The Tape Library - Archive of the Paranormal & the Unexplained - The Horrifying Legends of Castle Houska - Inside The Gate To Hell

Episode Date: April 24, 2024

Uncover the chilling mysteries of Houska Castle in our spine-tingling exploration of its haunted history. From the legendary gateway to Hell to the faceless specter that roams its halls, delve into the dark secrets of this enigmatic fortress. Dive into the depths of the castle's haunted past as we uncover the truth behind its sinister reputation. With strange creatures, unexplained happenings, and Nazi occult ties. Join us on a journey into the heart of darkness as we unravel the paranormal phenomena surrounding Houska Castle, where legends come to life and nightmares become reality. 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 Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thetapelibrary Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Tape-Library/100094332411836/ 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. Additional footage and audio from Evanto, Singularity, Midjourney and Pexels. All other footage used under fair use. CHAPTERS 00:00 A Gate To Hell 05:02 Welcome To The Tape Library 06:19 Opening The Gate 09:55 Building Houska Castle 13:53 The Ghosts of Houska Castle 15:57 The Man Who Couldn't Be Killed 18:59 The Voices 20:48 The Time Travelling Poet 22:19 The Nazis 26:09 Modern Encounters 31:25 What's Really Happening? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The chains clanked together as the prisoners were marched through the field. They had walked for miles at this point, chained together at the wrists and ankles, as they made their way past the swampy land, out in the middle of nowhere, somewhere deep in the Czech Republic. The guards flanking them on all sides on their horses. They were marching forward on a promise. The Duke himself had come to the prison just a few days earlier and presented an offer to several of the men. who were awaiting a dark fate in their prison cells. If they would come with him and his men

and help discover what was inside a hole at the sight of a former fort, they would be pardoned and released. A motley crew of rapists and murderers all jumped at the chance. Knowing this would be their only chance they would ever get to be free. Yet as the large limestone cliff came into view

with the long decayed remains of a wooden tree, thought on top of it. A sense of fear washed over them. Why exactly were the Duke present what appeared on paper to be such a simple task to a group of men who had nothing to lose? As they reached the top of the path, they finally got a good look at the whole. The remaining men who weren't already suspicious and fearful certainly were now. One of the guards who had accompanied them there laid out how this was going to work. One by one, the men would be slowly lowered down into the hole by a rope. Their task was simple, to reach the bottom of the pit, and then come back up and report what they had seen.

They would start at the first man in the line and continue on until someone was able to successfully reach the bottom and tell the guards what it was they wanted to know. The first prisoner approached, a young man who had taken the life of the life. of another, just a short time before this day. His life had changed so suddenly in that moment of unbridled rage, and he now found himself, glancing down into what looked like, a bottomless pit, as the guards began to fasten the rope around his waist. There was no hope of seeing the bottom. All that lay there before him was darkness. But what choice did he have? If he went back to his cell, death surely awaited him. At least this gave him a chance of living his life as a free man.

The guards began to lower the prisoner down. Very quickly the world became a very dark place for the prisoner as he trembled the pitch blackness of the earth, swallowed him whole. The guards and prisoners alike crowded around the edge of the hole, trying to see or hear anything from the man who had just been lowered in. But after the guards and prisoners alike, crowded around the edge of the hole, trying to see or hear anything from the man who had just been lowered in. But after just a few short seconds of being loaded in, it was almost like he vanished. There was nothing, just a rope descending into darkness and an uncomfortable silence. That was until the screaming started.

The prisoner's screams echoed around the walls of the pit. The guards quickly grabbed the rope and began hoisting it back up. The screams growing louder and louder with every surge of effort. the men put into, pulling him back into our world. After a short while they saw the man, still screaming as he was being pulled out of the darkness, but something was different. It was difficult to tell as he was still being pulled up,

but once the guards hoisted him back over the edge and onto the ground, they all froze in a stunned silence. The young, dirty-faced man, that they had lowered into the hole just a few minutes before, was covered in deep wrinkles. His hair was grey And his eyes As wide as sources were fear

The man had somehow aged decades While they were sure he hadn't made it to the bottom They needed to know what had happened What made him scream What had caused his appearance to change so rapidly They couldn't get much out of him But he made reference to an impenetrable blackness Horrible smells

And most concerning The sound of distant screaming that was not his own. That was all the guards could get out of him before his rambles descended into indecipherable gibberish. The prisoner was taken back by a single guard as the rest got the next prisoner ready to head into the hole.

The first prisoner was taken back in a hope that after some rest he would be able to reveal more. Within 48 hours he was dead. Whatever had happened to him in that hole, his heart, Couldn't take it. Welcome to the tape library.

Tonight we're heading to Europe to explore a location that has an unbelievably rich history of folklore and apparent paranormal goings on. A few of you had suggested I tackle this one and at first I thought, oh, it's just a haunty castle, but was I wrong? We've got stories of demons, pagan rituals, time travel, occultism, ghosts, and even Nazis, all centred around. all centered around one castle in a remote area of the Czech Republic.

We're going to be covering events that take us from 800 AD all the way up to the present day. Usually I try to tell these stories as they were originally reported, but attempt to give you a little look at the skeptical view on things as well for balance. But because we're dealing with such a long chunk of history, and most of these stories are simply spread through word of mouth, I think we're going to just delve into the folklore surrounding this place and have a bit of fun with it. Because, even if you don't believe any of this at all, the story of this place is a wild ride.

So let's get into it, shall we? Get yourself a warm drink, dim the lights, and get comfortable. It's time to delve into the horrifying legends of Hoska Castle, and the gate to hell it apparently protects. The ownership and history of the castle could be a video in all of itself. Hoska sits in a strange location, north of Prague, in a remote, swampy region of the Czech Republic. While the castle is in a remarkable state even to this day, what now stands on the grounds of Hoska Castle isn't the original structure. Some time in the late 800s, Prince Slavibor came across the location that would become Hoska. He seemingly decided to build a wooden castle, something that wouldn't have been unusual at the time. Historians have suggested

the prince intended the fort to be a home for his son. But why he chose this location, location exactly, appears to be shrouded in mystery. While remote, the location of Hoska had seemingly drawn people there multiple times over the years, with evidence suggesting it had been somewhere the Slavic people and the Celts had both either called home or at least visited for some reason. There are some oddities about the location of Hoska Castle, but we'll get into those a little later. Construction on the fort quickly began, but something happened that caused a few issues. Much of the surrounding area is made up of limestone cliffs, and the location of Hoska was no exception. There are some that suggest areas of heavy limestone have some sort of connection to paranormal events.

While building continued, the limestone split. Not a particularly uncommon occurrence, but this split in the cliff left a particularly large hole, one that the workers couldn't seem to find the bottom of. They began to fill it with stone, but no matter how much they poured. into the crevice. It never seemed to even begin to fill. The stone never even made a sound as they called it in, as though it was never actually hitting the bottom of the hole. The exact events that took place at this point are a little unclear, but this certainly seemed to mark the start of the reports of strange things being spotted around the area of Hoska Castle. The locals

began referring to this hole as a gateway to hell. Most would never venture near the hole, especially late at night, but those who did claim that soon after it had opened up. Creatures had started to crawl out of it, the most common of which were described as dark, shadowy figures, with large leathery bat-like wings. They would be seen crawling out of the hole by those who dared to venture near it, but were also apparently spotted, flying overhead the location of the fort. From those in the closest settlements, Others made references to a whole host of other creatures that appeared to be part human and part animal. One of the more notable of these creatures, it's described as being a strange mix between a frog, a dog and a person. This hole to hell and the subsequent beasts that appear to be escaping from it

was very quickly blamed for the issues that the locals were having. Men were apparently being struck down with strange illnesses. livestock were found dead or in some cases were being carried off into the night by the creatures from the hole and many of the crops in the area began to fail. Prince Labibor's family would never move into the wooden fortress. Those who were staying there during the construction quickly fled before it could be completed. Whatever happened here, there appears to be more to it to their mere local superstition, and the prince's men left the fortress abandoned, never to return.

It would be around 400 years later, before anyone attempted to build on the location again. Sometime in the late 1200s, seemingly under the orders of Otica II Bohemia, a castle would be built on the location that now ruined wooden fort, this time from stone. There have been some suggestions that the intention of Hosker Castle was to act as an administration building for the local area. However, I'm a little unsure of this has ever been confirmed. Certainly, when Otica's men arrived at the location, they would have known about the legend of the gate to hell. The stories had not gone away over the last few hundred years, in some cases, even growing in intensity. They were particularly interested in this pit, that they were told

that the locals had repeatedly tried to fill in, but had failed to even make a dent in. This is when the plan was put together to send prisoners into the hole. to see if there was any truth to this gate to hell story that was spreading throughout the Czech countryside. Of course, we already know what happened to the first prisoner. But it is said that much the same happened to all the subsequent men who were lowered into the hole. Most came out looking aged. All of them lost their minds. Only one prisoner apparently didn't.

He was only lowered into the darkness for a split second, before begging to be pulled out. stating that there was something unholy underneath Hoska Castle he would much rather face whatever punishment may come from his crimes than venture any further into that hole despite not being able to solve the mystery of what was inside that hole construction of the castle continued stone slabs were laid over the top of the hole and atop these slabs they built the castle's chapel

seemingly in a vain hope of keeping whatever evil they believed existed there at bay. This is something of a common practice of the time too, creating something that was viewed as positive and holy, to counteract some sort of dark history or evil that may have taken place at a specific location. To this day, remnants of the pictures that were created on the chapel's walls remain. There seems to be imagery of the Archangel Michael, lancing a demon on the ground, as well as more strangely, a part animal part human depiction. In this image, it appears to be a creature with the torso of a woman and the lower body of an animal. In her hand, she is drawing back her bow, specifically with her left hand,

which was said at the time to be a sign of evil. But this is when we can get into some of the oddities surrounding the building of Hoska itself. The castle has been renovated many times over the years as it's part. around in ownership, which leads to some confusion over what elements actually represented, what the original castle looked like. But the common claim is that this castle appears to have effectively been built inside out. This is often described as a cube within a cube within a cube. There are a few windows and no battlements that would have allowed archers to point their bows

outside the castle to defend it. Instead, all of the castle's defences appears to be. facing inwards, as though the building were designed to stop something from getting out, and not to deter enemies, from getting in. What's more, the very location appears to be a strange choice. There doesn't seem to be any strategic reason for Castle Hostas placement. No running water seemed to be close to the castle. No kitchen was seemingly built in its original construction. It was not along any trade routes and was some distance from any settlements. It doesn't feel like Castle Hoska was ever intended to function as a castle at all. It was simply built to encase

something within. The building of the chapel and the covering of the hole didn't really seem to achieve anything. Stories of winged beasts being spotted over the courtyard of the now completed Castle Hoska were commonplace as well as a number of strange apparitions that have been regularly reported dating from the original construction all the way up to the present day. Some claim to see a horse running through the forests that surround the castle late at night. While this may not be unusual in its own right,

the more concerning descriptions state that this horse doesn't appear to have a head. Where its head should be was an open wound, gushing out blood from the neck as it ran past witnesses before disappearing. This isn't the only headless apple The apparition has been reported, with many also claiming to see a man staggering about in much the same fashion. No head, leaving a trail of blood in his wake, before it all just vanishes.

Elsewhere on the ground surrounding the castle, there are stories of people seeing a row of prisoners, all dressed in black ropes. These prisoners are chained together, clanking as they move. Disturbingly, they are often described as carrying body parts with them. Some witnesses have explained that those body parts are their own. A pack of dogs is regularly said to be chasing the prisoners, gnawing at them as they walk, ripping limbs from them, but this doesn't stop the black-robed men. They simply pick up whatever parts the dogs rip off them and continue on their path. A more traditional ghost, as is regularly spotted, is that of a beautiful woman with long dark hair and dressed all in white, who is often spotted walking alone through the upper halls of the castle.

The description of her being dressed in white will be interesting, when we get into another story later. As I mentioned over the years, Hoska has been taken over by various groups. There are rumours that the site high atop this limestone cliff was used in the past as a place of worship for the pagans in the area, and that the location has become something of a spiritual battleground of sorts as the emergence of Christianity pushed out the traditional beliefs of the area. This mixture of pagan and Christian imagery is even present on the walls of the chapel. It is also somewhere that those with an interest in the occult

seemed to be drawn to. In the year 1630, the castle was said to have been taken over by a gang of mercenaries, led by a man named Oranto. He and his men are taken to raping and pillaging the surrounding settlements, and bringing back not just goods but also people to their new home of Castle Hoska. But why Hoska? The story goes that Oranto had a strong interest in the occult and alchemy. The locals believed that Oronto and his men were bringing the kidnapped villages back to the castle to use them in rituals and perform experiments on them.

They believed that Oronto had either already achieved or was attempting to complete a black magic ritual that would give him eternal life, meaning that no one would be able to stock the violent mercenary. Most of the locals were too afraid to go up against the Ronto and his gang. So instead two hunters were hired to attempt to kill the man. Knowing about O'Ronto's potential magical powers, the hunters apparently sourced special ammunition from a blacksmith with a knowledge of the occult. The bullets were produced under a specific ritual that he claimed would give the hunters the ability to kill O'Ronto.

That night, the two hunters approached the castle. From the outside, they could see the window of the room O'Oonto was staying in, lit up by candlelight as the man was working late into the evening. The hunters gently called out Oronto's name, who approached his window to see who dared to call on him at such a late hour. With just a single shot, the hunters apparently hit Oronto between the eyes. But to add an even strangest thing to this tale, Oronto didn't die immediately.

the hunters quickly made their escape, and Oronto lay on the floor of his bedchamber, calling for his men to bring him his black hen that he seemingly believed would somehow save his life. Before the men could fetch the bird, he would bleed to death. News quickly spread of Oranto's passing, and while many of his men fled, the local law enforcement arrived soon after to take the remaining men to prison. Leaving Castle Hoska empty, once again. Early in the 19th century, the castle was undergoing yet another change in ownership, and subsequently another renovation.

This provides us with a story of one maintenance worker, who found himself alone late one afternoon, working close to the chapel. He was busy repairing a wall when he heard something. The voice. He couldn't quite make out. what was being said, but he didn't think any of his colleagues were supposed to be working in the chapel that day. The man called out, but the voice didn't seem to react. It didn't stop speaking, but it didn't respond to his calls. The man downed his tools and headed into the chapel,

pushing the doors wide open. It was empty. There was a moment of silence before the chattering started up again. It began to sound like it was more than one wrong. voice. The man looked around the chapel, baffled at what was going on. But as he moved throughout the room, the voices got louder. He could tell they were speaking another language, one he did not recognise. And even more concerning was the fact that the source of the voices seemed to be coming from inside the walls of the chapel. The man was immediately terrified and turned and ran. He refused to ever return. to Castle Hoska again, when he was asked if he recognized any of the words he had heard.

He said that the only one he could identify was the fact that the voice kept saying, Seraph, over and over again. Seraph is said to be a celestial being that is present throughout Christianity, Judaism, and Islamic beliefs. One of the other frequently reported phenomena at Castle Hoska is that of apparent time slips, The most famous of these accounts comes from the writer and poet Carol Heinek Matcher. It is said that Matcha was taking a walking tour of the area in 1836 when he decided to take lodging for the night at Castle Hoska. That night as he lay in bed, Matcha claimed to have had a dream that had such a profound effect on him.

He recounted it to a friend when he returned home. He said that in his dream he felt like he was falling through a dark tunnel, deep into a pit. with endless darkness surrounding him. But unlike the prisoners, he did reach a bottom of some sorts. He claimed he came out into a world that he described as horribly mechanised. He wandered the streets of what he soon realised was Prague. But everything seemed different. He spoke to a little girl who told him the year was 2006.

He stated that this little girl showed him moving pictures in a small casket. that she held in her hands. He also stated that as darkness fell on this hellish, as he described it, version of Prague, that he walked among sandstone cliffs, riddled with holes that projected eerie yellow lights. Many have suggested that this description chillingly matches up to the huge tower-block homes

on the outskirts of Prague in the modern day. 100 years later, Europe would be undergoing yet another massive change. The world was at war, and in 1938 the Munich Pact was signed, effectively handing over huge portions of the Czech Republic to Nazi Germany. In the middle of this land that they now had control over, the Nazis commandeered four castles, one of which was Hoska. While many people are well aware about the Nazis banning certain books and subsequent public burnings at these books, many pieces of ban literature. were collected by the Nazis and stored in Berlin. This included many books on Judaism, Masonic literature, and esoterism. Many have also suggested that among these books that they kept were thousands of volumes on the occult.

The Nazis feared that the bombing raids would damage the collection and instead decided to relocate the books to a remote region of the Czech Republic, splitting the books between the four castles. Much has been written about the Nazis' interest in the occult. While it's debatable with Hitler himself actually put much weight into it, Himmler was seemingly fascinated by the subject. Apparently taking something of a scientific approach to the study, over the years he developed an increasing hatred of Christianity, as it was said that he wanted to take the German people back to their pagan roots. although through a form of neo-paganism that he himself was developing. Apparently along this journey, while researching his own ancestry,

he discovered that an ancestor of his had been burned as a witch. It leads to a lot of debates amongst people about why exactly the Nazis chose these castles to store the books. The majority of what the Nazis were up to at Hoska Castle during the war is simply rumour and speculation. But then so much of the Hoska story is. Some have said the Hoska was used as a place for the Nazis to bring captured Polish and Russian women to begin the process of breeding the future of the Aryan race. But others say this is a twisting of events

and that the castle was actually being used as a brothel for the German troops. There are also claims that Himmler was a regular at Hoska and he was using the castle for experiments and rituals that often the German high command were summoned to the castle to partake in rituals that he believed would turn the war in the Germans' favour with even Hitler himself being present as some of these ceremonies. One story suggesting that the Nazi leader

was one of the many that claimed to experience a time slip in the castle taking him to a different era in the same location Whatever the Nazis were really up to, Oskar, we will never know. Obviously, records were destroyed before the Allied forces claimed the area back. But a dark shadow of their brief reign of terror over Oskar did emerge several years after the war. The castle was being used for convalescent stay, for a group of unwell children. How exactly they discovered them, I am unsure, but at some point during their stay, they discovered that three of the Nazis were still there.

They were long dead, seemingly executed by their own men, as no reports of any battles had taken place in the area. Even more strangely, though, is that the bodies of the three Nazis were discovered, just placed underneath the floorboards of the castle. Throughout the 20th century and into modern times, the tales of demonic entities seem to have died down. But that's not to say it hasn't had its fair share of recent phenomena. One of the previous owners of the castle spoke about how one evening,

he was in a room drinking wine with friends. He placed his glass down on the table. The entire group quickly stopped laughing and joking. When they witnessed the man's glass lift off the table and hover in the air before the ball. The man in question reached out and picked his glass up from the understander. unseen hand that appeared to be holding it. He placed it back down on the edge of the table, only to then see it being dragged across the table until it was central before it totally stopped moving.

The castle has become very popular with Ghost Hunters, with a number of teams visiting the castle. In 2014, one such team visited, they claimed that much of their electronic equipment's batteries were drained, despite the being fully charged, heard a number of odd sounds throughout the chapel, and one member even claimed to have felt a burning sensation on his chest. When he pulled up his t-shirt, he revealed a blistering burn underneath. Others have made reports about doors being unopenedable despite not being locked, and hearing the rattling sounds of tools, echoing through the halls. The castle has actually been open to the public since 1999.

However, in one documentary, the castle's wardens claimed that they were forced to limit overnight stays, after one night a person who wanted to stay in the castle, to see if they could experience anything unexplainable, through themselves on the bedroom window, in the middle of the night. Another common occurrence is that of seeing shadow figures walking through the castle, often up on the walkway above the courtyard. This figure is said to be harmless and people believe it's merely there to keep watch over the hole. But one couple who were dining at the castle one evening claimed to have had a darker experience. They heard a loud thump on the floor and turned to look at what it caused the noise, but there was nothing. When they turned back they saw two

semi-transparent figures, dressed in black robes that had no faces. The figures quickly moved towards the couple, whispering to one another before fading away. The couple were convinced that they heard them talking about the killing of young girls. A number of people who believe they have psychic abilities have made claims about Hoska Castle and time travel, with one story being reported about an Irishman who visited the castle in recent years, who claimed that there was a specific room in the castle that could, be used to transport oneself through time. Some have suggested that the castle doesn't exactly let you travel through time physically, but instead does something to our minds that allows us

to view the past or the future, almost like a hologram. This brings us to one final story on the whole time travel thing, that I initially wasn't going to include, but then when I made the mental connection to the woman in white, I couldn't resist. A clinical hypn'ttherapy called Alexandra Mackenzie, had become fascinated with the story of Hoska Castle and claimed she felt it was calling her to it. One day she made the trip to the castle and instantly headed down towards the infamous chapel, but she said when she approached the doorway, she felt something telling her not to go in. As though something was warning her, she was headed the wrong way. way. Instead she found herself drawn to heading outside, exploring the grounds, as she walked up a nearby hill. She claimed she felt a strong gust of wind blow through her hair, and then she

was hit with the sudden realization that something had changed. She glanced down to see that she was now dressed all in white, with a belt wrapped around her waist, embroidered with flowers. A look she described as being like a priestess. She thought she was a woman. followed the path back down the hill towards the castle, being joined by other young women as she did. As she approached the castle, she realised they were all moving in what felt like some sort of procession. She then glanced down again. This time though, she was completely naked. That is when she claimed that she was hit with the overwhelming realisation that they were marching towards the deaths, that she was heading into Hoska Castle, to be sacrificed.

Her memory appears to become jumbled about what happened when she stepped foot inside, but just a few moments later, she found herself, stood back up on that hill, dressed in her normal clothes. So what's really happening at Hoska Castle? As I mentioned at the start of the episode, This is a location so steeped in very real dark history as well as folklore, so it becomes almost impossible to gauge how much weight to give any individual story. There have been some suggestions that maybe people really do see things at this castle, but that there is a very natural reason for this. Could the split in the limestone have sent up some sort of gas that caused the residents to hallucinate, and that these reported hallucinations, then created a terrifying legacy around the castle. And then, over the years, people began to expect to see the fantastical,

even if it wasn't really there. The claims about the castle having no outside defences at all seem a little suspicious as well. Seemingly there was at least a moats around in the castle, as well as other possible defences, but that these were taken away during one of the many remodelling of the location. Stories about hidden rooms in the castle, castle and a lack of windows could also be explained by the constant restructuring of the building. Much is said about the lack of any strategic reason for the castle to be there, but it isn't far from other castles in the region. Regardless, the design of the castle is unusual, and the

drawings in the chapel do really spark the imagination. Is Hoska castle simply a hole in the ground that started as local superstition before merging with a more modern interest in the paranormal. Or is there something more to it than that? Maybe this wasn't just a place for the Nazis to store books. Maybe there is a reason why so many people over the centuries have seen it as a location of high importance to the spiritual realm. And maybe, if you happen to walk into the right room

at the right time, you can walk back out into a completely different world. That's all for this entry into the tape library. As always, I would love to know what you think about this story. Were you familiar with Hoska already? Are there any key stories you think I should have covered? Or are the legends of Hoska Castle completely new to you? If you haven't already, please do like this video and click the subscribe button if you've enjoyed this episode. It really helps me out and means you are much more likely to see more

tales like this for me in the future. This one was a lot of fun, so thank you once again to everyone who suggested it. Until next time, Pleasant Dreams.