Curse of the Haunted Well: Night of Terror in Ömerli
Summary: A terrifying night for four friends camping in Ömerli, sparked by the legend of the Black Dwarves and a haunted well. A camping trip turned nightmare with a tragic end.
Hello, I’m Kenan. I live in Kurna village, connected to Ömerli, Istanbul. I’m 25 years old. I want to share a terrifying event I experienced three years ago. It was one of the most unforgettable moments of my life; perhaps the foremost one. How could I ever forget such an event?
Me and my closest friends Alper, İnan, and Tunç… We were four inseparable friends who did everything together. We were the same age; Alper and I were even born on the same day. They say “blood brothers,” but our bond was even stronger than that. Remembering my dear friend Tunç with mercy, I begin to tell the story that led to his death.
It was a summer Friday evening. Since we didn’t have work on Saturday and Sunday, we wanted to make the most of those two days. We brought up the idea of camping by the lake at night, something we had been thinking about for a long time. Everyone agreed. During the day, we prepared the necessary supplies and got permission from our families. Tunç’s family was a bit against the idea; they said things like, “Go during the day and come back, don’t stay the night.” I pleaded and persuaded, somehow convincing Tunç’s family.
Everything was ready. We loaded the supplies into the car trunk and set off. Those who live in Istanbul know Ömerli İçki Deresi; we drove towards there. After about two hours on a bumpy dirt road, we arrived at our desired spot. You know the saying, “where birds don’t fly, and caravans don’t pass”? It was exactly like that, and it was the perfect place for us.
We set up the tents before dark and arranged the supplies. We lit a campfire by the lake shore. Phones didn’t work here. It was good that no one had a signal; otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to tear the phone addict Alper away from social media. Songs, folk songs, and then it was midnight, and time for the campfire essential: horror stories.
Among us kids, except for me and Tunç, the other two were very scared of these topics. Even though they said, “No way, forget it,” I had already started: “Have you heard of the Black Dwarves? They say they wander in villages, kidnap lonely children, and throw them into deep jinn wells in the forest…”
Tunç chimed in, “Wow Kenan, sounds like a good story, tell us!” stirring things up. I had heard this Black Dwarves story from my grandmother; it was an event that happened long ago. “Come on, are we going to wait for you until morning? Tell us about the Black Dwarves already!” he said. I corrected, “Black Dwarves,” and dove into the story.
“In the old days, villages didn’t have water like now. People couldn’t just turn on a tap like in our homes. They drew water from wells, and usually, every house had a well in its yard. Time passed, and a woman in the village became pregnant with her third child, but due to poverty, she didn’t want to bring the baby into the world. Throughout her pregnancy, she tried to miscarry but failed. The mistake she made became apparent when the baby was born. It was a village, no doctor, no midwife… She barely managed to give birth on her own, covered in blood. But the baby was born with one blind eye, a crooked mouth, and turned-in feet. The reason was what the woman had done during pregnancy: lifting heavy things, taking medicine, jumping from heights… Her actions to make the baby miscarry caused the baby’s disabilities.”
“The woman gave birth alone at home. Seeing the baby like that, in a sudden decision driven by both sadness and fear, she immediately took the baby and threw it into the well next to the house. After throwing the baby in the well, the woman went home and writhed in pain. She was in such agony that her cries echoed throughout the village. One of the villagers went to her house to see what was happening. Seeing the woman suffering on the floor, the villager wanted to help. Then a few more villagers came to help. The woman grabbed one of them by the collar and said, ‘I didn’t want it to be like this.’ The woman she grabbed asked, ‘What happened, where is the baby?’ The woman in agony said the baby was dead and disabled, and that’s why she threw it in the well, then she died right there.”
“The other women informed the gendarmerie. The gendarmerie came, took the body, and informed her husband. The poor man was working unaware in the field with his two children. The man came home, learned what happened, and cried out in grief. Later, he went to the bottom of the well and looked down. Nothing was visible, of course. Although the man wanted to retrieve the baby, he couldn’t. The only thing he could do was cover the top of the well and make it the baby’s grave.”
“Days passed, and strange events began to occur in the village. At night, baby cries were heard from all the wells in the village. While the villagers tried to understand how this was happening, one of the women who had gone to the house of the woman who threw the baby in the well that day said that these things were happening because of that woman, that all these calamities started after she threw her baby in the well. Indeed, all the villagers thought this was logical. They went to the man’s house and said, ‘Get the baby’s body out of the well, make a grave for it, or the whole village will perish!’ What could the man do? There was nothing he could do; he couldn’t get his baby out of the well. He himself said that his wife came at night, cried for hours by the well, and then two Black Dwarves took her and dragged her towards the forest.”
“These events started happening all over the village. The water in all the village wells suddenly dried up. During the harvest season, not even a single blade of grass grew due to drought. The villagers were going mad hearing the baby cries and weeping sounds every night, and they started abandoning the village one by one. Finally, only the man and his two children remained. The man couldn’t leave the village. As time went by, the man couldn’t bear the happenings anymore and shot himself with a shotgun at the bottom of the well. The two children were found three days later, exhausted, at the village exit by a shepherd and handed over to the gendarmerie.”
“In short, that village became the Black Dwarves’. No one dared to go to that village; sounds, shadows, Black Dwarves roamed the village at night. The village, once called Tanyeli Village, began to be known as the Haunted Well Village. People passing near that village after the night prayer still say they hear baby cries from where the well is. That was the story of the Black Dwarves,” I finished.
My friends had listened intently. Tunç looked at me and said, “Wow, buddy, you have some stories! I got goosebumps, honestly.” Alper and İnan were practically huddled together, staring at me. “Dude, is this the kind of story to tell in this setting? How will morning come? It wasn’t good that you told this,” they said. I replied, “Guys, it’s just a story. Maybe it happened 200 years ago, maybe even longer.” İnan said, “I don’t know, man. I’m not sleeping tonight, and I won’t let you sleep either, just so you know.” I laughed and said, “Don’t worry İnan, I’ll cuddle you to sleep.”
Then I asked, “Guys, by the way, the fire is dying down, who’s going to gather wood?” No one made a sound. I looked at Tunç and said, “Dude, they’re frozen stiff, it’s up to us. Let’s go.” Tunç said, “You guys sit here cuddling like lovebirds, we’ll get the wood,” and together we turned on our phone flashlights and started gathering wood.
We walked quite far from the campsite. While carrying a pile of wood back to the campsite, we saw someone walking towards us. Tunç asked, “Who the hell is that?” I said, “I don’t know, it can’t be one of ours. They don’t have the guts.” The person approached us. When they got closer, we realized it was Alper. “What’s up, man? Where are you going?” I asked. Without looking at me, he said, “To pee.” I asked, “Want me to come? Are you going alone?” “No need,” he said, passed by us, and left. Tunç and I looked at each other, “What the heck? Weird, did he get drunk without drinking?” Then we talked amongst ourselves, “Let him relieve himself in peace.” But Alper’s phone light wasn’t on or anything. I still suggested, “Should we check?” but Tunç said, “It’ll be fine, let’s go,” and we headed back to the campsite.
I was in front, Tunç about 10 meters behind. When I reached the campsite, by the fire, I froze on the spot. The wood in my arms fell to the ground. Tunç, coming from behind, looked at me and asked, “What happened, man?” I could only say, “Alper…” Tunç said, “Dude, relax, we said it’s fine.” But when he looked where I was looking, he exclaimed, “Whoa! What the hell is that?” and jumped back. Alper was sitting across from us, next to İnan.
İnan said, “Alper? Dude, what happened to you guys, you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” I asked, “Alper, didn’t you just pass by us to go relieve yourself?” Alper snapped, “Don’t be ridiculous! I haven’t moved from here since you left. Dude, look, that’s enough! First that story, now this… Are you trying to scare us? Don’t make us regret coming!” and gave us a harsh look.
Tunç and I turned to each other, “No man, it was you! You walked right past us, going forward,” we insisted. Alper said, “Okay look, we’re scared, you succeeded. Stop this game now.” Tunç looked at me and said, “Let it go, buddy, they’re really scared. Okay, enough,” and sat down. Without making much noise, I threw some more wood on the fire and started singing to lighten the mood. İnan joined me. Tunç and Alper joined in too.
About an hour passed since the incident. Tunç looked at me and said, “Buddy, let’s get some snacks from the tent. Hold the light for me.” I said, “Sure, buddy.” I knew Tunç’s real intention was to get me away from the others. We got up and went to the tent 20 meters away together. We entered the tent. He looked at me and said, “Dude, I’m trying not to show it, but what the hell was that we experienced? We couldn’t have both seen the same illusion. Wasn’t that Alper?” “I don’t know, buddy. But I saw what you saw, heard what you heard. We need to act like this never happened. When morning comes, we need to make an excuse and get out of here. Let’s go back to the fire now, try not to show anything. But we also need to sleep, let’s act accordingly,” I said. Tunç agreed, and we went back to İnan and Alper.
Chips, soda, snacks… the conversation deepened. During this chat, something caught my attention: in the distance from the campsite, a light occasionally flashed on, then off after 3-5 seconds. I started wondering what it was. As I looked at the light, we suddenly saw a flock of crows in the air; they were cawing, flying above us. Our friends were naturally scared by this. We threw more wood on the fire, thinking maybe they would leave, but no, they were circling above us, making strange noises.
I stood up and said, “This isn’t working, come on, let’s pack up and leave!” The others agreed, “Yeah, the mood here is ruined.” It was 3 AM. We packed the tents and everything into the car. Everyone got in. I turned the ignition, but the car wouldn’t start. I tried again, nothing. “What’s wrong with it?” I started muttering. Just then, the crows flying in the air attacked our car. They were literally hitting themselves against the car, breaking their necks, falling dead to the ground. Hundreds of crows attacked simultaneously. We didn’t know what to do, just looked left and right inside the car. This lasted for about half an hour, I think. Then the crows started to disperse.
I slowly got out of the car. The place looked like a slaughterhouse; the car was covered in blood, dead crows scattered everywhere. I immediately went to the front of the car, lifted the hood, and looked at the engine. There was nothing wrong, though I didn’t understand much anyway. When I lowered the hood again, I couldn’t believe my eyes: there was no one in the car! I looked around. “Where did you guys go? Tunç! İnan! Alper!” I shouted, but no one answered.
Then I heard a voice from afar: “Come Kenan, we’re here!” It was Tunç’s voice. I went towards the direction of the voice. “Where are you guys?” Tunç called out again: “Come Kenan, come, we’re here!” I went towards the voice again, but no one was there. “Are you messing with me? Where are you?” After saying this, I felt someone breathing on the back of my neck. An ugly voice said, “I’m behind you, Kenan.” When I turned around… Oh my God! I was speechless. A short, ugly creature with bright yellow eyes and horns was looking at me, smiling hideously. Seeing it, I threw myself backward onto the ground, scrambling away on my hands. Then I gathered myself and ran towards the car.
Somehow, I threw myself into the car and saw that all my friends were inside. They looked at me and asked, “Where did you go running off like crazy?” My mind was completely gone by then. In a trembling voice, I said, “You weren’t in the car.”
Tunç explained: “Dude, don’t be ridiculous! You opened the car hood, then closed it, looked around frantically, and then took off after a crow you saw. We opened the windows and called you, but you didn’t hear. I wanted to follow you, but somehow the car doors wouldn’t open; we were literally locked in. I thought about climbing out the window, but you were already long gone.”
I couldn’t say anything to what I heard. I rested my head on the steering wheel and closed my eyes for a while. Then I suddenly lifted my head and said, “Okay, let’s calm down.” But what was this? Oh God, keep my mind sane! There was no one else in the car but me! Just 10 seconds ago, they were all here, now no one! “What the hell is going on?!” I yelled. I got out of the car and started screaming Tunç’s name at the top of my lungs. “İNAN! ALPER! Answer me, guys!” I yelled myself hoarse, but there was no sound from anyone.
I turned on my phone’s flashlight and started walking. A little further ahead, I saw someone. It was İnan. I approached him quietly and said, “İnan?” İnan was staring fixedly upwards at a point. I repeated, “İnan, I’m scared, please come to your senses? Where are the others?” Nothing, no movement from İnan. I placed my hand on his shoulder and said, “Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful).” At that moment, İnan came to his senses and started screaming. I hugged him and said, “Calm down, okay, it’s over.” After calming him down a bit, we started looking for the others.
Further ahead, we saw Alper; he was urinating at the base of a tree. “Alper?” I called. He turned to me and said, “It won’t stop, Kenan, it won’t stop!” When I shone the light on Alper, I saw he was urinating blood. Then, within a few seconds, he collapsed on the spot. I went to Alper, tidied his clothes. I stood up, said a prayer (Bismillah) over him, and recited some verses. He seemed to come around.
Then the three of us started looking for Tunç, but we couldn’t find him anywhere. Finally, we gave up and returned to the car. I tried turning the ignition on the off chance it might work, but no, still not starting. As I yelled, “Damn it!” I heard a sound. It was Tunç. I got out of the car and looked in the direction of the sound; it didn’t seem too far. Alper called out, “Don’t go, Kenan!”
I turned back to the car and asked, “Do you remember what happened when I first opened the hood?”
İnan explained: “You opened the hood, then closed it again, looked at us, and then without saying anything, you started running towards the forest. Tunç went after you. Alper and I got out too, but we all lost each other. Then I saw a crow; it was looking at me. It called ‘Come, come’ in your voice. I started following it, but I felt mesmerized. I have no memory of what happened after that. When I opened my eyes, you were beside me.”
Alper explained: “I went after İnan. İnan was running very fast; I couldn’t catch him. And similarly, I saw a crow too. It told me, ‘If you urinate at the base of this tree, I will let you leave.’ Mesmerized, I started doing what it said, but blood was coming out in my urine. I tried to stop, but no, it wouldn’t stop. The blood flowing from me pooled at the base of the tree. That crow started laughing maniacally. You know the rest,” he said.
We caught our breath. “Let’s go find Tunç. We need to stick together. Turn on your phone lights, come on, let’s do this,” I said. The three of us got out of the car and started walking. Tunç’s voice was still echoing; he was screaming in pain, yelling, “Help me!” We walk towards the direction of the voice, the direction changes. We turn again and move that way, but this time the voice comes from another direction.
İnan yelled, “Enough, damn it, enough! Who the hell are you? What do you want from us?” As soon as he said this, suddenly a shadow we couldn’t quite see started dragging İnan away. Alper and I tried to hold onto İnan, but we couldn’t manage it, it didn’t work. That weight, or whatever it was, dragged İnan into the forest. We followed. Further ahead, two short figures, identical to the creature I had seen, were holding İnan by the arms and throwing him into a well. We ran towards them, reciting prayers (Bismillah), and saw the creatures suddenly turn into crows and disappear.
We reached the bottom of the well they threw İnan into. İnan was lying unconscious in the well. With Alper’s help, we pulled him out. We sat where we were, trying to wake İnan up. Tunç’s voice was still coming from somewhere. Alper covered his ears, curled up on the ground in a fetal position, and started crying, saying, “Let this nightmare end!”
My phone battery died, and the light went out. I took Alper’s phone. I looked around, trying to calm Alper on one hand and wake İnan on the other. After a while, Alper’s phone battery died too. We were left in pitch darkness. İnan wasn’t waking up. “Alper, please don’t sleep!” I cried out, but he had already succumbed to sleep. I took out the lighter from my pocket and made a small fire with twigs and leaves. I was alone. I could feel the shadows moving around me now. I couldn’t take it anymore. I mean, I fell asleep right there among the shadows, or maybe I fainted, I don’t know. I can’t quite describe my state at that moment.
When I woke up, it was morning. I immediately came to my senses and woke Alper up. Alper got up too, his eyes were bloodshot. Together, we carried İnan to the car. We laid him in the car and started looking for Tunç, but he was nowhere. Alper said, “Let’s go, report it to the police. Let them come with us to find him. We’re just going in circles here.” This idea was indeed logical. But would the car start? If not, at least it was daytime; we would walk.
When I tried to start the car, it started on the first try. We immediately drove away, and as we entered the district road, İnan woke up and asked, “What happened?” We gave him a couple of evasive answers and said we would try to find Tunç. I could tell from his look that he wasn’t fully himself. Soon after, he leaned his head against the window and continued to doze off.
We went straight to the police station and told them what happened. No one believed us. After much pleading, we went back to the campsite accompanied by two police officers. We started searching for Tunç with the police. One officer searched with me, the other with Alper. İnan still hadn’t fully recovered. This situation naturally made the police a bit suspicious. One looked at me and asked, “You didn’t use anything, did you?” I replied, “No sir, we didn’t. What we saw and heard was real.” While we were talking, the officer’s phone rang. The officer answered, “Yes, colleague,” and then hung up after saying, “Okay.” “Come on, they found your friend,” he said. How could the police phone work when ours hadn’t worked all night? But after everything we’d been through, I wasn’t even surprised.
We went over to Alper. The sight I saw made my blood run cold. Tunç was lying stark naked, stretched out in an open grave. With the help of the police, we got him out of there and went to the hospital together. He was still alive.
Of course, the police interrogated us, separately and simultaneously. Since we all experienced the same things, we told the same story. They thought we had put Tunç in that state. They weren’t entirely wrong to suspect, of course, but we knew we hadn’t done it. Thank God, Tunç regained consciousness. After some rest, he also told the police what he had experienced:
That night, after I closed the car hood and went into the forest, Tunç followed me but lost sight of me after a while. He started searching, shouting, but couldn’t get an answer from me and tried to go back to the car. However, as he approached the car, he saw two short, shapeless creatures. They grabbed Tunç by the arm, first stripped him naked, then dragged him away. The creatures took his clothes and threw each piece onto the top of a tree. Tunç cried for our help all night. When we went towards the direction of his voice, the creatures quickly threw Tunç into a grave-shaped well and tortured him in various ways until the morning prayer call. The rest is known…
The police released us. We told our families what happened. We sought help from religious figures, healers, psychiatrists… every possible remedy to recover. İnan, Alper, and I managed to pull ourselves together somewhat with the help of our families. But my dear friend Tunç… He couldn’t endure as much as we did. He kept saying he still saw them, saying “The Black Dwarves are coming” at night. No matter how many healers or exorcists he went to, he couldn’t shake off the psychology of that night.
One year after the incident, Tunç couldn’t bear the severe trauma he experienced and hanged himself in their house’s coal shed. May your place be paradise, my dear brother…
Such a fire fell into our hearts… After Tunç’s death, I didn’t see İnan or Alper again. Because every time I saw them, that night vividly came back to my mind. Later I heard that İnan and Alper weren’t seeing each other either. Then they both moved to different cities. Maybe it was better this way.
Something like this happened to us that night. God knows, I will live with that night for a lifetime. The Black Dwarves I told about by the campfire separated us that night. I think… May God protect us from the evil of jinn and unbelievers, and may He destroy them with His name Al-Qahhar (The Subduer). Amen.
Views: 0
