The White Caver

The underground counterpart of the Black Climber, known to everyone who goes into caves across the former Soviet Union. What makes him white is calcite, settled on his clothes over years below ground. Meeting him traditionally means the party has lost the route. Cavers have a half-joking initiation rite for newcomers in which he is described — a rare case of folklore whose carriers know perfectly well it is folklore, and which is none the weaker for it.

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The Bell Witch Cave

From 1817 to 1821 the family of John Bell in Tennessee was, by many contemporary accounts, tormented by something: pinches and slaps, bedclothes pulled away, and eventually a voice that argued, quoted sermons and finally promised to kill the head of the household. Bell died in 1820 with a vial of unidentified liquid found beside him. Local tradition holds it the only case in American history of a documented killing by a spirit.