel grouse, and maybe wood grouse. We reached an abandoned hut, where we stopped.

Vasily and his son decided to go down the stream, and Mikhail and his dog, a husky named Palma, remained in a pine forest on the mountainside. We agreed to meet at the hut. Watching his comrades go, Mikhail suddenly lost sight of them after about five minutes. He had just seen them, and suddenly they disappeared, although the area where the father and son were walking was quite open - sparse trees and bushes.

Worried, Mikhail hurried down to the stream in the hope that Vasily and Kostya had gone down to the water, but there was no one on the bank. Not knowing what to think, he went to the crooked birch tree, next to which he saw a father and son before they disappeared.

Near the tree on the damp ground, two chains of footprints were clearly visible, which suddenly ended at a large granite boulder lying on the edge of the path. It felt like people just took off!

Mikhail wanted to go forward along the path, around the boulder, but Palma beat him to it. After running about two meters, she suddenly seemed to disappear into thin air! Mikhail was taken aback, then picked up a pebble from the ground and lightly threw it forward. And the stone, which according to all the laws of physics should have fallen on the path, suddenly simply disappeared! Not believing his eyes, Mikhail threw there pine cone, she also disappeared before reaching the ground. And the hunter suddenly remembered the words of an elderly Buryat woman, with whom he was traveling on a train in Transbaikalia many years ago:

Be afraid of the red head flowing water and empty space! - She said to Mikhail, then to a young guy when he shared bread and lard with her.

Soon the woman got off at her station, and that same night her first prediction came true. Some red-haired, puny little man tried to “steal” the suitcase from the sleeping Mikhail. He woke up in time and caught up with the thief in the vestibule, where a struggle ensued between them. A knife flashed, but, fortunately, the boy was helped by people who came out to smoke in the vestibule. The bandit managed to escape and, throwing his knife and suitcase, jumped off the train steps.

A few years later, the second prediction of the old Buryat woman came true. While crossing the river in winter, Mikhail fell through the ice, but the people standing on the bank, seeing this, threw boards and rope to him, pulling him out of the hole at the last moment, when Mikhail was already completely exhausted.

But as for the “empty space” - long years remained a mystery. Did he meet his last danger today? What would have happened if he had gone there? After all, his comrades and Palma disappeared in this empty place!

With a heavy heart, Mikhail went to the cordon, where the forester Markelych, whom he knew, lived. Maybe he can tell you something? And you need to inform the police that people are missing. Fortunately, there is a walkie-talkie at the cordon. But is the forester alive? About five years ago he was very ill.

After an hour and a half of walking, Mikhail reached the cordon. Markelych, a man of about 65, invited a guest to a house where a young pregnant woman was in charge, and a child was sleeping in a cradle. Having seated him at the table, Markelych treated Mikhail to kvass. After listening to the story about the disappearance of people, he said:

I know that place, it’s near Aksinya Log. Don’t worry too much, God willing, they will come out there tomorrow. This “hole,” when it opens, usually “releases” people within a day. But not always, really. Once upon a time, a woman disappeared from the Old Believers there, and the log was named after her. Even now people sometimes get lost. But I was lucky.

And Markelych told Mikhail his story of how three years ago, while walking along a forest stream (where, by the way, he had passed more than once before, but without incident), he suddenly heard a strange rumble, his temples squeezing. Then all the sounds disappeared, everything around seemed to move and float. Suddenly Markelych felt very at ease, an unprecedented joy settled in his soul, his body was filled with strength and vigor. And even the sun seemed to shine a hundred times brighter! And the places around seem familiar, but not the same. Previously there was neither this forest on the right nor the hawthorn thickets at the edge. For some time Markelych was in such an elevated state, and then he seemed to pass out. When I woke up, I saw myself sitting on a boulder. Everything was the same as always, only he felt differently.

An elderly man, a widower, who was also injured after an encounter with a bear, suddenly felt young. My arm and leg stopped hurting, my bones stopped aching, I had more strength. Markelych remembered well what happened to him, but how long it lasted, he could not say: he did not have a watch with him. Returning home, from the restless behavior of domestic animals and livestock, he realized that they were not fed, and concluded that he had been absent for about a day. The newfound strength did not leave Markelych over time. Soon he brought a young wife into the house - the daughter of old acquaintances from a neighboring village. They had a son, and now they were expecting another baby.

After spending the night with the forester, Mikhail went to that very place near the crooked birch tree in the hope of meeting his missing friends. With bated breath, he looked at the path behind the boulder: what if this time the “hole” doesn’t give up its prey, what then? Mikhail almost dozed off, sitting on a stump, when he heard a familiar voice:

Why are you sitting here?

He looks - Vasily and Kostya are standing in front of him - a little confused, clearly not understanding how they ended up here. According to them, they were walking along the path in a great mood, planning to go into the forest on the hill to hunt, when suddenly they found themselves back where they came from! For a long time, father and son could not believe that they had been gone for a whole day!

By the way, Kostya, who had a slight displacement of the facial bones (consequences birth trauma), all signs of asymmetry disappeared. The face seemed to fall into place! And his father’s early gray hair disappeared, but a youthful sparkle appeared in his eyes. To the question: “Was Palma with them?”, Mikhail’s comrades just shrugged their shoulders. But only ten or fifteen minutes later she rushed after them. They waited for the dog for three days, but the “hole” did not give Palma back. Mikhail grieved for her, but was consoled by this thought: the faithful Palma took upon herself the fate of her master, because he, too, could have remained forever in this “empty place” - it was not in vain that he was warned!

Soon the friends left Aksiny Log and never returned to those places.

For many, the domestic taiga, which we sometimes hear about in the news and TV shows about animals, is simply a vast territory covered with coniferous forest.

This is a wrong opinion. Taiga is not only a harsh world wildlife, but also a little-explored area with its own unique properties and ancient secrets.

Alone in Taiga?

Get to those protected areas There are two ways: fly to Norilsk, then to Dudinka, then by helicopter to the village of Tukhart, then by hunting trails, sometimes along the river in a motor boat, and sometimes on foot in a few days of travel. Or, if you are a difficult guest, rent an all-terrain vehicle and rush directly from Norilsk. Whatever path you choose, you still end up wandering around the taiga for several days. And in that area it is disastrous, wild. A seemingly safe place may turn out to be a swamp, so it would be foolish to go in without a guide. And it’s dangerous to be alone, even with all-terrain vehicles, three hundred kilometers from the nearest village. Although there is almost nothing to be afraid of in the taiga. Animals, unless you invade their lair, prefer to stay away, and people rarely appear in those parts.

I myself visited there only on occasion. First, we walked along the route with the drilling crew and explored, so to speak, the road to the field. And then I invited one local old-timer, grandfather Isai from the Nganosan people, the indigenous inhabitants of this wild land, to go on a hunting expedition. Grandfather refused for a long time, muttered all sorts of nonsense about “spikingly evil animals, however,” but for a couple of bottles of white wine he agreed to become my guide. Although it is difficult to judge who will help whom, the grandfather was old and frail-looking, but he knew the surrounding forests perfectly. We got together soon. We went out on a motor boat, walked along the river south for a day, then walked through the channels for a long time. At the end, they left the boat on a hillock, dragged it so that it would not be washed away by the current, and went on foot further west into the swamps. Wonderful hunt. You are an unafraid beast, just know, load your gun and shoot at it.

So by the end of the second day we had a decent amount of trophies and decided to return. Old man Isai became worried and suggested that we no longer spend the night in the forest, but go to the motor boat without stopping or stopping. It’s unclear where the old devil got his strength from - I was at the limit of my capabilities. Here I couldn’t help but believe in the men’s stories that Isai is the last Nganosan shaman and can do things that others cannot do. I just didn’t dwell on it then. I decided to just agree. Although, a person assumes, but Taiga disposes. I didn’t understand what happened, but we didn’t make it to the boat before dark. Grandfather is almost hysterical. He yells at me not in Russian, swears at the vodka for which he agreed to take me here, and he almost cries. I felt ashamed, please forgive me. And he just snorts and looks around. Suddenly he grabs me by the waist belt and with such inhuman strength drags me somewhere behind him. It felt like an hour had passed. When the forest parted, we came to an abandoned village. Hunters build these so that they have somewhere to hide from bad weather and snowstorms.

A small hut made of whole timber. Instead of windows there are loopholes. The door is small and low. It's dry and warm inside. Isai literally dragged me inside and began to frantically lock the door. He rolled everything that was inside the hut onto it, and plugged the loopholes with rags. I look at all this and silently go crazy - the shaman doesn’t say a word, and is clearly preparing for something. It was already dark when Isai sat down opposite me to catch his breath and lit a single torch to light a cigarette.

He smokes and looks into my eyes. And I stared into his eyes, thinking:

“It was Isai who gave me a test for some reason.”

And he says with sympathy:

“It would be better if you were afraid sometimes, but you wouldn’t end up in such shit, Sanya!”

Say no more. Time passes and nothing happens. The old man sits hugging his carbine. I start to doze off, stress and fatigue have taken their toll. And in my sleep I hear a knock on the roof. It was like a child was running around. The steps are quick and light. But heavier than squirrels and martens, definitely. And then there was a whistle from behind the door and another knock, but stronger and with pressure on the door. The dream vanished as if by chance. And Isai pressed his finger to his lips, shook himself and showed me, they say, sit quietly. And so on until midnight. Creak. Knock. Whistling. An uncomfortable feeling, as if they are trying to scratch you out of your shell. Then everything suddenly stopped. But we never fell asleep. And in the afternoon we immediately went to the boat, it was a kilometer from the place where we spent the night.

I’m not interested in what came to us there at night, because I don’t want to go there anymore.

Southern taiga

In the spring of 2006, a cave with unusual rock paintings was discovered in the southern taiga. Three months later, a private expedition of five people led by Nikolai K was sent to the site to explore the forest dungeons. The main goal of the trip was to explore the caves and strange rock art without attracting too much attention to themselves. The potential enormity of the find carried not only historical, but also financial value.

A day after the researchers arrived at the site, they received an alarm signal and a rescue helicopter was sent to their camp. When the rescuers returned, they needed to urgently take the only survivor (Alexey R.) to the local intensive care unit. Purple streams of blood flowed from the researcher’s eyes and ears, and the condition was assessed as critical. The patient was in a semi-fainting state and was constantly whispering something. Under the influence of strong antibiotics and tranquilizers, Alexey felt better by the morning, and he was able to talk about what happened. Here is an excerpt from his testimony:

“I said that the huntsman’s find did not promise anything good, but he didn’t want to hear it... That’s how it all turned out. In the evening, closer to night even, I went to gather some firewood, and the others were at the tents... And then suddenly there was a loud noise! A scream, a roar or a rumble... I can’t say what it was, but it still looked like a scream or something... Or a lot of screams... Inhuman... Very loud... My ears were blocked, my eyes darkened, and I fell... I don’t remember how I got there later their own, and there... In short, everyone is dead. I came up and looked, and they were bleeding from their ears... I took the walkie-talkie from Kolyan... I don’t remember what happened next... I probably passed out..."

The next day Alexey died. According to unconfirmed information, the heart could not withstand strong medications. According to information from other sources, the patient died from inflammation of the brain.

All the dead researchers had damaged eardrums and some internal organs. It seemed that the people were at the epicenter of some kind of explosion, but there was no external damage to the bodies. What could have caused noise with such an impact in the remote taiga is completely unclear.

The entire area was “combed” up and down, and in the end, a small cave caught the eye of the task force. In it, rock paintings of unknown content and a deep natural tunnel into the bowels of the earth were discovered. Fearing wild animals and cave-ins, law enforcement agencies left the cave.

A year later, another expedition came to this place, but the cave was never found. In its place was a huge boulder, behind which there was nothing. It was as if the ill-fated dungeon was a wound for the taiga, which had overgrown without a trace.

Anything can happen in Taiga

This was a long time ago, somewhere in the 80s. They went to pick berries and mushrooms on Gaz-66. A common occurrence for all of us, nothing special. The place had already been chosen in advance, so there was no need to waste time searching. The forest they went to was far from people; one might say more simply, they went to the taiga. Those who went there know that anything can happen in the taiga. The mushrooms and berries didn’t take long to look for, they just showed themselves to be taken. Time flew by quickly and it was already getting dark. It was already getting cool, the blue sky, which had shone so blue during the day, was slowly dissolving into the approaching darkness. A cool breeze blew across the face, which was no longer as cheerful as at the beginning of this walk; fatigue was taking its toll.

They were already returning back to the car from the last trip for mushrooms; there were no longer as many mushrooms in the buckets as at the beginning of the day, these mushrooms were too familiar to them, and they were no longer so eager to look at where more mushrooms were growing. A car appeared in the clearing, to which they had already returned 50 times today, but this time was the last, now they put buckets in the car and go home. Having poured the last batch of mushrooms into a plastic bag, they got into the car with a calm soul...

Slowly turning the ignition key, the car shuddered, but did not start, the starter spun at idle. The driver tried again, but the result was the same, he tried a couple more times, but nothing changed, only the echo of the iron horse, in which something was spinning inside, spread throughout the taiga. They thought it was strange, the car was as good as ever, but for some reason it wouldn’t start. Do you really have to tinker with the car now? They decided to wait a minute and try to start it again, but if it doesn’t start, they’ll have to dig around. Looking blankly at the windshield from fatigue from the height of the car, they heard a loud crunch of branches nearby. The gloomy light made it impossible to see what was already 30 meters from the car and there was no point in looking closely at what was crunching there. They both shuddered; the bear was still missing right now. There was no point in making noise now, let him go away on his own. The crunching of branches became even louder, and a loud growl could be heard...

Bears don't growl like that, and wolves don't crunch branches like that. Fear began to roll in, and my heart began to beat, choking, and it grew darker every minute. The thing that broke the silence of the forest, from its loud growl, it was heard that it was approaching the car. They sat pressed into the car seats and carefully looked at what was ahead, trying to see who it was...

A large silhouette appeared at the end of the clearing, and it was from there that the growl came. Those sitting in the car almost stopped breathing so as not to be seen or heard. The creature, seeing something unfamiliar and as big as a car, stopped and stopped growling and began to stare intently. Fear began to constrain movements. The silhouette of the creature was visible at the end of the clearing, and it was large and unlike any other animal of its size. The creature slowly began to approach, its heavy steps could be heard even in the car. What would it be like to see it in all its glory? Goosebumps, hair-raising, trembling gripped those sitting in the car, but they did not break the silence and sat in silence. The creature disappeared from sight and neither its heavy steps nor growls could be heard. Either it's gone or it's lurking.

The door handle slowly began to open the driver's door, causing the driver's eyes to widen and he grabbed the handle and grabbed onto the door. The door began to twitch. Apparently someone from the other side opened the door, realized that someone was bothering him and started even stronger. The second person sitting in the car was simply stunned and turned white; probably, even at night his pale face would have been visible. The door shook with such force that the Gaz-66 car was shaking, but the driver clung to the door so tightly as if glued to it. The next thing was a blow to the door, so that the door trim and the door itself tore like paper.

The driver saw his hand, this was not the hand of some animal with such claws and so large that, putting this hand on a person’s head, the hand would clasp the head like a ball. From fear, the driver’s strength increased, although from the hand from which he grabbed the handle, blood flowed and the handle cut into the meat of his palm. The car began to shake, impacts on the car began to be heard, as if they were hitting it with a battering gun. All this brought both those sitting in the car to the point of last stage, and they screamed with a squeal of fear like they had never screamed in their lives. The car shook a couple more times, and everything went quiet. That it was a respite or gone. But both of those sitting still screamed like they were cut for a minute. They never got out of the car until the morning, the creature no longer showed itself, either it was guarding when they got out, or maybe it was frightened by their scream, or it left. You could hear them screaming for probably a couple of kilometers.

The next morning, they tried to start the car, surprisingly it started with half a push, after which the car took off and drove away from this forest. The car had dents all over and the door was torn as if knives had been used to cut it.

Stories of the Karelian taiga

I have repeatedly heard strange stories in the remote taiga corners of Karelia. They were told by individuals and entire villages. Many eyewitnesses of these events are still alive and tell their children and grandchildren about it. These are stories about sorcerers and werewolves, who, it turns out, live with us and are our contemporaries. I bring two such stories to the attention of readers.

In general, there are probably not many corners in Russia now (even remote ones) like the Karelian hinterland, in which the people’s faith in various shapes magic and numerous beliefs. She carefully preserves the diverse experience of older generations, associated with an original and deep view of the world, which is in many ways different from the modern “cultured” worldview.

Christianity has brought humanity to a new qualitative level of God - and self-knowledge, however, it is no secret that the pagan world is forever imprinted in the human soul; the world for many is much more real and vital, having an undying magical and practical tradition of knowledge and interaction with the forces of Nature. Paganism is a direct, open “conversation” that allows us to live a united and living life with Nature on an everyday, practical level. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the Karelian outback, along with the Bible, one can find literature on witchcraft and witchcraft... It is not surprising that these so incompatible religions coexist in the souls of many people.

It is possible that it is precisely this amazing combination of seemingly incompatible beliefs that creates the specifically unique aura of a remote Karelian village, behind which lies an often completely unexplored spiritual world, a world full of originality and mystery.

In the small village of Suisar, twenty kilometers from Petrozavodsk, in the 80s of the last century there lived a very powerful witch, revered not only in the village, but throughout the entire district. At that time she was already in old age, rarely left the house, receiving visitors in her little room. She knew and could do everything. Penetrating eyes with a steely shine pierced through you, seeing your most secret. “Whoever comes to me with a lie immediately starts beating and shaking him. “I can’t lie,” the old woman said more than once. That's why few people came to her.

She had amazing “power” over nature and animals. They said that when a connecting rod bear unexpectedly came to the village in winter, she, coming close to the roaring beast, asked him to go back to the forest and not come again. The ashamed giant purred apologetically and hastily trotted off into the taiga, and she returned to the house, first low to the ground, bowing only to the powers and gods known to her.

Her help was selfless. “My life is my song. Whoever wants to listen, let him listen. I don’t charge anything for this,” she laughed.

One day they turned to her for help: a cow had disappeared. They searched all evening, but it was all in vain. They ran to her. “The nurse is alive,” she consoled; after listening to the request, she left the house and went outside the village. Having reached the crossroads, she stopped and stood in silence for a long time. Then, with a prayerful request and a low bow, she turned to the “forest of the northern side” to give the cow, not to keep it. In the complete calm, the tops of the trees swayed from side to side, the leaves rustled, and roadside dust whipped up like a snake. “She’s not there,” was all she said. She then turned to the “forest of the eastern side,” but the same answer came. And only "forest" south side"He nodded in unison with his spruce mane. “Your nurse is alive,” she repeated once again to those who accompanied her, taken aback and in disbelief. - Wait!” And without looking back she went home.

A little time passed, a bell was heard, and everyone saw a cow running (!) towards them from the “forest on the south side.”

Her death was quiet; she passed on her skills and knowledge to inheritance. But they still remember her, they remember her strongly, how strongly a human heart can love and remember

In the 90s, while traveling around the Pudozh region, I noticed “tales” about a certain strange man, whom popular rumor dubbed a “werewolf”. This man - Fyodor Ivanovich Dutov - was a hereditary sorcerer and healer who enjoyed a bad reputation due to his absolutely unsociable and grumpy character. They said that he possessed a certain “knowledge”, thanks to which he could turn into any animal. There were rumors that occasionally from his house, located on the edge of the village (I give the village without a name, based on ethical considerations), inhuman screams were heard, turning into a wolf howl. During these days (more precisely, nights), the village was literally flooded with wolves, leaving the local residents in awe. The wolves were shot, and the next morning their corpses disappeared; Dutov took them to the forest and buried them. They were afraid of him, avoided him, spat on him, but... did not touch him. They believed in his witchcraft power, that he could send damage, the evil eye, or any incurable disease.

One day an event occurred that finally assigned Dutov the nickname of a werewolf. Dutov suddenly disappeared from the village. Day after day passed, but he did not return, but they noticed that at this time a pack of wolves appeared in the vicinity of the village, giving no rest either day or night. They decided to make a raid, set traps, and went out in groups to shoot. The results were disastrous when suddenly at night the village woke up from a heartbreaking howl, a cry of pain and suffering, picked up by the wolf's polyphony. And the next morning they saw Dutov returning with a pale, haggard face and a poorly bandaged hand, bleeding. They rushed to the place where a terrible, ominous cry was heard at night, and in one of the traps they saw a chewed-up wolf's paw and numerous traces of wolves. No one even touched the trap; horror drove people from this place. And from then on Dutov appeared only wearing a mitten right hand, regardless of the time of year. His hand remained in that trap forever.

The life of this man was terrible, his death was terrible. It came two years after the events described above. Dutov at this time was about sixty years old. Apparently he felt death approaching. It is unknown what he experienced in those moments. They say that he screamed terribly for 24 hours, and in the evening he appeared on the porch of his house, looked at the village, at the people and... cried. And then he rushed into the forest, deafening the silence with either a heartbreaking human scream or a heartbreaking wolf howl.

Winter taiga

Winter hunting in the taiga gives an unforgettable experience. Since childhood, I loved going to my grandfather and his hunter friends. I even had my own gun there. Adults always took me with them on walking trips into the forest. So this time, when I arrived (a large roundup was about to take place on a connecting rod bear that was killing cattle), they took me with them, but told me to stay behind. We had two Siberian huskies with us, who led us along the trail. The group itself consisted of five adult men, two experienced old men and me, a boy of seventeen years old.

For half a day we walked on wide skis in the snow, and finally a windfall appeared ahead, in which there was a bear’s den. It was already evening, and we, moving two hundred meters away, set up camp. Everyone immediately went to bed, leaving Vasily and the huskies on patrol.

Early in the morning I woke up from noise. Everyone had already stood up and were vigorously discussing something. Coming closer, I saw that Vasily was sitting with his back to a tree, his chest and stomach were torn, and a grimace of inhuman horror was frozen on his face. The Laikas huddled cowardly at people's feet. Grandfather picked up Vasily’s gun and examined it. The cartridges were intact. How so? The experienced hunter was so frightened by something that he not only didn’t shoot, he couldn’t even wake up the others!

Most believed that Vasily had broken a connecting rod, and the raid began. Having surrounded the den, we took positions behind the trees. Peter took a long spear and jumped, as if with a pole, to the top of the windbreak above the beast’s lair. Having thrust the spear into the passage, he began to poke around there, apparently wanting to wake up the bear. But suddenly something sharply pulled the spear down. Peter could not resist and fell screaming after her. His terrible cry: “There’s no bear here...” was cut off in the middle. We all backed away, and Peter's severed head flew out of the hole and landed in front of me. Screaming in horror, I turned around and started running. Behind me I heard screams and shooting, someone's roar and the squealing of huskies. Without looking back, I ran forward, falling into the snowdrifts, until I suddenly collapsed into the void under the snow. The fall knocked me out.

Coming to my senses, I saw that I was lying in a wolf hole. I was very lucky - the stakes were sticking out around me. No shots were heard, and I thought that the hunters had managed it after all. As I started calling for help, I heard someone’s footsteps.

I'm here, I fell! Get me out!

The footsteps approached the edge of the pit. I couldn’t see who was standing there, but I suddenly felt scared. There was a heavy snoring sound from above that a person could not have uttered. I crawled to the wall and, pressing my back against it, raised my gun.

Who is there?!

The answer to me was the guttural roar of the creature, whose face finally appeared above the pit. Bloody huge jaws, eyes burning with dull anger, ears pressed down - he resembled some kind of creature from a nightmare. I screamed out loud and frantically shot at random. The bullet scratched the creature’s face, and it began to rush around the pit, trying to reach me with its long paw with curved claws. I pressed myself to the ground and screamed something, tears of despair poured from my eyes. The creature raged around me all day, but the stakes saved my life - it never dared to jump down. I was very cold and understood that if I didn’t think of something, that I would die not from the fangs and claws of the creature, but from the cold, but I couldn’t get up and start moving somehow - my death was waiting in the wings from above in the form of a huge paw of the creature . I tried to scream again and suddenly, to my happiness, they answered me - the rescue search team was looking for us, stuck in the taiga. The creature raised its head and jumped to the side. I didn't see her again.

Rescuers found me. Based on my tip, they found the others, or rather, what was left of them - bloody scraps of clothing and a gun...

The horror of the taiga

Cold autumn wind and an endless nasty fine rain enveloped everything around, making their way through the dense thickets of the forest, the two travelers, wet to the skin, struggled forward. Behind them, in the early morning haze, the lights of a small village could still be seen, but there was no turning back, the year was not productive, and in order not to die of hunger, several men went into the taiga to hunt. They divided into groups of two or three people and headed in different directions. The village was located in the very heart of the taiga, for many hundreds of kilometers around there was not a single living soul, there was nowhere to wait for help. It was already evening, the rain did not stop all day, empty-handed and exhausted, grandfather Matvey and his grandson Vadim sat down under big branch ate to rest and decide what to do next. - What's that there? – the guy pointed to something dark, barely visible through the thick branches of the trees. “It looks like some kind of house...” “This is an old hunting lodge,” the old man answered a little alarmed, “there’s a bad reputation about this place.” Many years ago, several people mysteriously died in this house, everything was covered in blood, but their bodies were not found... - the grandfather paused, looked around and continued, - After that, everyone who did not stop here for the night never came back...

Night comes quickly in the taiga, nothing was visible at a distance of several meters, and the fire did not want to flare up in the damp grass.
- I don’t believe in all these fairy tales! – Vadim said decisively. “Let’s go into the house, nothing will happen to us, I don’t intend to sit under this spruce all night getting wet and freezing!” He stood up, threw his backpack over his shoulder, and headed towards the locker. The grandfather tried to stop him, but to no avail, and he had no choice but to follow his grandson. The fire instantly flared up, warming the frozen people with its warmth, the guy collected the straw lying around and made two beds. The rain drummed monotonously on the roof, calming the hunters, the fire was already barely smoldering, everything around was plunged into darkness.

Suddenly Vadim woke up from a strange sound; through the noise of the rain some rustling and slurping could be heard. He called the old man in a whisper, but there was no answer. Slowly and trying not to make noise, Vadim crept to the place where the old man was sleeping, but he was not there. The guy returned to his place, he felt uneasy, he continued to hear strange noises from somewhere above in the attic. A few minutes later, the eerie chomping sound was replaced by a barely audible whisper. No matter how hard he tried, the guy could not distinguish a word. Suddenly he heard a creak approaching him, as if someone or something was coming down the stairs from the attic and slowly heading towards Vadim. The rain suddenly stopped, a large bright moon appeared in the sky, illuminating part of the room with its light through a small window. His nerves were on edge, grandfather Matvey had disappeared, something incomprehensible was approaching him, and the guy was seized with panic.

Who is there?! – Vadim cried out, unable to bear it.

The creaking and whispering stopped, and a shadow flashed in the moonlight. It became very quiet in the hut, the silence simply hurt his ears, he could hear his heart beating wildly. He felt someone's gaze on his back. Horror, fear and the desire to run gripped the young man; he turned around and saw his grandfather, but he was terrible. A gray sunken face, rolled eyes and a chomping, bloody mouth with terrible teeth, the creature extended its arms and headed towards Vadim. He ran out of the house and disappeared into the night taiga, branches whipped him in the face, cutting his skin until he bled, but the guy didn’t pay attention to it, he ran as far as possible from this place. Suddenly Vadim ran out into the clearing, he froze in horror, this terrible gray house stood in front of him again.

The young man rushed into the forest again, but after a while he returned to this terrible place again and again.

Enough! “The guy fell to his knees, his strength left him, his brain refused to understand what was happening in this damned place, Vadim lost consciousness.

A black cloud covered the moon, and the taiga plunged into darkness again, the rain began again, and in its monotonous noise the same slurping sound was suddenly heard. Kneeling over Vadim's already lifeless body was his scary grandfather, tearing pieces of bloody meat from the corpse, he greedily swallowed them...

All the men returned from the hunt with good catch, the village was saved from starvation, only two were missing - the old grandfather and his grandson. Residents tried to look for them, but to no avail.

Dasha lived in the village. When she was little, her mother died. The father drank himself to death. Grandmother took Daria to her village, but when the girl turned 15, her grandmother had a heart attack. Dasha didn’t go back to the city, and there was no one to see. The village was small, everyone knew each other. And nearby is a dense forest. There were rumors that the girl drowned herself in the river. From unhappy love, or from something else. Nobody went there - there was no need for it. You never know what wanders wildly. Of course, the people were superstitious. They believed in mermen, brownies, and other heresies. Dasha was not one of those people, but she still rarely went into the forest. Only when it was needed. Except sometimes, to pick mushrooms and chop wood. There is no man, who will do this? Well, I went to that river, I wasn’t afraid. What are they afraid of? Rumors are rumors, but going unwashed is also not the point.
Somewhere, when she turned 17, a boy from the city appeared. Call me Vitka. No one could understand what brought him to such a wilderness. Looks rich, drives a nice car. He didn’t have anywhere to live in the village, so he asked to go to Daria’s house. Well, she’s a simple girl, she let me in. I didn’t even think about the consequences. And next door to her, in another house, lived Marya Petrovna. Kind woman, Thoughtful. She helped Dasha and replaced her grandmother. She didn’t like this guy right away, she told Dasha, but she didn’t want to hear it.
She and Vitya became friends and fell in love. But he just didn’t want to talk about himself, he said that he had lost his memory. And what he remembers, he didn’t want to remember again. "I am life started a new one“I don’t want the past to torment me.” But she didn’t demand it.
About a month later, he took her into the forest. “Come on, relax, let’s go to the river. Nature is sacred." She couldn’t refuse, she went with him. As we went deeper, she stopped recognizing the forest. And he walks, doesn’t stop, as if he knows where to go. And when she asked to go back, he only walked forward more confidently. It smelled damp and rotten. “Swamp,” Dasha was horrified. “Have you really decided to destroy me?” I started to think. What to do? She was unfamiliar with this part of the forest; she had never been here. And there was no need, the river is not so far away, and it was possible to chop firewood without going into the forest. If he tries to run away, he will give chase. Then it will definitely be the end for her.
- Vitechka, where are we going? “she asked softly, trying not to show her fear.
“I want to show you one place, it’s already very close,” the guy said somehow strangely.
- Vitenka, wait here. I need it, I'll come now.
Dasha turned to the side and went behind the bushes. Vitya did not move from his place and only looked after her, and then turned around, sat down on a stump and looked into the distance. Daria ran behind the bushes and quietly walked on. Slowly, trying not to make too much noise, she moved away from him. “What will happen to me now? Oh, woe on my head." She stopped near a birch tree, leaned on it and took several deep breaths. They moved far from the village, quite far into the forest. The day was cloudy, the sun was not visible. The number of firs became larger as they moved deeper. That's bad.
Then something crunched behind Dasha’s back.
- How long are you staying? — Vitya’s voice came from behind.
“This is bad,” thought Daria.
— I'm coming. “She turned around, Vitya was standing very close. She walked ahead of him to where they stopped. Here the girl abruptly jerked to the side, not making out the road. The summer dress made it very difficult to run, and the sandals did not protect from the branches. He was catching up with her. Then she stopped abruptly - a ravine gaped right in front of her. Someone's strong hand grabbed her and then she felt severe pain in the back of my head and lost consciousness.
She woke up tied to some spruce tree. Nearby you could hear croaking, the clicking of a fire and the grinding of iron. It was like someone was sharpening a knife. He looked around in fear, a fire was burning a little further away, a man was sitting on a fallen trunk, sharpening a knife. It was Vitya. She didn’t recognize him right away, his hair became disheveled, his hands were covered in wool, with long claws. The clothes were torn in some places and fur was sticking out of them. Sounds, grumbling mixed with growling, came from “Vitya”. The creature turned around and Daria was speechless. In front of her was a man with fur on his face, huge fangs and wolfish amber eyes. The nose, also like a wolf, sucked in smells. Dasha lost consciousness.
The girl woke up when it approached her. The creature ran its claw along the girl’s cheek, then licked that place and sharply stuck the knife into the tree next to Daria’s head. He pressed himself against her with his terrible body, which began to look more like a wolf's. The creature whispered something in her ear, burning her with foul breath. The girl tried to move away from him, but the ropes tightly constrained her movements. Then he sank lower, licked her shoulder and forcefully tore her dress with his claws. It tore in the abdominal area. He ran his clawed paw over Daria's skin and went off somewhere. He returned with two pieces of rag. He put one of them in his mouth, leaving only a little outside, and tied the others' mouths. Apparently, no matter what she screamed, and then he left somewhere.
Ten minutes later the creature returned. He gradually began to tear the girl’s dress. Soon only rags hung on her. It began to lick the girl's belly with its long sticky tongue. Then he took the knife and slowly, clearly enjoying it, began to cut through the skin of her shoulder. Tears flowed from the girl’s eyes, her hand was burning. Then the creature scratched her cheek with its claw and sharply ran the knife across her stomach. Blood flowed. A lot of blood. Then he began to cut her legs, drawing some patterns on her body. In the end, he took some kind of iron object that looked like a brand, heated it and leaned it against Dasha’s left shoulder. If it weren't for the gag, the whole village would have heard her screams. Daria lost consciousness.
When she woke up, the creature was building some kind of thing. He untied her. Dasha no longer had the strength to resist, as she was very exhausted. She obediently fell onto the table, he turned her over on her back and tied her arms and legs to her bed. He sprinkled some stinking rubbish on it and began to whisper some kind of spell. Howls and growls were heard from the sides. Only now Daria noticed that the moon was shining brightly in the sky. The creature began to writhe, fell to the ground and its bones began to break. Dasha was excruciatingly scared, but she could not do anything. From all sides, creatures similar to werewolves began to approach her - wolves on two legs that had adopted part of the human physique.
The creature has reincarnated. Drool dripped from his mouth. He leaned over the victim and was about to inflict a fatal bite when a shot was heard. The werewolf fell dead to the ground, his sides did not rise. He was dead. Daria heard hurried steps, rustling and someone's familiar voice. Her vision blurred, and then she passed out.
She woke up on a bed in some house. A man with a gun was sitting nearby. Looks like it was a forester.
- How are you, daughter?
- Where I am? - Dasha squeezed out.
- Hush hush. Everything is fine.
Then an angry bark was heard. Something hit the door hard. The old man crossed himself, straightened his hat, stood up and began to move the fragile likeness onto a chair towards the door.
- W... What is this? - Daria asked, already coming to her senses.
The old man hesitated. He clearly didn't really want to tell the girl about werewolves.
— These creatures usually appear only during the full moon. Werewolves. They perform their sinister rituals in the forest. Usually they are newcomers and beautiful. They lure unsuspecting girls here, and then all hell breaks loose for them.
Dasha decided that the old man was crazy, but there was no other logical explanation for this. The girl began to slowly come to her senses, and after a while he was able to sit up. Then something hit the door with force and the fragile protection creaked. The second blow is a hole in the door. Another thing - and the door is knocked down. With a roar, baring its fangs, the creature burst into the house. The forester did not waste time; he shot the werewolf in the chest and he fell dead. Another one ran towards the house, but the forester killed him before he reached his destination. So he killed 3 more people and grabbed the cartridges.
-Can you go, daughter?
“Yes,” Dasha nodded.
“Then move.”
Together they ran out of the shelter and rushed somewhere in the darkness. Then the old man stopped abruptly and shot somewhere. The werewolf screeched and then fell silent. Grandfather and Dasha ran quickly, lights were already visible ahead. On the way, he killed 10 werewolves, no less. The cartridges were already running out.
“Over there,” the old man pointed his finger somewhere into the distance. - Do you see? Run there. This is a village. Run to the nearest house, knock as hard as you can, beg for help. Understood? Run!
- What about you?
- Run, I said!
Daria rushed towards the light. Behind her, she heard growls and shots, but did not dare turn around. As soon as she reached the first house, she banged on the door.
- What is it, who was carried into such darkness... Oh, Dashenka! What's wrong with you, darling? — Grandma Galya stood on the threshold. She quickly brought the girl into the house and closed the door with three locks. Then she quickly went to the window and looked out of it. Another shot rang out.
- Oh, fathers! — She curtained the curtains. - What happened? Tell me, while I go get the first aid kit.
Galina brought medicine and began to treat Daria’s wounds, and she told her how it happened. Baba Galya oohed and aahed every now and then. At the end of the story, Galina carefully looked out the window again, and then closed the curtain and walked away.
- Eh, this is bad... Bad...
In the morning, people went to look for the forester, but they found only a mutilated body. Apparently the werewolves caught up with him after all. As for Dasha, the next day she immediately left the village, far away. Just not to return.

It happened in 1990, at that time I was 12 years old, still a boy, but at that time I was considered already big. There lived with us a cable named Hindu, a cross between a husky and a mongrel, he was three years old. His father brought him, a small, dead one, into his bosom in the cold, went out, fed him, and he became his indispensable assistant, since his father hunted.
The days in October were warm and dry. My father took me hunting with him, we had to wander through the forest for a day, spend the night in the forest and return home the next day. Early in the morning, my father took a gun, a backpack with some simple food, and we went into the forest. Mom went to see us off, we said goodbye at the cattle farm and moved on. When, having already moved a decent distance, I turned around, my mother was still standing in place and baptized us after us.
After wandering through the forest all day, I don’t remember which birds my father shot, and in the evening we stopped for the night. They decided to spend the night under a large spreading fir tree, chopped spruce branches so that it would not be damp to sleep on the ground, collected dead wood for the fire so that there would be enough for the whole night, lit a fire, ate and began to prepare for bed. Father, apparently, was very tired during the day, he came back from the war all wounded, went to bed first, and the Hindu and I were still sitting by the fire. There was already darkness all around, nothing could be seen further than the light cast by the fire, and there was such silence as if everything around had died out. And suddenly in this silence there was first a crash, and then the sound of a falling tree and a blow to the ground. I turned back and saw that the tree under which my father was lying had broken in half and collapsed on him. I rushed to him, screaming and crying, calling him, trying to help, but what could I, a twelve-year-old boy, do... my father sighed hoarsely and fell silent. And there was silence all around again, only you could hear the crackling of the sushi in the fire.
For a long time I roared and tried to squeeze through the spruce branches to my father. The Indian next to me dug the ground with his paws and whined. Suddenly I heard someone calling out to me, quietly: “Boy, don’t cry!” I turned around: a woman was standing by the circle of light emanating from the fire. All in some kind of black long-skirted clothes, with a black scarf on her head. The scarf was pulled over her eyes, her face was not visible, and she stood as if in the dark, not going to the fire. At that moment I didn’t even think about where she came from, I was so glad that I wasn’t alone. And the woman extended her hand to me and began to say that there is nothing you can do to help my father, he is dead, come with me, what should you do here alone? I was about to go to her, not thinking about anything, as if in a dream, but then the Hindu jumped up and began to bark and growl, rushing from me to that woman, not letting her near me, and me to her. It was as if I woke up, such fear attacked me that I roared out loud like a little one, grabbed my father’s gun and sat down by the fire, trembling with horror. The woman began to walk in a circle, without going into the light, and calling me, and the Hindu growled and rushed at her, also without running out of the circle of light. I don’t know how long this lasted - maybe ten minutes, maybe half the night... I sat in a stupor, only squeezing the gun more and more. Suddenly everything became quiet, the Hindu, as if nothing had happened, lay down at my feet and only occasionally raised his head and growled. I looked around, the woman was nowhere to be seen. So we stayed until the morning, and when it got light, I covered my father’s body with the branches of the tree that had fallen, as best I could, so that the animals would not tear it to pieces, and set off on the way back. I wandered through the forest all day, seemingly following the signs that my father showed me, and when I came out to the same pine tree for the fourth time, I realized that I was completely lost. In autumn it gets dark early. Somehow I lit a fire and fell exhausted under the same pine tree. The Hindu also pressed close to me, and it was as if I had fallen into the darkness. I woke up, everything around me was white and white, it started snowing at night, Hindu was not around, and I passed out again. I feel like someone is poking me coldly in the face, I open my eyes, and it’s the Hindu who’s pushing me with his nose. Mom is running in the distance, and the men are dismounting from their horses. When the explanations went through about what and how, they quickly found the father. It turns out that I was not far from that place, about a kilometer away, and spent the whole day wandering around.