A Devilish Divorce

Krampus Valentine Card
Not exactly the same, but I thought it was a
 fun visual for this post!

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share a story of love gone wrong...with an occult twist! The following story out of Illinois was found in the September 14, 1909 edition of the Bluefield Evening Reader. 

MAN MAKES WIFE WORSHIP HIM

Chicago, Sept. 14---Dressing in a robe of flaming red, with black trimmings, to represent himself as the Prince of the Region of Brimstone and Sulfur, burning incense and making weird noises to frighten his wife, were acts ascribed to Andrew Blaes in a bill for divorce filed by Mrs. Blaes. The husband owns $150,000 worth of property and lives at the Glenview Golf Club.

While Mrs. Blaes and her husband have lived in the same house nine years, it is asserted that they have occupied separate apartments.

"About eight or nine years ago," says Mrs. Blaes in her bill, "my husband took up the study of hypntism [sic] and occultism, and has conducted many experiments in our home. Frequently he has burned incense, and the odor has permeated my room and has sickened me. The more I complained the more was burned.

"On one occasion recently he dressed up in flaming red with some black trimmings to represent the devil. This was done late at night after we had all gone to bed.

"Then he made weird and uncanny noises in the kitchen. I was ill in bed, but got up to investigate. The sight of my husband dressed in this queer garb frightened me and I ran out of the house clad only in my night robe. He followed me making unearthly noises."

Bluefield (West Virginia) Evening Reader
14 September 1909

The Devil Comes to Clay County: A Demonic December Story

Image created in ChatGPT

*Updated May 2026*

Recently, researcher and author, Tony Breeden (you can find his work on multiple platforms including the websites Tony Breeden Books and Exotheology) shared a pretty interesting article with me. The article, which comes from The Martinsburg Weekly Independent dated 14 November 1874, tells the tale of a young pedagogue returning home from what I believe is implied to be the home of a girl he is courting, when he runs into a terrible creature. 

It was November 1st, and rather late at night when the young man was headed home in an area of Clay County near Oakton known as Back Creek. He was at a crossroads between the properties of Samuel Murphy and the widow Woods when an 8-10 foot creature suddenly appeared before him. 

The creature had large feet, and long arms that ended in huge, dreadful claws. A long, flaming tale whipped around the devilish form. A long, flickering tongue added to the fear the young man felt, as the creature stood in front of him, menacingly for approximately three minutes. Then, with a terrible sound, it ran off into the woods, leaving the terrified young man dumbfounded. The newspaper surmises that this was the devil himself, out looking for a victim to devour. 

But WHY would the devil, or one of his many minions, be out in rural Clay County, stalking young teachers out courting? Was this a liquor-fueled hallucination, or a young man's psychosis manifesting in a most demonic way? Does the proximity to Halloween play a part in the sighting...or is this just simply a fun story designed to pull in readership to a small West Virginian newspaper during the dark, cool days of late fall?

Martinsburg Weekly Independent
14 November 1874
Read online at Chronicling America

Since the publication of this article back in December of 2025, I've come across some conflicting information. While looking over some of my old newspaper clippings, I realized that I had also clipped this exact same story via Newspapers.com...with some minor differences. 

In the article I found in the 23 November 1874 edition of the Weston Democrat, there is NO mention of a location called Oakton. The two names of people involved are the same, but this article seems to imply that the events did not take place in Clay County, WV, but in BERKELEY COUNTY, WV! This article also throws in a personal jab at the former governor of West Virginia, William Erskine Stevenson. Stevenson had served as the third governor of West Virginia from 1869 to 1871 and was not well-liked by the Democrats of the day, due to his progressive stances on infrastructure and his anti-slavery viewpoints. 

Is there any kernel of truth to this devilish story, or is this simply another example of yellow journalism? I'll let you decide. Stay spooky, fam! 

23 November 1874
Weston Democrat

The Devil Steals a Body

Obviously, I come across some really weird stuff in my research, but this incident from Arkansas in 1913 is probably one of the weirder things I've seen in a LONG time. According to an article that appeared in the Fairmont West Virginian on June 21, 1913, a group of mourners were sitting up with the corpse of farmer near Waldron, Arkansas. To everyone's shock, a creature, complete with horns and a red-painted face entered the home, wrapped in chains. The red-furred creature was also clad in white robes, and apparently did not utter a word as he entered. Understandably, the witnesses fled, and upon returning, found the coffin of the farmer completely empty. Was this some cruel prank, or did the Devil himself come to collect one of his own?

The Fairmont West Virginian
21 June 1913

The Creature of Kilgore Creek

Kilgore School 

While doing some unrelated research, I came across the following excerpt from the West Virginian, a Fairmont-based newspaper. The article comes from the December 4th, 1916 edition and quotes The Hurricane Breeze, a local newspaper with a long history in Putnam County.

What could these people possibly have come across? Was it some sort of cryptozoological creature, or a misidentified local species? I wish the article would have contained an actual visual description of what was seen, but the speculation that it was the devil or an escaped circus beast is still pretty entertaining.

"The Breeze, published at Hurricane, Putnam County, in a recent issue contained the following:  "One night last week after a debate at Killgore's [sic] Creek School House three miles above Milton, Cabell County, a boy and a young man returned to the school house to lock the door, and on their way as they were nearing the school house, they were attacked by a ferocious wild animal.  After much shooting and loud screams from the people the animal was driven away and the two boys finally escaped unharmed.  The next day people from the surrounding neighborhood, well armed, and with several dogs, made a search and found the creature about a mile away, asleep on the hillside. It seemed as though the dogs had never seen anything like him before and decided to go home, departing in all directions for their several places of abode.  Several shots were fired at the animal, none seeming to take effect, and the animal finally walked around the hill, into a forest and nothing more has been seen of him.  Whether it was the devil or an animal escaped from some show, the people of the community do not seem to understand. ""

Even today, the area around Kilgore Creek could be considered 'rural,' and I am confident that these mountain citizens could have easily identified a bear, a wolf, or a native big cat.  So what DID they see? Let me know your theories over at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State Facebook page! And if you cannot get enough weirdness, please check out my Weird History Page. Stay spooky...and stay weird!

LINK to original article, courtesy of Chronicling America

Weird Art: Saint Wolfgang and the Devil

Every once in awhile I like to inject a little culture into the blog by sharing some interesting and strange art that has a paranormal twist! Today's offering is a painting by Michael Pacher entitled, Saint Wolfgang and the Devil (ca. 1475). 

This painting originally appeared as an altar piece in a church located at St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut, Austria. Legend states that St. Wolfgang founded the first church in this area by throwing an axe down a mountain and building where it landed. And, as this painting depicts, St. Wolfgang even tricked the Devil himself into helping with the building labor. The Devil was promised the first living being to set foot in the church in exchange for his work.  Unfortunately for the Devil, an expected human 'offering' actually turned out to be a wolf! Pacher's work shows the Devil trying to argue his case with the soon-to-be Saint who just swindled him. 

Today, this piece is on display at Alte Pinakothek in Munich. 

*If you're wondering why the Devil has an extra face below the belt, please see my blog entry on the Osculum Infame, otherwise known as the Kiss of Shame*