5 Creepy things from my childhood

February 4, 2011 at 8:41pm

By now, most of my good friends know about all the strange happenings that have occurred within my life, but just in case you aren't familiar I've nicely put together a list of five creepy things from my childhood. Enjoy!

1. I've been breastfed by a strange Gypsy.

Growing up in Romania somehow just guarantees strange things to happen to you. My first experience was right after I was born in the hospital, in Hunedoara, Romania. Although I weighed close to average, about 8 lbs, I was the largest baby they had that day. My mom, couldn't produce any milk yet to feed me. This random Gypsy woman out of nowhere, came in the room and went to my mom offering if she could feed me. So my mom thanked her and so I was breastfed by the Gypsy lady. Afterward, my mom didn't see her anymore cause a nurse came in and asked the woman to leave. My mom later in life told me she didn't know why the woman was so bent on feeding me, or where she came from.  

2. According to my grandparents, the Devil and his demons were out to kill me 24/7.

Old school Romanians and Hungarians are kinda superstitious. Although I lived in the city with my parents, every weekend I would go to stay in the Hungarian village, Cristur, with my grandparents on their small farm. They had no running water, and so we got the privilege of using a stone well and an outhouse. They also used an underground cellar dug into the ground to store crops and other items. Because I was young and prone to going off on adventures, my grandparents worried I would one day lock myself into the cellar or fall into the well and drown. In order to keep me away, the told me about the Devil. Satan, they said, was watching my every move, and wanted my soul. He especially liked to get young innocent souls like mine, and so there would be traps everywhere I would go. They told me to stay away from the well, because the Devil liked to hide in it and make people slip into it by accident so he could kill them. His demons would hide in the cellar hoping I would wander in. And to make things extra safe, they told me never to play with any sharp knives or to ever go near my grandpa's scythes and sickles because Satan would make them fall on me and cut my head off.  

3. Hungarians are known for committing suicide.


One night in the village, my grandparents  and I dressed up nice and fancy and went to a funeral service. It was held in someone's house. It was a somber and quiet event, with people dressed in black and mourning, typical thing for a funeral. The only thing I remember vividly, was the room with the open casket. It was a small room, dark and lit with candles, and decorated with lace and flowers all over. People were gathered around a coffin on a table in the middle of the room, and when I looked in I saw a young woman who looked about 20 lying there as if she was asleep. Everyone was silently weeping or praying. I asked my grandma what happened to her, and she whispered to me, "She jumped off a train." Hungarians, it seems, have a preference for killing themselves apparently due to some cultural idea that it's a glamorous and heroic way to get out of terribly depressing situations. You can find many stories and songs on the subject, and several famous Hungarians have killed themselves.

4. I've had close calls with Death on several occasions.

It seems as a kid, I was cursed into being accident prone but was lucky enough to get out every time. One of the first times was when I choked on a lego piece as a baby. I was in the village, and was in my grandparent's room when I decided to get the bright idea of shoving a lego into my mouth and swallowing it. Of course it got caught, I turned blue, and pretty much passed out. My grandparents freaked out and in a panic, my uncle who lived with them, took his hand and shoved it into my mouth to get the piece out. I came to, got scared, and bit him as he reached in and dislodged it. To this day, he still has the scar on his hand. Another time, back in the city, while my parents had the furniture moved to clean up, I stuck my hand in an uncovered outlet and got electrocuted. My mom turned around to see me being electrocuted and quickly pulled me away somehow without hurting herself in the process. On other occasions I have been almost eaten and trampled by pigs, dropped as a baby, almost drowned, and on top of it all, I was severely sick constantly and going to hospitals and doctors weekly.  

5. Gnomes and Goblins

I have a strange phobia. And I'm pretty sure I know where it stems from. I will 100% cry, scream, and kick your face in, if you ever chase my feet. It will reduce me to tears. I think it comes from two things from my childhood. First: by my apartment in Hunedoara, Romania, there was this long park in the middle of the city with a maze like formation with hedges and bushes, and on every corner there was a three foot tall statue of a gnome. By god, they were ugly as hell, and scared the shit out of me. If we ever walked through it, I would scream and cry until my parents held me up on their shoulders. There was this one moment I won't forget, where my dad picked me up but wouldn't put me on his shoulders, so my legs were just dangling from his arms. I started kicking cause we were approaching a statue, and I wanted to get away. Second: back in the village, we had a strange yearly night festival where people dressed up in all white with bells and feathers and went around chasing people. I was out one night in front of the house and this one guy was walking on the street and I saw that he was dressed as one of the white goblin people. I started to go inside cause I got scared and that asshole started to chase me. I ran inside thinking I would be safe, but I guess he was someone I knew cause he ran inside with me. The last thing I remember was screaming and jumping on the bed with the guy running on all fours and grabbing at my feet.

So yeah. Don't chase my feet.