Family in Zimbabwe Reportedly Terrorized by Invisible "Goblins"

A family from Magwegwe North in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, claimed recently that they are under siege by a troupe of invisible goblins, reported iHarare earlier this month.

The family, three children aged 13, 12, and eight, along with their elderly grandparents, said that the strange incidents have continuously escalated since they began last November, and include unexplained noises in the walls, objects mysteriously vanishing, doors and windows moving on their own, lights flickering, food disappearing while its cooking, and the children being physically assaulted by invisible forces.

“We don’t know what to do anymore. It started last November. One morning, our children woke up with their heads shaved. We thought it was a one-time thing. The next day, our youngest child woke up in the middle of the night, screaming. He had been stabbed in the leg with a knife! He also woke up with his head shaved again. We were all terrified and completely clueless about what was happening,” said the children’s grandmother, Mayinesi Chongwe.

Seeking spiritual assistance has reportedly brought no relief. In fact, the phenomena only intensified.

“We sought help from different prophets and churches, but the situation only worsened after each attempt. Doors and windows would come open inexplicably, our children’s clothes, especially their uniforms, would be torn, and they could no longer attend school. We hired a spiritual healer for a cleansing ceremony. The following day, the house mysteriously burned down, but only the bedrooms were affected. Everything in the kitchen and dining room was untouched,” Chongwe added.

In an effort to protect the children, they were sent to stay with their maternal grandmother in South Africa, but the bizarre occurrences followed, resuming within three days of their arrival. As a result, the children were brought home to Zimbabwe.

The children were also sent to stay with neighbors, but this proved similarly futile, since the invisible creatures seemed to follow them there, too.

Chongwe revealed that the community has begun labelling her a witch as a result of the events; a charge she vehemently denied, stating that throughout the 80 years of her life she has remained a devout Christian.

Goblin attacks are reported with surprising frequency in Zimbabwe.

In 2019, “local prophet” Madzibaba Shepherd Nzira, leader of the Zvakazarurwa Zvevapostori Church, claimed that goblins were to blame for a string of deaths that took 10 members from a single family in Nyanga, Zimbabwe, and in 2018 they were blamed for the deaths of two children in Ziqaweni Village, and for slaughtering scores of livestock in the same area several months later.

But these incidents aren’t specific to Zimbabwe.

On Sunday, August 21st, 1955, several witnesses in West Virginia claimed that the farmhouse they were in was assaulted by “little grey men” with big heads and long arms. The little men had huge eyes, oversized hands, and appeared to be perhaps wearing clothing made out of a metallic substance. They would later be known as the “Kelly-Hopkinsville Goblins.”

Events reported by this family and others bear a resemblance to those associated with a variety of capricious faeries, such as boggarts and bogies. These attacks are also very similar to reported attacks by spiritual forces, and many of the same phenomena are often attributed to being haunted by ghosts or poltergeists.

In March of 2023, nearly 30 girls in Colombia were taken to the hospital after playing with a Ouija board.

The students had reportedly suffered anxiety attacks after using the divinatory device at school.

Less than six months prior, in November of 2022, 11 teens, ranging in age from 13 to 17, were found by teachers after having collapsed in a hallway at Agricultural Technical Institute in Hato, Colombia, following an incident in which they had reportedly used a Ouija board.

Claims of mass possession or affliction by spirits are relatively common, particularly in developing countries, and several such incidents have been reported on by the Singular Fortean Society since 2018.

In October of 2019, 20 girls at Fumbisi Senior High and Agric school in the village of Fumbisi in Ghana’s Builsa District collapsed due to the reported presence of a ghost on campus. A similar case was reported in India earlier that year, when at least five girls attending a government high school were reported to be “possessed.” Meanwhile, that same year, inmates at a women’s prison in the Tihar Jail prison complex in India reportedly had repeated encounters with the ghost of a mysterious, wailing woman. And in October of 2018, parents in Peru were concerned that 'demonic forces' had possessed their children following an incident at a boarding school involving a ouija board.

In each case, reactions have been mixed; some believe the cause to be paranormal, while others suspect mass hysteria.

Regardless of their cause, these reports are often taken seriously by authorities, and in 2018, Inocencio Pérez, mayor of the northern Colombian city of Pajarito, declared that all minors under 17 years of age be subject to a curfew following a series of what he considered attacks by "evil spirits" invoked using the popular social media application Whatsapp.