General Information

The Dullahan (pronounced DOOL-a-HAN) - also referred to as the Headless Horseman - is a type of Fae originating from Irish folklore. This sinister being appears as a man or a woman riding upon a black horse, but the rider has no head upon their shoulders. Typically, the Dullahan carries its head under its arm; the head appears dead and rotten (sometimes compared to having flesh resembling old cheese) with a demonic grin spread across its face from ear to ear. The Dullahan carries a whip made from a human's spine. Sometimes pulls wagon which is adorned with funeral objects (e.g., candles in skulls to light the way, the spokes of the wheels are made from thigh bones, the wagon's covering made from a worm-chewed pall or dried human skin). When the Dullahan stops riding, that is where a person is due to die and when a Dullahan calls out the person's name, the person immediately perishes. There is no way to bar the road against a Dullahan—all locks and gates open to them when they approach. They do not appreciate being watched while on their errands, throwing a basin of blood on those who dare to do so (often a mark that they are among the next to die), or even lashing out the watchers' eyes with their whips. They are however frightened of gold, and even a single gold pin can drive a Dullahan away.

How we pranked the Fey Death Omen

Hey Nov, here! This story is the first prank I did with the team, and josh saw fit that I’m the one to tell it, how exciting! So, it all started when I was talking to the lore masters about Irish creatures, they were adamant that we couldn’t prank a fey creature (if successful it would be the first one) so I got to work!

I was studying every document I could about the Dullahan, and found it needed to be always close to its head, and that it was afraid of gold. I used this to my advantage and brought my work to josh. He loved the idea so a few days later we were in Ireland tracking down a Dullahan. We eventually found one, a male (we didn’t realize it was the same one who was to go on a date with the banshee lady until afterwards).

We stole his head while he was terrorizing a family (he dropped it) and the plan started! From Ireland we went down to South Africa, and the Dullahan followed like we knew it would. We kept the head in an iron cage adorned with gold trinkets donated by team members, making sure the Dullahan couldn’t get close to its head! From south Africa we went (in order): Turkey, Russia, Antarctica, Peru, Greenland, Mali, back to Ireland. Once we returned to Ireland, we took the head out of the cage and returned it back to the Dullahan, who was pissed he missed his date.