'Nightmarcher' demon spotted in unsuspecting photo of forest runner comes with terrifying consequence
A woman running 100 miles through the rainforests of Hawaii felt uncomfortable after looking back through some of the photos.
The runner wondered if she'd accidentally snapped a 'Nightmarcher' demon - and legends says that if you look at one, it's not good news.
Runner Kay Borleis was taking part in the Hawaiian Ultra Running Team’s Trail 100-Mile Endurance Run on the Honolulu Mauka trails in Oahu back in January 2019 when a picture of her was taken.
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The run, which is referred to as the HURT 100, involves five 20 mile laps of dense rainforest.
It's hard to imagine running that once, let alone five times in sequence, but that's why Kay was running with her friend Cassie who was acting as a pacer.
Cassie was taking photos and in one of them Kay noticed what she thought was a disturbing detail right beside her head.
The race had taken place the day after a lunar eclipse and Kay insisted nobody was there as she ran by, but there was something in the picture.
Doing a bit of research on what it might be, she wondered if it might be a 'Nightmarcher'.
Nightmarchers are deadly ghosts from Hawaiian mythology, and as their name suggests they mostly come out at night.
On the nights for honouring Hawaiian gods Kāne, Kū, Lono and Kanaloa the spirits are said to come out of their burial places and march to sacred places or the sites of their battles.
While they leave no physical trace of their passing, mythology says that people can hear them as they march by and smell the stench of death.
At rare times a Nightmarcher might come out during the day to help the spirit of a dying relative move on.
Now I know what you're thinking, Nightmarcher demons aren't real and they're just mythological creatures that we made up like ghosts, Bigfoot and Santa Claus.
Except not that last one because Santa is definitely real, honest.
We'd better hope that's the case because if one were to look upon a Nightmarcher or do something which could be counted as defiance then there are some pretty sharp consequences.
According to ancient Hawaiian beliefs looking at a Nightmarcher means you will die violently, which is a fate basically nobody wants unless you still adhere to the old Viking beliefs and believe a death in battle is your ticket into Valhalla.
Fortunately, if you ever find yourself coming face to face with a Nightmarcher then there are some things you can do to avoid incurring its wrath and the violent death that would follow.
Lie face down on the ground and don't move to show respect and deference and you might be spared.
Alternatively, if one of the marchers is one of your ancestors, then they might vouch for you and the others will know to leave you be.
Joe Harker