The Earliest Recorded Gery Folklore (circa 1767 to 1773)
Soon after the trial and execution of the Gery's stories began to circulate amongst the European and Native populations. Many sightings of the women were reported on the banks of the San Marcos River as well as in the hills, and woods surrounding the headwaters.
The subsequent Catholic missions that attempted to establish themselves in the area all failed, and area folklore attributes the failures to the Gery curse. The curse is said to be leveled against all those of Spanish ancestry, and Catholic faith, who attempted to settle the San Marcos area. It is interesting to note that the Spanish never established a successful, permanent settlement in San Marcos. The first truly successful settlement by non-native peoples were of German, Czech, English, and Scots/Irish decent, and primarily of Protestant faiths.
Most sightings are from second hand accounts of native peoples, as documented by the clergy of the subsequent Catholic missions, and Spanish settlers. It is not until the founding of Villa de San Marcos de Neve that we begin to see claims of direct contact with the Gery Witches by Spanish Europeans.
Native legend tells of the spirit of a wailing woman who wanders the woods, lost, searching for her daughter and never finding her. This spirit is believed to be Genevieve, and she is accredited with the dubious crime of abducting, and killing children to assuage the loss of her daughter.
Another native legend describes a woman who, during certain times of the year, can be seen kneeling by the San Marcos River weeping. It is said that she is the spirit of Isabelle, and that she cries for her mother, and all lost children. Isabelle is seen as a vengeance spirit. It is claimed that if a parent who has lost a child to murder, or by the hand of an other, summons her on the eve of the day of her appearance by the river that she will exact revenge upon the guilty party.
It is further claimed that Genevieve is kept from Isabelle because of her acts of murderous revenge upon the local children.
Isabelle is sworn to avenge children’s deaths, and her mother abducts and murders children. This dynamic is said to be the sole contributing factor that keeps the Gery women from moving on to the spirit world, or afterlife.
There is a theory that states that if Genevieve were to stop abducting, and killing local children that she would be reunited with her daughter, Isabelle.
The subsequent Catholic missions that attempted to establish themselves in the area all failed, and area folklore attributes the failures to the Gery curse. The curse is said to be leveled against all those of Spanish ancestry, and Catholic faith, who attempted to settle the San Marcos area. It is interesting to note that the Spanish never established a successful, permanent settlement in San Marcos. The first truly successful settlement by non-native peoples were of German, Czech, English, and Scots/Irish decent, and primarily of Protestant faiths.
Most sightings are from second hand accounts of native peoples, as documented by the clergy of the subsequent Catholic missions, and Spanish settlers. It is not until the founding of Villa de San Marcos de Neve that we begin to see claims of direct contact with the Gery Witches by Spanish Europeans.
Native legend tells of the spirit of a wailing woman who wanders the woods, lost, searching for her daughter and never finding her. This spirit is believed to be Genevieve, and she is accredited with the dubious crime of abducting, and killing children to assuage the loss of her daughter.
Another native legend describes a woman who, during certain times of the year, can be seen kneeling by the San Marcos River weeping. It is said that she is the spirit of Isabelle, and that she cries for her mother, and all lost children. Isabelle is seen as a vengeance spirit. It is claimed that if a parent who has lost a child to murder, or by the hand of an other, summons her on the eve of the day of her appearance by the river that she will exact revenge upon the guilty party.
It is further claimed that Genevieve is kept from Isabelle because of her acts of murderous revenge upon the local children.
Isabelle is sworn to avenge children’s deaths, and her mother abducts and murders children. This dynamic is said to be the sole contributing factor that keeps the Gery women from moving on to the spirit world, or afterlife.
There is a theory that states that if Genevieve were to stop abducting, and killing local children that she would be reunited with her daughter, Isabelle.
The Haunting of Villa de San Marcos de Neve (1809 to 1812)
Villa de San Marcos de Neve is credited as the first European settlement of the San Marcos area. The settlers did establish a permanent presidio, hacienda, and church, and technically were the first secular communal settlement after the previous failed mission attempts and solitary residence of the Gery's. San Marcos de Neve was plagued by tragedy from its earliest beginnings. Multiple floods, native attacks, crop blights, illness and mysterious deaths were recorded firsthand by the settlements magisterial.
Villagers were drawn out by the "wailing" of a woman, somewhere in the hills near the San Marcos rivers headwaters. Shortly after hearing the cries some of the villages children began to "disappear" and while there is no reported sighting of a woman there are reports of seeing the ghosts of the lost children. The sightings were most prevalent around what is now known as Wonder World cave, and the suspected location of the Gery's ruined cabin located in the hills above the headwaters.
Some villagers claimed that the ghosts were sent as a warning, an attempt to drive off the settlers. Other settlers claimed that Satan took the ghosts, and that the Wonder World area (the cave had not been uncovered at that time) was an entrance to Hell. One account suggests that the Gery's drew their power from the children, and were sacrificing them to Satan, as an act of revenge against God's children for their execution by the church as witches.
In any event it is the Villa de San Marcos de Neve accounts that are the foundational stories from which all other Gery lore appear to come from.
Villagers were drawn out by the "wailing" of a woman, somewhere in the hills near the San Marcos rivers headwaters. Shortly after hearing the cries some of the villages children began to "disappear" and while there is no reported sighting of a woman there are reports of seeing the ghosts of the lost children. The sightings were most prevalent around what is now known as Wonder World cave, and the suspected location of the Gery's ruined cabin located in the hills above the headwaters.
Some villagers claimed that the ghosts were sent as a warning, an attempt to drive off the settlers. Other settlers claimed that Satan took the ghosts, and that the Wonder World area (the cave had not been uncovered at that time) was an entrance to Hell. One account suggests that the Gery's drew their power from the children, and were sacrificing them to Satan, as an act of revenge against God's children for their execution by the church as witches.
In any event it is the Villa de San Marcos de Neve accounts that are the foundational stories from which all other Gery lore appear to come from.
The Schoolgirl's Version (circa 1832 to 1847)
Helen Susan Henkel was thirteen years old when she claimed to have been visited on multiple occasions by the ghosts of both Genevieve and Isabelle. It was well known that Helens’ father, Isaac, was a drunkard and violent.
The Henkel's house was on seven acres, which currently encompasses the Inland Aquatic Biology Center at Texas State University, across from Sewell Park.
Helen claimed that the first visitation occurred after she had endured a sever beating by her father by a spirit that Helen later claimed to be Isabelle. Helen said that the subsequent visits were mainly made by Isabelle, but that on at least one occasion a ghastly apparition appeared to her and asked her if she had seen her daughter. When Helen told the spirit that she had in fact seen Genevieve’s daughter, Isabelle, that Genevieve began to wail. The sound of the wailing apparently woke Helens’ father who blamed the noise on Helen, and beat her mercilessly. Helen interpreted this visit to be the ghost of Genevieve Gery.
Helen claimed that the Gery's had been wrongly accused, and sentenced to death, and that Isabelle would exact revenge, if called upon, upon any person who harmed a child. The cost was the soul of the party seeking vengeance that Isabelle, reluctantly, delivered to the Devil. Oddly Helen’s father was found dead some days later in his rocking chair. Witnesses’ described his face as the face of a man who had been scared to death.
Shortly after the event people began to come to Helen asking her to call upon Isabelle to avenge them. At first Helen was reluctant, but soon began summoning Isabelle, for a small fee.
While most people of the town didn't believe Helens’ tale, or in her ability to summon the dead Isabelle, the court ordered her to stop offering her services to bereaved parents, and those seeking revenge against other members of the community.
Helen officially stopped offering her services to the community, but legend has it that she continued to summon Isabelle, secretly, and for a select clientele. Helen died of consumption in 1847, which put an abrupt end to her business. Ironically, Helen’s death became the first, and possibly only, vampire scare in San Marcos. The community exhumed her corpse, which exhibited signs of vampirism, decapitated her and dismembered her body and interred her in an unmarked grave at a crossroads in the area.
Helen's version of the Gery's tale is the first known version that claims that the Gery's, specifically Isabelle, were wronged, and that their subsequent acts were acts of revenge directed at the guilty, and the wicked.
The Henkel's house was on seven acres, which currently encompasses the Inland Aquatic Biology Center at Texas State University, across from Sewell Park.
Helen claimed that the first visitation occurred after she had endured a sever beating by her father by a spirit that Helen later claimed to be Isabelle. Helen said that the subsequent visits were mainly made by Isabelle, but that on at least one occasion a ghastly apparition appeared to her and asked her if she had seen her daughter. When Helen told the spirit that she had in fact seen Genevieve’s daughter, Isabelle, that Genevieve began to wail. The sound of the wailing apparently woke Helens’ father who blamed the noise on Helen, and beat her mercilessly. Helen interpreted this visit to be the ghost of Genevieve Gery.
Helen claimed that the Gery's had been wrongly accused, and sentenced to death, and that Isabelle would exact revenge, if called upon, upon any person who harmed a child. The cost was the soul of the party seeking vengeance that Isabelle, reluctantly, delivered to the Devil. Oddly Helen’s father was found dead some days later in his rocking chair. Witnesses’ described his face as the face of a man who had been scared to death.
Shortly after the event people began to come to Helen asking her to call upon Isabelle to avenge them. At first Helen was reluctant, but soon began summoning Isabelle, for a small fee.
While most people of the town didn't believe Helens’ tale, or in her ability to summon the dead Isabelle, the court ordered her to stop offering her services to bereaved parents, and those seeking revenge against other members of the community.
Helen officially stopped offering her services to the community, but legend has it that she continued to summon Isabelle, secretly, and for a select clientele. Helen died of consumption in 1847, which put an abrupt end to her business. Ironically, Helen’s death became the first, and possibly only, vampire scare in San Marcos. The community exhumed her corpse, which exhibited signs of vampirism, decapitated her and dismembered her body and interred her in an unmarked grave at a crossroads in the area.
Helen's version of the Gery's tale is the first known version that claims that the Gery's, specifically Isabelle, were wronged, and that their subsequent acts were acts of revenge directed at the guilty, and the wicked.
Deacon Elders Tale (circa 1876 to 1880)
The Johnson Hoax? (1932)
Olive Street & San Antonio (1940 to 2009)
In 1940 it was reported by a road crew during a routine survey that two unmarked graves were found, around the area currently occupying the cross street of San Antonio and Olive Street. The crew reported it to the police, who apparently turned it over to the city medical examiner, who then reported it as an archeological site to the university, but no subsequent research was ever conducted, and the story of the graves became legend.
Throughout the years reports of a ghastly woman and phantom children in the area of Olive Street, and San Antonio Street have circulated the community.
A small house on the corner of the two streets appears to be the epicenter of the activity. Residents have reported hearing strange sounds, and feelings of general unease. Oddly there have been no visual sightings on the property, by residents or neighbors of the Gery ghosts.
In 2009 partygoers attending a CD release after-party, at the corner house, for the band Olive Street, claimed that two young ladies there began to channel the spirits of both Genevieve and Isabelle. The girls reportedly "knew" details of the other partygoer’s lives that were personal, and therefore could not have been known to the girls.
After fifteen minutes of the visitation by the Gery spirits the girls collapsed, exhausted.
Prior to that evening neither of the girls had ever heard of the Gery legend, but claimed that the Gery's were interred under the house, and that the women's spirits were angry, and restless. One of the women stated that the older of the two spirits was unaware of the others existence, and that she was in misery, beset by the fact that she could not find her.
The Olive Street burial claim contradicts most of the commonly held beliefs as to the location of the Gery's remains.
Throughout the years reports of a ghastly woman and phantom children in the area of Olive Street, and San Antonio Street have circulated the community.
A small house on the corner of the two streets appears to be the epicenter of the activity. Residents have reported hearing strange sounds, and feelings of general unease. Oddly there have been no visual sightings on the property, by residents or neighbors of the Gery ghosts.
In 2009 partygoers attending a CD release after-party, at the corner house, for the band Olive Street, claimed that two young ladies there began to channel the spirits of both Genevieve and Isabelle. The girls reportedly "knew" details of the other partygoer’s lives that were personal, and therefore could not have been known to the girls.
After fifteen minutes of the visitation by the Gery spirits the girls collapsed, exhausted.
Prior to that evening neither of the girls had ever heard of the Gery legend, but claimed that the Gery's were interred under the house, and that the women's spirits were angry, and restless. One of the women stated that the older of the two spirits was unaware of the others existence, and that she was in misery, beset by the fact that she could not find her.
The Olive Street burial claim contradicts most of the commonly held beliefs as to the location of the Gery's remains.
The San Marcos Treatment Center (1945 to Present)
There is a persistent rumor dating back as early as 1956 that claims that the current grounds of The San Marcos Treatment Center sit on an older mental health facility, The San Marcos State Hospital. The story says that the state was running out of room at its Austin, and San Antonio hospitals and needed a new hospital to house the burgeoning patient population. San Marcos was picked because it lay, roughly, equidistance between San Antonio, and Austin making patient transfer to the new asylum easier, and safer than patient transfer to one of the states east or west Texas facilities.
According to legend the state broke ground in 1923, and in 1925 The San Marcos State Hospital began accepting patients. The hospital primarily held persons who suffered from mood disorders, and some personality disorders, as well as adjudicated juveniles.
The hospital was closed in 1982 due to budget cuts, and the property fell into the hands of the city, which, along with the San Marcos School District, used the old main hospital complex for storage.
The problem with the veracity of this story is simple, and glaring. The San Marcos Treatment Center has occupied its current location since 1940, and there are no official, firsthand records of the state ever commissioning a mental health facilities construction in San Marcos, or Hays County for that matter.
While the San Marcos State Hospital story may be a complete fiction the reports by the San Marcos Treatment Centers clients, and staff of a "phantom/ghost house" and repeated sightings throughout the years of the Gery ghost, as well as, spectral children are well documented.
The first known ghost reports came from patients in the newly opened alcohol treatment unit, in 1945. Staff initially dismissed the sightings as a product of alcohol withdrawal, common visual and auditory hallucinations caused by delirium tremens.
Soon the staff began to experience the same phenomena, which was initially explained as a shared hallucination between the care staff and the clients. This all changed in 1947 when a psychiatrist by the name of Andrew Myers purchased a Brush BK-401 reel-to-reel tape recorder, and began taping his sessions. Dr. Myers began to notice a strange background noise on his recordings which sounded "...melodic in nature." An orderly named Ray William Cunningham AKA "Ray Willie" attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College as a music education major. Ray listened to the tapes at the behest of Dr. Myer and with the help of his music history professor, Dr. Miller, identified the background noise as a French folksong of the 1600's, Un Flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle. Subsequent examination of the recordings in the mid 60's verified the sound as that of a human female, humming or possibly singing.
While this story is compelling it is impossible to verify. No copies of Dr. Myers recordings have ever been found, and both Ray William Cunningham, and Dr. Myers are dead. Although university records do substantiate Dr. Miller's employment they do not provide current contact information, which leads one to conclude that Dr. Miller is also dead.
According to legend the state broke ground in 1923, and in 1925 The San Marcos State Hospital began accepting patients. The hospital primarily held persons who suffered from mood disorders, and some personality disorders, as well as adjudicated juveniles.
The hospital was closed in 1982 due to budget cuts, and the property fell into the hands of the city, which, along with the San Marcos School District, used the old main hospital complex for storage.
The problem with the veracity of this story is simple, and glaring. The San Marcos Treatment Center has occupied its current location since 1940, and there are no official, firsthand records of the state ever commissioning a mental health facilities construction in San Marcos, or Hays County for that matter.
While the San Marcos State Hospital story may be a complete fiction the reports by the San Marcos Treatment Centers clients, and staff of a "phantom/ghost house" and repeated sightings throughout the years of the Gery ghost, as well as, spectral children are well documented.
The first known ghost reports came from patients in the newly opened alcohol treatment unit, in 1945. Staff initially dismissed the sightings as a product of alcohol withdrawal, common visual and auditory hallucinations caused by delirium tremens.
Soon the staff began to experience the same phenomena, which was initially explained as a shared hallucination between the care staff and the clients. This all changed in 1947 when a psychiatrist by the name of Andrew Myers purchased a Brush BK-401 reel-to-reel tape recorder, and began taping his sessions. Dr. Myers began to notice a strange background noise on his recordings which sounded "...melodic in nature." An orderly named Ray William Cunningham AKA "Ray Willie" attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College as a music education major. Ray listened to the tapes at the behest of Dr. Myer and with the help of his music history professor, Dr. Miller, identified the background noise as a French folksong of the 1600's, Un Flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle. Subsequent examination of the recordings in the mid 60's verified the sound as that of a human female, humming or possibly singing.
While this story is compelling it is impossible to verify. No copies of Dr. Myers recordings have ever been found, and both Ray William Cunningham, and Dr. Myers are dead. Although university records do substantiate Dr. Miller's employment they do not provide current contact information, which leads one to conclude that Dr. Miller is also dead.
Martindale, Maxwell, Reedville & the Army Air Corp. (1943 to 1965)
Mother Lupe Anna Ortega's End Times Prophesies (1951 to 1957)
Lupe Ortega was born in El Paso and moved to San Marcos during WWII, to be close to her son, Juan, who was training to be a pilot at the San Marcos Army Air Corp base. She lived with her cousin, Lapita who was a native of San Marcos and who worked at the Greyhound Bus station as a cashier. Lupe set up shop as a hairdresser, but soon became known as a gifted fortuneteller, and medium. Lupe maintained that her visions were gifts from The Blessed Mother and that she was sent to San Marcos to by the Blessed Virgin to warn, and protect its people from the great evil residing there. Lupe and her sister interpreted this as the Devil, and later sin, in general, but as the two women became familiar with local legend they began to suspect something different.
In 1951 Lupe claimed that the spirit of Helen Susan Henkel who told her that the end of the world was not far off, and that the source would be San Marcos had visited her. Lupe's subsequent contacts with Helen would later add detail to her original predictions. Lupe claimed that Helen told her that Wonder World cave was the antechamber to a Hell Mouth, and that an earthquake would break the seals and unleash the hordes of Hell upon the earth.
There has always been speculation about the word "seals" since the cave bares no visible signs, sigils, or seals. As to the time of the earthquake, and subsequent unleashing of Hell on earth? Lupe said that Helen had not been exact with regard to a date and time, but that she believed that it would happen in her, or her children’s lifetime. Lupe Ortega, as well as her three sons, and daughter are all deceased.
In 1951 Lupe claimed that the spirit of Helen Susan Henkel who told her that the end of the world was not far off, and that the source would be San Marcos had visited her. Lupe's subsequent contacts with Helen would later add detail to her original predictions. Lupe claimed that Helen told her that Wonder World cave was the antechamber to a Hell Mouth, and that an earthquake would break the seals and unleash the hordes of Hell upon the earth.
There has always been speculation about the word "seals" since the cave bares no visible signs, sigils, or seals. As to the time of the earthquake, and subsequent unleashing of Hell on earth? Lupe said that Helen had not been exact with regard to a date and time, but that she believed that it would happen in her, or her children’s lifetime. Lupe Ortega, as well as her three sons, and daughter are all deceased.
Associated Legends & Lore
Auquerina Springs:
People have claimed to see the spirits of the Spanish missionaries wandering the grounds of Auquerina Springs, and the surrounding area. The sightings are consistent with the descriptions of the "Black Robe Society," a reported sub-order of Dominicans, or Franciscans, depending on the version of the story one chooses to believe.
The Wonder World Hell Mouth:
The cave discovered by a local San Marcos man, now known as the Wonder World cave is claimed by some to be an entrance to Hell. The claimants state that native lore credits the area with great evil. This is highly unlikely considering that the cave was unearthed in the 1800's. Claimants point to crime statistics which indicate that violent crime activity around the Wonder World cave is higher than average, regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.
The Old Main Specter:
Old Main holds the credit as being the first building ever erected by the university. Texas State University currently houses the college radio station, faculty and staff offices, as well as some classrooms in the building, but it was, for many years, the building from which everything college related occurred.
There have been reports of a female ghost presence in the building since the 1920's, but it is unclear if the apparition is related to the Gery's in any way.
Some versions of the story say that the ghost is that of a girl who committed suicide when she discovered that her fiancé was killed in WWI. Other versions claim that she killed herself because she failed out of school her sophomore year.
The only known Gery reference claims that she was murdered by one of the Gery women because she killed her professors children, whom she was having an affair with, after he broke the relationship off. According to the story the professor’s wife called upon the Gery's to exact her revenge, and the girl dropped dead during homecoming in the professor’s office at Old Main.
Cry Baby Cemetery:
The Confederate Ghosts Curse:
It is said that a C.S.A. Sergeant by the name of Eli James Ollis became obsessed with the Gery legend while serving in San Marcos during the U.S. Civil War. The alleged source material, Eli's journal, has never been located, nor has its existence been verified, but the lore states that Eli engaged in "expeditions" trying to locate the Gery's ruined cabin, and their resting place. It is said that Eli found the cabins location, which is reported to be somewhere on the grounds of the San Marcos Treatment Facility. Eli never found the Gery's resting place, and local residents claim that they see him wandering about San Marcos, still looking for the Gery's burial site.
The Thompsons Island Terror:
During the Civil War a squad of Confederate soldiers were dispatched from their encampment to Thompson's Island to investigate the wailing, moaning, and distressful cries of a "...phantom woman." The legend states that when the squad arrived a small house on the island was in flames, the occupants burned to death, and a "ghost woman" looking on in approval. As the men approached they could see that she was horribly disfigured. She was reported to be burned over most of her body, her neck broken, and her complexion grey, and gaunt. She reportedly vanished in the dawn mist much to the surprise of the seven men who claimed to have witness the event. Residents have claimed to hear the cries of the family of the burned house, and have seen the Gery women on the island for generations.
Hidden Grave:
To the Czech Parties Horror:
The Little Ones:
San Marcos and the surrounding area have always been home to ghost lore involving children. Most ghost stories involving children are generally lumped together, and categorized under one umbrella term, The Little Ones.
More specifically The Little Ones are considered to be the souls of the children that Genevieve has taken as an act of vengeance upon the town’s people. If this is true it puts her at odds with her daughter Isabelle who is claimed to be a vengeful spirit who acts as an arbiter for those who have had their children taken from them.
The children are sometimes seen, or heard, with Genevieve but often times are seen alone. Most encounters occur around the headwaters of the San Marcs River, the hills overlooking the river, and near Wonder World Cave.
It has been noted that seeing a Little One always predicts the disappearance, or death of a child.
Negro Manto, Venator Daemonum, and Cuneiform in a Texas Cave?:
People have claimed to see the spirits of the Spanish missionaries wandering the grounds of Auquerina Springs, and the surrounding area. The sightings are consistent with the descriptions of the "Black Robe Society," a reported sub-order of Dominicans, or Franciscans, depending on the version of the story one chooses to believe.
The Wonder World Hell Mouth:
The cave discovered by a local San Marcos man, now known as the Wonder World cave is claimed by some to be an entrance to Hell. The claimants state that native lore credits the area with great evil. This is highly unlikely considering that the cave was unearthed in the 1800's. Claimants point to crime statistics which indicate that violent crime activity around the Wonder World cave is higher than average, regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.
The Old Main Specter:
Old Main holds the credit as being the first building ever erected by the university. Texas State University currently houses the college radio station, faculty and staff offices, as well as some classrooms in the building, but it was, for many years, the building from which everything college related occurred.
There have been reports of a female ghost presence in the building since the 1920's, but it is unclear if the apparition is related to the Gery's in any way.
Some versions of the story say that the ghost is that of a girl who committed suicide when she discovered that her fiancé was killed in WWI. Other versions claim that she killed herself because she failed out of school her sophomore year.
The only known Gery reference claims that she was murdered by one of the Gery women because she killed her professors children, whom she was having an affair with, after he broke the relationship off. According to the story the professor’s wife called upon the Gery's to exact her revenge, and the girl dropped dead during homecoming in the professor’s office at Old Main.
Cry Baby Cemetery:
The Confederate Ghosts Curse:
It is said that a C.S.A. Sergeant by the name of Eli James Ollis became obsessed with the Gery legend while serving in San Marcos during the U.S. Civil War. The alleged source material, Eli's journal, has never been located, nor has its existence been verified, but the lore states that Eli engaged in "expeditions" trying to locate the Gery's ruined cabin, and their resting place. It is said that Eli found the cabins location, which is reported to be somewhere on the grounds of the San Marcos Treatment Facility. Eli never found the Gery's resting place, and local residents claim that they see him wandering about San Marcos, still looking for the Gery's burial site.
The Thompsons Island Terror:
During the Civil War a squad of Confederate soldiers were dispatched from their encampment to Thompson's Island to investigate the wailing, moaning, and distressful cries of a "...phantom woman." The legend states that when the squad arrived a small house on the island was in flames, the occupants burned to death, and a "ghost woman" looking on in approval. As the men approached they could see that she was horribly disfigured. She was reported to be burned over most of her body, her neck broken, and her complexion grey, and gaunt. She reportedly vanished in the dawn mist much to the surprise of the seven men who claimed to have witness the event. Residents have claimed to hear the cries of the family of the burned house, and have seen the Gery women on the island for generations.
Hidden Grave:
To the Czech Parties Horror:
The Little Ones:
San Marcos and the surrounding area have always been home to ghost lore involving children. Most ghost stories involving children are generally lumped together, and categorized under one umbrella term, The Little Ones.
More specifically The Little Ones are considered to be the souls of the children that Genevieve has taken as an act of vengeance upon the town’s people. If this is true it puts her at odds with her daughter Isabelle who is claimed to be a vengeful spirit who acts as an arbiter for those who have had their children taken from them.
The children are sometimes seen, or heard, with Genevieve but often times are seen alone. Most encounters occur around the headwaters of the San Marcs River, the hills overlooking the river, and near Wonder World Cave.
It has been noted that seeing a Little One always predicts the disappearance, or death of a child.
Negro Manto, Venator Daemonum, and Cuneiform in a Texas Cave?: