The Banana-Toothed Man

This story did not happen to me but to my great uncle, who is now no longer with us - it pains me to say that I seem to be surrounded by paranormally receptive people, but nothing ever happens to me!

My great uncle lived in Kandy, Sri Lanka, which I believe is where this took place. He went to the market late one afternoon to buy some beef, and my great aunt warned him that he'd left it pretty late and would have to run if he were to stand any chance of getting a decent cut of beef. However, she warned him not to take the footpath along the isolated short cut, even though this would guarantee him getting there in less time. This particular stretch of pathway had a reputation for being haunted by spirits, although my great aunt had never had any personal experiences there. (Mind you, this was probably because she never dared to go!).

However, he ignored her advice and took the short cut anyway, reaching the market with no problem. He went to the butcher's stall and was lucky enough to get one of the last remaining good cuts of beef left. The butcher wrapped it for him, and after purchasing it he decided to wander around some of the other market stalls and see if they had any late bargains. He hung around for a while and only decided to go back when it was getting dark.

And yes - he took the forbidden short cut back. The pathway was not particularly long, but was lined by trees on one side and long grass on the other - no lighting of any kind. My great uncle walked along the pathway and suddenly heard a rustling noise coming from the side with the long grass. He turned to look, and saw a pair of hands sticking out of the grass. The hands then parted the grass, and through the gap came the face of a terrifying-looking man. In the half-light my great uncle could see that he had wide, bulging eyes and what he described as "long teeth, like bananas", hanging over his bottom lip. The man did not do anything, but simply stared out from beneath the grass. My great uncle was so spooked that he ran all the way home.

He was in such a state of shock that my great aunt knew straight away that he had ignored her warning and taken the short cut. She was really cross with him and told him to sit down while she took the beef to prepare for dinner.

And this is the horrible bit ...

When she unwrapped the beef, it was rotten and crawling with maggots! Needless to say, it had been perfect when her husband had bought it.