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THE SEVEN O’CLOCK MAN

The last time Miguel’s mother saw him playing ball in the garden, it was through the kitchen window. The sun was setting, and she hoped that at any moment he would come through the door, wash his hands, and the two of them would sit down to have dinner. But she waited in vain because he never came. That day Miguel had left school early, and his mother had promised him that when he finished doing his homework, he could play more time in the garden, but on one condition; he should return home before seven o’clock at night, otherwise something terrible could happen to him. Miguel assured her that he would do so, but only so that she would not repeat the same old story once again. Then he took the ball and hurried out into the garden closing the gate behind him. Several hours passed and he did not realize that it was beginning to get dark. Nor did he see a dense mist creeping slowly through the trees, advancing across the ground toward him, forming in the air a kind of figure he had never seen, much less imagined. When he saw how the dim light of the moon highlighted the spectral face of that entity that had emerged from the shadows. He wanted to scream, but no sound came out of his mouth. Fear had paralyzed him. Then, closing his eyes tightly, he felt a terrible burning as if the very flames of hell were consuming him. His strength had abandoned him, and that complete darkness became a deep sleep from which he never awoke. Miguel had become one more victim of the “The Seven 0’Clock Man”.

This extremely sinister character from the folklore of the province of Quebec emerged in the year 1800, and since then he has entered homes to steal children who have not fallen asleep at seven o’clock at night, or who stay outside playing, talking, and having fun.

Those who have seen him, and who lived to tell about him, have described him as a tall old man, who wears a black coat,  a top hat, and carries on his shoulders a large sack where he places disobedient children. Later, he takes them to his lost cave in the mountains, where he calmly devours them, then carefully scatters their bones all over the place, as if they were trophies.

Others have said that he looks like a demon and that he is capable of pulling tricks to kidnap children. One night a peasant saw him at the precise moment in which he caught a child who was playing in the field and was able to observe how from his pocket he took out a bit of magic sand that he then threw directly into the child’s eyes, producing a deep sleep and thus being able to place it more easily inside the sack. Unfortunately, the peasant could not save him, as he was so terrified by what he saw, that he ran away to alert the villagers.

If you are alone and awake in your room after seven at night, you will most likely hear banging on the floor and walls, and that means that The Seven O’clock Man has arrived to take you with him. And if you are outside your house, you better go inside immediately and go to sleep, because he is approaching you wrapped in thick black smoke. Otherwise, you will be one more child that will never be found.

AUTHOR: PROVINCE OF QUEBEC

Other Myths and Legends:

The Asrai – Dangerous Water Spirit

The Grindylow – Demon Siren

The Leshy – The Demon of the Forest

Tags: demon, folklore, Legend from Canada, legend from Quebec, Quebec, The Seven O'clock Man

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