The Tape Library - Archive of the Paranormal & the Unexplained - Terrifying True Story of the Serbian Dancing Lady

Episode Date: May 12, 2023

We're covering a terrifying real life tiktok mystery. Who is the serbian dancing lady? We're going to explore the origins, sightings, possible inspirations and more in this Tape Library deep dive into a modern day urban legend. Sources - Serbian Dancing Lady Debunked by Scaretheater (translated news report taken from here) - https://youtu.be/b0H_Odv9O3s Hailey Reese Clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYsIBe8VDuo The Smiling Man CreepyPasta - https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/The_Smiling_Man Do you have a supernatural story to share? Drop me an email at [e-mail] You can check out The Tape Library in video form at - www.youtube.com/thetapelibrary https://therealtapelibrary.podbean.com/ Stock footage and additional audio courtesy of Envato Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thetapelibrary Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thetapelibrary Archive of the Paranormal, the strange and the unexplained. The Tape Library brings you the creepiest stories, to keep you horror junkies up all night. True scary stories of ghosts, cryptids, UFOs and true crime. #serbiandancinglady #tiktokmystery #creepy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine this with me for a moment. It's a dark, cold night. Snow lines the pathways. The roads are clear, but the cold evening breeze is starting to ice them over. You are alone. You hadn't really considered that fully until this moment. But on this evening walk, you are now fully alone. The sounds of traffic, of other people.

people has fallen away. When did that happen? You were so lost in your own thoughts that you didn't even notice but you've reached a quiet area of the town. The house is a dark, everyone's asleep, you are alone. Or so you think until you step around the corner and see her for the first time. It's a woman, maybe an older woman. It's hard to tell as she has her back to you, dressed in white with her arms outstretched, into a T-shape. You pause for a moment, but then a smile momentarily crosses your face.

You realize she's dancing. An awkward shuffle from left to right. The smile slowly falls from your face as the uncanniness of the situation hits you. There is no music. The street is quiet, deserted. Yet there she stands, dancing in the street, alone. The shifting is almost hypnotic, and you stand there watching her. The problem is, she never invited you to watch her dance.

You are an intruder in her ritual. her ritual. The dance stops, your heart stops, as you realize she sensed your presence. She doesn't rush, but she slowly turns to face you. Her long hair covering her face, so you still can't quite get a good look at her. But the slow movement is unnerving and unnatural. She stares at you for a moment, and that's when you realize, She is raising her arm up. That's when you realise she's holding a knife. That's when you realise she is starting to run at you.

Welcome to the tape library, where we explore real-life cases of the unexplained. This episode, we're going to be taking a look at a little lady who has taken the internet by storm over the last couple of months. the notorious Serbian dancing woman. I love a good urban legend. And this feels like one that is tailor-made for a world in which short-form videos are shared with such regularity. Recently, TikTok has been filled with videos of a strange dancing woman

who has been supposedly spotted by numerous people dancing alone at night in the streets of Serbia. The initial video that started this creepy story was actually posted back in 2019, but has recently caught fire. In 2019 in Serbia, numerous people were reporting encounters with a strange lady wearing a white traditional dress. She would approach people at night, standing in front of their cars, and was reported to be waving around a knife. There are news reports about this woman from the time, including one that has recently gone viral, that sees a number of reporters,

going out to try and spot the strange woman. Although I don't have a full translation of the segment, it almost appears that the reports are playing into the idea of this being a creepy urban legend. Which seems odd, since the initial reports make it sound like this could be a case of a genuinely mentally unwell person, posing a danger to others. Supposedly, the police received reports that the woman was spotted dancing in the streets, was seen chasing people with a knife near a hospital, and even attacked a pregnant woman.

Although, I have struggled to find concrete reports of these specific incidents from that time. Either way, during this first batch of sightings, the original Serbian Dancing Woman video was posted. And let's be honest, whatever is happening here in this video is... Weird. Apparently taken from near the aforementioned hospital, this person sent in to the local television network, a video of a strange woman, dancing in the street. Although she doesn't appear to do anything threatening here, it's been suggested that this is the same woman that was terrorising random passers-by earlier that night. As creepy as the video is, it didn't provide any evidence of any crime. and it's almost impossible to identify the woman from it.

Despite that, the legend of the Serbian Dancing Lady was well underway, and people were worried to walk the streets at night, in case they bumped into her. Then, she was gone. The reports of a deranged knife-wolding woman dried up. For almost four years, it appeared the Serbian Dancing Lady had vanished. Jump forward to 2023, and it would seem that she's back. A video posted back in February of this year is reported to be the first of this new batch of sightings. It's only 11 seconds long and we slowly zoom into a shot of a woman, dancing alone in the

street at night from what appears to be an apartment window. With that scary music that any fans of the creepier side of TikTok will be familiar with. jumped out as odd to me. While this video has racked up well over a hundred million views at this point, the account has never posted again. This video gave the rumors about this strange woman prowling the streets of Serbia even more fuel. The caption to the video simply reads, Be careful guys. Then the floodgates opened. The Serbian dancing lady became a bona fide viral sensation on TikTok. Video after video is posted of her online.

Over the past few months millions of people have watched creepy videos of this strange woman dancing in the street. The law of the Serbian dancing lady has taken on a life of its own as well. Some say that if you just quietly watch her, she will eventually stop dancing and simply walk off into the night. However, if you speak to her, make eye contact, or in any of her or in any other way, interrupt her dance. She takes this very personally.

She will then turn and chase after whoever has interrupted her with a weapon. Most often a knife. Others have suggested that it isn't interrupting her exactly that causes the attack though. Instead, it's almost a sign of disrespect to the Serbian dancing woman. If she hasn't given you permission to look at her, then she will come after you. I love this interpretation of the legend, and have been very amused to see the sheer amount of comments under many of these videos, with people apologising to the dancing woman for watching the video. Seemingly worried that even viewing a video of her dancing will mean that she

might come for them. That watching these videos yourself may make it more, you know, that you're more likely that when you are walking home alone at night, you will come across her, waiting for you. I wasn't surprised to find out that I wasn't alone in feeling as though there was something manifesting around me while watching this video. And that could just be paranoia and the uneasiness that the video projects, but there were other people who had also said that they felt as though they were being watched while watching this video, that they felt as though there was something

dark, aware of them watching it. I love this, and it's fascinating to see the different aspects of this modern-day urban legend, forming before our very eyes. But what makes the Serbian dancing woman such an effective phenomenon, I think, is two things. One is the simplicity of it. There isn't anything grand or otherworldly about this for the most part. It's just a woman dancing in the street. It's the uncanniness, the feeling of something relatively normal taking place in an unusual setting

that makes it so unsettling. Secondly, the fact that it seems to come from a place of reality. While it's undoubtedly the case that many of these videos that are going around online are fake, it seems the legend of the Serbian Dancing Lady originates from a real occurrence. Supposedly in the town where this is taking place, police have asked people to be extra vigilant when out at night. So it would appear that there is something to this new batch of sightings, beyond just a silly trend. It's so fascinating how this has really struck a chord with people.

Out of all the terrifying stories that exist out there, about the paranormal and the unexplained, there is just something about this dancing lady that seems to really send chills up people's spines. It's so hard to put into words what it's just something about this dancing lady, that seems to really send chills up people's spines. It's so hard to put into words what it's just something. is about it that's so creepy, but it really is. My favourite twist on the Serbian dancing lady actually does take her out of the realm of reality and add to supernatural side to this strange story. One of the creepiest videos has the dancing woman. It's unclear which way she's facing. Her body seems to be

positioned with her back to us. But although unclear in the grainy footage, It appears her face can be seen, almost like her head is twisted around, backwards. On the other side of the road is something. Again it's hard to make out, but it appears to be a rounded black shape that is almost mimicking her movements. This odd video has led a number of people to suggest that whatever is over the road from her is controlling her. and that maybe that thing is something demonic. This adds a whole extra layer to the story. It's apparent that it's likely not the same woman in many of the videos that have been shared online.

But maybe that's the piece of the puzzle many have been missing. Maybe there isn't a singular dancing woman. And in fact, whatever is seen in this video, is taking control of multiple women, controlling them, for reasons we might never quite understand. When I first came across these videos, two things sprung to mind. First was the story of the 1518 dancing plague, which is a story I hope to cover in more detail on the tape library in the future. But for those who don't know, and what is now France back in July 1518, the people of the town of Strasbourg started to dance uncontrollably.

It started with a single woman who just broke in to dance and was unable to stop, but then this strange phenomena seemed to take over the town, with supposedly hundreds of people being affected. The strange occurrence went on for months, and it has been said that many of them danced until they died of exhaustion, Although the reports of this are sketchy. While this is the most famous case of an outbreak of uncontrollable dancing, it isn't the only time it's happened.

The other thing that came to mind was what is perhaps my favourite creeper pastor of all time. So I thought just to bring this strange episode to a close, I'd read you that story. But before I do, I'd love to hear what you think about the Serbian dancing lady. Is it all just a big hoax? Or a real-life event that has grown into a simple viral trend? Or is there something more to it? Drop me a comment below and let me know what you think.

Okay, here's the creepy pastor that I think, if didn't at least inspire some of the law behind the dancing woman, it at least has some creepy parallels. I remember hearing this on a podcast, late at night while I walked home down a dark, quiet road. And it creep me the hell out. This is The Smiling Man. About five years ago, I lived downtown in a major city in the US.

I've always been a night person, so I would often find myself bored after my roommate, who was decidedly not a night person, went to sleep. To pass the time I used to go for a night person, long walks and spend the time thinking. I spent four years like that, walking alone at night, and never once had a reason to feel afraid. I always used to joke with my roommate that even the drug dealers in the city were polite, but all of that changed in just a few minutes of one evening. It was a Wednesday, somewhere between one and two in the morning, and I was a Wednesday, somewhere between one on two in the morning, and I was walking near a police patrol park

quite a ways from my apartment. It was a quiet night, even for a weeknight, with very little traffic and almost no one on foot. The park as it was most nights was completely empty. I turned down a short side street in order to loop back to my apartment when I first noticed him. At the far end of the street, on my side, was the silhouette of a man. Dancing. It was a strange dance, similar to a waltz. But he finished each box with an odd forward stride. I guess you could say he was dance walking?

Headed straight for me. Deciding he was probably drunk, I stepped as close as I could to the road. to give him the majority of the sidewalk to pass me by. The closer he got, the more I realized how gracefully he was moving. He was very tall and lanky and wearing an old suit. He danced closer still, until I could make out his face. His eyes were open wide and wild. Head tilted back slightly, looking off at the sky.

His mouth was formed in a place. painfully wired cartoon of a smile. Between the eyes and the smile, I decided to cross the street before he danced any closer. I took my eyes off him to cross the empty street. As I reached the other side, I glanced back and then stopped dead in my tracks. He had stopped dancing and was standing with one foot in the street, perfectly parallel to me. He was facing. He was facing, facing me, but still looking skyward. Smile still wide on his lips. I was completely and utterly unnerved by this. I started walking again, but kept my eyes on the man. He didn't move. Once I had put about half a block between us, I turned away from him for a moment to watch the sidewalk in front of me. The street and the sidewalk ahead of me were completely empty. still unnerved I looked back to where he had been standing to find him gone. For the briefest of moments I felt relieved, until I noticed him.

He had crossed the street and was now slightly crouched down. I couldn't tell for sure due to the distance in the shadows, but I was certain he was facing me. I had looked away from him for no more than ten seconds, so it was clear. that he had moved fast. I was so shocked I stood there for some time, staring at him.

And then he started moving toward me again. He took giant, exaggerated, tiptoed steps, as if he were a cartoon character sneaking up on someone. Except he was moving, very, very quickly. I'd like to say at this point I ran away or pulled out my pepper spray or my cell phone. or anything at all.

But I didn't. I just stood there, completely frozen as a smiling man crept towards me. And then he stopped again, about a car length away from me. Still smiling his smile, still looking to the sky. When I finally found my voice,

I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. What I meant to ask was, What do you want? In an angry, commanding tone. But what came out was a whimper. What? Regardless of whether or not humans can smell fear. They can certainly hear it.

I heard it in my own voice. And that only made me more afraid. But he didn't react to it at all. He just stood there, smiling. And then after what felt like, forever. He turned around, very slowly, and started dance walking away. Just like that. Not wanting to turn my back to him again, I just watched him go, until he was far enough away to almost be out of sight. And then I realized something. He wasn't moving away anymore,

nor was he dancing. I watched in horror as the distant shape of him grew larger and larger. He was coming back my way. And this time, he was running. I ran too. I ran until I was off the side road and back onto a better lit road with sparse traffic. Looking behind me then, he was nowhere to be found. The rest of the way home I kept glancing over my shoulder. always expecting to see your stupid smile but he was never there I lived in that city for six months after that night and I never went out for another walk there was something about his face that always haunted me

he didn't look drunk he didn't look high he looked completely and utterly insane and that's a very very scary thing thing to see. That's all for this episode of the tape library. I hope you can join me next time for another terrifying tale of the unexplained. So be sure to hit subscribe if you want to hear the next entry into our archives. Until next time. Pleasant dreams.