Black Magic: From Ghost Stories at Americanfolklore.net

Retold by S.E. Schlosser

Mad Henry was a hermit who lived alone in a decrepit mansion at the edge of town. Rumors were rife about the wild-eyed man. Some folks said that he was a magician who called upon the powers of darkness to wreck havoc upon his neighbors. Others called him a mad doctor who could restore life to foul corpses from the local cemetery. No respectable citizen in town had anything to do with Mad Henry

Then one year a new family moved to town with a lovely daughter, Rachel, who caught Mad Henry’s eye. He showered the maiden with gifts—goblets of pure gold, necklaces of pearl, and a pot of daisies that never dropped a single petal. Despite the gifts, Rachael fell in love with another, Geoffrey, a handsome young man just home from university. A week after meeting they eloped, leaving behind a stunned Mad Henry.

When Rachael and Geoffrey returned from the elopement, they threw a big ball and invited everyone in town. While Rachel was waltzing with her father, she heard a clap of thunder. Lightning flashed again and again. Suddenly, the double doors blew open and a breeze whirled in, bringing with it the smell of dead, decaying things. Mad Henry loomed in the doorway, pupils gleaming red with anger. He was followed by the grotesque figures of the dead, who came marching two by two into the room. Their eye sockets glowed with blue fire as they surrounded the room.
Two of the corpses captured Geoffrey and threw him down at the feet of their lord. Red eyes gleaming, Mad Henry drew a silver-bladed knife and casually cut the bridegroom’s throat from ear to ear. Rachel screamed and ran forward, pushing through the foul, stinking corpses of the dead, and flung herself upon her dying husband.

“Kill us both,” she cried desperately.

But Mad Henry plucked the lass out of the pool of blood surrounding her dead husband and carried her out into the thundering night. Behind him, the army of the dead turned from the grizzly scene and followed their master. The sounds of thunder and lightning faded away as the alchemist and his dead companions disappeared into the dark night.

Geoffrey’s father and Rachael’s father gathered a small mob and followed the evil hermit, intent upon saving Rachel. When they searched Mad Henry’s house, they found it completely empty save for a light, which shone from a series of mysterious globes that bobbed near the ceiling of each room. Mad Henry had vanished.

Search parties scoured the countryside for days, but turned up nothing. Geoffrey was buried in the local cemetery, and the dance hall was torn down. No one in town spoke about what had happened, and no one dared imagine what had become of poor Rachel.

A year to the day after the ball, a timid knock sounded upon the door of Rachael’s parents’ home. When her father opened it, he saw a gaunt, gray figure on the stoop. Her eyes were dull with exhaustion and pain. It was Rachel! Her tongue had been cut out so she couldn’t speak. But when she produced a knife from her tattered garments—the knife with a silver blade that they had last seen in the hands of Mad Henry— the gleam of satisfaction in Rachel’s eyes told them that the streaks of blood that coated the knife were those of Mad Henry. That night, Rachel died in her sleep with a peaceful smile upon her ravaged face.

Comments

great story

Posted by: Anonymous | October 31, 2009 09:57 AM

poor mad henry i love necromacy

Posted by: Anonymous | December 18, 2009 10:50 AM

wow thats an awesome story!!!!!!

Posted by: jacklen | January 10, 2010 11:44 AM

Don't hold it in! Tell us more!

Posted by: Leon Legan | February 17, 2010 04:42 AM

that was soooo sad and scary at the same time i almost ran out of the room!!

Posted by: Alex | February 17, 2010 07:28 PM

that was so sad!! omg i wana here more though!! make a sequal!!!

Posted by: mya maree mcCoy | March 14, 2010 12:41 AM

IKNOW WHAT HAPPENED!!!SHE KILLED MAD HENRY!!

Posted by: hi | March 14, 2010 04:51 PM

aaaahhhh saaadd storyy;"( but skaaaryy;"//

Posted by: yuuur mom | April 16, 2010 11:04 PM

Im a springfield, ma resident and I came across this story in a book and decided to do some diggin around. If any one has any more information on what the story is based on please feel free to contact me via email

Posted by: Damaris | April 29, 2010 05:47 PM

The ending was nothing I'd expected

Posted by: angel | May 23, 2010 06:57 PM

this was sad but interesting story to know

Posted by: chantelle | May 27, 2010 03:24 AM

Omg so creepy wow at least she died to be wit her love again stil way to detailed

Posted by: Anonymous | July 6, 2010 10:44 AM

cute happy ending .. !!

Posted by: :) | August 5, 2010 03:57 PM

Impressed - this is good!

Posted by: A. Smith | August 6, 2010 04:02 PM

this story was amazing i loved the end

Posted by: alexa | August 10, 2010 03:04 PM

Did she kill mad henry???

Posted by: Anonymous | August 12, 2010 08:37 AM

Black Magic was scary yet satisfing ate the same time. I wonder what Mad Henry was. Witch, Wicka, Wizard, Worlock, Troll, Demon, Vampire, Eros (Cupid), or just plain LOVE Crazy

Posted by: Anonymous | August 12, 2010 08:13 PM

wow!!amazing!nice....sad + scary

Posted by: afiq | August 17, 2010 07:20 PM

omg. this story is amazingly scary!! i loved it! and i aggree, there should so be a sequal(:

Posted by: aly | August 20, 2010 09:01 AM

awesome story!!! but its kind of sad though T^T

Posted by: Tia C. | August 20, 2010 09:04 PM

Amazing story Mad Henry

Posted by: Jorge Armijos | August 22, 2010 04:24 PM

cool i really want some more detail omg lol ^_^

Posted by: Anonymous | August 23, 2010 08:55 PM

,.,.how did rachel killed mad henry,.?,.,.nonsense,.,.incomplete.,.,

Posted by: aljon guevara | August 25, 2010 02:55 AM

I liked it

A Summery:

1.Wirdo falls in love with rachel,

2.She loves some other guy,

3.He kills other guy and tortures her.

4.she kills him and dies herself (probably due to the abuse)

Posted by: alex | August 25, 2010 05:43 PM

yes! She kill him! lol. Its a very nice story

Posted by: Guadalupe | August 26, 2010 08:14 AM

wow that was freakin cool and it sort of had a nice ending in a sick way...

Posted by: Lainey | August 28, 2010 01:29 PM

great story ..short bt full of excitement..and the post which asked was he wicka {wicka has nothing to do with black magic and they worship only nature} fyi..lol

Posted by: moonlight | August 29, 2010 02:51 PM

Omg I love that this was the first scary story that had a good ending

Posted by: Leyden | August 29, 2010 10:11 PM

sweet scary akward and cool story

Posted by: lunatrix | August 30, 2010 07:01 PM

I LOVED IT!!!!!

Posted by: anonymous | September 1, 2010 07:40 PM

ohh come on was that it tell us some more

Posted by: nadeshiko daidouji | September 2, 2010 08:37 AM

wow! thats a good story

Posted by: Servando | September 2, 2010 08:59 AM

I love it!! cute, sad, scary, and awsome!

Posted by: South park fan girl 13 | September 2, 2010 06:39 PM

This was one of the best stories I've read out of many. I loved it from the beginning to end. Interesting, sad and creepy all at the same time :-)

Posted by: Tamica | September 5, 2010 07:40 PM

sad but cool but sad but cool

Posted by: brandon | September 6, 2010 10:11 PM

Why do these stories always involve a beautiful maiden

Posted by: Hana | September 9, 2010 01:39 PM

that was not that scary ive heard better ones

Posted by: Anonymous | September 9, 2010 09:41 PM

this was soooooo creepy
i was all alone when i read this and could not go to bed

Posted by: Anonymous | September 9, 2010 10:58 PM

dat wuz awsum it wuz interestin

Posted by: Stormie | September 10, 2010 08:25 AM

awsome

Posted by: Anonymous | September 10, 2010 01:20 PM

Oh its so sad n romantic...Mad Henry is dumb

Posted by: Shinjini | September 12, 2010 01:41 AM

i love the story

Posted by: sadia | September 14, 2010 03:11 PM

awsome coolcoolcoolcoolawsome

Posted by: idiot311 | September 17, 2010 12:41 PM

wow that was scary

Posted by: sam | September 17, 2010 12:44 PM

LOL cute, sad, sort of depressing till the end
WE WANT A SEQUAL!!!!!!!!

Posted by: madi & shana | September 17, 2010 09:18 PM

lame i've heard better

Posted by: Anonymous | September 19, 2010 06:14 PM

I loved this story!! The ending was a little unexpected though!

Posted by: Haleigh | September 20, 2010 03:01 PM

wow. nice twist in the end.

Posted by: LISA | September 22, 2010 04:19 AM

good story more plzz!!!

Posted by: kaolyne | September 22, 2010 06:22 PM

good story it was. loved it.

Posted by: mrs claudia jean webb | September 24, 2010 12:17 PM

poor henry murder was all he could turn to when his heart was broken

Posted by: Liam | September 26, 2010 12:59 AM

that story is gangsta i want to hear more

Posted by: mike | September 26, 2010 10:05 AM

awesome....I really enjoy it....

Posted by: Anonymous | September 27, 2010 10:59 PM

So interesting and fearful.
Nice story

Posted by: divya | September 28, 2010 09:36 AM

what a good story. can you continue it? :)

Posted by: antgel | October 1, 2010 08:49 AM

i liked it but it wasnt very scary

Posted by: Anonymous | October 2, 2010 05:52 PM

omg i m in shok i wish there was a video of it

Posted by: Anonymous | October 2, 2010 08:03 PM

cool story. is it real??

Posted by: Anonymous | October 4, 2010 08:05 AM

wow i wonder what the next BLACK MAGIC creepy stories will be, because i love this story

Posted by: Anonymous | October 6, 2010 05:39 PM

LOL;) thats a good story.. I wonder if Mad Henry really died!!!

Posted by: Ina Sukhalu | October 7, 2010 03:26 AM

that is the freakiest story ever!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: oomy gosh i'm an egg | October 7, 2010 05:37 AM

cool story!
love it!!

Posted by: perla | October 7, 2010 04:19 PM

I loved this story and I think that it was alright scary but not as good as axe murder hollowers or what ever it was called

Posted by: Hallie Lawless | October 9, 2010 02:12 PM

*claps* nice story but one thing what did mad herny do to her anyways. How sad when she died i think she killed the mad herny becuse of what he did.

Posted by: maria | October 11, 2010 06:50 PM

This story was very impressive

Posted by: Wolf | October 13, 2010 12:29 AM

LOVE IT!!!!!! i heard a knock on the door and it scared the crap out of me!!!!!!

Posted by: hott&cold | October 14, 2010 04:29 PM

WOW THAT WAS REALLY SAD AND SCARY

Posted by: cheyanne | October 15, 2010 10:17 PM

wow very impressive but not that scary

Posted by: Maritza | October 16, 2010 03:40 PM

mad henry was a really bad person.... poor girl and man :(

Posted by: Lavinia | October 17, 2010 01:24 PM

This was a great story! The part where Rachel died with a smile on her face really creeped me out! I want to know more! Please add on!

Posted by: KennaGirl824 | October 19, 2010 01:59 PM

this was a great story but really scary cause i had to read this with my friend we were both scared to death

Posted by: danielle wallace | October 20, 2010 11:25 AM

i liked it,especally wen she killed him after the abuse & she died peacefully(part about her killing him wasn in this story but u can tell at the end)good story

Posted by: brittney r. | October 21, 2010 12:27 PM

that was an awesome story...

Posted by: Anonymous | October 22, 2010 05:36 AM

i loved the story but, how the heck did she die?

Posted by: jessica | October 22, 2010 01:09 PM

That's the saddest story ever!!!

Posted by: Daisy | October 23, 2010 09:58 AM

creepy! Go mad henrey!

Posted by: Brett | October 24, 2010 02:56 PM

Um, good story, but it wasn't scary. At all. It was sad, and it was good literature, but I just can't find it as scary.

Posted by: Hirako | October 24, 2010 03:19 PM

feel sorry for Geoffrey cuz he gets his throat cut man i can imagine him lying down with his head twitchin n blood spirtin out sad

Posted by: Wolfie | October 24, 2010 05:16 PM

awwwwwwwwwwwwww........tears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: ana | October 25, 2010 04:59 PM

That is like such an awsome story and it was scary 2 \(....:.:...)/
RAWR (scary monster ) do u c it?

Posted by: Anonymous | October 25, 2010 06:59 PM

I love this good scary story

Posted by: Crystal | October 26, 2010 12:02 PM

wow all the stories are creepy

Posted by: jhon | October 26, 2010 03:08 PM

sad

Posted by: Anonymous | October 27, 2010 02:47 PM

this is the best story Ive read in awhile. I'm very impressed with this story(:

Posted by: Anonymous | October 28, 2010 08:33 PM

Amazing short story!

Posted by: John | October 29, 2010 10:19 AM

i thought the hole begging was brill and exciting but the end was quiet bad *That night, Rachel died in her sleep with a peaceful smile upon her ravaged face.* that isn't a good sentance to end it i think somthing more gripping that will scare us so badly but other than that gr8 story!!!!

Posted by: Catherine Fitzgerald | October 29, 2010 10:46 AM

I loved this story(:!! Amazing.

Posted by: Layla Woodard | October 30, 2010 01:10 AM

I think it's amazing she stood up to him despite her injuries and the abuse. at least she died without pain. I bet she thought something like " I finally got revenge on the old g*t who ruined my life." . it was an amazing story. A really scary one.

Posted by: Anonymous | October 31, 2010 07:43 AM

Wow , I felt so sad and scare !!!!

Posted by: Anonymous | October 31, 2010 12:46 PM

BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LOL=(

Posted by: Sasuke | November 1, 2010 10:58 AM

i never read stuff on the internet like this kind of stuff but some of these stories are good, lol i just wanted to leave a comment, <3

Posted by: gabrielle lee | November 1, 2010 11:24 AM

i loved it

Posted by: sammy | November 1, 2010 05:22 PM

Whoaa. Wait so she killed Mad henery?! And did he cut off her tounge?? And why did he kill Geoffery??

Posted by: Sierra | November 1, 2010 09:29 PM

Posted by: Eric.M.Nzau | November 4, 2010 02:01 PM

i loved this storie almost peed my pants though

Posted by: demonica | November 4, 2010 06:00 PM

boohoo!!!!!!

Posted by: cristal | November 5, 2010 06:15 PM

I was shivering after that!But that was the best Spooky Story so far......

Posted by: Angel | November 6, 2010 09:31 PM

whoa.................................

Posted by: Anonymous | November 8, 2010 08:53 AM

That was a GREAT story!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Taylor Clark | November 8, 2010 09:55 AM

really awesome

Posted by: Anonymous | November 9, 2010 05:14 PM

not so much ghostly but sad story. wonder what had happened to Rachael & how she killed henry

Posted by: sieama | November 9, 2010 10:32 PM

poor Rachel

Posted by: Alicia | November 16, 2010 04:48 PM

Very good story!

Posted by: Anonymous | November 16, 2010 08:28 PM

love this story!!!!!
but what happened to the dead corpes??did she kill them to???

Posted by: kiara | November 20, 2010 09:56 PM

That was freaking creepy

Posted by: Noha | November 21, 2010 02:37 PM

this is a really good story. but i odnt understand why rachel dies in her sleep at the end. But im glad that mad henery is dead.

Posted by: cheese | November 23, 2010 04:14 PM

what a good story

Posted by: bigwhopper | November 24, 2010 11:37 AM

OMG, I like can't belive that she had her tounge cut off!

Posted by: maliha | November 24, 2010 08:08 PM

its a good story

Posted by: Anonymous | November 24, 2010 11:37 PM

Loved it!!

Posted by: Anonymous | November 27, 2010 05:09 PM

I thought it was awesome! but guess what! i read this at midnight. i just posted this.

Posted by: Brett | November 28, 2010 04:51 PM

AWW!!!!! I didnt want Rachel or Gregory to die. Mad Henry was seriously love sick

Posted by: BB | December 3, 2010 02:39 AM

it was awesome really i loved it

Posted by: najwa | December 19, 2010 03:41 AM

wow

Posted by: kelcie | December 20, 2010 04:06 PM

This is a sad story and all, but it isn't that scary....Sorry.

Posted by: Taylor | December 23, 2010 06:48 PM

Awesome, very thrilling, I read these stories every night!

Posted by: Claire Barcless | December 23, 2010 09:45 PM

poor rachel kinda sucks to be her

Posted by: rylan | January 9, 2011 07:37 PM

OMG!!!! This is such an awesome story!

Posted by: Audrey | January 9, 2011 09:18 PM

this story is interesthing

Posted by: karen | January 12, 2011 05:17 PM

Boo. You should have made much more scarier.But it was totally AWESOME.

Posted by: Leonardo | January 22, 2011 05:06 PM

Nice and sad story

Posted by: Awesome me | January 24, 2011 06:39 AM

This story is really sad! It's amazing for my age (teen), and it has a wonderful moral of true love. This is definitely upon my favorites!

Posted by: Katya | January 30, 2011 03:59 AM

good

Posted by: latasha | February 3, 2011 03:10 PM

Woohoo go racheal it sux she died nd her husband I pictured his death in my hed nd sortof got sik to my stomach lol

Posted by: Anonymous | February 5, 2011 07:17 PM

I liked this one

Posted by: hey its me again | February 7, 2011 11:18 AM

CREEPY!!!!

Posted by: isel | February 8, 2011 12:04 AM

awesome but it sould have ended with her and geoffrey finding eachother again in the after life

Posted by: Anonymous | February 11, 2011 02:44 AM

SO SCARY I NEARLLY PUNCHED MY COMPUTER!!!! AND CALLED THE POLICE!!! Nah just kidding! lol :D But it was scary!

Posted by: Tyler | February 12, 2011 01:23 AM

I loved that story it totally rocked

Posted by: Anonymous | February 12, 2011 05:45 AM

great story sad scary

Posted by: madison | February 12, 2011 05:35 PM

OK...that was a good one. I love it when the bad guys get what they deserve.

Posted by: Patty Fitz | February 13, 2011 09:26 AM

wow....

Posted by: Anonymous | February 17, 2011 12:31 PM

that was a awsome story!!!!!!

Posted by: amanda | February 18, 2011 06:46 PM

CREEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPy but loved it

Posted by: swanky girl | February 23, 2011 01:22 PM

Well tell us more that was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It gave me chills

Posted by: Anonymous | February 24, 2011 05:03 PM

funny

Posted by: charifield | February 24, 2011 07:49 PM

creepy

Posted by: cj jibbles | February 25, 2011 02:48 PM

AMAZING! I wish there could be novels with the creepiness and interest of that story! I'm a creep-freak and i love stories of that nature!

Posted by: Anonymous | February 27, 2011 08:19 PM

man that was 6 out of 10

Posted by: Anonymous | March 1, 2011 06:03 PM

this story was interesting buh not scary at all.

Posted by: Daniela | March 1, 2011 08:06 PM

so i thought it was good but it needs more, like what acually happend to mad henry it lacks detail, but over all it was a beautifully written story and would make a good horror movie one day.

Posted by: mandalyn | March 2, 2011 02:24 PM

best story ever soo good but it was kind of scary but why did u stop at the good part?

Posted by: Heather | March 3, 2011 05:28 PM

wow that was crazy.. i didnt expect that for the ending..

Posted by: me.. | March 4, 2011 09:24 AM

cool story i love it

Posted by: kasey | March 4, 2011 02:14 PM

We all know she killed him, it told us! So sad and a little sweet too.

Posted by: McLiney15 | March 5, 2011 08:39 PM

I wonder why he cut out her tongue?

Posted by: Anonymous | March 8, 2011 05:45 PM

OOOOOOhhhhh! kinda scary, kinda sad. OOOOOOhhhhh!

Posted by: Nekzy | March 10, 2011 10:29 PM

That's creepy and my name is Rachel
now I'm kinda scared

Posted by: Rachel | March 15, 2011 02:28 PM

whoa!!! creepppyyyy...

Posted by: amlef ecarg | March 16, 2011 09:39 PM

that is scary tell us more

Posted by: chynna and katana | March 17, 2011 05:14 PM

That was a good story.!

Posted by: Natalie | March 19, 2011 07:24 PM

it was ok :[

Posted by: KING ACE 666 | March 23, 2011 02:22 PM

Posted by: morgan | April 7, 2011 01:52 PM

That was an awsome story! i think the ending was grate.

Posted by: Anonymous | April 19, 2011 04:17 PM

I like your stories cause they don't have happy endings.

Posted by: Lemi | April 26, 2011 07:45 PM

I loved it im a BIG fan of irony!!! that had me on the egde all the way until the end!

Posted by: italia | June 1, 2011 10:23 AM

Not scary enough but good!

Posted by: Anonymous | June 9, 2011 11:23 AM

ahhh so sweet

Posted by: tukee | June 12, 2011 10:58 PM

That was sooooooooooooooooooooooo cool and scary. I want a SEQUAL!

Posted by: Annabelle | June 17, 2011 03:34 PM

OMG that is awesome revenge rules!!!!!
>:-)

Posted by: Anon. | June 23, 2011 12:14 PM

this is the greatest scary story EVER. it really got to me when i found out that it was about a girl named rachel because i am rachel.

Posted by: RACHEL and ashley | July 7, 2011 03:38 PM

Wow, really nice story. I love how Rachael got her revenge by killing Mad Henry in the end:) Plse write some morexD

Posted by: Anna | July 21, 2011 11:53 PM

i dont know about u guys but im kinda freaked out

Posted by: krissy | July 22, 2011 06:07 PM

Wow this story was both sad and wicked. Someone should write the story of how girl excaped.

Posted by: MIke | July 23, 2011 02:15 AM

it was amazing and we loved it

Posted by: Anonymous | July 23, 2011 08:29 PM

I wonder why it called black magic?

Posted by: Fatima | July 26, 2011 12:32 PM

i love how it didnt end in,"and they were never seen again..."you actually know that henry died -_-

Posted by: Anonymous | July 27, 2011 11:25 PM

Nothing can kill true love, not even magic of any kind.

Posted by: Kirsten | July 29, 2011 04:05 PM

Ture love wins over all, even magic, even more so when it is black magic, this is something like a Romeo and Juliette story if you get right down to it. All that mattered was true love over it

Posted by: Kirsten | August 7, 2011 06:21 PM

Wow! That was the most awesome story that I have ever read with my auntie!

Posted by: greg | August 10, 2011 03:34 PM

good story! wish there was more to it tho!

Posted by: Marleys Momma! | August 12, 2011 08:39 PM

Wonderful story

Posted by: Nidhi | August 19, 2011 07:21 AM

Posted by: Nidhi | August 19, 2011 07:22 AM

sad story....and sweet story

Posted by: blakenum36 | August 19, 2011 04:48 PM

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwsssssssoooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeee

Posted by: Anonymous | October 31, 2011 10:11 AM