Dutch Ghost Mythology

Bornes

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Tradition: Dutch Mythology
Alternative Names: The Bornes, Bornius Ghost
Category: Ghost

The Myth

Bornes is an evil spirit from Zeeland, said to be the wandering soul of a cruel steward belonging to the Bornius family. After death, his restless spirit continued to roam the countryside around Hulst, bringing an ominous presence to the area. He was sometimes associated with the water, where his malevolent nature made him a feared supernatural being.

Bornes is accompanied by a black dog with flaming eyes, a terrifying companion that follows him as he wanders through the darkness. The sight of the ghost and his fiery-eyed hound was a dreadful omen, warning those who encountered them of the spirit’s sinister nature.

Once every hundred years, Bornes reveals his most terrifying form as he races through the night in a blazing carriage. Surrounded by fire, he rushes across the landscape in a supernatural frenzy, bringing terror to anyone unfortunate enough to witness his passage.

Sources

Van der Veen, Abe. “Van aardmannetje tot zwarte juffer: Een lijst van Nederlandse en Vlaamse elfen en geesten.” Abe de Verteller. https://abedeverteller.nl/van-aardmannetje-tot-zwarte-juffer-een-lijst-van-nederlandse-en-vlaamse-elfen-en-geesten/

Zwarte Juffer

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Tradition: Dutch Mythology
Alternative Names: Zwarte Wijven, Zwarte Vrouwen, Sokkeraaiwiefke
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Zwarte Juffer is a malevolent female spirit known in regional traditions of Groningen, Friesland, Twente, and the Veluwe in the Netherlands. She appears as a mourning woman dressed entirely in black, with an apron pulled over her head to conceal her face. She hides beneath hedges or inside alder bushes, emerging from the shadows to frighten travellers who pass by.

The Zwarte Juffer is said to float along roads and bring misfortune to those who encounter her. She may push people off the road or cause their horses to freeze in place, unable to move. Her presence turns an ordinary journey into a terrifying experience, as travellers find themselves helpless before the mysterious figure.

Seeing the Zwarte Juffer is considered a terrible omen. Anyone who encounters her can expect someone from their immediate family to die soon. Her black clothing and mourning appearance announce death before it occurs, making her a feared apparition associated with grief, bad fortune, and the approach of a family tragedy.

Sources

Van der Veen, Abe. “Van aardmannetje tot zwarte juffer: Een lijst van Nederlandse en Vlaamse elfen en geesten.” Abe de Verteller. https://abedeverteller.nl/van-aardmannetje-tot-zwarte-juffer-een-lijst-van-nederlandse-en-vlaamse-elfen-en-geesten/

Fearremantsje

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Tradition: Dutch Mythology
Alternative Names: Verenmannetje, Jantsje mei de fearren, Wietske mei de fearren
Category: Ghost

The Myth

Fearremantsje, also known as Verenmannetje, is a ghostly being said to haunt the cornfields around Twizel in Friesland, the Netherlands. Its name is associated with feathers, and it is also known by the names Jantsje mei de fearren and Wietske mei de fearren. No precise description of its appearance is recorded, leaving its form mysterious.

Adults used Fearremantsje as a frightening figure to scare children, warning them of the ghost lurking among the corn. The idea of a spirit hidden in the field made the familiar agricultural landscape seem dangerous and uncanny, particularly to children who might otherwise wander into the crops.

Sources

Van der Veen, Abe. “Van aardmannetje tot zwarte juffer: Een lijst van Nederlandse en Vlaamse elfen en geesten.” Abe de Verteller. https://abedeverteller.nl/van-aardmannetje-tot-zwarte-juffer-een-lijst-van-nederlandse-en-vlaamse-elfen-en-geesten/

Kilekanen

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Tradition: Dutch Mythology
Alternative Names: Kilekammen, Wâlmûzen, Tientoanen
Category: Ghost

The Myth

Kilekanen are frightening supernatural beings from Frisian tradition, particularly associated with the villages of Menaam and Minnertsga in Friesland, the Netherlands. Adults used stories about these ghosts to frighten children into returning indoors before darkness fell. Children were warned that if they stayed outside after nightfall, the Kilekanen would come and seize them.

Similar beings appear under different names in other parts of Friesland. In Suwâld, comparable creatures are called the Wâlmûzen, while in the Bildt region they are known as the Tientoanen. Their precise appearance and supernatural abilities are not described, as their main role in local tradition was to frighten children away from staying outdoors after dark.

Sources

Van der Veen, Abe. “Van aardmannetje tot zwarte juffer: Een lijst van Nederlandse en Vlaamse elfen en geesten.” Abe de Verteller. https://abedeverteller.nl/van-aardmannetje-tot-zwarte-juffer-een-lijst-van-nederlandse-en-vlaamse-elfen-en-geesten/

Slepers

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Tradition: Dutch Mythology
Alternative Names: De Slepers
Category: Ghost

The Myth

The Slepers are two ghostly sailors who haunt the Sleperspad, a road between Nes and Ballum on the island of Ameland in the Netherlands. They appear at night, dragging a headless corpse behind them. The terrifying procession wanders along the lonely path, repeating a grim task from which the two spirits can never escape.

The corpse they drag is their former captain, whom they murdered. After committing the crime, the sailors discovered that they could never rid themselves of his body. Bound to their victim by their terrible deed, they are condemned to drag him behind them forever. Their endless nocturnal wandering serves as a punishment for their murder, leaving them trapped in an eternal cycle of guilt and torment.

Sources

Van der Veen, Abe. “Van aardmannetje tot zwarte juffer: Een lijst van Nederlandse en Vlaamse elfen en geesten.” Abe de Verteller. https://abedeverteller.nl/van-aardmannetje-tot-zwarte-juffer-een-lijst-van-nederlandse-en-vlaamse-elfen-en-geesten/

Readrokje

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Tradition / Region: Dutch Mythology
Alternative names: Roodrokje
Category: Ghost, Bird

The Myth

The Readrokje (“Little Red Skirt”) is a ghost said to haunt the area around Akkrum in Friesland. She is described as having a sharp, bird-like face, a white upper garment, and a distinctive red skirt.

She wanders the countryside with long, silent strides, gliding effortlessly over ditches and through beds of reeds. At times, the Readrokje suddenly rushes straight toward a lone traveler walking late at night, frightening them so badly that they flee in terror.

Sources

Abe van der Veen. (2014, July 8). Van aardmannetje tot zwarte juffer: Een lijst van Nederlandse en Vlaamse elfen en geesten. Abe de Verteller. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://abedeverteller.nl/van-aardmannetje-tot-zwarte-juffer-een-lijst-van-nederlandse-en-vlaamse-elfen-en-geesten/

Flying Dutchman

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Tradition / Region: Dutch Mythology
Alternative names: De Vliegende Hollander
Category: Ghost, Object

The Myth

The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ghost ship condemned to sail the seas for all eternity, never able to enter port or find rest. Surrounded by an eerie supernatural glow, it appears during violent storms or in heavy mist, serving as one of the most feared omens in maritime folklore. Sailors believed that seeing the phantom vessel foretold disaster, shipwreck, or death.

According to the most famous version of the legend, the ship was commanded by the Dutch captain Hendrick van der Decken, who attempted to round the Cape of Good Hope during a fierce storm. When urged to seek shelter, the stubborn captain swore that he would round the cape even if it took until the Day of Judgment. For his blasphemous oath and defiance of Heaven, he and his crew were cursed to wander the oceans forever.

Other traditions claim the crew had committed terrible crimes such as piracy, murder, or even participating in the early slave trade, and that their eternal voyage was divine punishment for these sins.

The ghost ship is said to appear suddenly out of storms with blood-red or ghostly white light illuminating its sails. It moves without regard for wind or current and may vanish as quickly as it appears. Some witnesses claimed it could pass directly through other ships without collision.

One of its most infamous traits is attempting to deliver letters addressed to people who died long ago. Sailors warned that accepting these messages would bring terrible misfortune or death.

Numerous sightings have been reported since the eighteenth century. Perhaps the most famous occurred in 1881, when the future King George V and several crew members aboard HMS Bacchante reported seeing a glowing phantom ship. Later that same day, one of the sailors who witnessed the apparition fell to his death, reinforcing the Flying Dutchman’s reputation as a harbinger of doom.

The Flying Dutchman remains one of the world’s most enduring ghost-ship legends, symbolizing eternal punishment, doomed ambition, and the unforgiving power of the sea.

Sources

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Flying Dutchman. In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 27, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Dutchman

Kladdegat

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Tradition / Region: Dutch Mythology
Alternate Names: Spookhond van Hattem
Category: Dog, Ghost

The Myth

Kladdegat was the feared ghost dog of the town of Hattem.

For generations, townsfolk claimed to hear its howling at night. According to tradition, the creature was chained in the cellars of the Spookhuys, a building connected to the now-vanished castle known as the Dikke Tinne. Other versions say it lived in a hole in the city wall.

People believed that anyone who ventured outside the town walls at night risked being seized by the beast and dragged into its lair, where victims were kept captive. Because of this, many in Hattem were afraid to leave their homes after dark.

At last, a brave man decided to confront the creature. He captured the dog in a net, forced it into the hole in the wall, and sealed the opening with masonry. From that time onward, the howling ceased, and nothing more was heard of Kladdegat.

Thus the creature lived on in local memory as a chained phantom hound — a terror of the night that once guarded the ruins beneath Hattem.

Gallery

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/

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Tienuurshond

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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/

Hansjop

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Tradition / Region: Dutch Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Dwarf, Gnome, Ghost

The Myth

On the heath near Oss, there rises a low hill called the Hansjoppenberg. There, people say, lives a small dwarf-like being known as Hansjop.

Lonely walkers crossing the heath at dusk or in quiet weather may find themselves unexpectedly accompanied. A short figure appears beside them, walking along as if by chance. He does not threaten, nor does he ask questions. He simply keeps pace, sharing the path in silence or light-hearted calm.

After walking a little way together, Hansjop suddenly stops. With a cheerful “houdoe”—a familiar Brabant farewell—he turns aside and vanishes back into his hill, leaving the traveler alone once more, unsure whether what they experienced was real.

Some say Hansjop is no harmless dwarf at all, but the restless spirit of a man named Hans Joppe, or Hans Jacob, who in 1678 murdered his wife and was punished with a brutal execution. According to this telling, his soul never left the place and now wanders the heath, neither fully at peace nor openly hostile.

Whether friendly hill-dweller or condemned ghost, Hansjop remains a figure of quiet encounters—appearing only to the solitary traveler, walking beside them for a time, and disappearing again into the earth as suddenly as he came.

Sources

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