Campfire Creeps – The Devil-Dwarf of Remedios

One is advised not to work on Holy Days in plenty of Christian superstitions. According to such
religious sources, this is so that people can worship God to the best of their ability without having to
undertake any activities which may hinder this. If this specific story is to be believed, then perhaps it
is best not to insist on working on such venerated dates for one's personal safety - for the Devil
himself is reputed to use these times to get some work of his own done!

Jose Espinoza got up early on All Saints' Day - which apparently fell on April 14th in 1948 despite
Wikipedia's insistence that it only occurs on the 1st of November in the West and on the Sunday
after Pentecost in the East. He lived in Remedios, Cuba, which used to be part of the Las Villas
Province, and was planning to arrange some cane carts in the fields outside his house so that he
could work on them later. His mother gave him a grave warning not to leave home on the Holy Day,
seeing as the 'Devil himself was out doing his work on this day', but Jose unwisely chose to ignore
her pleas.

He headed out towards the four carts in the field, and clambered
atop the first cart to begin his labours. Shortly after starting work,
his attention was suddenly drawn to a diminutive humanoid stood
on the fourth cart. The miniature monstrosity was only about 1.5ft
in height, and was fiery red in colour. Sparks flew from 'horn like
protrusions and a tail' on the creature's body. The devilish dwarf
soon noticed the stunned worker, and swiftly somehow produced
a ball of fire which it then proceeded to hurl at Jose. It did this
several times, each time rolling a larger fireball towards its
appalled victim. He only just managed to dodge the unique
projectiles, and was apparently so stunned that he found that he
could not react any further to the situation. After overcoming what
was presumably paralysing fear, Jose screamed 'this is the devil!' at
the top of his lungs before leaping off the cart and running back
towards his house. He didn't stop until he was back in the safety of
his home.

Albert Rosales reported on this case after being emailed the details by a trusted correspondent, and
he posited that the witness might've unintentionally misremembered the description of the
undeniably-bizarre humanoid due to his belief that it was associated with the Devil. I am not so sure
of this verdict, seeing as there are plenty of reports that I have come across depicting little red
humanoids and things that can only be described as bona fide devils and demons. I do not personally
subscribe to a religious interpretation of these events, but who am I to question what people
honestly report?

Source: 'Mitología Cubana' by Samuel Feijóo and Albert Rosales' description of the events discussed
therein.