The Return of Zwarte Kee: A Halloween Legend from the Oirschot Heath

For more than two centuries, Zwarte Kee has roamed the Oirschot Heath with her cursed soldiers. From the mysterious Gruwelgrot, she keeps returning to spread misfortune. Now that the cave has been opened once again, a dark shadow hangs over Oirschot, and the evil seems stronger than ever.

Do you dare to experience the legend, unravel the secrets of Zwarte Kee, and stop her once and for all? Discover the story and experience a Halloween adventure filled with suspense, mystery and local history.

👉 Discover the story and take on the challenge during Halloween 2026!

The story – by Leon Vingerhoeds

Long ago…

Long ago, during the turbulent times of French rule, Napoleon’s army marched through the Brabant lands. The army set up camp on the Oirschot Heath. Among the soldiers travelled a dark figure. Her name was Zwarte Kee.

Officially, she was a viandière, a camp follower who cared for the soldiers. She prepared food, made and repaired clothing, sold drinks and, at times, even offered her body to the soldiers. But the soldiers whispered about her black magic and her insatiable thirst for adventure… and for misfortune.

A Game of Cards

Kee was not only skilled at tending wounds. She also had a keen eye for dice and played cards like no one else. On a freezing Christmas Eve, while the camp was shrouded in mist, Kee persuaded a few soldiers to join her in a game of cards. Playing cards on such a holy day was actually forbidden. According to the Church, card games were the “Devil’s Picture Book.” Two soldiers dared to play a game with Kee. But they were missing a fourth player. Then, suddenly, a stranger appeared in the camp. Dressed in rags and tattered clothing, he challenged Zwarte Kee to a forbidden game of cards. The stakes? Her soul. Overconfident and hungry for victory, Kee accepted the challenge. The cards were shuffled. Tension filled the night. When the final card was played, a whirlwind swept across the table and a card fell to the ground. Kee bent down to pick it up. That was when she saw two cloven hooves beneath the table. But it was too late! The stranger revealed his true form and gave Kee a ghostly, sinister laugh. In a whirlwind of shadows, he dragged Kee and the soldiers into the Gruwelgrot: a dark, gaping hole in the timeline, hidden beneath the heath.

Gruwelgrot

Ever since that night, Kee has wandered through the centuries with her zombie soldiers, driven onward by the evil of the Gruwelgrot. Every now and then, they appeared in Oirschot, terrifying the townspeople with icy stares and macabre laughter. During the military encampment from 1832 to 1834, rumours spread that Kee had returned. A grenade had struck the heath, opening the Gruwelgrot once again. Misfortune swept through the village. Eventually, the villagers, led by a brave sergeant, managed to capture her at the Schietberg. She was buried alive in the ice cellar of Landgoed ’s Heerenvijvers. The cellar stood on a small island in the estate’s swan pond. To keep her imprisoned, a stone tower was built above it: the Witch’s Tower. But evil cannot be contained so easily. During the Second World War, disaster struck once again. The proud church tower of Oirschot was heavily damaged by bombing. A stray grenade landed on the island in the Swan Pond and destroyed the Witch’s Tower. In the chaos, Kee escaped once more, together with her undead battalion. For years, things remained relatively quiet… until the mid-1960s.

De Oase

On the heath, along the road to Eindhoven, stood a small, run-down café. In reality, it was little more than a converted caravan, with a small playground outside. Its name was De Oase. The owner, Sjefke, was just as grubby as the building itself. Hygiene was hardly a priority, but he still had his regular customers: soldiers from the nearby military camp, drivers, locals and shady characters. Sjefke was clever, though. On the previous Christmas Eve, while playing cards, he had caught the Devil in his café. He had lost the game, and the Devil ordered him to come with him to the Gruwelgrot. Along the way, Sjefke asked the Devil: “You’re quite something, aren’t you? Can you make yourself really small?” The Devil laughed and magically shrank himself down to the size of a mouse. Sjefke quickly grabbed his red handkerchief and tied the Devil inside it, just like a bundle carried over one’s shoulder. He then beat the bundle against a stone until the Devil begged him to stop. “Only if you leave me alone!” Sjefke replied. The Devil agreed. Sjefke opened the handkerchief, and the Devil fled. Sjefke had outsmarted the Devil! But the Devil had not forgotten the incident. He sent Zwarte Kee, her soldiers and the Hellhounds to the run-down café on the heath. It was a stormy evening, filled with rain and thunder. Sjefke had closed the café that night and was sitting alone at the bar with a bottle of liquor.

Death

The following day, his body was discovered by a neighbour. He had come to check on Sjefke because he had heard dogs during the night — and Sjefke did not own any dogs. He found Sjefke dead in his armchair at the bar. An axe had been driven into the back of his skull. The blade remained lodged in his head and in the upper part of the chair. His face was frozen in terror. There was no trace of the killer. The heavy rain had washed away every clue. The neighbour did not notice the figure watching from the window: a wanderer dressed in rags. Years passed. War turned into peace, and people thought the past had finally been buried. Until one misty morning, during the excavation of the “Trench for Peace,” soldiers from the military camp unexpectedly came across a hollow space beneath the ground. They had opened the Gruwelgrot. With a cold gust of wind, voices from the past began to echo… Kee and her zombie soldiers had returned — hungrier than ever. And now, in the run-up to Halloween 2026, another shadow is spreading across Oirschot. Will anyone dare to take on the challenge and capture Zwarte Kee once again?

Or will the darkness take root on the heath forever?