Unexplained : True Tales of Unexplained Mysteries with Bestselling Author Steph Young
Oct 12, 2026 · 33 min · 10 segments
Something that lived between life & death - The Zaragoza Goblin. In Zaragoza, Spain, the police came first, then guards, then the army were dispatched to keep people out, and more importantly, to…
Steph YoungHost
something not human something that lived between life and death in the liminal plane of existence in Zaragoza Spain the police came first then guards then the army were dispatched to keep people out and more importantly to keep something else inside the surprise always came when upon reaching the kitchen they would be greeted by a voice gleeful menacing sinister the guards are here it would gloat mockingly the voice sounded like it came from inside the gas stove the press arrived next local at first then national then international drawn by a story so absurd it refused to be ignored a voice unmistakably a voice living inside a household stove by the time it all ended the official explanation would be as strange as the haunting itself it all began on september twenty seventh nineteen thirty four in the second floor apartment of the pelazon family in a building on gascon gotor in zaragoza spain the day itself had passed ordinarily until evening came in the kitchen dinner had been served and the stove had cooled the family now happily fed settled into their beds for the night until sometime in the early hours of the morning when the stove began to guffaw or rather a voice that sounded very much like it was coming from inside the stove or perhaps behind it began to hideously laugh Soon the voice would start to speak, too.
Cowards, cowards, I'm going to kill everyone in this damned house.' When it first began that first night, the family were woken from their beds in terror.
In fact, all the neighbours heard it, too, and they sprang from their slumber to see what all the commotion was.
they searched the corridors while the pelasson family inside the apartment searched every room it had to be an intruder a burglar but neither the family nor their neighbours at first could find the source of the raucous taunting laughter The booming voice sounded male, but strangest of all, when the family entered the kitchen, it sounded like it was coming from inside the stove, a preposterous suggestion, and yet there it was.
Of course, the stove was searched, but there was no one inside, besides which a person could not fit inside the stove.
the following night there was no repeat and so it became easier to blame something ordinary the groan of settling pipes a distant voice carried from the street the chimney ran upward through multiple apartments before opening on to the roof and so sound they reasoned could easily travel it had to have been a neighbour upstairs or downstairs and the occupants of the building resumed their daily lives with little further thought about it that was until november fifteenth when the young maid of the palazon family household sixteen-year-old pascuala alcoquer was working in the kitchen Just as she was about to light the stove to cook the evening meal, she heard a wail, which transformed into a hideous, deep voice.
It shouted at her, "'For the love of God, don't light it, you'll burn me!' head of the household Don Antonio, who didn't believe the voice was real, was summoned to investigate the kitchen.
But as he said so, more moans and groans emanated from what sounded like inside the gas-oven.
ow you're hurting me it shouted sarcastically then it recited the names of every member of the household the maid and don antonio's wife fled the kitchen and began knocking on neighbors doors desperate for someone anyone to witness what they'd just heard The neighbours followed the women back with much scepticism, and not a little irritation.
But the moment they crossed the threshold of the Palazzo apartment, the voice returned.
It spoke again, as if it had been waiting for fresh ears, as if it enjoyed an audience.
It came in bursts, laughter, sharp and sudden, then screams, jagged enough to freeze the room.
then unmistakably a voice deep and male not muffled or distant but close by it seemed to gather itself in the stove as though the dark mouth of the chimney had learned how to speak By the end of the week, the building on Gascon-Gotta had begun to echo with gossip about the mystery.
By the end of the month, police, the military, judges, and international newspapers would all flock to the building, along with an ever-increasing crowd of the general public.
At first, most people called it a trick, a prank, hidden somewhere in the walls, a clever boy with a talent for mimicry, a cruel joke stretched too far.
But others, quieter voices, said something else, a duende, a goblin, something not human, something that lived between life and death, in the liminal plane of existence.
In their view, a duende could be many things, a flicker of mischief, a household spirit, a watcher in the dark.
And whatever had taken root in the Palazzo home was not playful, and neither was it friendly.
something not human something that lived between life and death in the liminal plane of existence in Zaragoza Spain the police came first then guards then the army were dispatched to keep people out and more importantly to keep something else inside the surprise always came when upon reaching the kitchen they would be greeted by a voice gleeful menacing sinister the guards are here it would gloat mockingly the voice sounded like it came from inside the gas stove the press arrived next local at first then national then international drawn by a story so absurd it refused to be ignored a voice unmistakably a voice living inside a household stove by the time it all ended the official explanation would be as strange as the haunting itself it all began on september twenty seventh nineteen thirty four in the second floor apartment of the pelazon family in a building on gascon gotor in zaragoza spain the day itself had passed ordinarily until evening came in the kitchen dinner had been served and the stove had cooled the family now happily fed settled into their beds for the night until sometime in the early hours of the morning when the stove began to guffaw or rather a voice that sounded very much like it was coming from inside the stove or perhaps behind it began to hideously laugh Soon the voice would start to speak, too.
Cowards, cowards, I'm going to kill everyone in this damned house.' When it first began that first night, the family were woken from their beds in terror.
In fact, all the neighbours heard it, too, and they sprang from their slumber to see what all the commotion was.
they searched the corridors while the pelasson family inside the apartment searched every room it had to be an intruder a burglar but neither the family nor their neighbours at first could find the source of the raucous taunting laughter The booming voice sounded male, but strangest of all, when the family entered the kitchen, it sounded like it was coming from inside the stove, a preposterous suggestion, and yet there it was.
Of course, the stove was searched, but there was no one inside, besides which a person could not fit inside the stove.
the following night there was no repeat and so it became easier to blame something ordinary the groan of settling pipes a distant voice carried from the street the chimney ran upward through multiple apartments before opening on to the roof and so sound they reasoned could easily travel it had to have been a neighbour upstairs or downstairs and the occupants of the building resumed their daily lives with little further thought about it that was until november fifteenth when the young maid of the palazon family household sixteen-year-old pascuala alcoquer was working in the kitchen Just as she was about to light the stove to cook the evening meal, she heard a wail, which transformed into a hideous, deep voice.
It shouted at her, "'For the love of God, don't light it, you'll burn me!' head of the household Don Antonio, who didn't believe the voice was real, was summoned to investigate the kitchen.
But as he said so, more moans and groans emanated from what sounded like inside the gas-oven.
ow you're hurting me it shouted sarcastically then it recited the names of every member of the household the maid and don antonio's wife fled the kitchen and began knocking on neighbors doors desperate for someone anyone to witness what they'd just heard The neighbours followed the women back with much scepticism, and not a little irritation.
But the moment they crossed the threshold of the Palazzo apartment, the voice returned.
It spoke again, as if it had been waiting for fresh ears, as if it enjoyed an audience.
It came in bursts, laughter, sharp and sudden, then screams, jagged enough to freeze the room.
then unmistakably a voice deep and male not muffled or distant but close by it seemed to gather itself in the stove as though the dark mouth of the chimney had learned how to speak By the end of the week, the building on Gascon-Gotta had begun to echo with gossip about the mystery.
By the end of the month, police, the military, judges, and international newspapers would all flock to the building, along with an ever-increasing crowd of the general public.
At first, most people called it a trick, a prank, hidden somewhere in the walls, a clever boy with a talent for mimicry, a cruel joke stretched too far.
But others, quieter voices, said something else, a duende, a goblin, something not human, something that lived between life and death, in the liminal plane of existence.
In their view, a duende could be many things, a flicker of mischief, a household spirit, a watcher in the dark.
And whatever had taken root in the Palazzo home was not playful, and neither was it friendly.
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