Chapter

Dullahan

The road between the town and the graveyard is shunned by the locals, for fear of a headless rider who is said to collect the souls of the doomed on behalf of “Crom Dubh”, which as far as I was able to discover is an ancient spirit of death. No one escapes this relentless hunter of souls, I was told, but despite that I met one man, venerable but still hale, who claimed to have survived an encounter thanks to a gold coin that he wore around his neck on a leather thong.

— William Stukeley, October 1712

Dullahans travel Irish roads at night, collecting the souls of those who are destined to die. A dullahan is a solitary, headless figure, either riding a horse or driving a coach. It carries its head in its left hand, held high to see far off and over obstacles, while its right holds a whip made of a human spine. Its head is rotting but still alive, with a ghastly grin and huge eyes that can see through the darkest night and the thickest fog. Their horses are always black and are either headless or have fiery red eyes. Coaches are often made of human bones, with candles placed in skulls as lamps and an awning made of grave-cloth or dried human skin. A dullahan’s horse or coach travels so fast that its hooves or wheels are red-hot, and can set fire to nearby hedgerows. It can cause all gates and doors in its path to fly open. If anyone stops to stare at a dullahan, it strikes them with its whip and blinds them. Anyone who opens their door as a dullahan passes by risks being drenched in blood.

Ritual

A dullahan is repelled by gold. It fears the precious metal so much that even a gold-headed pin dropped in its path will cause it to halt. Also, it is unable to move through running water, although it can cross over it by means of a bridge.

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