Creepy Stories Halloween Special!!

Skinwalkers

Background on skinwalkers:

In the Navajo language, yee naaldlooshii translates to "by means of it, it goes on all fours".[1] While perhaps the most common variety seen in horror fiction by non-Navajo people, the yee naaldlooshii is one of several varieties of skin-walkers in Navajo culture; specifically, they are a type of 'ánti'įhnii.[1]

Navajo witches, including skin-walkers, represent the antithesis of Navajo cultural values. While community healers and cultural workers are known as medicine men and women, or by other positive, nurturing terms in the local, indigenous language, witches are seen as evil, performing twisted ceremonies and manipulating magic in a perversion of the good works medicine people traditionally perform. In order to practice their good works, traditional healers learn about both good and evil magic. Most can handle the responsibility, but some people can become corrupt and choose to become witches.[2]

The legend of the skin-walkers is not well understood outside of Navajo culture, mostly due to reluctance to discuss the subject with outsiders.[3] Traditional Navajo people are reluctant to reveal skin-walker lore to non-Navajos, or to discuss it at all among those they do not trust. Adrienne Keene, Cherokee Nation activist and founder of the blog Native Appropriations, has written, "What happens when Rowling pulls this in, is we as Native people are now opened up to a barrage of questions about these beliefs and traditions...but these are not things that need or should be discussed by outsiders. At all. I'm sorry if that seems 'unfair', but that's how our cultures survive."[4]

Lore (Legends):

Animals associated with witchcraft usually include tricksters such as the coyote; however, it may include other creatures, usually those associated with death or bad omens. They might also possess living animals or people and walk around in their bodies.[5][6][7] Skin-walkers may be male or female.[2]

Skin-walker stories told among Navajo children may be complete life and death struggles that end in either skin-walker or Navajo killing the other, or partial encounter stories that end in a stalemate.[2] Encounter stories may be composed as Navajo victory stories, with the skin-walkers approaching a hogan and being scared away.[7][8]

Non-Native interpretations of skin-walker stories typically take the form of partial encounter stories on the road, where the protagonist is temporarily vulnerable, but then escapes from the skin-walker in a way not traditionally seen in Navajo stories.[9][10] Sometimes Navajo children take European folk stories and substitute skin-walkers for generic killers like The Hook.[9]

Creepypasta Version:

My father told me a story once. I’ll never forget it, for a few reasons. I think it’s the first story he ever told me as a child. It’s also the story of how my grandfather died. But honestly, that isn’t the reason.

You hear stories on TV, or sometimes you overhear something in a public place. People talk about ghosts and aliens, and you think to yourself, “That ain’t real. They’re making it up, or they’re mistaken, or they’re crazy,” or something like that. You just can’t believe it. That is, until something happens. Something that brings it all together, connects the dots in a way you didn’t think of before. Maybe it happens to you, or maybe you hear the same story, again and again, from different people. It doesn’t take long for the world to become a lot bigger than you thought it was.

As I said, this is a story my father told me, but I never believed it, even though he swore up and down it was true. It wasn’t until I started clicking around the internet that I started to believe. I started to hear other stories just like the one my father told me. It didn’t take me long to believe after that.