Dmitriy Mandzhiev, about evil spirits

Abstract

In the steppe there are many places that are haunted by evil spirits. A place not far from our cattle station is such a place. People who travel there at night usually get lost and stray away. Once a year we invite a monk to read prayers and cleanse that place. In spite of being haunted, the place itself is very good in terms of vegetation. The water there is clean and the grass very juicy and high. No matter how difficult the year may be, livestock that grazes there stay fat and healthy. I don’t know what shulmus spirits look like, but besides them there are other evil beings called erlg and chodkr. I often heard that these beings make people stray away at night. I also heard that they live near cemeteries. Whoever is near a cemetery after sunset runs a danger of having their soul seized by an erlg. After that soulless people die quickly.