In Irish folklore, a Banshee is a supernatural creature, a female spirit, which appears, in the middle of the night, as a long haired beautiful woman, or sometimes as an old woman with ugly teeth (horrifying either way). Witnessing a Banshee singing, or shreiking at night, usually signifies the arrival of death, which she announces through her wailing. Considered an omen of death, the person who sees a Banshee dies soon after it, or someone in that person’s family will, or has already died. She herself does not cause the death, but rather acts as a messenger, through the lament which she sings. The Banshee, sometimes called a fairy, in reality is a ghost of a woman who has recently died a horrible death, or a mother who passed away during childbirth.

So next time you’re in Ireland, my advice would be to avoid at all costs, taking a stroll to the countryside in the middle of the night.