Belgian Ghost Mythology

Roesschaert

by

Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: Roessaart, Roesjhoart, Roesschaert
Category: Ghost, Witch, Dog

The Myth

Roesschaert was the ghost of a burned witch. She could appear in several frightening forms, most notably as an enormous black dog with a bell around its neck. At other times she appeared as a cat or a donkey. Whatever form she took, her presence was accompanied by the sound “Roes, Roes, Roes,” from which her name was said to derive.

Roesschaert was especially troublesome to fishermen. She would destroy their fishing nets or try to overturn their boats, bringing danger to those working at sea.

She could also rise suddenly from the water itself, appearing without warning beside fishermen and sailors. From the sea she would seize them and drag them into the depths, making Roesschaert a particularly feared spirit along the Flemish coast.

Sources

“Aardmannetje tot zwarte juffer: een lijst van Nederlandse en Vlaamse elfen en geesten.” Abe de Verteller. Accessed September 30, 2026. https://abedeverteller.nl/van-aardmannetje-tot-zwarte-juffer-een-lijst-van-nederlandse-en-vlaamse-elfen-en-geesten/

Deogen

by

Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: De-ohen, De Ochen
Category: Ghost

The Myth

De-ohen appears as a huge, looming ghostly figure formed from a cloud of white or greenish fog. Its eyes bulge from the mist, giving the creature its name, derived from the Dutch “de ogen,” meaning “the eyes.” Alongside the towering figure come the shadowy forms of the children it has killed, their tiny silhouettes following behind it through the darkness.

The legend is associated with the Forêt de Soignes, the great forest on the southern outskirts of Brussels. Drivers travelling through the forest at night or at dusk, especially in foggy weather, were said to encounter black, ghostly figures darting through their headlights. Bloody handprints could appear on car windows, while the terrifying laughter and screams of invisible children seemed to surround the road. Behind the sounds came the tiny shadows of children, following in the footsteps of a huge, looming figure rising from the fog.

The story is tied to a tale of a local serial killer and his victims. As the legend spread, the number of children supposedly murdered in the forest grew enormously. A 1937 book, Children of the Haunted Forest, described how local nuns supposedly discovered the burned bodies of small children scattered throughout the Sonian Forest. The story claimed that as many as eighty children had been brutally murdered, their bodies burned and left throughout the woods.

De-ohen became a figure of frightening campfire stories, with people claiming that they had personally encountered the ghost in the forest. The tale presents the fog itself as something alive: a monstrous presence with enormous eyes, accompanied by the ghosts of the children lost within the woods.

Sources

“De Okhen.” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). Accessed September 29, 2026. https://www.bestiary.us/de-okhen

Hotteman

by

Tradition: Belgian Mythology
Alternative Names: Hotteman
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Hotteman was the ghost of a pig herder. He was said to carry an enormous basket on his back, so large that it was as big as a table.

With this basket, the Hotteman would seize naughty children and carry them away. He was also said to cut off the toes of children who wandered into the grain fields. Mothers told their children these frightening stories to make them behave and keep them away from the crops.

Sources

“Aardmannetje tot zwarte juffer: een lijst van Nederlandse en Vlaamse elfen en geesten.” Abe de Verteller. Accessed September 29, 2026.
https://abedeverteller.nl/van-aardmannetje-tot-zwarte-juffer-een-lijst-van-nederlandse-en-vlaamse-elfen-en-geesten/

Tienuurshond

by

Tradition / Region: Dutch Mythology, Belgian Mythology
Alternate Names: Twaalfuurshond, Negenuurshond, Tienurenhond
Category: Dog, Ghost

The Myth

In parts of Utrecht and the region around Antwerp, people once spoke of a spectral animal known as the Tienuurshond.

He was said to appear on lonely roads during winter evenings. At exactly the same hour each night — most often at ten o’clock — a large black dog would come into view ahead of a traveler. Around its body hung chains that rattled as it moved, their sound echoing through the cold darkness.

The creature did not usually attack. Instead, it walked in front of the traveler, leading the way along the road as though guiding them through the night. It remained just out of reach, always ahead, never allowing itself to be caught.

Because it appeared at a fixed hour, people gave it its name: the Ten-O’Clock Dog. In some places, where it was believed to appear at other times, it was known as the Nine-O’Clock Dog or the Twelve-O’Clock Dog instead.

Thus the Tienuurshond was remembered as a chained black hound of the winter roads, a ghostly figure that emerged at the appointed hour and walked before the lonely traveler until it vanished again into the night.

Sources

Abe de Verteller. (n.d.). Van aardmannetje tot zwarte juffer: Een lijst van Nederlandse en Vlaamse elfen en geesten. From https://abedeverteller.nl/van-aardmannetje-tot-zwarte-juffer-een-lijst-van-nederlandse-en-vlaamse-elfen-en-geesten/