The Washerwomen of the Night

Among Brittany's most unsettling supernatural beings are the kannerezed noz (washerwomen of the night) or lavandières de la nuit. These spectral figures appear by streams and rivers, washing shrouds in the dark water. To encounter them means death approaches—if not one's own, then someone dear.

The washerwomen take various forms: - Spirits of women who died in childbirth, condemned to wash swaddling clothes that will never be used - Mothers who killed their children, washing bloodstains that never fade - The souls of those who washed clothes on holy days, breaking sacred prohibitions

The danger lies not in seeing them but in their request. They always ask passersby to help wring out their washing. Those who refuse face immediate death. Those who accept must wring in the same direction as the washerwoman—twist the wrong way, and she breaks your arms or wrings your neck like the linen.