Scary: The Ghost Faces of Bélmez
When I was but a wee lad, one of my favorite passtimes was to browse my grandparents’ massive library, which contained about every single Reader’s Digest/Time Life/ National Geographic collection produced between 1950-1980. One of my favorites was a collection of random trivia called Strange Stories, Amazing Facts. Copies of this book can still be found in used bookstores, and they’re well worth the price. This collection features everything from miracles of science to hoaxes and scams to ghosts and monsters. Not only was this book extremely influential for a budding young fortean, it is also probably responsible for about 80% of the obscure knowledge I now find useful for things like Jeopardy! and Trivial Pursuit.
It also contains one of the only spooky accounts that has ever managed to freak me out.
Now, I am notoriously difficult to frighten with ghost stories, fictional or non-. I’m rather unflappable when confronted with the spooktacular, and am genuinely disappointed when I move into a new house or apartment that isn’t haunted. I’ve had numerous experiences that can be called “paranormal,” and though I love love love all things creepy, it’s more due to an aesthetic or philosophical attitude than because they make me shake in my boots. Nonetheless, to this day, I am still given a terrible case of the willies by the story of the Faces of Belmez.
In a Spanish village called Bélmez de la Moraleda, in the house of the Pereira family, mysterious faces began appearing on the floor. These faces would– in typical spook fashion– reappear if scrubbed away. This was far from a simple case of paredolia– the pictures were very distinct, extremely varied, and would slowly appear in front of observers. This was, perhaps, one of the most well-researched paranormal phenomenon in history. It included historical research which revealed that the house was constructed over (of course) a cemetary, and subsequent excavations under the house uncovered human remains. This excavation, however, resulted in even more manifestations:
The excavation of the kitchen floor seemed to intensify the phenomenon. In addition to faces, entire figures began appearing. One remarkable scene was a group of three figures, apparently two adult women and a child. Portrayed from the waist up, the three seem apprehensive about something, as indicated by their tense expressions. Another female appeared totally nude, and the figure of a particularly eerie woman had long, curly hair and empty eye sockets.
Sometimes only part of a face or body would take shape. One such fragment was unmistakably a long, slender left arm that bent at the elbow. The fingers were contorted and disproportionate to each other, and each digit ended in a well-defined point. This appeared to be a claw rather than a hand.
Of course, the standard allegations of hoax and fakery were trotted out by the skeptics, but further tests definitely seem to indicate that this was indeed something that would have been difficult– at best– to hoax:
Madrid-based parapsychologist German de Argumosa and German paranormal expert Hans Bender came to Belmez in early 1972. In an effort to prove that no trickery was involved, de Argumosa photographed each face and sealed up the entire kitchen for a period of three months. In the presence of a crowd that included the town notary and a German television crew, the investigators placed a protective cover over each of the faces in the kitchen. With cameras rolling, the edges of the covers were sealed and the entrance to the kitchen was then closed with wax in full view of the notary. If any fraud was taking place, the investigators and city council were determined to out it.
When the three months were up, the wax seal on the kitchen door was reopened and the protective jackets removed from the faces. Not only were the faces still there, but they had continued to evolve and move about during their three months of isolation. The town authorities finally absolved the Pereira family from blame; it was clear that the phenomenon was not caused by human hands.
Recording equipment picked up terrifying shrieks and threatening voices. Some of the EVP that was recorded can be found archived on this site. The links seem to work, though be warned that since it’s archive.org they could be gone tomorrow.
Still, though, the freakiest thing of all, to me, was and is the faces themselves. The obvious anguish, the weird and uncanny eyes, the visible pathos still makes me occasionally watch my step whenever I’m walking over tiles or on a concrete floor. Although apparently hundreds of faces appeared over the course of the event, the following are the ones that still give me the shivers:
