nivek
As Above So Below
Scary Encounters With the Evil Gnomes of Central and South America
The world of strange sightings and encounters can cover some vast territory, ranging from ghosts, to aliens, to fantastical creatures of all shapes and sizes.
Yet among these there is one category that seems to hold its own unique brand of bizarreness and which really seems hard to adequately categorize; that of goblins, trolls, gnomes, and other beings taken straight out of a fairy tale.
Reports such as these take this label of things such as gnomes quite literally, with descriptions of diminutive beings complete with little lederhosen clothing, beards, and wide brimmed pointed hats.
There is a surprisingly large number of such encounters out there, and one region of the world where they seem to be particularly abundant is Central and South America, where not only do gnome sightings come in at a regular pace, but also tend to be rather frightening.
One of the most well-known sightings by far happened in 2008 in the town of General Guemes, in the province of Salta, Argentina, a country steeped in stories of the creatures. The sighting was made by a group of teenagers who were hanging out one evening after a fishing trip when they saw a tiny man dressed in a wide, pointed hat emerge from the dark to do a strange sideways shuffle across the road. One of the teenagers, a Jose Alvarez, actually managed to capture the strange being on his cellphone camera, and said of the bizarre encounter:
"We were chatting about our last fishing trip. It was one in the morning. I began to film a bit with my mobile phone while the others were chatting and joking. Suddenly we heard something — a weird noise as if someone was throwing stones.We looked to one side and saw that the grass was moving. To begin with, we thought it was a dog, but when we saw this gnome-like figure begin to emerge we were really afraid. This is no joke. We are still afraid to go out, just like everyone in the neighborhood is now. One of my friends was so scared after seeing that thing that we had to take him to the hospital."
The short video clip certainly shows a rather unsettling and creepy gnome-looking being doing a strange sideways walk, but it is very short and not particularly clear, leading many to say that it is likely a hoax. Other speculation has been that it is an actual human with dwarfism playing a prank on the boys or even that it is a genuine Duende.
The odd sighting came amongst some other sightings of the creatures in the area at around the same time, and there have been commenters on various paranormal sites who have analyzed the video and come to the conclusion that whatever it is is not CGI. You can see the footage here and see what you think.
_____________________
In 2011 the area of Suncho Corral, Argentina experienced a wave of sightings and encounters with a Duende that seems by all accounts to have been quite malevolent.
The creature in question was said to have the typical big, pointy hat, as well as large, elfin ears, and was blamed for a series of at least a dozen vicious, unprovoked attacks on children and the elderly walking alone at night, which the entity purportedly shoved, kicked, and punched.
In some cases it was reported that the mystery creature actually knocked kids off of their bicycles, and some people were reportedly beaten into unconsciousness by the fierce gnome. The police were allegedly flooded by so many complaints from terrified residents that they actually declared a state of emergency and implored people not to go out at night.
_____________________
One of the most bizarre cases of all in recent years of Duendes is a 2016 account from Nicaragua in which a woman made the incredibly odd and dramatic claim that she was kidnapped by the creatures and kept captive for 5 days and 6 nights.
The woman, known only as Jasmina, claims that she was out playing near her home in Monte Oscuro, Nicaragua, when a group of the menacing little entities appeared and lured her up a hill, where they abducted her and put her in the cave. According to the report, her family sought advice from a local witch and were finally able to locate her.
The original report says that 15 years earlier another girl had been kinapped by the creatures and held captive in the very same cave. Apparently these gnomes or goblins are a serious problem in the area, with one local saying:
"Currently there are many of these creatures living in San Silvestre and in Peor Dicho, in Monte Oscuro and in La Gualapa. There are a lot that live in San Silvestre and around it, they stay away from the church and they also exist in other areas nearby. In San Jose they live in another hill there, and they communicate from hill to hill."
_____________________
Another country that has had a good number of reports of mysterious gnome-like creatures is Mexico, where Duende lore is also quite prominent. One such account was given by a Jazmin R., who recounted an encounter that her mother had had in Michoacan, Mexico.
According to the report, the mother and a friend had decided to sneak into a large abandoned house at the corner of a street, and she describes what happened next as follows:
They opened the door an while she was telling me this story, she had goosebumps all over her arms. As they were walking around, they hear a noise and instantly turn. They see a small little human about half a foot in height.
They screamed and it startled the little creature, so the creature screamed as well. She said that it had a high pitched scream just like one of Santa’s elf’s would be, but just scarier. It started running really fast around the whole room. They’re eyes followed the Gnome as it made at least three laps around the room until they didn’t see it anymore. It just vanished.
After processing what had just happened, they ran out of the house and never ever returned. They were too scared to even walk by the house to get to school. They never told anyone. They thought that no one would believe them. She says that she will never forget the terrified face on that small creature. She will never forget the screams of pure horror that came from both her and that Gnome.
_____________________
Also from Mexico is a creepy report sent in by a poster on the Darkness Prevails website, in which the witness describes a chilling encounter with a Duende in 2017. The witness claims that he had been at a party with six friends and they had been chatting in the backyard of the home as the party wound down and people began to leave.
He says that as he stared off at another house he noticed something move through the shadows which he at first took to be a cat but would soon find was something quite altogether more bizarre. The witness describes the next terrifying events thus:
"It looked like a dwarf but really short and skinny. I yelled at my friends and we all just stared at it. Thats when one of my friends started running towards it and told us to catch it.
We all started running towards it and it ran we were all chasing it catching up to it quickly. We were all jumping over each other trying to catch it. Until finally my best friend caught it by its legs we were really up close and thats when I saw it.
It had no hair and a very veiny head really pale to, but I saw its all black eyes and its mouth well I thought it was a mouth. It….had stitches…like its mouth had been stitched shut. It sent shivers down my spine and my friend still held it in his right hand by the foot. Thats when its mouth opened stitches looking like toothpaste when it opened.
And it bit my friend in his chest.he let go of it and it ran off under some fences. My friend was groaning holding his chest. He wasn’t bleeding allot but whatever it was left him a huge cut that will probably turn into a scar."
The world of strange sightings and encounters can cover some vast territory, ranging from ghosts, to aliens, to fantastical creatures of all shapes and sizes.
Yet among these there is one category that seems to hold its own unique brand of bizarreness and which really seems hard to adequately categorize; that of goblins, trolls, gnomes, and other beings taken straight out of a fairy tale.
Reports such as these take this label of things such as gnomes quite literally, with descriptions of diminutive beings complete with little lederhosen clothing, beards, and wide brimmed pointed hats.
There is a surprisingly large number of such encounters out there, and one region of the world where they seem to be particularly abundant is Central and South America, where not only do gnome sightings come in at a regular pace, but also tend to be rather frightening.
One of the most well-known sightings by far happened in 2008 in the town of General Guemes, in the province of Salta, Argentina, a country steeped in stories of the creatures. The sighting was made by a group of teenagers who were hanging out one evening after a fishing trip when they saw a tiny man dressed in a wide, pointed hat emerge from the dark to do a strange sideways shuffle across the road. One of the teenagers, a Jose Alvarez, actually managed to capture the strange being on his cellphone camera, and said of the bizarre encounter:
"We were chatting about our last fishing trip. It was one in the morning. I began to film a bit with my mobile phone while the others were chatting and joking. Suddenly we heard something — a weird noise as if someone was throwing stones.We looked to one side and saw that the grass was moving. To begin with, we thought it was a dog, but when we saw this gnome-like figure begin to emerge we were really afraid. This is no joke. We are still afraid to go out, just like everyone in the neighborhood is now. One of my friends was so scared after seeing that thing that we had to take him to the hospital."
The short video clip certainly shows a rather unsettling and creepy gnome-looking being doing a strange sideways walk, but it is very short and not particularly clear, leading many to say that it is likely a hoax. Other speculation has been that it is an actual human with dwarfism playing a prank on the boys or even that it is a genuine Duende.
The odd sighting came amongst some other sightings of the creatures in the area at around the same time, and there have been commenters on various paranormal sites who have analyzed the video and come to the conclusion that whatever it is is not CGI. You can see the footage here and see what you think.
_____________________
In 2011 the area of Suncho Corral, Argentina experienced a wave of sightings and encounters with a Duende that seems by all accounts to have been quite malevolent.
The creature in question was said to have the typical big, pointy hat, as well as large, elfin ears, and was blamed for a series of at least a dozen vicious, unprovoked attacks on children and the elderly walking alone at night, which the entity purportedly shoved, kicked, and punched.
In some cases it was reported that the mystery creature actually knocked kids off of their bicycles, and some people were reportedly beaten into unconsciousness by the fierce gnome. The police were allegedly flooded by so many complaints from terrified residents that they actually declared a state of emergency and implored people not to go out at night.
_____________________
One of the most bizarre cases of all in recent years of Duendes is a 2016 account from Nicaragua in which a woman made the incredibly odd and dramatic claim that she was kidnapped by the creatures and kept captive for 5 days and 6 nights.
The woman, known only as Jasmina, claims that she was out playing near her home in Monte Oscuro, Nicaragua, when a group of the menacing little entities appeared and lured her up a hill, where they abducted her and put her in the cave. According to the report, her family sought advice from a local witch and were finally able to locate her.
The original report says that 15 years earlier another girl had been kinapped by the creatures and held captive in the very same cave. Apparently these gnomes or goblins are a serious problem in the area, with one local saying:
"Currently there are many of these creatures living in San Silvestre and in Peor Dicho, in Monte Oscuro and in La Gualapa. There are a lot that live in San Silvestre and around it, they stay away from the church and they also exist in other areas nearby. In San Jose they live in another hill there, and they communicate from hill to hill."
_____________________
Another country that has had a good number of reports of mysterious gnome-like creatures is Mexico, where Duende lore is also quite prominent. One such account was given by a Jazmin R., who recounted an encounter that her mother had had in Michoacan, Mexico.
According to the report, the mother and a friend had decided to sneak into a large abandoned house at the corner of a street, and she describes what happened next as follows:
They opened the door an while she was telling me this story, she had goosebumps all over her arms. As they were walking around, they hear a noise and instantly turn. They see a small little human about half a foot in height.
They screamed and it startled the little creature, so the creature screamed as well. She said that it had a high pitched scream just like one of Santa’s elf’s would be, but just scarier. It started running really fast around the whole room. They’re eyes followed the Gnome as it made at least three laps around the room until they didn’t see it anymore. It just vanished.
After processing what had just happened, they ran out of the house and never ever returned. They were too scared to even walk by the house to get to school. They never told anyone. They thought that no one would believe them. She says that she will never forget the terrified face on that small creature. She will never forget the screams of pure horror that came from both her and that Gnome.
_____________________
Also from Mexico is a creepy report sent in by a poster on the Darkness Prevails website, in which the witness describes a chilling encounter with a Duende in 2017. The witness claims that he had been at a party with six friends and they had been chatting in the backyard of the home as the party wound down and people began to leave.
He says that as he stared off at another house he noticed something move through the shadows which he at first took to be a cat but would soon find was something quite altogether more bizarre. The witness describes the next terrifying events thus:
"It looked like a dwarf but really short and skinny. I yelled at my friends and we all just stared at it. Thats when one of my friends started running towards it and told us to catch it.
We all started running towards it and it ran we were all chasing it catching up to it quickly. We were all jumping over each other trying to catch it. Until finally my best friend caught it by its legs we were really up close and thats when I saw it.
It had no hair and a very veiny head really pale to, but I saw its all black eyes and its mouth well I thought it was a mouth. It….had stitches…like its mouth had been stitched shut. It sent shivers down my spine and my friend still held it in his right hand by the foot. Thats when its mouth opened stitches looking like toothpaste when it opened.
And it bit my friend in his chest.he let go of it and it ran off under some fences. My friend was groaning holding his chest. He wasn’t bleeding allot but whatever it was left him a huge cut that will probably turn into a scar."
