The Crooked Man.
The Crooked Man, formerly known as Alexander Leslie, is a vengeful spirit that is said to go after those who despair.
Overview[]
The crooked man is reputed to be the Scottish General Sir Alexander Leslie. He signed a covenant securing religious and political freedom for Scotland.
The "crooked stile" in the poem was the border between England and Scotland. "They all lived together in a little crooked house" refers to the fact that the English and Scots had at last come to an agreement, despite continuing great animosity between the two peoples, who nonetheless had to live with each other due to their common border.
Description[]
As the Crooked Man, he appears as a scrawny and abnormally thin humanoid male, wielding a tattered umbrella, a withered dark red striped shirt and pants along with a small red fedora that covers his eyes with two circles as eye holes above the rim of the Hat. His legs are misshapen and bent crudely as a result of a terrible accident or disease. His most frightening feature, however, is his wide monstrous grin, showing off rotted sharp teeth and deathly pale skin. He also seems to have round rim glasses that are stationed on the top of his fedora.
History[]
Background[]
Being a vengeful spirit, the Crooked Man was once human named Alexander Leslie, and one of the first settlers in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. He built his house in an area called The Hurricane. He was also one of the worst men in his lifetime, amassing his fortune from the misery of others. Stirring conflict between his fellow settlers and the native tribes, he sold liquor and guns to both sides, during both the American Revolution and the Civil War.
Things only took a turn for the worst when the townspeople, finally being fed up with his malicious ways, attempted to storm his house and kill him. Leslie was subdued, beaten, then hung and left for dead in his own house. His fortune was dispersed to the winds, but his name and memory became cursed among the locals. However, because of his impressive record of sin, "the Devil" sent Leslie back to the mortal world as a demonic soul collector. Riddled with negative emotions that he last felt before he died, he became a vengeful and deadly spirit.
Crooked Man[]
Now known as the Crooked Man, Leslie recruited the witch Effie Kolb as his right-hand woman while turning local women into witches by preying on them during the low ebbs of their lives. He collected souls in glass jars, where they took the appearance of gold coins. He also becomes resentful upon seeing anyone that enters his home, immediately disliking them.
His spirit haunts the very house he once resided in, and would not hesitate to harm or even call anyone that dares enter his house and make it their own. Moreover, he came to hate certain individuals or family members for being so much like himself, but staying happy. He tries to drive them to suicide, or kill them personally.