The spunkie is a Scottish goblin that particularly has it in for those travelers who venture out after dark. The spunkie is considered so nasty that tradition has it that he is a direct agent of Satan. It hovers about in the darkness, waiting for a traveler to become lost in the night, perhaps during a rainstorm when visibility is especially bad. The goblin manifests a light that appears to the desperate wayfarer like illumination shining through a window pane, thus signalling shelter and a dry place to spend the inclement evening. But as the traveler approaches the light, it keeps moving just a bit farther away. Since the poor, drenched pilgrim has no choice in the darkness but to keep pursuing the light source, the spunkie keeps moving it just a bit farther on---until the evil goblin has lured the unfortunate traveler over a cliff.
Sources: Spence, Lewis. An Encyclopedia of Occultism. New Hyde Park, NY: University Books, 1960.
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