Cow's Head
An Ukrainian Ghost Story
retold by
S. E. Schlosser
Oksana lived in a small house on the edge of town with her father, her stepmother and her stepsister. Oksana's stepmother disliked Oksana, favoring her true daughter, Olena.
Soon after her father's remarriage, Oksana found that all the housework fell to her while Olena idled her days away. Oksana's father was a timid man, and could not bring himself to defy his wife. So Oksana wore Olena's cast off clothes, and her hands grew red and chapped from scrubbing in the cold, while Olena attended parties, growing lazy and spoiled.
One year, when the winter snows were particularly fierce, Oksana's family ran out of money. Oksana's stepmother began nagging her father to send Oksana away, because they could not afford to keep two girls. Reluctantly, Oksana's father agreed. He took Oksana to a cottage deep in the woods and left her there.
Oksana was very frightened. The woods were said to be filled with demons and monsters. But Oksana was also practical. She entered the cottage with her small bundle and found a fireplace, a lopsided table and a rusty old pot. Oksana put away the loaf of bread, the knife and the slab of cheese her father had given her. She folded the blanket and laid it near the fireplace. Then she collected wood and built a fire.
Oksana knew the bread and cheese would not last her all winter. So she made a snare using the thin, flexible branches of the trees and caught a snow rabbit to eat. She also dug under the deep snow, and found some roots and berries for food.
By dark, Oksana had melted water for drinking, and used the rest to make a stew. So Oksana ate well. Then she lay down near the fire for the night, listening to the wind howl and pretending to herself that she was not frightened of the woods.
It was midnight when the knock came.
Knock, knock, knock.
It echoed hollowly through the dark cottage. Oksana woke with a start, her heart pounding in fear. It came again.
Knock, knock, knock.
Oksana thought of the monsters. She hid under her blanket, praying the thing would go away.
Knock, knock, knock.
Oksana rose, grabbing a branch. She crept towards the door. The wind howled eerily down the chimney. Oksana swallowed and swung the door open. There was nothing there. Her heart pounded fiercely as she stared out at the snow whipping about in the light of her small fire. Then she looked down. Oksana let out a shriek of terror and leapt back, dropping her stick. It was a demon. An evil spirit.
It had no body!
"Who are you?" Oksana stuttered, clutching the door with shaking hands.
"I am Cow's Head," it replied.
Indeed, Oksana saw at once that it was. The head was brown, with curved horns and strange, haunted eyes.
"I am cold and hungry. May I sleep by your fire?" the Cow's Head asked. Its voice was cold and lifeless.
Oksana gulped down her horror.
"Of course," she said.
"Lift me over the threshold," demanded the Cow's Head hollowly. Oksana did as she was bidden.
"Place me near the fire."
Anger warred with compassion inside her, but compassion won. Oksana put it next to the fire.
"I am hungry," said the Cow's Head. "Feed me."
Oksana thought of her meager food supply. The stew left in the pot was for her breakfast. She fed it to Cow's Head.
"I will sleep now," it said. There was no softening in its attitude toward her. Nonetheless, Oksana made it comfortable for the night, giving it her blanket and sleeping in a cold corner with only her cloak to keep her warm.
When she woke in the morning, Cow's Head was gone. Where it had slept was a large trunk, filled with the most beautiful gowns she had ever seen. Under the gowns lay heaps of gold and jewels.
Oksana stared blankly at the riches in front of her. Her father's voice roused her.
"Daughter, I am come."
Oksana forgot the trunk in her joy. She ran into his arms. He had defied her stepmother to come and bring her back to their home.
"Papa, come see!" Oksana exclaimed as she pulled him into the cottage. Her words tumbled over each other as she explained.
Her father took her home. She was honored in her town for her compassion and her bravery, and won scores of suitors. She married soon after her return from the cottage.
Hearing Oksana's story, and seeing the riches she had received, Olena went to the cottage in the forest and spent the night there. But when Cow's Head appeared, she was too lazy to serve it. In the morning, all her gowns had turned to rags and her possessions to dust.
But Oksana lived to a ripe old age in happiness and prosperity.
 | Spooky Books by S.E. Schlosser Spooky New England (The Bridge) Spooky South (Tailypo) Spooky Southwest (Pecos Bill) Spooky New York (The Hessian) Spooky California (The Serpent) |
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Comments
very good
Posted by: saira | August 8, 2010 06:12 AM
that.was.so...COOL!!!!!!!
Posted by: TaffyTabby | August 14, 2010 08:26 PM
haha funny.
Posted by: lunatrix & bellatrix | August 29, 2010 08:30 PM
that was really coool!!!!
Posted by: Lainey | August 30, 2010 08:46 AM
'kinda like cinderella, don'tcha think?
Posted by: pixy | September 5, 2010 06:07 PM
That story was really good and I will definitely be nicer to ppl.
Posted by: ayana | September 18, 2010 02:09 PM
a good laugh mooomooo mooo
Posted by: mooo | September 22, 2010 09:35 PM
haha thats a funny one but sounds like cinderella
Posted by: taffy | October 7, 2010 02:25 PM
That story is so good! Luv it!! :) <3
Posted by: {Insert_Witty_Username_Here} | October 9, 2010 01:40 PM
haha loved it!!!!! :D
Posted by: pb&j | October 11, 2010 09:37 AM
that was cool-it sounded like a fable :)
Posted by: cassie | October 13, 2010 05:46 PM
loved it
Posted by: smoothie lover | October 23, 2010 09:30 PM
uhhhh i thought this was going to be scary, but now that i've read it, i think i've heard this story before. its fine but really does sound like Cinderella.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 25, 2010 05:08 PM
It's really funny!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 25, 2010 06:00 PM
aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh I might not go sleep tonight!
Posted by: geon codd | October 30, 2010 07:41 PM
That was a cool story!! I like it!!
Posted by: Claire Marie | November 3, 2010 08:39 PM
omg thats gr8
Posted by: jill | November 9, 2010 05:33 PM
That is one of the ghost storys ever! Love it!!!!!
Posted by: molly | November 9, 2010 05:35 PM
very spooky,b careful
Posted by: unknown | November 18, 2010 02:31 AM
Just like Cinderrela and VERY cool!
Posted by: Anonymous | November 23, 2010 01:18 PM
good
but silly one
just like Cinderella story
Posted by: niharika | November 29, 2010 11:23 AM
very awsome its spooky ay
Posted by: chelsea | December 15, 2010 07:11 PM
MOOOO lol anyways good story
Posted by: Daisy | December 21, 2010 12:58 PM
OMG that was so funny. does sound like cinderella as my mom always tells me what goes around comes around
Posted by: Aubrey | December 31, 2010 05:25 PM
epic :)
Posted by: cait | January 2, 2011 07:32 PM
scary....
Posted by: Maro | January 20, 2011 05:19 PM
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Jade | January 28, 2011 10:32 PM
Kinda similar with an indonesian folklore
Posted by: dream | January 30, 2011 04:58 AM
IIIMMM TTTHHHEEE CCCOOOWWW HHHEEEAAADDDD
ha lol jk luv the story
Posted by: me | February 2, 2011 06:01 PM
I love the story!
Posted by: Horsey | February 21, 2011 08:39 AM
that was really goood! but is this the one where people die after reading???
Posted by: shy | February 22, 2011 11:45 AM
so creepy!
Posted by: Anonymous | February 27, 2011 12:06 AM
Happy ending always makes a story nicer, especially when justice prevails. :)
Posted by: Anonymous | March 1, 2011 05:03 AM
Spooky and the end was great
Posted by: Anonymous | March 14, 2011 06:09 PM
It was a little bit scary but I loved it.
Posted by: Andrea | March 18, 2011 04:17 PM
IT WAS SCARY
Posted by: Andrea | March 18, 2011 04:26 PM
oh.....such a sweet story......like cindrella`s
Posted by: Anonymous | March 21, 2011 11:46 AM
omg so scary. it gave me goose bumps
Posted by: michaela | March 23, 2011 03:21 AM
very nice
Posted by: Master+Death | March 25, 2011 12:46 AM
:) like but not scary:(
Posted by: Anonymous | April 9, 2011 09:51 AM
awwwww ;] loveee ittt
Posted by: me | July 7, 2011 04:24 PM
That was cool, not scary serves the spoiled brat right having her stuff turn to rags and dust.
Posted by: Shadow Wolf | July 10, 2011 01:41 PM
omg MY name is Alena
Posted by: alena | August 19, 2011 02:54 PM
so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Anonymous | September 1, 2011 05:55 PM
hahaha really good. realllly good
Posted by: sam | September 4, 2011 04:03 PM
very nice story :)
Posted by: des-des | September 6, 2011 08:32 AM
It sounds like cinderella and snow white mixed with black magic and demons....
Posted by: Meow-meow | September 12, 2011 08:44 AM
OOooooo! i like it so much!:D i think i might heard this story from someone else a long time ago. Or maybe it was just simular. either way. love it:)
Posted by: Kai Saverem | September 16, 2011 12:58 AM
EPIC!!!! anyone know where the cabin iz? MOO LOL
Posted by: iHateCrüms | October 22, 2011 10:38 AM
Wow I wanna go to the cottage now ;)
Posted by: Epica | October 23, 2011 09:07 AM
So cool! I was like "oh crap" at first but it waws actully a happy ending and the 'spirit' doesnt seem that evil
Posted by: Meredith | October 25, 2011 04:30 PM
ya but the cow head should have been a cute little bunny
Posted by: pupleninja101 | October 26, 2011 05:49 PM
I like it. Sounds kind of like the story about golden eggs and plain eggs.
Posted by: Kitty | October 29, 2011 08:25 PM
we liked that story. my nephew said it was real.
Posted by: kristina and caiden | October 29, 2011 11:45 PM
Great story! <3 it!!!
Posted by: MookieMoo | November 6, 2011 07:39 PM
I have read a similar Russian folk tale or may be it was Ukrainian instead of cow head monster that one had the snow gnome or snow god or something and it simply involved the girl being polite even though snow god kept tormenting her with cold winds so he rewarded her with riches in contrast her step sister also came coveting the riches but was rude so snow god froze her to death
Posted by: Saurabh | November 10, 2011 05:02 AM
see wat being nice does
Posted by: kelia | November 25, 2011 06:22 PM
i am 11 and that story didn't scare me but it was still very very good. loved it!!
Posted by: melodie gray (Email me at melodiegod@yahoo.com) | December 2, 2011 04:13 PM
ILOVE THIS STORY
Posted by: Anonymous | December 7, 2011 09:36 AM
That was a good one but it sounded so much like a cinderella story but it was kind of scary I guess.
Posted by: char@hotmail.com | December 8, 2011 05:30 PM
I liked that story using it for my school project. Teacher loves cows, moo. :-) lawn mower -------->....... \.=.||||||||||||
Posted by: Bob | December 15, 2011 12:19 AM
It's totally a spooky cinderella, I love it!
Posted by: Jenifer | January 6, 2012 08:28 PM
haha Olena soo deserved that!
Posted by: iknowwhereyoulive | January 9, 2012 01:16 PM
the ending was kinda rushed, not very scary
Posted by: maggie | January 12, 2012 09:16 AM
sort of like hansel and gretel
Posted by: qwerty | January 16, 2012 05:54 PM
this is just the retelling, the actual story of cow head is Japanese and said to be so horrifying that people die after hearing it.
Posted by: lostinymind | January 26, 2012 01:23 PM
dude i wish i had a cow head and wen i was nice it returned with treasure
Posted by: rachel | January 30, 2012 06:17 PM
ccooll but not scary :Dlolz
Posted by: fatima gomez | February 6, 2012 03:59 PM
aw it was a very cool story the spoiled one deserved her clothes to turn into rags!the non spoiled deserves the cool stuff
Posted by: anonymous | February 23, 2012 08:22 PM
but why a cow?!
Posted by: liliy | February 26, 2012 09:12 PM
I live on a dairy farm! (Btw thats a cow farm)
Posted by: annabeth | March 1, 2012 05:54 PM
cutee:)
Posted by: a person | March 9, 2012 01:06 PM
cool....more like a fairytale than a spooky story...reminded me of childhood when i used to read fairytales and smile away.... nice imagination<3
Posted by: zoe | March 12, 2012 07:54 AM
Stupid cow head
Posted by: Anonymous | April 4, 2012 08:06 PM
umm it wasnt that scary it was like weird just a head of a cow!!!!!!!!
Posted by: lex | April 7, 2012 09:10 PM
Me and Tails somewhat cried when they sent Oksana away. Great story by the way.
Posted by: Sonic | May 10, 2012 04:48 PM
flying cow head oohh scarry
Posted by: Anonymous | May 28, 2012 05:03 PM
That was not scary at all, i mean why would that be in the camp stories section.:)
Posted by: lilly | May 29, 2012 06:04 PM
Fun story,freaking awesome!
Posted by: Anonymous | June 4, 2012 01:11 PM
this was so tight
Posted by: kala | June 7, 2012 01:36 PM
It really gave me the creeps :) I swear, when I read the 'Knock knock knock' part my whole face turned pale!
(BTW, reminds me of Cinderella)
Posted by: Sara | June 8, 2012 04:31 PM
Olena deserved that!
Posted by: Eshanee | June 16, 2012 03:01 PM
Im the cowss head! Moooooooo! Hehehe good storyy
Posted by: Anonymous | June 22, 2012 11:49 AM
i love this story it reminds me of mass effect 1-3 . i love tali
Posted by: cody | November 13, 2012 09:58 AM