Thatcham author's haunting tale for National Storytelling Week
The Czech folklore that inspired Jana Karst
Many years ago Thatcham author Jana Karst visited a place called Devet Krizu - Nine Crosses in Czech - where standing before the crosses, she was inspired to discover more. On her journey back to England she wrote a synopsis of the story on a notepad. From there, in her spare time, she pieced the whole tale together and last year her ghost story-cum-detective novel was published. Here, for National Storytelling Week, January 30 to February 6, she recounts the tragic tale on which it was based.
"We all know some old folklore that has been retold by generations.
"My horror novel Ninth Cross is based on a place called Nine Crosses, which lies after exit 168 off the main D1 motorway towards Brno, in the Czech Republic. This place has taken its name from the nine crosses erected by Benedictine monks in 1540 following a wedding massacre.
The story told isn’t listed in archives and its first mention is in 1728 Velké Bíteš town chronicle. It was said that 261 years ago a villager found a nearly-frozen man called Veleslav in the winter and took him home to recuperate. His daughter, Johanka, who took good care of Veleslav, fell in love with him despite the family's disapproval of the match.
The Ottoman-Hapsburg war broke out and Veleslav was called up to join the army. He learned about Johanka’s marriage when he returned as an officer a day before her wedding. With his loyal army friend he plotted to kill the new groom, but it didn’t go to plan and nine of the wedding guests were killed, including the bride.
The unofficial verbal account talks of Veleslav being a horseman from Uher, who was jumped on and injured by outlaws. When the villager's daughter Johanka’s proclaimed her love for Veleslav, the family disagreed with the match due to Veleslav’s lack of fortune. Veleslav promised to return a rich man and they to wait for his return. However, the family didn’t wait and agreed to marry Johanka to a better suitor.
Veleslav returned a year later to find out that Johanka was about to marry the next day. He paid someone to have the groom killed. Sadly, two separate accounts agree that the plan didn’t go ahead as hoped and nine wedding attendees lost their lives, including Veleslav and Johanka.
It was monks that erected the crosses and buried the dead. It is still up to discussion how exactly the wedding guests were slaughtered as guns were too new and expensive to own. Though knife attack seems a much more credible option, it is difficult to ascertain how so many could be killed by a single assailant. Nonetheless, it was the monks who took care of the crosses which they changed every 100 years.
There is a small historical record of when monastery replaced and blessed the crosses in 1824 and 1887. Folklore claims that the frequent replacement of the ninth cross was because this was where the murderer was buried. ‘It’s rotting from beneath because of the rotten soul that lies there still.’
The nearby villagers of Lesni Hluboka have reported sightings of the ghostly weeping bride since the 16th century. And it’s important to mention that since the motorway was built in the 20th century, the Nine Crosses motorway exit has been the site of many fatal car accidents. Furthermore, a local football star suffered a fatal heart attack right by the crosses while training for the championship.
It can only be a guess as to what really happened, but this love story without a happy ending continues to pass down the centuries in local folklore.
It was this place that inspired me to write the novel Ninth Cross’. The main character, retired detective Mr Terberk is chasing a specific murderer skipping through time to claim more victims. His target is to figure out who is acting on the murderer’s behalf and what item is the gateway between the world of the living and the dead. Only finding the individual and destroying the item can rid the evil and break the bond...
I hope you enjoyed reading this little snippet of Czech folklore and in future I hope to relate the true event which inspired my second novel I'm currently writing."
The novel ‘Ninth Cross’ by J. Karst is available any online bookstore (example link below from Waterstones). Email Jana for the last of the stock of signed paperbacks or if you would like a personalised message (RRP is £9.99 per paper copy).
https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/j++karst+the+ninth+cross
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