Stories of people claiming to be reincarnated from other people will pop up every now and then. Some claims are obviously hoaxes, and we do not need to scratch past the surface to find out. Others, however, cannot be easily passed off as such, especially when the person involved reveals private details about their former lives.

Whether or not you believe in reincarnation depends on your religious, cultural, or personal beliefs. Nevertheless, here are ten interesting reincarnation stories that might be worth a read. Judge for yourself whether or not there’s anything to them.

10 Ryan

Ryan (born in 2005) was just a boy when he claimed to be the reincarnation of Marty Martyn, who had died about 50 years earlier. Ryan recognized Martyn in a photograph. Normally, someone like Martyn could not have been as rich as Ryan had claimed. Martyn was just a movie extra. Well, that was until he hit riches when he became a talent agent.

Martyn traveled around the world in large boats and bought a big house with a swimming pool and a piano. Ryan mentioned all of these. Ryan also added that he had two sisters, one of whom was a dancer, and that his mother had brown, curly hair. Ryan also mentioned that Martyn enjoyed sunbathing, was prone to getting sunburned, and had an African American maid. All of these were true.

Ryan was a bit off with some of his descriptions of Martyn, though. For instance, he said that Martyn’s home address contained either “Rock” or “Mount.” Martyn’s last address did not contain either of those words. However, it contained “Roxbury,” which arguably sounds close to “Rock.”^[1]

9 Helene Smith

Born Catherine Muller, Helene Smith (1861–1929) claimed to be reincarnated from the famous French queen Marie Antoinette. She also claimed to be the reincarnation of the daughter of an Arab sheikh and the wife of a Hindu prince. She worked as a spiritual medium, claiming to receive messages from unseen creatures.

Smith frequently fell into trances, during which she claimed to communicate with Martians. She also said she understood the language spoken on Mars and would often speak and write what she purported to be Martian. She even made drawings of what the terrain of Mars looked like. Smith’s drawings of Mars showed beings, boats, houses, plants, bridges, and lakes scattered along the Martian terrain.^[2]

8 Emin Gjinovci

Kosovan Emin Gjinovci (spellings of the surname vary) claims to be the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler. He used to be a soldier in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), where his colleagues pointed out his resemblance to Hitler. People greet him with screams of “Heil Hitler,” stretching out their arm as they would have done for the real Hitler.

He makes a living posing as a Hitler lookalike in his native town of Mitrovica. A photo with him goes for between €20 and €80. He is often invited to events as Hitler. At funerals, curious people will often stop crying to speak with him. To play the part of Hitler, Gjinovci moves around with Nazi swastikas and Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf. He also has a swastika on his business card.

Gjinovci’s commonalities with Hitler does not end with the looks. Like the real Hitler, he dislikes smoking and arrives early to meetings. He also has a dislike for the Serbs. He was in the ranks of the KLA when it fought against the Serbs in the 1990s.

On his hatred for the Serbs, Gjinovci says he considered an enemy of his enemy his friend. The Serbs are his enemy, and Hitler was an enemy of the Serbs. So Hitler is his friend.^[3] Whether or not he truly believes he is reincarnated from Hitler or merely calls himself such for his business is up for debate.

7 Shanti Devi

In the 1930s, an Indian girl named Shanti Devi claimed she was the reincarnation of another Indian woman named Lugdi Bai. Ludgi was born on January 18, 1902. She got married at ten and lost her first child after suffering a stillbirth. She birthed a second child on September 25, 1925, but died of pregnancy complications on October 4.

Shanti was born on December 11, 1926. She rarely talked as she grew older. When she did, it was about her husband and children. She said her husband, named Kedarnath, lived in Mathura, and they had a son. She described her husband, his shop, and his house. She also described the way she dressed when she was with him and the things she used to do.

Shanti’s family started taking her stories more seriously after she described how she died. The revelations startled a physician, since Shanti was too young to have understood the surgical procedures she talked about. Her family later arranged a meeting between her and Kedarnath’s cousin.

Shanti recognized her husband’s cousin. She also recognized Kedarnath when she finally met him, even though he was deliberately introduced to her as her former husband’s brother. The news of the reincarnation spread through India. Mahatma Gandhi even selected 15 people to investigate Shanti’s claims.

The team followed Shanti to Mathura, where she recognized several people, described how it had changed since her death, and led them to her husband’s house, even though she had never been there before. The news garnered worldwide attention after the team published their findings. Sture Lonnerstrand, a Swedish man who traveled to India to expose Shanti’s story as a hoax, concluded that it was true.^[4]

6 King Arthur Pendragon

King Arthur Pendragon says he is the reincarnation of King Arthur Pendragon. Or rather, let’s say John Rothwell, who legally renamed himself King Arthur Pendragon, says he is reincarnated from the fabled King Arthur Pendragon.

Rothwell was your regular biker until 1986, when he learned about King Arthur. He felt their lives were just too similar to be a coincidence and declared himself Arthur’s reincarnation. To seal his new position as king, he formed the Loyal Arthurian Warband, consisting of his loyalists. In royal fashion, he even knighted some of them.

However, being King Arthur in the 21st century is hard, as the reincarnated King Arthur found out. He holds worship sessions at Stonehenge, where English Heritage charges him and his followers to park their vehicles. King Arthur said no one charged him in his previous life to tether his horse at Stonehenge. So why was the present different?

He challenged the legality of the parking tickets in court, claiming it infringed on his right to worship.^[5] The judge ruled the parking fees were a “reasonable and legal measure.” Meanwhile, the king insists the charges are unfair and a violation of his human rights, since he is being made to “pay to pray.”

5 Serge Benhayon

Australian Serge Benhayon says he is reincarnated from the famous Italian artist, scientist, engineer, and architect Leonardo da Vinci. Benhayon is the founder of Universal Medicine, a controversial alternative medical outfit that has been criticized for its highly unorthodox practices.

For instance, Benhayon claims his “esoteric breast massage” can cure a person of cancer. His £23,000 relationship workshops have also led to a multitude of divorces. His daughter, Natalie, who works with him, claims she can communicate with a woman’s ovaries.

The relatives of Benhayon’s patients have accused him of controlling the lives of their family members. Some even compared his outfit to a cult. Benhayon remains unfazed by these claims and rakes in over £1 million a year from his trade. Interestingly, quite a few of his patients were referred to him by real doctors.^[6]

4 James Gibson

James Gibson is a drug abuser and murderer who also claims to be a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler. In 2009, he lost his father to the Black Saturday bushfires that raged through Victoria, Australia. He was just 12. He soon took to cannabis before switching to crystal methamphetamine when he was just 14. He was taking LSD by the time he was 15.

On April 3, 2015, he fatally attacked Glen Sullivan, hitting him on the head with a baseball bat. Sullivan fell on the floor, where Gibson hit him a second time. Sullivan died of brain damage and skull fractures a week later. When a witness to the attack asked Gibson why he hit Sullivan, Gibson said, “He killed my dad. I saw it in the smoke.”

Gibson later told a psychiatrist that he was a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler. He said the Nazis were controlling him and had ordered him to murder someone so that a Nazi team would recognize and retrieve him. Gibson was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment.^[7]

3 Rajesh

In 2005, 12-year-old Rajesh and his brother were building a small mud house when their father, who was mentally unstable, destroyed the house. This infuriated Rajesh, who threw a brick at his father. The brick hit his father in the head, causing serious injuries. Rajesh stopped talking after the incident and never said a word to anyone until two months later.

When Rajesh finally started talking, he spoke English with an American accent. This was even though he’d previously only spoke Hindi and had never understood English. He also seemed to have forgotten how to speak Hindi. Rajesh said he could speak English because he was reincarnated from an unnamed scientist from the US.

Zee News later debunked the story, claiming that Rajesh still understood Hindi. He understood questions asked in Hindi, even though he would answer in English. His English was also poor, and the accent was unnatural. He reportedly learned English from watching the Hollywood movie Total Recall.^[8]

2 Boriska Kipriyanovich

With so many people claiming to be reincarnations of other people, it was only a matter of time before someone claimed to be reincarnated from an alien. Enter Boriska Kipriyanovich, the Russian man who claims to be a reincarnation of a late Martian.

Boriska says he used to live on Mars until he was killed during a nuclear war. Before the war, he was part of a Martian team that regularly visited Earth. He claims to have met with ancient Egyptians during one such trip. Boriska added that Martians have partially unlocked the secret of immortality. They have the technology to stop themselves from aging once they reach 35.

Boriska says our spacecraft cannot detect life on Mars because the entire planet was leveled during the war, and the rest of the Martians relocated underground. Obviously, the absence of oxygen on Mars is not a problem, since Martians breathe carbon dioxide.^[9]

1 Luke Ruehlman

Luke Ruehlman was just two years old when he claimed to be reincarnated from a Chicago woman named Pam. He lived in Ohio with his mother, Erica, who had often heard him speak of Pam. Erica never paid much attention to Luke’s claims and dismissed Pam as a friend he was making up.

When she finally asked him about Pam, Luke said he was called Pam in his previous life. Luke did not stop there. He said he died in a fire and went to Heaven, where God sent him back to Earth as a baby. Erica did an Internet search and discovered that a woman named Pam Robinson died in a hotel fire in Chicago in 1993.

While some could pass the reincarnation claim as a hoax, there are two things that stand out. First, Erica had never spoken to Luke about Chicago. Even if Luke happened to have heard about Chicago from elsewhere, that did not explain how he was able to correctly identify a photograph of Pam from several pictures.^[10]

Most of us enjoy a good scary film, but there is something about those movies that claim to be “Based on True Events” that always creep us out just a bit more.

Here is a list of 10 films that are said to be based in reality, and the true events that inspired them.

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10 A Nightmare on Elm Street

In 1984 the film A Nightmare on Elm Street was released. The film, which features the iconic villain Freddy Krueger, who hunts the children of Elm Street and slaughters them in their dreams, is eerie enough on its own, but hearing there might be some truth to this urban legend was almost too much!

The real events, while creepy, are not as inspired as the claw handed killer the film depicts. Film creator, Wes Craven, said he conceived the idea for the script after reading an article in the L.A. Times, about a Hmong family who fled the Cambodian Killing Fields and migrated to America. The family’s youngest son began having vivid nightmares, often staying awake for days on end. He was afraid that if he slept the things in his dreams would kill him.

Eventually sleep overtook the boy and his fears came to fruition as he did in fact pass away.

Throughout the 70’s and 80’s there were a rash of unexplained deaths amongst the Asian community, all taking place while they slept. Add to that the memory of a childhood bully and what you have is a movie that cemented its place in American horror culture.

9 The Strangers

Secluded home, late night knock on the door. That is where the similarities between real-life and the 2008 film The Strangers, ends.

In the movie, a couple is tormented, hunted, and eventually (spoilers) murdered by a group of Doll faced killer. According to the trailer it was based on true events. This is a good example of how far imagination can take one with just the seed of an idea.

Bryan Bertino, the writerof the film, said he came up with the script based off a childhood memory. He said his family home sat out on a street far from his closest neighbor. One night, while his parents were out, someone knocked on their door. The uninvited guests inquired about someone but Bertino or his sister recognized the name and so the visitors left. It was later discovered that the couple was going house to house and when they found homes where no one answered they were breaking in. No one was killed, but the idea lingered for years and eventually morphed into the story on the big screen.

8 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

In 1974 Tobe Hooper deliver a film so shocking it left some questioning his sanity so imagine the shock when it was announced that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was inspired by real life!

The film, which depicts a family of cannibals who abduct and torture a group of young travelers, was a hit, partly due to the “true story” hype, but similarities to real life events were minor.

In the film, the character Leatherface, wears a mask of human flesh. Hooper claimed Leatherface, as well as a few other small details, were based on serial killer Ed Gein. Gein made lamp shades and other household items from skin and bones and also created a “Woman suit” that he wore to pretend to be his mother.

The rest of the story came from a rogue thought one holiday season as Hooper stood in a crowded Montgomery Ward. As his eye caught a display of chainsaws it crossed his mind that he could get through the crowd swiftly if he just cranked over one of the machines. The tale of Gein, along with that disturbing thought, merged.

Not surprisingly Ed Gein was the ispiration for other Hollywood characters including Norman Bates in Psycho, and Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs.

7 Return of the Living Dead

In 1968 the film Night of the Living Dead would forever change the way we saw zombies, creating a new genre that, years later, is still going strong. The genre has forked into various directions and it all started with 1985’s Return of the Living Dead.

Return of the Living Dead came from a disagreement between George Romero and John Russo on how to handle sequels to the Night of The Living Dead franchise. It gets confusing, but at the start of Return of the Living Dead, we see the words “Based on True Events”.

Wait? Are they saying zombies are real?

There are two stories why this message graces the screen. The first is more fun, although likely nothing more than urban legend. It says a chemical truck spilled in a graveyard and, as they were hauling away contaminated soil, they uncovered a grave where a body was found to be moving.

The real reason is more Hollywood than Halloween. In the film they refer to the events of Night of the Living Dead as real making that a legend and this the true story.

Misleading? Sure, but wouldn’t we much rather it be a hoax than an actual zombie apocalypse?

6 Poltergeist

In 1958, Seaford N.Y., the Hermann family made national news after reporting strange occurrences in their home. Odd noises, objects being moved and bottles suddenly popping their tops and spilling their contents.

At first the family suspected a prank by one of the kids, but after several more incidents, authorities were called in. They too believed it to be a hoax perpetrated by the family until they too began to witness bizarre activity.

Psychics were called and investigations performed. Theories were presented and quickly debunked. Something seemed to be happening inside the Hermann home and what it was no one knew.

Eventually the family moved but the story had found its way into popular culture. In 1982, the film Poltergeist hit theaters and, while the film plays out much different than actual events, the creators have claimed that the tale of “Popper the Poltergeist”, was the basis for the screenplay.

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5 When a Stranger Calls

We’ve all heard the story of the babysitter who keeps receiving phone calls from someone asking if she has checked on the children. As the campfire yarn goes, the call comes in so frequently that the girl, understandably concerned, calls the police. When the next call rings through they trace it only to discover “The call is coming from inside the house”! It is a truly terrifying twist, and the basis for the 1979 movie, When a Stranger Calls, but did you know there is some truth to this legend?

The first 20 minutes of the film are said to be some of the most thrilling in cinema history, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. The movie was a success, spurring a sequel, When A Stranger Calls Back, as well as a remake in 2006. However, the real-life events were much more tragic.

One night in 1950, the Columbia Police Department received a disturbing call from 13-year-old Janett Christman. The call just a scream and the words, “come quick” and then the line went dead. With nothing to go on the police had no idea from where, or whom, the call had been made. At the time, Janett was babysitting 3-year-old Greg Romack. When Greg’s parents returned home, they found Janett’s body. She had been assaulted, beaten and strangled to death.

An investigation ensued and, while the killer was never found, it was deemed that whoever it had been knew the layout of the house and they suspected it had been an “inside job”.

4 Scream

The 1996 film Scream was not only influenced by a true to life serial killer, but also the aforementioned When A Stranger Calls.

The opening scene of Scream has a young girl at home alone when the phone rings and a voice on the other end begins asking her about scary movies. As it turns out the call is from a killer who is in the house.

The movie depicts a small town where local youth are stalked and tormented by a cell phone wielding killer in a mask in the likeness of The Scream by painter Edvard Munch. To say the film was “based on true events” may be a bit of a stretch, but reality did help play a part in its creation.

Written by Kevin Williamson, the idea began after hearing a news story regarding a man named Danny Rolling who murdered five college students. Then one night Williamson came home to find a window inexplicably open. That planted a seed and he penned an 18 page short story that would later form the foundation for the film.

It took years for Scream, originally titled Scary Movie, to reach fruition but, once it did, box office returns and numerous sequels proved that adding a little realism to your story goes a long way.

3 The Blob

First released in 1958 and then a remake in 1980, The Blob tells the tale of a meteor that crashes to earth and releases a gelatinous creature that absorbs any living thing it comes in contact with. As it absorbs it also grows until eventually it reaches gargantuan proportions and attacks the town.

Was there any truth behind it?

Philadelphia, 1950, two police officers report seeing something float down from the sky and land in a field. Upon investigation they discovered an odd, purplish substance with a similar consistency to soap that dissolved when touched. Half an hour later the space jelly had completely melted away.

The Air Force was called but, as there was nothing left to examine, nothing came of it. Still the idea was out there, and it worked was the foundation for the story written by Kay Linaker and Theodore Simonson.

The movie went on to earn over $4,000,000.00 from a $110,000.00 budget! Not bad for a creature inspired by space slime.

2 Annabelle

This one starts in 1970 after a nursing student received an antique Raggedy Ann doll as a birthday gift from her mother. Almost immediately she, and her roommate, noticed odd things happening in their apartment. They would find the doll in different positions than what they left it, and odd, cryptic notes began to appear with messages like “Help me”.

A psychic was called, and informed them that the doll was possessed by a young girl named Annabelle. The roommates tried to let the spirit reside with them; however, as time went by things began to take a dark turn. Scratches began to appear on them, reports of blood oozing from the doll, and one even claimed they were attacked.

That is when Ed and Lorraine Warren were called in. They examined the doll and determined that the spirit was actually demonic in nature. They cleansed the apartment and took the doll back to their occult museum where it remains locked up to this day.

Parts of the actual story of Annabelle made their way into the 2013 film The Conjuring, although the style of doll was changed. This portion of the film became so popular that eventually it spurred a spin off film, Annabelle, in 2014, an two sequels, Annabelle Creation, 2017 and Annabelle Comes Home, 2019. Aside from the inclusion of the doll and the name Annabelle, the films have relatively little in common with the original story; still, they make for a creepy good time at the movies!

1 JAWS

Considered one of the scariest films of all times, JAWS, is the one that made everyone afraid to get in the water. Released in 1975, the movie is actually adapted from the novel written by Peter Benchley.

JAWS tells the tale of a 25 Foot Great White shark that goes on a man-eating spree in the tourist town of Amity over a fourth of July weekend. After a number of attacks three men, Sheriff Martin Brady, Oceanographer Matt Hooper and self-proclaimed shark hunter Quint, are sent out to dispatch the beast

Most people speculated the novel was based off a string of shark attacks that took place in New Jersey in 1916 but Benchley has refuted this assumption. The attacks were briefly mentioned in the book, but Benchley himself has stated he was fascinated with the idea of a killer shark after reading the story of a 4,500 pound Great White that had been harpooned by fisherman Frank Mundus off the coast of Long Island in 1964. Benchley said Mundus became the inspiration for the character Quint and the rest just fell into place.

No matter where the idea came from, JAWS is a movie that holds a special place in the hearts horror fans. It has spun off several sequels and is still a staple at local drive ins over 45 years later.

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About The Author: Jason has been an avid writer since the age of twelve. He was first published after winning the Young Authors award with Breakaway Magazine at the age of 16 and has since gone on to write numerous articles, short stories, and his first novel, LYRIC.

You must have read so many monster tales and also seen many monster movies. Such movies and novels do give us goosebumps and at times we are left wondering what would happen if such a monster stood right in front of us in real life. It surely would scare us to such an extent that we would perhaps faint then and there. But there are people who claim to actually have seen monsters for real. Whether it is true or not, it sure is interesting to learn about these 10 scariest monsters that people say they have seen in real life.

TOP 10 Scariest Monsters People Think Exist:

10. Dover Demon

Dover Demon is a monster that three teenagers claimed to have seen in Massachusetts on April 21-22, 1977. According to the teenagers, these monsters had curly fingers and huge glowing eyes. Each of the three teenagers who saw this monster drew its sketches and each of them drew the same type of image. The police however, believed that this was just a joke played by some other teenagers on the witnesses.

See also; 10 Most Terrifying Creatures Ever Found.

9. Converse Werewolf

The converse werewolf is a part of the North American legend. As per this legend, there was a rancher who had sent his teenage son to hunt a deer in the woods. However, the son did not come back and so the father went to the forest along with a rescue team. When the father heard the scream of his teenage son in the forest and ran to that direction he saw his child was being eaten by a huge wolf-like creature that did not die even after being shot by a rifle and just ran away.

See also; Top 10 Reportedly Haunted Places in Alabama.

8. Santu Sakai

This is a Malaysian legend about a creature that kept on attacking villages and ate the innocent people living there. Santu Sakais are beloved to be half human and half animal. Not too many people believed in the existence of Santu Sakai, however, a man named Henri Van Heerden claims to have seen two of these monsters while hunting and then he ran off in his car. Since these monsters are said to eat human they are one of the scariest to exists, if at all they do.

7. Champ

This monster is said to be living in the Lake Champlain. There is no physical evidence that could prove the existence of the Champ and the scientists believe this is just a trick to attract more tourist into this area. However, until now around 300 people have claimed to have had encounters with this scary monster. The first person ever to see this creature was Samuel de Champlain who saw it in the year 1609.

See also; 10 Most Interesting Kaiju Monsters of All Time.

6. Skunk Ape

This ape-like creature is a part of the legends of many states in the US, including Florida, North Carolina, and Arkansas. The monsters got their name from the smell that people say came from it. It was in the 1960s and 1970s that some people saw this ape. However, scientists do not believe in its existence, and think what people saw back then was just a bear.

5. Thunderbird

Thunderbird is a huge bird-like creature that people saw from 1890 until 2007. These creatures are believed to be a part of North American folklore and remind of prehistoric pterodactyls. In the 20th and 21st centuries, many people from Texas, Missouri, Alaska, and Illinois supposedly saw these giant birds.

4. Yeti

Yeti is popularly known as Abominable Snowman and is said to be residing in the Himalayan Mountains. It is a part of the mythology of the indigenous population of Bhutan, Tibet, and Nepal. The British, in 1921, held an expedition in Mount Everest and it is then that they saw the footprints of some creature that they thought must be a big wolf, but once they looked at them more carefully it looked like footprints of some huge human. The members of this expedition named the creature Abominable Snowman.

See also; Top 10 Mysterious Creatures Spotted on Camera.

3. Chupacabra

This strange creature is a part of the North American folklore and is first believed to have been seen in Puerto Rico. Chupacabra supposedly attacks livestock, particularly goats, and suck their blood. This creature is believed to look like a small bear but has many spikes on their back.

See also; 10 Most Popular Mythical Creatures Known To Mankind.

2. Loch Ness Monster

“Nessie” is the monster that apparently inhabits Loch Ness, a lake in Scotland, since 1933. There are many stories from different people who claim to have seen this monster, however, there are not many photographs or other types of recorded material. The monster, as people say, is a big dinosaur, which is alive to date. In addition, 2017 was the ‘record year’ for sightings of these Scariest Monsters “Loch Ness monster” according to BBC.

Bigfoot is a part of the legend from North American folklore. It is said to be living in forests and is an ape-like creature. This monster, as described by the people who saw it, is huge and hairy, but scientists do not believe in its existence. They say these are just rumors or a hoax because no valid evidence of its existence has ever been gained. According to the scientists, what people have seen most likely were bears.

It is true that the existence of these scariest monsters cannot be guaranteed. However, there are many people who claim to have seen them, and when they did, it surely must have scared the wits out of them. Of course, this would have been your condition too had you encountered any such monsters, wouldn’t it?