Russia is a land of strange tales, where folklore, conspiracies, and unexplained phenomena intertwine to keep the world guessing.

Strange Tales From Russia

10 Mysterious Holes In The Forests Of Siberia

Internet reports have spotlighted a trio of baffling, cone‑shaped pits that suddenly appeared in northern Siberia. These vertical tunnels plunge roughly 100 meters (330 ft) into the earth, leaving investigators scratching their heads. Theories range from alien or inner‑Earth beings, meteorite impacts, and elaborate pranks to a buildup of natural gas that detonated. Witnesses have described flashes and smoke rising from the sites, while debris encircles the hole rims as if something forced material outward from below.

One researcher noted, “It is not like this is the work of men, but it also doesn’t look like natural formation.” The timing is disputed: some say the holes emerged around 2013, yet vegetation growing inside suggests they may be older. The mystery persists, with recent speculation even pointing to climate‑change‑related processes.

9 The Black Volga

The legend of the Black Volga isn’t confined to Russia, but many sightings hail from Eastern Europe and former Soviet territories. The story gained traction during the Cold War and peaked in the 1970s, linking the sleek limousine to sudden disappearances and even deaths, especially of children.

Explanations vary wildly: some claim the Devil himself was behind the wheel, while others suggest a covert government kidnapping operation. Tales speak of young women being abducted for “pleasure” by military personnel and rumors of an organ‑harvesting project. Though the vehicle was once a top‑of‑the‑line limousine used by prominent politicians, it has not been sighted in recent years.

8 Aleshenka

In the summer of 1996, an elderly woman named Tamara in the village of Kaolinory discovered a strange infant hidden in the woods. She wrapped the child in a shawl, named it Aleshenka, and took it home. The following day, Tamara’s daughter‑in‑law, also named Tamara, reported that the baby seemed “not from this planet,” noting that its mouth appeared motionless despite eating.

Neighbors, alarmed by the older Tamara’s claims of a miraculous baby, led to her being placed in a mental health facility. When the daughter‑in‑law and a friend returned, the baby had already died. Police officer Vladimir Bendlin examined the corpse, consulting Dr. Irina Yermolaeva—who suggested a deformed human child possibly linked to the 1957 Kyshtym disaster—and his assistant Lyubov Romanowa, who argued it was non‑human.The case later appeared on the TV series The Unexplained Files, which revealed that the only remaining artifact was the shawl. DNA analysis of the fabric reportedly uncovered a strain unknown to science.

7 Baba Yaga And Koshchey The Deathless

Deep in Russia’s ancient forests, folklore tells of a bony crone with iron teeth—Baba Yaga—who rides a wind that announces her arrival. She dwells in a wooden hut perched on “chicken legs,” which spins and faces away from any visitor. If the hut is fenced, the fence is said to be fashioned from human bones and skulls. The door opens only with the phrase, “Turn your back to the forest, your front to me.”

Baba Yaga is reputed to possess a rejuvenating potion, occasionally turning herself young to deceive others. Though often portrayed as malevolent—her diet allegedly includes small children—she is also sought for her wisdom, offering guidance when in a favorable mood.

Among her allies is Koshchey the Deathless, a skeletal wizard who commands the weather and can become a whirlwind. He emits terrifying cries and, paradoxically, a charming voice that can lull victims to sleep, aiding his habit of kidnapping young women. Legends claim Koshchey can only be slain by destroying a hidden magic needle that stores his soul, a needle buried beneath the ocean and concealed within various objects.

6 The Judica‑Cordiglia Brothers’ Recording

In the early 1960s, the Judica‑Cordiglia brothers released nine recordings that sparked the “lost cosmonauts” conspiracy. One recently resurfaced track allegedly captures the final moments of the first woman in space, who supposedly orbited Earth 17 times before a catastrophic re‑entry on May 23 1961.The audio features a terrified voice complaining about rising temperatures and fearing a crash. Conspiracy theorists link this to a TASS report dated May 26 1961, which mentioned an unmanned satellite crash—interpreted as a cover‑up for the female cosmonaut’s disappearance.

While the Soviet Union has denied such claims, it did acknowledge several space‑related tragedies, notably the October 24 1960 explosion of an R‑16 ballistic missile that killed 126 people.

5 The Dyatlov Pass Incident

In February 1959, nine seasoned hikers vanished in the Ural Mountains, sparking one of Russia’s most chilling mysteries. After a blizzard forced them off course, a search party found their tent slashed from the inside, suggesting a frantic escape attempt. Footprints led away from the tent, then abruptly stopped—no bodies were found at that spot.

The first trio of hikers were discovered nearby, partially clothed and nearly naked. Months later, the remaining four were located in a ravine, fully clothed but with injuries resembling high‑speed vehicle trauma, though the official verdict cited exposure to extreme elements.

Theories abound: alien encounters, secret Soviet weapons testing, and mysterious lights reported on the night of February 1. An avalanche was initially suspected, but no evidence supported that hypothesis.

4 The UVB‑76 Transmission

First intercepted in Moscow in 1982, the UVB‑76 broadcast—nicknamed “The Buzzer”—appeared to be a secret Russian military code heard across Europe. Initially a simple series of beeps, the signal later morphed into a buzzing tone punctuated by occasional numbers, Russian names, and, in 2010, strange bangs, shuffling noises, and even a male voice reciting letters and numbers.

Investigators traced the source to the small village of Pavarovo, where an abandoned military bunker was discovered, suggesting the transmission originated from there.

3 The Voronezh UFO Landing

On September 27 1989, the Russian news agency TASS announced that a UFO had touched down in a public park in Voronezh. Thousands witnessed the craft, and teenage soccer players reported tall, silvery‑clad creatures exiting the vessel and threatening them before the craft fled, leaving behind a strange residue.

TIME magazine later noted that the incident coincided with the Soviet policy of glasnost, speculating that the story was a test of media openness and a distraction from the country’s dire economic state. A Soviet source quipped, “They’ve been feeding us rubbish about the dream of communism for years, and now we see they were lying. At least this UFO story gives us something to dream about.”

2 The Urban Legends Of Khovrino Hospital

Khovrino Hospital, described by a film crew as one of the most feared unfinished construction projects on the planet, has become a hotspot for urban legends. Construction began in 1980 but halted by 1985, after which the site was fenced and guarded. Over three decades, the abandoned complex fell into disrepair, attracting rumors of satanic rituals, animal sacrifices, and ghostly occurrences.

The building now serves as a haven for drug deals, addicts, and Moscow’s homeless. A found‑footage film titled Khovrino claims to be based on true events, likely fueling the mythos surrounding the eerie hospital.

1 The Boshich Space Wreckage

In August 1979, the British tabloid Reveille ran a story about a crippled alien spacecraft. Soviet astrophysicist Sergei Boshich claimed the vessel had fragmented in an explosion and was now orbiting Earth, with the debris potentially containing alien bodies.

Boshich reported spotting ten separate pieces, all sharing an orbital position dated December 18 1955—the presumed explosion date. Soviet physicist Dr. Vladimir Azhazha dismissed meteors as the source, stating, “Meteors do not have orbits… All evidence points to a crippled alien spacecraft.”

Plans for a joint rescue mission with the United States and Britain were discussed, but no public launch materialized. Interestingly, American astronomer John Bagby had earlier identified ten “Moonlets” orbiting Earth, also dating their detachment to December 18 1955, aligning with Boshich’s timeline.

Every culture has its fair share of mythological beings, but when it comes to wicked creatures, Native American folklore offers a truly chilling roster. From shadowy spirits that lure travelers to monstrous hybrids that roam the tundra, these legends have terrified listeners for generations.

Wicked Creatures of Native American Folklore

10 Bookwus

Also known as “Bakwas,” “Bokwus,” or “Bukwis,” the Bookwus is known as the “Wildman of the Woods” among the Kwaqiutl tribe. The Bookwus is a spiritual being associated with the souls of those who have drowned, and it lives around ocean shores at the edges of forests. The main danger of encountering a Bookwus is their desire to lure humans into their invisible home. They will share food such as salmon and berries that will prove too good to resist. In truth, the food is cursed, and those who eat it become a Bookwus themselves. They are shy of humans in general, and their favorite food is cockles.

Masks of the Bookwus are often crafted with great care and feature large eyebrows, round eyes, and a pointed nose. There is a dance of the Bookwus where performers wear the masks and overalls with cedar branches pinned to them and proceed to act out the Bookwus’s shyness of humans and his search for cockles to eat.

9 The Rolling Head

The Midwestern tribes feared a head that rolled around by itself. It had long hair and an intent to hunt down and devour anyone that it caught. The origin story of the rolling head has several different versions.

The first story claims that the rolling head began as a person who licked one of their wounds to help it heal. The person decided they enjoyed the taste of human blood and devoured the rest of their own body until only the head was left. Now, they roll around looking for the next victim to satisfy their taste for blood.

Another version states that the rolling head started from a murder performed by a loved one. Some stories tell of a husband who murdered his wife and force‑fed the flesh to their children. Others say the husband fed the wife her own flesh before finally killing her off. In either case, the person who was murdered rose again as the rolling head to seek revenge on their murderer. Once vengeance was attained, the head continued to terrorize people until it was put down.

8 Baykok

One creepy tale among the Chippewa people is that of the Baykok—giant skeletons with translucent skin and black eyes that turn red when they stalk prey. The Baykok are believed to have come into existence after a hunter was left to die in the cold after being trapped. The hunter was angry that his fellow tribesmen had failed to help him from his predicament, so he held onto his life force and transformed into the hulking skeleton which the Chippewa people have come to know.

The way to detect a Baykok’s approach is to listen for his taught skin stretching and his bones popping. He prefers to attack at night by putting people to sleep with invisible, poisoned arrows. Once the victim is unconscious, the Baykok slices open the victim with a knife, cuts out the liver, and replaces it with a stone. The Baykok gets a free meal while the victim, unable to remember the attack, slowly dies from the lack of their liver.

7 Unhcegila

Also known as Unk Cekula or Unktehi, this creature is described by the Lakota tribe as a large dragon. Stories of the Unhcegila began to appear after neighboring Lakota tribes began to report numerous rumors of a shadow that appeared from the sea and nestled within the mountains of the Black Hills.

At first, it was described as having no visible form, and its entire body was shrouded in smoke. Over time, the Unhcegila revealed itself to have a long, scaled body that proved impenetrable to spears and arrows. Despite this, the Unhcegila was defeated. How it met its fate has multiple stories attached to it.

One tale claims that the Unhcegila once coexisted with the tribesmen. Soon, however, the dragon’s offspring developed a taste for human meat, and the tribesmen fought back. Another variant says that a warrior was instructed by a weasel spirit to be swallowed by the creature. The warrior cut his way out from the inside of the beast and killed the Unhcegila. A third origin claims that two children had a bow and some magic. They managed to strike the Unhcegila’s only weak spot, killing the being. In any case, it’s probably a good thing that it’s dead.

6 Apotamkin

In modern times, the Apotamkin got exposure after the movie Twilight gave reference to the real‑world myth about the case of “The Cold One.” The closest thing to what the movie might be referencing is the Native American Apotamkin, which people believed were vampires. The truth is, the actual case for what an Apotamkin is is up in the air.

One source states that the Apotamkin are indeed vampires that come with the full range of powers you’d expect (empowered abilities, super strength, and the desire to gain sustenance from human blood). Unlike the modern vampire, Apotamkin could also feed off animals and had more of a zombie corpse aesthetic to them, hence the name “Cold One.”

Another tale claims that the Apotamkin was not a vampire at all. It was a sea serpent that dwelt along the Passamaquoddy Bay. When people became careless and walked too close to the water’s edge, the Apotamkin would snatch them and drag them into the water. Some say the Apotamkin was a woman who had turned into a serpent with long, red hair.

Both origins state that the Apotamkin was used mainly as a story to warn children of the dangers of acting incautious. Vampire or not, the Apotamkin probably made a few children stay safe over the course of its mythical history.

5 Kee‑Wakw

Also known as the “chenoo,” “kiwakwa,” or “giwakwa,” the kee‑wakw was a giant in the Wabanaki tribe’s mythology.

Meeting face‑to‑face with a kee‑wakw probably wasn’t the best idea. If you angered one, the beast rapidly increased in size until it was taller than the trees. These creatures had gigantic fangs and a taste for human flesh. The only chance of surviving was to hope that the kee‑wakw wasn’t hungry . . . and they were always hungry.

The origins of what made the kee‑wakw varies. Some legends say that a powerful shaman had the magic to rise from the grave as the creature itself. Other stories tell of someone possessed by an evil spirit or committing a serious crime (such as allowing a tribesman to starve) that caused their heart to turn to ice and them into a kee‑wakw. Some legends claimed it wasn’t a transformed human, but a monster by birth. The ice chunks within them were the source of their power. To defeat the kee‑wakw, you had to make it vomit up the ice or dissolve the creature with salt. Sometimes, doing so would turn the kee‑wakw back into the human they once were.

4 Puckwudgie

Originating from Wampanoag folklore, the Puckwudgie was a 60‑ to 90‑centimeter‑tall (2–3 ft) demon that haunted the woodlands. They looked fairly human except for their giant nose, fingers, and ears. Rumors of the demon’s abilities were quite varied. A few of these included the ability to disappear at will, use magic, poison arrows, create fire, or to transform into a walking porcupine.

The story of how the Puckwudgie came to be goes back to a story of the giant called Maushop, another key element in Wampanoag folklore. The Puckwudgie became jealous of the praise that the tribesmen gave Maushop, so they decided to help out the tribe as well. Their well‑intended plans didn’t turn out so good, so they decided to become a malevolent force of evil instead. Maushop was called upon to scoop up the Puckwudgies and scatter them across the land. Many died, but some survived the drop.

Once Maushop had left the tribe for a while, the Puckwudgies returned and burned the villages and kidnapped the children in revenge. Maushop sent his five sons after them, who were all killed. An enraged Maushop took matters into his own hands, but he, too, fell to the hands of the gremlins. Ever since, the land has been plagued by these malevolent imps seeking revenge on the Wampanoag people.

3 Basket Ogress

Also known as the Basket Woman, this legend doesn’t originate from just one tribe. Most of the tribes along the Northwest coast know of the giant Basket Ogress, and she acts more of a Native American boogeyman than other creatures.

The Basket Ogress’s biography sounds like it came from a fairy tale. She enjoys kidnapping people (naughty children in particular) and placing them in her giant basket. When she’s collected enough for a meal, she takes them back into her lair and eats them.

There’s one crucial flaw to the Basket Ogress, and it is usually her downfall in the tales. While she is strong, she is also dim‑witted and easy to trick. One story has several captured children watching as the ogress prepares some hot rocks to cook them on. They manage to convince her to do a song and dance before cooking them. While distracted with her dance routine, the children work together to push her into the hot rocks.

2 Akhlut

The tale of the Akhlut comes from the Inuit and tells of a man who became so obsessed with the sea that he wanted to live in it. One day, upon returning to his village, it appeared that his desire to live underwater had changed him. The rest of the villagers didn’t recognize him anymore and exiled him, so he wandered the lands seeking revenge.

While traveling, he came across a pack of wolves. The nature of the wolves matched his hunger for revenge, and he became a wolf himself. He realized he could transform into the animal that matched his desire. With his newfound ability, he leaped into the ocean and became an orca. He swam around the seas until his desire to ravage humans overtook him. He jumped onto the shore as a wolf and hunted the tribesmen.

It is said that if you’re in the realm of the Inuits and come across wolf tracks that lead directly to the sea, there’s a good chance you’ve come across the prowling grounds of the Akhlut.

1 Adlet

Another Inuit‑based creature is the Adlet, and it’s one of the more twisted stories. The Adlet themselves are the resultant offspring between a human Inuit woman and a red dog. There were 10 children in total, all of a mixture of human and dog. Some stories claimed that the Adlet had the lower half of a dog and the upper half of a human. Others said they had the body of a dog with the intelligence of a human.

After the children were born, the family was exiled to an island. Every day, one of the children swam back to the mainland and received boots filled with meat from the woman’s father to help feed the family. One day, the father loaded the boots with rocks instead of meat and drowned the dog on his voyage back. The woman was outraged and unleashed her children to the mainland to kill her father and anyone that stood in their way.

A simpler version says that the woman didn’t travel anywhere. She sent five of her offspring overseas to ravage other nations. The other half of her children stayed home, and together, they populated the land with deadly Adlets, who drank the blood of recently killed tribesmen.

Fossils are the mineralized remains of once‑living organisms, and throughout the ages they have inspired countless myths. Below we explore ten quirky pieces fossil folklore that show how ancient peoples turned stone remnants into magical stories.

10 Toadstones

Why These Pieces Fossil Capture Imagination

Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.

– “As You Like It” by William Shakespeare

Round, brownish stones called Bufonite have been prized as gems for centuries. Their name comes from the Latin bufo, meaning “toad,” because medieval folk believed they were the precious jewels lodged in a toad’s skull. In the logic of sympathetic magic—like cures like—people thought that toads’ toxicity meant the stones could guard against poison.

In reality, toads never have stones in their heads. Those “toadstones” are actually the rounded teeth of an extinct fish genus, Lepidotes. Believers who suspected poisoning would even swallow a toadstone to harness its power, and because the stones were valuable, they were carefully recovered from chamber pots, washed, and reused.

9 Thunderbolts

Belemnites were squid‑like cephalopods that lived millions of years ago. When they died, only their internal, bullet‑shaped rostrum—essentially a hard, cylindrical core—remained, littering fossil beds worldwide.

Because of their uncanny shape, people imagined all sorts of fanciful origins: elf candles, St. Peter’s fingers, and, most famously, the remnants of lightning strikes. Known as thunderbolts, thunderstones, or thunder‑arrows, they were believed to possess protective powers against storms. In the Netherlands, belemnite fossils were even nailed to rooftops to keep lightning at bay before the lightning rod was invented.

8 Angel Money

Nummulites are the fossilized shells of large, single‑celled protozoans that look like tiny coins or lentils. When the Greek geographer Strabo toured the Egyptian pyramids, he was shown these coin‑shaped fossils and told they were the food remnants given to the slaves who built the monuments.

Because the fossils often appear as round, coin‑like discs, they earned names such as angel money, St. Peter’s money, or Ladislaus’s pennies. The term “nummulite” itself derives from the Latin nummulus, meaning “little coin.”

7 Snake Eggs

Sea urchins still roam the oceans today, and their skeletons are covered in spines. After death, the spines fall off, leaving a smooth ball with a five‑pointed star pattern.

Ancient observers mistook these fossilized balls for “snake eggs.” Pliny the Elder called them ovum anguinum, literally “snake eggs.” In the British Isles, folklore claimed the eggs formed from the froth of mating snakes. Legend said that if you could snatch one without letting it touch the ground and then escape the angry snakes by crossing water, the egg would protect you from poison.

6 Tongue Stones

Sharks have skeletons made of cartilage, which rarely fossilizes, but their teeth do. Massive ancient sharks such as Megalodon left teeth the size and shape of a tongue, earning the moniker glossopetrae, or “tongue stones.”

Folklore claimed these stones could neutralize poison when dipped into a drink, or that pressing a tongue stone against a snake bite would cure the wound. Some even believed the stones could reproduce, pointing to the small off‑shoots on shark teeth as “young tongue stones” budding from a parent.

These fossils played a pivotal role in the birth of paleontology. In 1666, Italian scientist Nicolaus Steno dissected a huge shark and recognized that the so‑called tongue stones were actually shark teeth, bridging myth and science.

5 Vishnu’s Chakras

Ammonites are among the most recognizable fossils, their spiral shells resembling tiny nautiluses. In the Gandaki River of Nepal, certain ammonites—called Saligrama or “Shaligrams”—are revered as sacred objects.

These fossils are thought to mirror Vishnu’s Sudarshana Chakra, the spiked disc weapon the deity wields. The most prized shaligrams are those where only the edge of the fossil peeks from the surrounding stone, giving the impression of a divine disc.

Shaligrams are kept in many Hindu temples, used in prayers, and even placed in water to cleanse sins. Touching one is considered an act of devotion.

4 St. Hilda’s Snakes

Whitby, a coastal town in northern England, is littered with ammonite fossils—so much so that they appear on the town’s coat of arms. The shape of these fossils inspired a local legend.

According to seventh‑century lore, St. Hilda wanted to build an abbey, but the site was infested with adders. Miraculously, she hurled the snakes off a cliff, turning them to stone. The resulting stone fossils became known locally as “snakestones.”

Enterprising locals even carved a snake’s head onto the end of an ammonite and sold the trinket to curious visitors.

3 Devil’s Footprints

In Italy, a series of ancient footprints known as Ciampate del Diavolo—”the Devil’s Footprints”—were discovered in volcanic ash. The ash, deposited 385,000 to 325,000 years ago, preserved the tracks of a human‑like species.

Local folklore assumed only a devil could have walked on such hot ash, giving the site its ominous name. Scientific analysis in 2003 confirmed the prints belong to the oldest‑known human species footprints in the region.

2 Dinosaur Footprints

Dinosaur tracks have fascinated observers for centuries, and cultures worldwide wove them into myth. In ancient Greece, the three‑toed tracks were attributed to heroes like Herakles. Native American tribes saw them as the footprints of giant legendary birds, while Chinese folklore linked them to dragons.

Research in China identified four main strands of interpretation: theropod tracks became “golden or heavenly chickens,” large herbivore prints were likened to rhinos, some tracks were mistaken for plant leaves, and others were simply regarded as the steps of gods.

Because stone footprints endure for eons, they continually reinforce local legends across generations.

1 Griffins

The griffin—a creature with a lion’s body and an eagle’s head—has haunted imagination for millennia. In the Gobi Desert, the skull of the dinosaur Protoceratops resembles a massive eagle head perched on a four‑legged body.

Scholars suggest that ancient travelers who uncovered these skulls combined them with other bones to fashion the legendary griffin. The detached skull, with its beaked jaws and crest, could easily become the “eagle head” of the mythic beast.

Whether they make you squirm with the creepy‑crawlies or thrill you like a budding entomologist, insects and arachnids rank among the most modest creatures on Earth—and we often quite literally kick them out. Throughout history, myth and legend have woven fantastical narratives around these skittering companions. Below you’ll find the 10 tales creepy collection of insects and arachnids that earned a place in mythology.

10 Tales Creepy: A Journey Through Mythic Bugs

10 Mosquitoes

In Buddhist tradition, the mosquito is cast as a mischievous spirit. Lafcadio Hearn’s collection Kwaidan recounts the belief that this incessant blood‑sipper is the reincarnated mischief of the Earth’s wickedness. A Vietnamese folk narrative adds another layer, telling of a grieving husband who bargains with a genie to revive his vain wife using three drops of his own blood.

When the resurrected wife abandons him for a wealthy sea captain, she demands those three drops back. To free herself, she pricks her finger, letting the blood flow, only to wither and die again. She returns as the first mosquito, forever seeking the three drops from her former husband to regain human form.

9 Scorpions

Scorpions may not win beauty contests, yet ancient myths treated them with unexpected reverence. In Mesopotamian lore, scorpion‑men guarded the sunrise and sunset mountains, acting as emissaries of the Sun god. Their stinging prowess was seen as a divine safeguard.

Egyptian stories tell of Isis being shielded by seven scorpion guardians. When a noblewoman ignored Isis’s visit, the scorpions slipped into her home and stung her son as a reprimand. Isis then healed the child, and the humbled woman spent the rest of her days as a generous citizen.

8 Butterflies

Butterflies flutter between nostalgia and wonder. Japanese folklore, as recorded by Lafcadio Hearn in Kwaidan, holds that butterflies are the souls of the departed. A massive swarm over Kyoto before a historic rebellion was read as an omen of death, the souls of those soon to fall in battle.

Conversely, more hopeful omens exist: a butterfly slipping through a screen door foretells a visit from a loved one, while a white butterfly sighting in Louisiana is considered a harbinger of good luck.

7 Grasshoppers

The Yaqui people of the Southwest US and Mexico spin a lively tale of a grasshopper and his cricket companion. After a wine‑filled banquet, the duo climbs onto a sleeping lion and begins a boisterous song.

The lion, irritated by the nocturnal concert, tries to wander away, but the grasshopper and cricket cling to his tail, continuing their melody wherever he roams. In annoyance, the lion finally shooes them off, and ever since, he hides far from the two singers to avoid their midnight serenades.

6 Bees

Bees buzz with industrious spirit, earning them a place in several ancient tales. The Hindu Vedas recount how bees vanquished a honey‑destroying foe, while Greek myth celebrates Aristaeus, the beekeeper god. Aristaeus once tried to steal Eurydice, Orpheus’s wife; after she stepped on a snake and died, he lost all his bees as punishment.

Seeking redemption, Aristaeus offered a sacrifice to Apollo, who restored his hives. Egyptian lore also venerates bees as soul symbols, believing that the hum of the afterlife echoes back to the living world as the bees’ buzzing.

5 Spiders

Spiders, though often feared, hold revered roles across cultures. Hopi tradition credits Grandmother Spider with weaving the world into existence, while West African tales celebrate Anansi the trickster. In Oceania, the island of Nauru tells of Areop‑enap, a mighty spider captured by a clam.

Using her ancient powers, Areop‑enap summoned a caterpillar to battle the clam. The caterpillar’s sweat killed the clam, forming the sea; the clam’s upper shell became the sky, its lower shell the land. She turned the fallen caterpillar into the Milky Way and spun plants into being with her silk.

4 Ants

Ants, celebrated for strength and teamwork, feature in a Yoruba story about a snooping elder named Ole. Ole discovered an ant colony constructing a nest inside his home and, seeing an opportunity, let them continue, planning to perch atop their mound and watch the village.

When the mound was finished, Ole climbed up, only to realize the ants had begun gnawing his house and stealing his food while he surveyed from above. The townsfolk mocked him, and Ole eventually perished—whether from shame or laziness remains a mystery.

3 Dragonflies

Dragonflies, with their sleek, dragon‑like silhouettes, earned a heroic role in Persian legend. A village sage warned that a colossal dragon would devour the Sun, casting the world into perpetual night.

The wise man gathered seven dragonflies and released them at intervals as the dragon approached. The insects’ frantic buzzing terrified the beast, causing it to release the Sun and restore daylight, saving the world.

2 Ant Lions

The ant lion, a lacewing‑like predator, appears in classical myth as a creature split between ant and lion. This dual nature became its downfall: as part lion it could not digest plants, and as part ant it could not consume meat, leaving it unable to eat anything and doomed to starve.

Other traditions simply label the ant lion the “lion of ants,” a fierce hunter of smaller ants. While the logical description prevails, the tragic dual‑nature tale adds a poignant layer to its mythic legacy.

1 Cicadas

Cicadas, whether charming or grating, have carved their niche in world folklore. In the Andaman Islands, their nocturnal chorus is believed to be inseparable from night itself—a symbiotic element of darkness.

One legend tells of an ancestor who stepped on a cicada, whose cry of pain plunged the world into endless night. Villagers sang and danced until the Sun finally resurfaced. Another tale notes that Andaman peoples would deliberately make cicadas weep to gain respite from the Sun’s relentless heat.

When it comes to the realm of the night, the 10 bloodsucking monsters of folklore are as diverse as they are terrifying. Vampires aren’t just the aristocratic aristocrats of European legend; cultures across the globe have conjured their own chilling blood‑hungry fiends. Below we dive into ten of the strangest, most spine‑tingling bloodsuckers ever recorded.

Exploring the 10 Bloodsucking Monsters

10. Mandurugo

Have you ever had a relationship turn sour? In the Philippines, there is a group of beautiful young women with wings called kinnari. They are gentle characters who are known to be loyal to the human men they take as lovers. If that man is foolish enough to break the kinnara’s heart, then this pliant lover becomes a terrible mandurugo.

The mandurugo may keep her pretty appearance by day, but at night, she beds down with an unfortunate man. Using a sharp, barbed, and hollow tongue, she pierces the neck of the man and sucks out his blood. In myth, the mandurugo may marry several times, each husband mysteriously wasting away and dying as she secretly siphons off his blood in the night. In many stories, a clever man who suspects his new bride of being a mandurugo will sleep with a knife in his hand. When he feels the probing of his wife’s tongue on his neck, he will plunge the knife into her heart. You have to imagine that this myth has led to some terribly unsuccessful honeymoons.

9. Impundulu

Also known as the lightning bird, the impundulu is a witch’s familiar from Southern Africa with an insatiable thirst for blood. The witch who allies with an impundulu has a stark choice: She can either send it to kill others or let it kill her to feed its hunger. Given that iimpundulu (yes, that’s the plural) were often passed by witches to their daughters in old age suggests that most found it an easy choice to make.

Sometimes taking the form of a beautiful young man or woman, the impundulu, as its alternative name of “lightning bird” hints, can also appear in the form of a bird. The beating of the bird’s wings causes thunder, while lightning is the product of it diving the Earth to lay its eggs. It is up to qualified shamans to find these eggs to stop the world being overrun by lightning birds.

The impundulu prefers to drink the blood of humans but is also said to feed on cattle. When they feed on a person’s breath, they are said to cause tuberculosis. In extremity, they will drink milk, and one method of killing an impundulu is to offer it poisoned milk.

8. Yara-Ma-Yha-Who

Australia is famed for being home to some notably dangerous animals. One that often escapes people’s notice is the yara-ma-yha-who. The yara-ma-yha-who is a strange vampire in that it prefers to hunt during the daytime. Those who want to see a yara-ma-yha-who for themselves should pause under a fig tree in Australia.

The yara-ma-yha-who is a 1.2-meter-tall (4 ft) creature. Lurking in trees, it will wait for a person to stray beneath before dropping on them. Using the suckers on its hands, as it lacks teeth, it drinks almost all the blood from the person.

The still‑living victim is then swallowed whole by the yara-ma-yha-who. Not content with eating a person once, it will then vomit up the victim, perhaps to eat them again later. The person who has been attacked in this way somehow comes out of the experience weak but mostly unharmed. They will, however, be a little shorter than they were before, with a subtle red tinge. Those attacked multiple times may find themselves becoming one themselves.

7. Kappa

The kappa is a Japanese monster with several unsettling habits. Not only will it attempt to suck all the blood from a person, but it will also remove the person’s soul via their anus.

The kappa is a water‑dwelling creature that in most drawings resembles a terrible turtle. Its long limbs protrude from a reptilian body with a shell on its back. These limbs have incredible strength and pull human and animal victims below the water’s surface, where the kappa drains their blood. The head is monkey‑like but with a depression on top of the skull. Inside this hollow is a liquid that gives the kappa its strength. To defeat the kappa (who are, murder aside, very polite creatures), one must bow to it. Bowing low in return, the life‑giving fluid flows from the kappa’s head, and it dies.

You might want to remember that trick, given the other method of attack that kappas have. They are said to reach up into swimmers and steal their livers. To do this, they have to remove the shirikodama from the victim’s anus. The shirikodama in Japanese mythology is said to be a ball inside the anus that contains the soul. Remember not to bow too low.

6. Jiangshi

Jiangshi are vampiric creatures from Chinese mythology, also known as “hopping vampires.” Jiangshi start their second “life” as normal human corpses. If they have been killed by some violent means or have committed suicide, the soul may not be able to leave the body and therefore reanimates it as a jiangshi. Others believe that unburied bodies may return as jiangshi. Cats leaping over a dead body may also cause it come back.

The jiangshi are, like Western vampires, definitely dead. Unlike their counterparts in the West, jiangshi undergo the problems all corpses suffer. With rigor mortis setting in, they are unable to walk normally and have to hop after their victims. Methods of repelling these hopping devils include mirrors, peach tree wood, the urine of a virgin boy, and the call of a rooster.

The legend of the jiangshi may have developed from the custom of corpses being carried suspended from poles as if standing. The motion of the poles may have made it appear as though the body was hopping along of its own volition.

5. Asanbosam And Sasabonsam

The asanbosam is a vampire found in the trees of Togo and Ghana. It waits in the branches, held in place by curved legs. Anyone passing beneath will find themselves in the clutches of the asanbosam and facing the creature’s sharp iron teeth as it bites out their throat to suck their blood.

A human‑like creature, except for their curved legs, the asanbosam has a close relative in the vampire species known as the sasabonsam. The sasabonsam is also a fan of hiding in trees to catch the unwary below but is less humanoid than the asanbosam. The sasabonsam looks more like a bat. Their faces can be human‑esque, save for their iron fangs, but their arms are stubby little things compared with their vast wings. The sasabonsam is often described as painfully thin. The only way for it to feed its hunger is to suck the blood of humans.

4. Asema

“Never trust the elderly” seems to be the lesson that the asema is trying to teach us. By day, the asema from Suriname takes the form of a decidedly nonthreatening old person. By night, the asema sheds its wrinkly skin and transforms into a bloodsucker. Instead of taking the horrific demonic form of many vampires, the asema becomes a shining ball of blue light.

The blue ball vampire then whizzes through the air in search of a victim. As nothing more substantial than light, it is able to infiltrate even tightly closed‑up homes. Once it locates a sleeping victim, the asema siphons off their blood. They may either completely drain the prey, if the blood is especially tasty, or take just enough blood to leave the victim weak.

To ward off the asema, you can decorate your home with the traditionally vampire‑repelling garlic. If you want extra protection, you can eat herbs that will turn your blood bitter so that the asema isn’t tempted to finish you off. The asema is also apparently unable to resist counting objects. By scattering seeds mixed with the talons of owls around your house, you can distract the asema by forcing it to count the seeds. If they mistake an owl claw for a seed, then they’ll have to start counting all over again, giving you a safe night’s sleep.

3. Soucouyant

The soucouyant of the Caribbean is in many ways similar to the asema. In the soucouyant’s case, an old woman converts herself into a flying ball of fire at night by stripping off her skin. The fireball demon then sneaks into sleeping houses via any crack or keyhole. Anyone she finds inside will have their blood sucked out.

Her thirst satisfied, the soucouyant will return to her discarded skin and take human form again. This gives soucouyant hunters their chance to strike. If you find a pile of human skin left by a soucouyant, then you should sprinkle it liberally with salt. When the soucouyant puts on the skin after her night of bloodsucking, she will be driven mad by the salt under her skin making her itchy.

The soucouyant is also known as the loogaroo in Haiti. Instead of feeding on the blood herself, the loogaroo is simply collecting it for her master. After a night of blood harvesting, the loogaroo returns to offer it up to the Devil.

2. Strigoi

Hailing from Romania, the strigoi have some claim to being the original vampires that Dracula and all others in the Western tradition are descended from. Strigoi are those who die before their time. Unable to go on to the afterlife, they rise from their graves. Other causes of becoming a strigoi include having a cat jump over your dead body, being born with hair, or being the seventh child of your parents.

In the first 40 days after death, the strigoi may leave their grave in search of blood. They may reappear in spectral human form, exactly as they were when alive, and rejoin their family, only to attack them. They may also appear as a beast or ghost. Once the 40 days are up, the strigoi may become a moroi—a physically present walking corpse that attacks the living.

In 2003, a Romanian man named Petre Toma died. His niece became ill after dreaming that her uncle was visiting her each night. This being a classic sign of the strigoi’s attack, Petre’s brother knew he had to act. With five other men, he dug up his brother’s body and removed the heart. This they burned, capturing the ash which it gave off. They fed the ailing niece this ash, and she was cured.

1. Penanggalan

The penanggalan is a vampire from Southeast Asia that is unlike any other. It can often be found as a beautiful young woman by day. At night, her head floats away from her body, trailing intestines and other bits of guts. Now mobile, this hungry head goes off in search of its prey, pregnant women and newborn babies being its preferred victims.

The penanggalan lands on the roof of a house where a child is about to be born. With a long, invisible tongue, it laps up the blood shed by women in childbirth. When the child is born, the penanggalan shrieks. Those whose blood the vampire takes suffer from a wasting sickness and are almost certain to die. The penanggalan returns to its home when full of blood and has to soak its swollen guts in vinegar to shrink them enough to fit back into its body.

To protect an expectant mother from a penanggalan, thorny leaves are scattered on the floor to drive away its probing tongue. To kill the vampire, it is necessary to find its body when the head is detached. Broken glass can then be stuffed in the neck so that the penanggalan will tear its guts when it tries to reattach its head.

When you think of 10 folklore monsters, you probably picture ancient tales whispered around campfires. Yet these uncanny creatures aren’t confined to dusty manuscripts; they still surface in news reports, internet forums, and the occasional midnight trek. Below, we count down the most persistent legends that refuse to fade, each with its own eerie backstory and recent sightings.

11 The Billiwhack Monster

The derelict Billiwhack Dairy complex near Santa Paula, California, has long been a hotspot for shady dealings and unsettling rumors. Rumor has it that a towering, “hairy man” roams its rust‑caked corridors, sporting ram‑like horns and razor‑sharp talons. Locals describe the creature as a bizarre hybrid – half sheep, half human – and insist that any close encounter would be terrifying.

Peak reports of the Billiwhack Monster clustered in the 1950s and ’60s, but the legend never truly died out. Thrill‑seeking teenagers still slip through broken doors hoping to catch a glimpse, and sporadic sightings continue to pepper local folklore.

Speculation about the beast’s origins runs wild. One of the most daring theories suggests it could be the product of secret World War II or Cold‑War experiments aimed at forging a super‑soldier. Whether fact or fiction, the Billiwhack Monster remains an unsettling presence in California’s abandoned industrial landscape.

10 Wendigo/Windigo

The terms “Wendigo” and “Windigo” are often used interchangeably, yet some scholars draw a distinction: the former evokes a “Bigfoot‑like” creature, while the latter denotes a cannibalistic spirit that possesses humans, compelling them to indulge in flesh‑eating urges.

This dual nature explains why many accounts portray the Wendigo as a blend of both beast and malevolent specter. Traditionally, it is said to haunt the frigid plains of the northern United States and neighboring Canada, stalking the snow‑covered forests.

Although sightings have dwindled since the early 20th century, the legend persists. A notorious case involves a Native American named Swift Runner, who allegedly murdered and devoured his family in 1879. Before his execution, Swift Runner claimed he had been overtaken by the “Windigo,” a spirit that forced his gruesome deeds.

9 The Florida Skunk Ape

While reports of a similar creature have surfaced as far away as Texas and Kentucky, the Florida Skunk Ape is most closely associated with the murky wetlands of the Everglades. Unlike the upright stance of the classic “Bigfoot,” this beast appears more apelike, moving with a low, sinuous gait.

True to its name, witnesses often describe a potent, skunk‑like odor accompanying the creature’s appearance. Its agility is legendary; sightings recount the ape navigating the swamp’s tangled waterways with astonishing speed and grace.

Numerous encounters have been documented, especially in the Myakka area during the early 2000s, complete with blurry photographs and shaky video footage. Some locals argue the creature is a previously unknown hominid, while skeptics suggest a rogue troop of escaped chimpanzees might be responsible for the legends.

8 The Altamaha‑ha Monster

Dubbed the American counterpart to Scotland’s famed Nessie, the Altamaha‑ha prowls the waters of Georgia’s Altamaha River near the town of Darien. The region’s settlement by Scottish immigrants from Inverness offers a plausible conduit for the transatlantic transfer of the legendary water‑serpent myth.

Eyewitnesses consistently report a long, serpentine creature with two humps on its back, leaving a distinct wake as it slices through the water at a surprising pace. Some claim the monster’s head resembles that of a massive snake, so large that passing vessels feel the water’s churn as if something massive glides beneath.

While skeptics argue that most sightings are simply rogue logs drifting downstream, a notable surge in reports occurred in 1981 when two fishermen claimed a close encounter, describing the creature’s impressive size and distinctive silhouette.

7 The Rougarou (The Louisiana Werewolf)

Louisiana’s rougarou legend intertwines French colonial folklore with classic European werewolf tales. The name itself—derived from the French “loup‑garou”—reflects the region’s deep French‑Canadian roots dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries.

Stories describe a creature capable of transforming into a wolf, yet some accounts paint a more terrifying picture: a man‑sized body topped with a wolf’s snarling head. The lore surrounding how one becomes a rougarou varies, ranging from curses to voluntary blood‑sucking rituals.

One particularly chilling version holds that a cursed individual must endure a 101‑day transformation, only breaking the spell by draining a human’s blood. The afflicted is then bound by a vow of silence; should they speak, the person whose blood they consumed returns to exact a lethal revenge.

6 The Momo (The Missouri Monster)

Deep within Missouri’s rolling plains roams a creature locals dub “Momo.” While bearing a resemblance to the classic Bigfoot silhouette, Momo distinguishes itself with a pumpkin‑shaped cranium and glowing orange eyes that pierce the night. Its hands end in three distinct fingers, and it leaves unmistakable three‑toed prints wherever it wanders.

The first flurry of sightings erupted in the early 1970s, and reports have persisted ever since. Many of the region’s animal disappearances—often culminating in the discovery of mutilated carcasses—are attributed to Momo’s nocturnal predations.

Theories abound: some suggest rapid urban expansion forced the creature from its original habitat, while others hypothesize clandestine government experiments, reminiscent of the Billiwhack narrative, could be responsible for its emergence.

5 Elizabeth Lake Monster

Legend tells that the Elizabeth Lake Monster—also known as the Elizabeth Lake Devil—dates back centuries. Folklore claims the lake in California was forged by the Devil himself as a sanctuary for his most feared beasts.

Deep beneath the lake, an alleged gateway to Hell supposedly lies, awaiting any unwary soul unlucky enough to encounter the monster first. Some historians link this infernal imagery to the San Andreas Fault, which runs directly beneath the lake, perhaps inspiring the “entrance to Hell” motif.

Although the tale remains entrenched in local culture, documented sightings have not surfaced since the late 1800s. The legend’s grip was strong enough that many ranchers sold their properties at a steep discount to escape the perceived menace.

4 The Arkansas Gowrow

In January 1897, a string of brutal cattle killings spurred a group of Arkansas landowners into action. Their desperate hunt, chronicled by the Arkansas Gazette, led them to a cavern where both animal and human bones littered the floor.

When the creature finally burst from its lair, the determined hunters unleashed a torrent of ammunition, ultimately believing they had vanquished the menace. Yet the story’s veracity remains debated, and subsequent sightings continued well into the mid‑20th century.

The most recent documented encounter occurred in 1951. Folklorist Vance Randolph argued that the frequency of sightings suggested the Gowrow was not a solitary oddity, but rather an undiscovered species lurking in the Ozark wilderness.

3 The Proctor Valley Monster

Near San Diego, California, the Proctor Valley Monster stalks the hills, standing a towering 213 centimeters (about seven feet) tall. This upright, hairy behemoth has been reported for decades, with numerous eyewitness accounts corroborating its presence.

A curious footprint attributed to the creature resides in the nearby Bonita Museum, though the provenance of the cast remains mysterious. Local lore ties the monster to a series of cattle disappearances and killings, further cementing its reputation.

One chilling tale from the 1960s or ’70s recounts a young couple whose car stalled in the desert night. The boyfriend ventured for help, never to return. Throughout the night, the woman heard a scraping sound on the car’s roof; by dawn, police discovered her boyfriend’s mutilated body hanging from a nearby tree, his fingernails scraping the vehicle’s roof as it swayed in the wind.

2 Teke Teke and Kuchisake‑Onna

Japan’s urban legends boast two terrifying figures: Teke Teke and Kuchisake‑Onna. Teke Teke, translating roughly to “the sound of her walking on her hands,” tells of a woman sliced in half at the waist, forced to scuttle across the ground on her hands and elbows. She moves with astonishing speed, and anyone she catches meets a grisly fate.

The origin story ties back to a post‑World II tragedy: an office worker raped by an American soldier who later leapt from a bridge onto a railway, only to be bisected by an oncoming train. The internet’s rise has amplified the legend, keeping Teke Teke alive in modern folklore.

Kuchisake‑Onna, or the “Slit‑Mouth Woman,” emerged as a genuine terror in the 1970s, though its roots stretch back a millennium to the Heian period. Legend recounts a samurai discovering his wife’s infidelity and cruelly slicing the sides of her mouth. The vengeful spirit now dons a surgical mask, confronting solitary wanderers with the chilling question, “Watashi kirei?” (“Am I pretty?”).
If the victim answers “no,” she slashes their mouth; if “yes,” she removes the mask to ask “Kore demo?” (“How about now?”) before attacking. The legend was so feared that teachers escorted children home, and a 1970s incident involving a woman whose mouth was slit at both sides after a car accident cemented the story’s place in Japanese culture. Sightings have dwindled but persist in hushed whispers.

1 The Dark Watchers of California

High in the Santa Lucia Mountains of California, the enigmatic Dark Watchers have haunted hikers for centuries. While they never display hostile intent, their eerie silhouettes—tall, shadowy figures perched on ridgelines—continue to be reported by modern trekkers.

Both early European settlers and Indigenous peoples recorded sightings, suggesting the phenomenon predates contemporary folklore. Today, hikers frequently claim brief glimpses of these ominous beings, who seem to vanish the moment a weapon is drawn or an approach is attempted.

According to legend, the Watchers will not reveal themselves to those bearing arms; any attempt to get closer causes them to fade back into the mist, leaving only the lingering feeling of being observed by unseen eyes.

From abandoned dairy plants to mist‑shrouded mountain peaks, these ten folklore monsters continue to captivate the imagination, proving that some legends refuse to be relegated to dusty archives. Whether rooted in truth or pure myth, each tale adds a layer to the rich tapestry of modern cryptid lore.

When the world turns icy and the nights grow long, the phrase “10 evil winter” takes on a whole new meaning. While you’re busy sipping hot cocoa and decking the halls, ancient cold‑blooded beings are lurking in the snow‑drifted shadows, ready to turn your festive cheer into a frost‑bitten nightmare. Below is a frosty roll‑call of the most malevolent winter‑dwelling beasts ever recorded in folklore.

10 Yuki‑Onna

Don’t be fooled by her ethereal beauty; Yuki‑Onna, literally “snow woman,” is a deadly spirit first mentioned in 14th‑century Japanese tales. She appears as a stunningly pale woman with flowing dark hair, sometimes said to have no feet, drifting silently through blizzards. Lost travelers who encounter her are met with a chilling breath that instantly freezes them, leaving only frosted corpses behind.

Legend also tells of a version where she cradles a baby, pleading for help. Any mortal who reaches out to the infant is instantly turned to ice. Her eyes, cold as winter starlight, are the only reliable way to spot her before she strikes.

9 Chenoo

Chenoos are hulking, ice‑hearted giants that were once human. According to Algonquin myth, a malevolent spirit can possess a person, or the act of cannibalism itself can transform a human into a Chenoo, their heart turning to solid ice. These towering cannibals roam the frozen wastes, their massive frames a terrifying sight.

Unlike many cursed beings, a Chenoo can regain humanity. The process requires extracting or expelling the icy heart, melting it completely, and replacing it with a living human heart. The moral of the story? Never feast on your fellow humans.

8 Ijiraq

From Inuit legend comes the Ijiraq, a shape‑shifting predator that preys on naïve children and wandering souls. Its true form is invisible; it only reveals itself by assuming any creature it wishes. Living between the realms of the living and the dead, the Ijiraq lures victims into a maze of confusion, ensuring its lair remains undiscovered.

Children who follow its eerie, source‑less whistle are led far from safety, where the Ijiraq either devours them or abandons them to a slow, lonely death. The only glimmer of hope lies in recognizing the phantom whistle and fleeing before the creature can strike.

7 Nuckelavee

The Nuckelavee is Scotland’s nightmarish, skinless centaur. Its grotesque body boasts two heads—one with a blazing red eye—while its veins pulse with black blood visible beneath its fleshless skin. Confined to the ocean during summer by the Sea Mither, it bursts forth when the sea‑spirit’s grip loosens, seeking vengeance in the snow‑covered isles.

Its toxic breath can slay the strongest warrior with a single exhale. Villagers historically whispered prayers whenever its name was uttered, fearing the creature’s ability to bring famine and drought through its mere presence.

6 Mahaha

Another Inuit terror, the Mahaha, is a gaunt yet muscular demon with ice‑blue skin stretched so tightly that its bones jut out. Its low‑hanging head frames sullen eyes, and its long, knife‑like fingernails are used to “tickle” victims to death—an eerie, shredding torture.

Always smiling and giggling, the Mahaha delights in the agony it inflicts. Those it kills are left with a twisted, evil grin frozen on their faces, a chilling testament to its sadistic pleasure.

5 Pal‑Rai‑Yuk

The Pal‑Rai‑Yuk is a monstrous, snake‑like sea beast haunting the bays of Alaska’s Key Islands. Its massive head can rise ten feet above the water, while its fur‑covered body sports six legs, three dorsal fins, and two hungry heads, each wielding a slick, elongated tongue.

Despite its size, it can snatch unsuspecting humans from docks in an instant, often without the victim noticing. Folklore claims the creature can be summoned by tapping the underside of a wooden pier—or even a kayak—forcing it to rise from the depths and glide through the earth aided by snow.

4 Kogukhpak

Among the oldest Yupik myths, the Kogukhpak are colossal subterranean beasts once mistaken for mammoth skeletons. Their massive tusks resemble those of mammoths, yet their bodies are bulbous with frog‑like legs. Sunlight is their sole weakness; they spend most of the year underground, emerging only during the winter solstice.

When the solstice arrives, they surface to hunt, only to be vaporized the moment the first rays of sun touch their rounded forms. Those unfortunate enough to linger too long become the frozen remnants that early hunters once mistook for ancient megafauna.

3 Qiqirn

The Qiqirn is a terrifying, bald spirit dog that haunts the Arctic night. Apart from its paws, tail tip, and mouth area, it’s completely hairless. When it stalks lonely travelers during the frigid months, victims are seized by relentless fits of pain until death finally releases them.

Fortunately, the Qiqirn is as skittish as it is fierce. By shouting its name—”Qiqirn!”—the creature recoils in fear and flees. Knowing its identity is the key to surviving its icy assault.

2 Wendigo

From Algonquian lore, the Wendigo is a towering, flesh‑eating specter standing about fifteen feet tall. Its ash‑gray skin, hollow eyes, and blood‑stained lips give it a ghastly visage. Long, razor‑sharp claws extend from unnaturally elongated limbs, while a hybrid wolf‑human head bears menacing horns.

Known as the “spirit of lonely places,” the Wendigo lures victims with a human‑like voice, offering false warmth and shelter before devouring them. It can also possess humans, turning greedy individuals into cannibalistic monsters driven by insatiable hunger.

1 Kallikantzaroi

Kallikantzaroi are tiny, gnome‑like creatures from Greek mythology who spend the year burrowing beneath the Earth, hacking at the Tree of Life in a futile attempt to topple humanity. During the twelve days of the winter solstice, they escape to the surface, wreaking havoc on homes and villages.

They are notoriously dim‑witted; they cannot even count to three. To ward them off, locals would place colanders at doorsteps, forcing the creatures to stare at the holes and waste precious time until sunrise forces them back underground.

When forced back, they discover the Tree of Life fully restored, prompting another year of futile attempts to destroy it before the next solstice allows another brief, chaotic sortie.

If you’re hunting for a spine‑tingling evening, look no further than these 10 creepy tales that have haunted England for centuries. From blood‑stained hill‑tops to mist‑shrouded moors, each story offers a chilling glimpse into the darker side of English folklore, where myth meets mystery and the unknown lurks around every corner.

10 Creepy Tales From English Folklore

Every culture passes down stories that teach, explain, or warn. England’s folklore is famous worldwide—think King Arthur or garden gnomes—but beneath the charming veneer lies a shadowy world of ghosts, monsters, and cursed objects. Below, we explore ten of the most unsettling legends that still echo through the British countryside.

1 Boggarts

Boggarts may be best known today thanks to J.K. Rowling’s magical universe, where they shape‑shift into a victim’s deepest fear. In traditional English folklore, however, a boggart was a mischievous household spirit that attached itself to families, causing endless nuisance.

According to old fairy tales, these sprites loved to hide in dark, forgotten nooks—attics, cellars, cupboards, even under beds. They were sometimes described as shape‑shifters, and their presence manifested through broken objects, souring food, and eerie creaks that rattled the very walls of a home.

Removing a boggart proved notoriously difficult; they would follow a family from house to house, refusing to be left behind. Folklore warned against naming a boggart, for doing so supposedly gave it greater power and made it even more vengeful. Their antics bear a striking resemblance to modern poltergeist activity, though boggarts were considered malevolent fairies rather than restless souls.

2 Beast Of Bodmin Moor

Bodmin Moor, a remote expanse in southwest England dotted with ancient ruins, has long been rumored to host the uncanny. While many speak of ghosts, the Beast of Bodmin Moor is a different kind of terror—a massive black cat that stalks the highlands, preying on livestock.

The first reports emerged in 1978, when several farm animals were found mutilated. Some locals speculated a panther from an illegal private zoo had escaped, but the owner never reported a missing animal. Over the years, sightings persisted, leading to theories of a whole family of wild black cats roaming the moor, or even descendants of prehistoric felines that once prowled Britain.

More than sixty sightings have been logged, prompting the UK government to launch an official investigation in 1995. Although no concrete evidence of a supernatural beast was uncovered, the mystery endures, and locals still report eerie eyes gleaming in the night.

3 Gytrash

The wild, craggy hills of Yorkshire have long been a haven for strange phenomena, and among its most feared spirits is the Gytrash. Often taking the shape of a black dog, mule, or horse with fiery red eyes, the Gytrash prowls lonely paths at dusk, hunting for unsuspecting travelers.

Those who follow the Gytrash are led deeper into the wilderness, becoming hopelessly lost. Once the creature decides its fate, it may attack or simply vanish, leaving the wanderer alone on a dark road. Yet, on rare occasions the Gytrash has acted benevolently, guiding lost souls back to safety—a duality that adds to its legend.

The Gytrash even appears in literature; Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre references a solitary horse that follows the protagonist, underscoring how ingrained the creature is in Yorkshire’s cultural memory.

4 Spring‑Heeled Jack

Victorian London was shaken in the 1830s by a terrifying figure known as Spring‑Heeled Jack. First mentioned in a Sheffield newspaper in the 1810s, his notoriety exploded after a series of attacks in 1837‑38, where women reported being assaulted by a man with glowing red eyes, a tight black suit, long metallic claws, and the ability to leap incredible distances.

Witnesses claimed he could exhale blue flames that paralyzed his victims. The panic was so intense that vigilante groups formed, and police interrogated several suspects, but no definitive culprit was ever identified.

Most modern scholars believe Spring‑Heeled Jack was a prankster—often linked to Lord Beresford, Marquis of Waterford—who relished frightening Londoners. Over time, his legend lived on in penny dreadfuls and sensationalist pamphlets, cementing his place as a classic Victorian bogeyman.

5 Black Annis

First recorded in a title deed from 1764, Black Annis—originally Black Anny—was a fearsome witch who dwelled in a cave known as Black Anny’s Bower, near a towering tree. Though the exact location has been lost to post‑World‑I housing development, the legend endures in Leicestershire folklore.

Described as a blue‑faced hag with iron claws, she prowled the night hunting children and livestock. Her long, spindly arms could slip through windows to snatch unsuspecting youngsters, whom she would drain of blood and drape their skins upon the tree outside her cave. Once dried, the skins were added to a gruesome skirt stitched from previous victims.

The blood‑curdling howls of Black Annis could be heard for up to eight kilometres, giving villagers warning time to bolt doors and hang protective herbs above windows to keep her at bay.

6 Will O’ The Wisp

The Will o’ the Wisp—also called Will o’ the Torch or Jack o’ Lantern—is a faint, ghostly light that flickers over marshes and swamps at dusk, though it can appear elsewhere. While similar phenomena appear worldwide, England’s damp, mist‑cloaked landscapes are especially famed for these eerie orbs.

Folklore says the wisp lures lost travelers along secluded paths. Depending on how a wanderer treats the light, it might guide them to safety or treasure, but more often it deceives, leading victims to peril. Some tales portray the wisp as a mischievous fairy’s lantern, blown out once the traveler is hopelessly lost.

Other legends name the wisp after a cursed soul—Will or Jack—who, after a wicked life, was condemned to wander forever with a coal‑lit lantern supplied by the Devil. These lights are sometimes said to foretell tragedy, appearing before disaster strikes.

7 Legend Of The Mistletoe Bough

First penned in 1822—though author Samuel Rogers claimed the tale was much older—the Legend of the Mistletoe Bough became a staple of 19th‑century English ballads. Many historic houses claimed the tragic events unfolded within their walls, and by the mid‑1800s the story was a popular song sung at celebrations.

The narrative follows a newly‑wed couple whose wedding revelries drag into the night. Exhausted, the bride initiates a game of hide‑and‑seek, discovering an ancient oak chest deep within the castle. She crawls inside, the lid slams shut, and she cannot escape.

Years pass as frantic searches fail. Eventually, an elderly husband uncovers the chest, opens it, and discovers his beloved’s skeletal remains—a haunting reminder of love turned fatal.

8 Drake’s Drum

Sir Francis Drake, famed for circumnavigating the globe and defeating the Spanish Armada in 1588, also left a darker legacy. Some believed he made a pact with the Devil to secure victory, and in his final days he allegedly ranted in delirium, uttering cryptic, unrecorded words.

Legend tells of “Drake’s Drum,” an artifact once displayed at Buckland Abbey. Supposedly, whenever England faced dire peril, the drum could be heard beating from afar. Reports claim it sounded during the Napoleonic Wars, both World Wars, and other crises, urging the nation to rally.

Today the original drum resides in a climate‑controlled vault, while a replica occupies its former display case, preserving the eerie myth for future generations.

9 Cutty Dyer

Cutty Dyer, a water‑sprite or ogre, haunted the River Yeo (or Ashburn, depending on the teller) near Ashburton. Legends say he lurked beneath the King’s Bridge, waiting for careless children or drunken revelers to stray too close, then dragging them beneath the waves to feast on their warm blood.

The tale dates back at least to 1879, when a local paper chronicled the fear passed down through generations. Two men claimed to have seen Dyer waist‑deep in the river, his eyes blazing red like saucers and teeth sharp as a shark’s, freezing them in terror until he finally released them.

Eventually, the town’s installation of streetlights supposedly drove the creature away, ending his reign of terror.

10 Redcap

The centuries‑long conflict between England and Scotland turned the borderlands into a lawless frontier. Raiders roamed freely, committing crimes they believed would go unpunished. Amid this chaos, tales of malevolent spirits flourished, one of which was the Redcap.

The Redcap appeared as an old man with iron‑shod feet, long tangled hair, glowing red eyes, talon‑like nails, and a deep red hat. He haunted abandoned castles, hunting for corpses left by war or raiders, using their blood to dye his signature cap. If no bodies lay nearby, he waited in ruined halls, luring unsuspecting travelers to crush them with a rock and drain their life.

Defeating the Redcap required holy means: reciting scripture or brandishing a crucifix would cause him to scream in agony, burst into flames, and vanish, leaving behind a single ragged tooth as proof of his defeat.

Ireland has a rich tradition of weird and wonderful creatures – but it’s not just fairies and leprechauns. Some denizens of the Irish Otherworld are truly horrifying. Like these 10!

10. The Abhartach

Long before Irish novelist Bram Stoker came up with Dracula, Ireland had the blood-sucking Abhartach. Once an evil wizard king from the hills around Glenullin, Abhartach, a dwarf, was killed by his subjects and buried standing up. When he returned the next day, demanding blood from their veins, his terrorized subjects had him killed again. But it didn’t help. Abhartach kept coming back.

In desperation they sought out a hermit in the woods and asked him what to do. “Abhartach is not really alive,” he explained, he’s “one of the neamh-mhairbh [‘undead’].” In other words, he couldn’t be killed. But he could be “suspended” if slain with a sword made of yew wood and buried in the earth upside down, sprinkled with ash twigs and thorns, beneath a very large stone. Abhartach would stay there as long as the stone did, said the hermit.

The rock is still there to this day, with a tree that sprang up from the thorns. Even now, it’s considered ‘bad ground’. Eerily, the most recent attempt to clear it—in 1997—was thwarted by malfunctioning chainsaws, as well as blood loss when a chain lifting the stone broke and cut one of the workers.

9. Banshees

Perhaps the best known ghoul from the Emerald Isle is a banshee, which in Irish (bean sí) means ‘Otherworld woman.’ Her wails and screams, heard at night, foretell a death in the family—but only if your family’s Irish. Irish poet W.B. Yeats described the banshee as “an attendant fairy that follows the old families, and none but them.” More than one is considered an honor.

The queen of the banshees, Clíodhna, was a goddess of love and beauty accompanied by birds that cured illness. But she also lured sailors to their deaths. For this, she was punished by the sea god Manaanán MacLir. When she left the Otherworld to be with her lover, a mortal, MacLir drowned her with a wave. Hence the legend in Glandore, County Cork that a loud wave belongs to Clíodhna.

8. Bananach

The bánánach (bánánaigh) are a type of shrieking female specter drawn by combat to circle the skies over battlefields. They’re kind of like banshees, and their name may have a similar root. If not just from bán, meaning ‘white’ or ‘pale’, bánánach may come from bean/ban, meaning ‘woman’.

In early Irish texts, they usually appear alongside their male counterparts, the bocánach (bocánaigh). These “demons of the air,” as monastic scholars called them, more actively encouraged the bloodshed of war. Based on their name, from bocán (meaning ‘he-goat’), it’s assumed they had a Puck-like appearance.

7. Fomorians

In Irish mythology, there are basically two main factions—one good, the Tueatha Dé Danann, and the other evil: the Fomorians, or Fomors. The name is thought to derive from fó, meaning “from below,” and a suffix meaning “the sea,” “demons,” or “giants.”

Thought to have built Ireland’s megalithic monuments, the Fomorians are said to have been the first Irish settlers—numbering 200 men and 600 women to begin with. But their prevailing characteristic is their mutant appearance, which they themselves see as a blessing from the dark gods. Mismatched limbs, animal heads, too many eyes, and so on are common. They’re also wielders of old, earthy magic—the “power of the wyrm”—with control of the weather and plagues.

Their king, Balor of the Evil Eye, had a flaming eye so huge it took four men to lift the lid. With it, he can reduce a man to ashes and lay waste to whole regions—as he did to the islands west of Scotland. In fact, it was so dangerous that he kept seven cloaks over it at all times and never got it out among his people. Whenever the time came to use it on an enemy, the cloaks would come off one by one—the removal of the first withering ferns, the removal of the second browning grass, the third heating up trees, and so on, until the removal of the sixth and second set the land itself on fire.

6. Fear gorta

The fear gorta or ‘hungry man’ stalks Ireland during times of famine, begging from house to house for something to eat. His ancient origins are murky. According to some, he rises from the “hungry grass” (or féár gortach), which curses anyone who walks on it to starvation. Others say the fear gorta is the ghost of a man who starved to death close to a fairy mound.

Whatever his origin, the wretched fear gorta appears emaciated, dressed in rags with long, dirty fingernails and carrying (often dropping) an alms bowl. Unlike hungry grass, which you can burn, there’s no way to destroy the fear gorta. There is, however, a way to protect yourself: compassion. Those who feed him whatever they can are thanked or rewarded for the favor, while those who don’t—especially if they mock (or worse yet attack) him—are cursed with bad luck and starvation.

Hence it’s said that the fear gorta has made kings into paupers and beggars into princes. However, he’s always an omen of hard times to come.

5. The Fetch

A fetch (derived from the old Irish faíth, meaning seer) is Ireland’s answer to the doppelgänger. Depending on whether you see it in the morning or the evening, it may bring good luck or bad. But mostly the fetch is a bad thing.

Assuming the form of someone whose death is impending, this shapeshifting spirit appears either to them or their loved ones as an omen. What sets it apart from a regular doppelgänger is the fetch’s tendency to hint at the cause of coming death—showing burns if it’s fire, clutching its chest for a heart attack, etc. Also it doesn’t have a shadow. Needless to say, this all makes the fetch look more terrifying.

A fetch might also appear after the death, walking among loved ones at the funeral with a distant look on their face. Apparently, if you follow one a while it’ll disappear in a dark corner or vanish behind a tree.

4. Sluaghs

Sluaghs are monsters with a taste for human souls—especially souls in true love. According to the ancients, sluaghs are faeries gone “amuck,” “warped and twisted, without fear, reason or mercy.” Later, Christians explained them as the souls of sinners doomed to wander the land dragging souls with them to Hell. They’re said to be especially active at Halloween, when all fires were traditionally forbidden so as not to attract their attention. But whatever day of the year it is, there’s an old Irish tradition of keeping west-facing windows shut tight to keep the sluaghs at bay. (They were said to fly in from the west after dusk.)

Sluaghs also snare mortals as slaves, commanding them to do their bidding. If the sluaghs are denied a soul they crave, for instance, they’ll get their slaves to slaughter cattle, sheep, and pets. This is because the sluaghs themselves have no corporeal presence, typically appearing as undulating shadow resembling a great flock of ravens. In fact, the word sluagh means ‘host’.

So feared was the sluagh in times gone by that people favored death as their fate.

3. Dobhar-chu

Otters—with the hand-holding, the pouch they keep their stuff in, the fluffiness, and so on—are impossible not to feel good looking at. They’re basically the penguins of the northern hemisphere; you can’t help but smile when you see them. But trust Ireland to make them scary.

The dobhar-chú is a kind of otter from Hell, a vampire with “gargantuan fangs.” It was first encountered on the shores of Glenade Lake in County Leitrim, lying fast asleep on the blood-soaked body of one Grace Connolly. At the sight of the creature, her husband Terence McLoughlin ran home, got his gun, returned and shot the creature—which let out a terrifying shriek like a death rattle. In response, another dobhar-chú emerged from the lake and had to be slain by the man. Creepily, both Connolly and McLoughlin have carvings of the creatures on their gravestones.

They weren’t the only encounters, though. The dobhar-chú—or “Irish crocodile,” as it’s sometimes called—has allegedly been in scuffles with others. It’s also been seen and photographed as recently as 2000. According to photographer Sean Corcoran, who spotted the creature on Omey Island, Connemara, it swam across the lake within seconds, leapt onto a boulder, and gave the “most haunting screech.”

2. Ollipheisteanna

We’ve all heard of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland, but what does the old legend mean? Well, scholars aren’t exactly sure but it may have something to do with a breed of giant, worm-like monsters. Likened to dragons, olliphéisteanna (singular, olliphéist: from oll, ‘great’, and péist, ‘worm’, ‘beast’, ‘reptile’) are so massive that their snaking around carves rivers into the landscape. The River Shannon is said to have formed this way, left in the wake of an olliphéist fleeing St. Patrick.

Otherwise, they’re said to bide their time in deep lakes, underground caverns, and especially marshes and swamps. Even their blood is toxic. Hence when the healer of the gods, Dian Cécht, removed three olliphéisteanna that had been growing inside a baby’s breast, he burned them to ashes and cast the ashes into a river. But even then, the river stopped flowing and the water turned black—killing everything in it. Another tale has an olliphéist crawling from a witch’s broken thigh bone, growing full size, and devouring Ireland’s cattle. The warrior Conán leapt into its mouth to slay it from within, but its blood forever stained the County Donegal lake Lough Derg red.

The greatest of all the olliphéisteanna was Caoránach, mother of all worms and demons. She is still thought to inhabit Lough Derg.

1. The Dullahan

Long before The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Ireland had its own headless horseman. The Dullahan (meaning ‘dark man’) is a black-robed decapitatee, a harbinger of death who “thunders through the night” on horseback, using a human spine as a whip. Alternatively, he might ride his enormous black coach—the “coach-a-bower”—pulled so incredibly fast by six headless horses that it sets the roadside ablaze. 

Traditionally, the Dullahan is a manifestation of the pagan fertility god Crom Dubh—whose sacrificial blood rites involved decapitation. He keeps his head close to hand, despite its resemblance to a lump of mouldy cheese. By holding it up, the Dullahan can see for miles around the countryside in his midnight pursuit of the dying. It also serves as a lantern—its decaying phosphorescence enough for his vision. 

All gates fly open for the Dullahan, locked or not. So it’s no use resisting. You don’t want to be too eager, though. Folk tales abound of those who watch from their windows for a glimpse of the Dullahan only to get blood in their eyes.

Food and folklore go hand in hand. From telling children that the crusts on bread will make their hair curly to the idea that carrots help you see in the dark, there are myths and tales about almost everything we eat. Some of the stories are harmless fun, but there are older and stranger bits of folklore surrounding some of our favorite—or not-so-favorite—foods.

The international view of British food is not always complimentary, to put it mildly, but the lore of the United Kingdom’s dishes is as rich as any in the world.

10 Fairy Food

If you’re anything like me, you love to get free food. Folklore, however, gives a stern warning—never accept from the fairy folk! Except that it also warns about the dangers of not taking food when offered by fairies. Folklore is not an exact science.

If you accept fairy food, there is the danger that you will be trapped in the realm of the fairies and unable to escape. In the story “Childe Rowland,” the wizard Merlin warns someone venturing into fairy-land that they should “bite no bit, and drink no drop, however hungry or thirsty you be; drink a drop, or bite a bit while in Elfland you be and never will you see Middle Earth again.”

If you encounter fairy food in the real world, though, it is wise to accept it. In a tale from the isle of Arran, two farmers jokingly wished for the fairies to lay out a feast for them. When the meal magically appeared, they were too scared to eat it. For refusing the offered meal, the field went barren, and nothing ever grew again.^[1]

9 Cockle Bread

Bread has always been a staple food for most people. Getting the ingredients, mixing them, kneading the dough, and baking it took a great deal of time. Every stage was filled with the chance for folklore to creep in. If a hole formed in the middle of your loaf, it was called a “coffin” and predicted a coming death. If the yeast failed to rise, then you had been cursed by a witch—but they could be kept off by marking the bread with a cross on top.

One form of bread was made in a very peculiar way. Cockle bread was used by young ladies as a way to win a lover. While they made the bread, they would chant the following rhyme:

My granny is sick, and now is dead,
And we’ll go mold some cockle bread.
Up with my heels and down with my head,
And this is the way to mold cockle bread.

In order to ensure their love went into the bread, the dough was kneaded with the girl’s buttocks. A morsel of this bread fed to the desired boy would ensure he fell in love with her.^[2]

8 Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns are one of the most delicious aspects of a British Easter. The buns are stuffed with dried fruits and spices and marked with a cross on the top. It is the presence of that cross that has inspired much of the folklore surrounding them.

According to tradition, a hot cross bun will never go moldy. There are many examples of ancient hot cross buns which suggest they do last a long time. In several London pubs, hot cross buns are hung up every year and still look remarkably good. Their sanctity preserves the buns from rotting, it is said (though it may be the spices as well), and also gives them magical properties.

In former years, preserved hot cross buns were grated into food and drink as a cure for all manner of ailments. They were also hung in houses to prevent fires. When hung in barns, the buns stop evil spirits from attacking the livestock. Sailors wanting to ensure their ship did not sink would always have a hot cross bun on board.^[7]

7 Wedding Cake Predictions

Wedding cakes are the most important cakes in many people’s lives. The act of cutting the cake together signals the first joint act of a couple’s lives together. Many couples would keep one of the tiers of their wedding cake to serve at the christening of their first child to bring it luck. But there are other magical uses of a wedding cake.

If you can resist eating your slice of cake, then you can use it to predict who your own spouse will be. Take your bit of cake and place it under your pillow before you go to sleep—watch out for crumbs; that’s how you get ants. When you sleep that night, an apparition of your eventual partner will appear in your dreams. Some say that you do not need a full slice of cake. All you need is a piece of the cake that has been passed through the new bride’s wedding ring.

There is also a tradition that a girl should put a piece of wedding cake in her pocket for the duration of the newlyweds’ honeymoon. If she does, then she will be married before the year is out.^[4]

6 Dumb Cakes

Perhaps the most popular method of divining who your lover will be is to bake a dumb cake. There were a number of variations of the ritual, but all involved the makers of a cake working in absolute silence, hence the name dumb.

In one version, three girls come together, and all place a handful of flour and salt into a pile. With a little water, they work it into a dough and mark the cake with their initials before baking it. Once it was ready, the girls wait until midnight. At the stroke of 12, a ghost will enter and point to the initials of the girl who will marry next.

One tradition involves only two girls working in silence, and they chant:

Two to make it,
Two to bake it,
Two to break it.

That night the cake is placed under the pillow, and a vision of their future spouse will come to them. Most dumb cakes were not intended to be eaten. Probably wisely, as some recipes call for them to contain bits of fingernail, hair, dust, and usually an unhealthy amount of salt.^[5]

5 Vegetable Cures

There is something magical about growing vegetables. You plant a few seeds and watch them seemingly grow from nothing into something that you can harvest and eat. But some people put their crops to use in actual magic.

Small potatoes were sometimes worn on a string around the neck to protect people from rheumatism. Even today, you can find examples of people putting bits of potato on people with fevers and claiming that they draw out fever, turning black in the process. In fact, this is just the oxidation of starch, but some prefer the folklore explanation.

Onions have been put to similar use. For example, when smallpox broke out in Sheffield in 1927, many houses hung up onions in their home. It was believed that onions absorbed the pestilence. Some even used onions to ward off plagues in their cattle.

If you have an earache, you might consider warming an onion in the fire until it is soft and taking out the heart in the middle. This, inserted into the ear, was thought to cure the pain. Probably best not to try this at home.^[6]

4 Salt Lore

One of the most commonly acted out superstitions is performed at dinner tables across the country. If you happen to spill the salt, you must take a pinch of it and cast it over your left shoulder, or disaster is sure to follow. This is supposed to be because when you spill salt, the Devil takes it as an invitation to join the meal. Throwing it over the shoulder hits him in the eye and keeps him at bay.

Salt could also be used to drive off witches. In some places, a pinch of salt was thrown in the fire, and the following charm was spoken: “Salt! Salt! I put thee in the fire. May the one who has bewitched me neither eat, drink, nor sleep until the spell is broken.”

Salt was also useful to the dead. When graves are dug up, plates are sometimes found on the skeleton. These plates were filled with salt and left with the body because they were thought to keep the soul safe from the Devil as “the devil loveth no salt with his meat.” Which sits at odds with the tradition of spilling salt. Folklore is allowed to contradict itself, it seems.^[7]

3 Wedding Shortbread

Big and elaborate wedding cakes have not always been the center of a wedding feast. In Scotland in the past, the most important element of the day was the Infar-cake. This was a decorated piece of shortbread that had a number of folkloric uses.

The wedding shortbread was traditionally baked by the mother of the bride. On the day of the wedding, it would be held over the heads of the new couple and broken. As the pieces fell around them, the number of fragments was examined. The more bits it shattered into, the more children the couple were destined to have. Sometimes the pieces of shortbread were tossed over the heads of the bride and groom before they entered their new home. Though it does seem to be a bit of a waste of shortbread.

The bits that were left on the floor could still be used, however. Guests would scramble to gather some up, especially those who were unmarried. These were then carried home and placed under the pillow (again) in hopes that they would provoke a dream—a dream of future love.^[8]

2 Turnips

Turnips are not the most lovely of vegetables. This perhaps explains why they were once carved into punkies—lanterns that children carried around as they went begging from door to door. The results could be incredibly spooky and much more uncanny than the more familiar pumpkin.

If your child had whooping cough, then there was one way for turnips to be a cure. Take a turnip and slice it into half-inch strips. These were then layered with brown sugar between them. The thick liquid that oozes out was then fed to the sick child.

In Wales, a turnip could be used to predict who a girl would fall in love with (this seems to be a theme). The girl had to sneak out at night and steal a turnip from a neighbor’s field. This turnip then had to be peeled in a single piece. The peeling was then taken into the garden and buried. The turnip itself had to be hung behind the bedroom door and was supposed to give the girl a dream of her husband.^[9]

1 Devil’s Blackberries

If there is one character that is sure to provide a good bit of folklore, it is the Devil. In folk tales, he is always up to some mischief or other. But given his back story, you can maybe forgive him for some of his naughty ways.

Michaelmas, the 29th of September but the 11th of October in the old calendar, is a celebration of the archangel Michael. It also traditionally marks the day when Michael cast the Devil out of heaven. According to British folklore, the Devil not only had a long fall, but he also had a very painful landing in a blackberry patch, getting torn by its thorns. This gave Lucifer a lasting hatred of blackberries.

Folklore says that blackberries must never be picked after Michaelmas because on this day, the Devil takes his revenge on the berries. In some tellings of the story, the Devil touches the berries then and poisons them, but in others, he does something more extreme. Whether he spits on them, urinates, or defecates depends on who is telling the tale. Still, probably best not to risk it.^[10]