Surprising stories from Romania - Episode 1

Surprising stories from Romania

Today we're going to start a series about surprising stories from Romania. Along the series, you will find out about the house, where, tragically, every man's life ends, about the Baciu forest, where every tree has a very strange shape and where evil old spirits dwell. You will also find out the story behind a haunted castel and the poltergeists, which are the romanian version of zombies.

Today I will be telling you the story about a very strange case. It's about a sinister and particularly evil spiritual manifestation, which started years ago in the village I still live in, and it still hasn't ended. This case has been researched by myself, and along the time, I have some final conclusions. The names used are changed due to families preferences.

Sustra, the village I am living in, is a quiet settlement with about 200 houses, located near Timisoara, in western Romania. It is a peaceful village, with a small comunity of good people whose lifes are rarely disturbed by some happenings. The comunity has a lot of stories and legends, but maybe the most interesting and striking story is related to the house of a family in the village. The house where all the men tragically ended.

Since I was a little kid, i kept on hearing the story about that house. The whole village was talking about it, even my neighbors and my grandparents, but not the people that were living there. They seemed to know nothing.

I have become more and more interested about it, and with time I have begun to investigate the case, especially the things that kept happening at that moment, and that are still happening today.

First victim – Ion (1895-1950) – killed in train accident
But let's start with the beginning:
The house is located in Sustra, on a peaceful street, and nothing seem to warn you about the tragedies that took place between those walls. Every men that once lived there ended up tragically.
Ion (1895 – 1950) was the first men to open the series of tragic and strange deaths. The man was born in 1895. He was a soldier in the first World War, where he fought in Italian Alps for the Austro-Hungarian army. At that time, the western area of today's Romania was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Then he's been called up by the Romanian Army and he fought against Hungary in 1919. In 1940, at age 45, he went back to war, but this time he was behind the battle front because of his age. The second World War started and he's been enrolled in it. Three big wars, did not took him down, even though he has been through great dangers, and he often told how ,in 1942, being guardian at a munitions depot he was bombed by the enemy aviation. He stood three months in coma, but he survived. After the wars have ended, he worked on the railways, taking care of the train lines in Sustra. One day during the summer of 1950, walking next to the railway lines doing his job, he did not hear the train coming by (there is no other explanation of what happened). Passing by with high speed, the train clutched his coat, and dragged Ion under the train, cutting him off. He was buried in a sackful, in which he was seated piece by piece, and the sackful sat in a wooden crate.

Second victim – Nicolae (1914-1973) – suffocated in water and mud
Ion had two daughters and a son (Nicolae). His daughters got married and left the house, but Nicolae (1914 – 1973), which at his father's death was 36 years old, got married but did not leave the house. Nicolae had alcohol issues. He found pleasure in drinking and while drunk he often beats his wife, child and even his mom, until one night of 1973. He was on his way home, and the weather wasn't in his favor. It was a storm when he slipped and fell into a muddy puddle. He was found there, suffocated with water and mud.

Third victim – Vasile (1934-1992) – hang himself
Nicolae had a son, Vasile, and a daughter, Ileana. Vasile (1934-1992) was 39 years old when his father died. In 1990, Vasile's wife left him and run in Austria with another man. He couldn't move on after losing his wife, and fell into a depression which leaded him to hang himself two years later. Vasile had two sons: Petre(1951-1996) and Gica (1959-2009).

Fourth victim – Petre (1951-1996) - electrocuted
Four years after Vasile hung himself, his son Petre dies electrocuted in a tomato greenhouse. He was only 45 years old. Petre had a son too, named Liviu (1981-2002). Liviu was a good friend of mine.

Fifth victim – Liviu (1981-2002) - swimming pool accident
In 2002, Liviu enrolled himself in the army, and when he came back during his leave. He went to a swimming pool with some friends. I was invited too, but something came up and I couldn't go along them. The pool was closed, but the bar was open for the customers. Liviu has bet with his friends, he will run by the guardian, and will jump into the pool. That's exactly what he did. He ran from his cheerful friends, right through the guardian and jumped in the pool. The guardian tried to stop him, but Liviu didn't listen. Unfortunately he never got out alive, because the pool was empty. Since it was dark outside, Liviu couldn't see in time that the pool was empty and so he jumped into his head. He broke his neck, head and died imediately. He was only 21 years old.

Sixth vicimt – Gică (1959-2009) – died frozen
The next one is Gica, Peter's brother and the uncle of Liviu. Gica died in 2009 at the age of 50 years. After his mother died by old age, and his wife left with their daughter (because he was struggling with alcohol issues). Gica went mad and one morning in a very cold winter day, his neighbors found him dead in his garden. He was naked and with a pillow. He died frozen

Seventh victim – Little eight year boy – felt off the tree
After all these tragedies, the family decided to sell the house, and so another family moved in. The parents only had one son and they were pretty happy, until one day. Their eight years old son, climbed a tree in the back yard of the house and fell down hitting his head to a stone and died. A day or two after, the parents found out what the whole village was talking about that house. Short time after, they sold the house and moved out. A few months later, the father of the boy had a heart attack while driving and died due to an accident.

What is happening today?
In the house moved another family, only husband and wife. They have been told about the house, but they did not believe. This year, 2017, a few days ago, the husband fell off the roof and hit his head. At the moment, his condition is critical, and doctors are reserved for his survival chances.

A possible explanation...
Disturbed by what happened with Liviu in 2002, I started to research the past of this house by talking with the oldest people from the village. In this way I found out that Ana, the grandmother of Ion, the man who died on the railways, has been killed by her father in law. Long story short, Ana was married with a guy named Gheorghe. Gheorghe went in South America to work, but he never came back. Ana was left in the house with their daughter, Gheorghe's grandparents and her father in law, because Gheorghe grew up without his mother. Ana's father in law was always drunk and violent. He was very nasty with Ana, and he always accused her of making Gheorghe leave and work in foreign countries. Some of the people I have talked to told me that he was even sexual abusing and beating Ana. One night, he came home drunk and after he raped Ana, he beated her to death. Ana died and left a 5 year old daughter behind.
Ana's father in law has been charged and died in prison. In the house were living still, the daughter Ana and Gheorghe had, and Gheorghe's grandparents, but they had no rest. They kept on telling the priest that Ana is coming back home at night. Even more, all the calves started to die in the village. Doctors of those times had no explanation. They just said that a mysterious malady attacks the calves in the village.
So one Sunday, the villagers and the priest went to Ana's grave. They dug her up, and found the body sitting in the coffin on one side. She was not rotten and her face was red like fire. They stabbed the body with an iron pin directly into the heart, then threw thorns on it in the pit, and while the priest was ministering, they burned the coffin. Many of the old people I spoke to, who obviously had not been born at that time, said that often at night, their grandparents were telling the story of Ana, and how she was screaming while burning in the grave.
This story made me think, it was probably a lot of folk and imagination in the middle, but we can make a connection between Ana's violent death and the one of the men who lived in the house after her.

Priest opinion...
So one day, I talked to a priest who was said to be gifted. He told me that Ana's spirit had become evil, and after the incineration of his body her spirit had returned to the house. Her men hatred was so great that she killed all those who lived there just to take revenge on her father-in-law.
I asked if anything could be done to rid of the spirit. The priest told me that many prayers were needed, and in the house to live only pure people. I told this to the two people who lived in the house then, but obviously they did not believe me, so the tragedies followed, and they still happen today.