Every culture around the globe creates mythical tales. That's right you read correctly: cowboys have reported that while they were singing around the campfire, a distant jackalope joined in with the chorus. This list may not reflect recent changes. Appearing only at night to build roads, dams, and temples, the Menehune are purported to be Hawaii's own "ancient aliens." Related read: The Fighting Men & Women of the Fetterman Massacre, In northern Algonquian traditions, the windigo was the spirit of winter, which could transform a man, woman, or child into a cannibalistic being with a heart of ice, writes Shawn C. Smallman in Dangerous Spirits: The Windigo in Myth and History. However, a surprising number have fairly recent origins, and don't seem to be going away. The Penobscot Indians of the East Coast told stories of a giant, menacing mythical creature named the Katshituashku, or Stiff-Legged Bear. The legendary animal is said to roam through Mexico,. The bridge became dubbed the Donkey Lady Bridge; honk three times if you want her to come out [source: Weird US]. Some of these involve scary creatures, which are likely not real, but in some cases, they may be. Discovery News. According to him, the monster had a head like a seahorse and eyes the color of a peeled onion. It has a thick neck and was reported to have a wingspan of 12 feet. When he did come home, he only wanted to visit his sons. Rooted inKutenai legend, this Montana monster is often depicted as a long eel. If you came here looking to get your X-Files on, you're sure to have found an unexplained phenomenon or two in our mythical creature bestiary. Intro The Strange & Terrifying Creatures of Native American Folklore Mythology & Fiction Explained 1.47M subscribers Join Subscribe 693K views 1 year ago #Skinwalker #Wendigo. If the Loogaroo sucks out too much blood, the victim will die and become a Loogaroo himself. matabiri - nasty swamp spirits in Papua New Guinea. Nobody wants to risk being boarded by the inbred cannibal descendants of escaped asylum patients now, do they? It was ghost food. Sightings of a previously unseen pig-man shortly after the teenager's disappearance on the Halloween of 1951 conjure just two alternatives: either young Harris transformed into a pigman, or a preexisting pigman ate him. This article is more than four years old. The Shoshone avoided the Nimerigar whenever possible.. A bobcat was then shot and displayed, and the world was assured that the beast had been found. "Is The Chupacabra Real? "13th Annual Mothman Festival." Advertisement ‐ Content Continues Below. Deranged. Supernatural animals, often hybrids, sometimes part human, whose existence has not or cannot be proved and that are described in folklore, but also in historical accounts written before history became a science. In many stories, the Nimerigar are an evil group who live in the Wind River and in the Wyoming mountains, writes Cynthia OBrien in Fairy Myths. Much like Bigfoot, the evidence collected over time consists of photos, hair samples and a few foot casts. "Wild Story Produced in Wildlife Preserve." He tried to trick the young maidens into sampling the soup he had been cooking: soup made from human children he had abducted. Share. Rougarou is most often been described as having a human body with the head of a wolf. Aug. 29, 2013. Says one onlooker: "His head was like a camel's. Slenderman was created by Floridian Eric Knudsen in 2009 on the Something Awful web forum, where people doctor photos and then write stories about them. Despite Blair Witch-style digital video footage of Florida's answer to Bigfoot, experts remain dubious as to the existence of the rarely-sighted creature. The animals were pulled under the water by the beast, allowing MacDougall and his group to escape. a mythical nocturnal creature that is reported chiefly from rural Maryland, is reputed to be part reptile and part bird, and is said to prey on poultry and children. There is a strong Spanish and African influence on the creatures and the stories. America is no exception to the horror story genre. According to some anthropologists, they may also have been used as a warning against resorting to cannibalism during the harsh winter months. This website uses cookies. The Native Americans had many names for large, ape-like giants that lived among their tribes or above the mountain tree line. The tribes of the Pacific Northwest topped their totem poles with carved images of Thunderbirds. Its face was hidden in a mass of hair. In 1966 two couples reported the first sighting of the Mothman. 10. Image by Cathy Wilkins. According to a 2012 Angus Reid survey, a full 29 percent of Americans and 21 percent of Canadians do. "In the Northwest, the hirsute hominid, who dates to American Indian lore as Sasquatch, is a minor industry." Aug. 8, 2012. Or, rather, it is a merman. The legendary animal is said to roam through Mexico, southwest USA, and Puerto Rico as well as other areas. Legend has it that a 7-foot tall ape-like creature with large red eyes and long black hair lives in Arizona's Mogollon Rim. "Donkey Lady tales travel around area." This 'goatsucker' made its name by leaving a trail of animal corpses in its wake although DNA tests have variously revealed the attacker to be a dog, coyote, or raccoon. "The noise opened up again, as though Satan and a regiment of imps were coming forth for battle," wrote a reporter for the Des Moines Daily News after the area's resident man-shaped bat escaped into a mine shaft. In 1819, Captain Crum of the ship Bulwagga Bay saw a black monster that stretched 187 feet long. Tennessee Wildman supposedly has either dark grey hair or dark ginger hair. Although she described a red-eyed alien-type figure covered in spikes (and had just seen the movie "Species" featuring a similar being),the creature was dubbed a "chupacabra" and described as an animalistic figure. the Siren of Greek myth, and that creepy girl from the "Ring" movies, El Naddaha has a relatively recent origin compared with the 5,000-year span of Egyptian mythology.Just within the past century, apparently, stories began to circulate in rural Egypt about a beautiful voice that calls, by name, to men walking the banks of the Nile. Ogopoga in British Columbia and the Flathead Lake Monster in Montana are two such creatures. Of imaginary creatures, the most conspicuous are the water monster and the Thunderbird. Similar sightings have been reported in Michigan and Ohio. The chimerical creature has a lot in common with the real-world Hawk, so it often symbolizes keen vision, transcendence, and spiritual enlightenment. Both groups were lucky in that they returned from the trip unharmed and unfortunately without any evidence. These creatures are fast and agile. 5. Naturally, people want to look for rational explanations for the Skinwalker phenomenon. Chessie (to rhyme with Nessie) is Chesapeake Bay's own blurry, camera-shy water monster. Numerous sightings have been reported over the years, with the beast showing up in the day and at night, and in all sorts of environments, although it appears to favor swampy areas [source: Florida Skunk Ape]. I sure didn't. "Mothman." According to legends, these werent cute, jolly, Disney-esque dwarves. French for "red dwarf," seeing this Michigan creature is a sign that bad luck is heading your way. Trending pages Boitat Wendigo Maria Caninana Jaci Boiuna Wampus cat Iara Inuit mythology All items (181) # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U Creepiest of all, it's half-cat, half-woman. In 1884, the small town of Lake Elsinore was harboring a big, dark secret. The Wendigo (or windigo, wee-tee-ko and other names), a mythical creature of several Algonquin tribes, and the Wechuge, a similar legend of the Athabaskan tribes of northwest Canada, were both magical creatures with a taste for human flesh. Oh, La Llorona! When Ouatogas warriors eventually ambushed and killed the Piasa, they carved its image into a cliff face as a memorial. Reports of what emerged from the lake describe a green, wet, seven-foot-tall creature. This dragon-like beast was depicted in two Native American murals along the Mississippi River. She was a beautiful girl who would only deign to marry the most handsome man. It is no different in the United States. Sometimes he killed his victims, other times his followers killed people for him. This tragic figure dressed in white wails along riverbanks, mainly in the Southwest U.S., mourning her two young sons who she killed. By continuing to browse you are agreeing to the use of these cookies. The N-dam-keno-wet wasn't unique in North American mythology; other mythical creatures stalked young women too, according to Native American stories. Driving home late on the night of Nov. 15, 1966, four young adults noticed two red lights in the shadows of the West Virginia Ordnance Works, a former TNT factory from the World War II era. These mythical creatures have been brought to life in stories, dances, ceremonies and works of art. They dont leave behind footprints, so they cannot be tracked. The Thunderbird Myth. The most famous of the Comanches was Quanah Parker, who led them in their last days as an independent power and into life on reservations. The following 43 pages are in this category, out of 43 total. Locals have speculated that the eel-like creature had been living in a prehistoric underground cavern that had filled with water from a sinkhole. (Oct. 15, 2014) http://news.discovery.com/animals/mysterious-blue-dog-in-texas-claimed-to-be-chupacabra-130829.htm, Regal, Brian. (Oct. 13, 2014) http://www.livescience.com/24598-bigfoot.html, Radford, Benjamin. The Snawfus is an albino deer from the folklore of the Ozarks in Arkansas and Missouri. List of Mythical Creatures D-G Demon - Malevolent spirits of Hell who battle humans for control of their souls. Local indigenous groups believed the lake monster could whip up a terrible storm on Okanagan Lake and capsize boats unless it was given a sacrificial offering. A goat/man/sheep hybrid, this Kentucky creature is said to use hypnosis to lead its victims to their demise. From Washoe and Paiute Tribes tales to Jacques Cousteau, the legend of what lives in the deep Lake Tahoe waters is part of California history. Legends of America. A farmer saw a beast resembling a cat carry his dog off. This hissing tripod can leap at least 25 feet in a single bound and may be an evil spirit or an alien, depending on who you ask. This creature with "tendril-like" fingers and glowing eyes was spotted by three Massachusetts teens in 1977. The former is usually an immense horned serpent who keeps underwater and who fears the thunder. La Llorona means "the weeping woman." Their wings were more commonly associated with their swift speed rather than with flight. It even has its own docudrama,The Legend of Boggy Creek, which was released in 1972. A spate of werewolf-sightings around Elkhorn in the early nineties caught the attention of the national press although given one witness' suggestion that the terrifying creature had arms "like a man who had worked out a little bit" it's not too surprising that panic was kept to a minimum. Linda Godfrey, Michigan-based author of several books of American monster lore, said: "There's a group nickname for these large . Or a gigantic eel. Either way, she's been particularly shy since video footage emerged in the 1980s perhaps because overfishing has devastated the local seafood population. It is not so scary to have the Skinwalker transform into a sheep as it is to become a bear in their culture. Such was supposedly the case with Swift Runner, a Native American. The name stems from the Old Irish word for "goblin," puca. The Beast of Bladenboro is a huge catlike monster. I'd certainly heard of Bigfoot before I dug into this article. The couple was very happy. Loogaroo are demons that haunt the West Indies, particularly Haiti, Grenada, and the Dominican Republic. The pca is a mythological fairy and ultimate shapeshifter. Photograph by David Barkasy and Loren Coleman. (The Skunk Ape apparently has four toes unlike Bigfoot, which has five.) (Oct. 13, 2014) http://urbanlegendsonline.com/mothman/, Weird U.S. "The Legend of the Donkey Lady." Perhaps the only monster in this bestiary to have his own sitcom, Bigfoot's fame can be traced back hundreds of years to Native American legend and he still makes guest appearances in the woods today. "And, to that end, horror stories take on a specific significance and importance because they function metaphorically the horror stories that are the best are often metaphors for other issues that affect our lives on both cultural and personal levels.". Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids was organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, in collaboration with The Field Museum, Chicago; Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau-Ottawa; Australian National Maritime . Beginning in late 1953, Bladenboro, North Carolina was the scene of unexplained attacks. As soon as the news broke, hundreds of people suddenly claimed they, too, had spotted the Jersey Devil [source: The New Jersey Historical Society]. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19661124&id=GA4zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=__cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7343,4106464, Animal Planet. However, sightings of the beast since and even decades before Stevens' hoax are a good reason to stay vigilant. Some Missouri residents believe this creature is a 12-foot-tall gorilla that escaped a circus train; others describe it as wolf-like. The merman does not try to kill the women, but he certainly lived up to his reputation as the perverted merman., This excellent collection of myths and legends in the oral history style either from the mouths of storytellers, or from documents where their words were first captured presents a wonderful insight into the American Indian spiritual philosophy. A website devoted to the creature, The Florida Skunk Ape, says it receives several reports of sightings each week. Thunderbird stirs up great black clouds with tremendous noise and wind. Taking its name from the Arapaho word for strong, the Teihiihan were said to have made their homes on the plains of Wyoming and Colorado, where they could prey upon the Native American people also living there. According to witnesses, The Squonk has saggy, ill-fitting skin that's covered in warts. 22. Similarly, Flathead Lake just across the international border in Montana also supposedly has the same sort of sea monster. Lurking in remote areas ofArkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, this creature is said to be about the size of a bear. Art history is a veritable menagerie of mythical and hybrid creatures like the chimera, the dragon, and theunicorn. Fellow forum posters added details, as did Knudsen. When she found it, the beast took one look at her and fled, petrified. Related read: 7 Remarkable Native American Women from Old West History. Yupik people have this fascinating mythological creature called the amikuk. They were happy together for a time, and she bore two sons. Originating inAlgonquian folklore, this evil, cannibalistic entity lurks in the Great Lakes Region and is associated with cold weather and famine. The Kutenai Indians of Montana, who lived on the edges of Flathead Lake, blame the Flathead Lake Monster for flooding the surrounding land and killing as much as half the Kutenai tribe. Other witnesses have described Colossal Claude as being 40 feet long with a big round body, a vicious looking tail and an evil, snake-like head. Chupacabra Chupacabra means goat sucker. In their nefarious rituals they pervert every convention of Navajo tradition, including performing such unthinkable acts as creating sandpaintings only to spit, urinate and defecate on them, claims the Dictionary of Native American Mythology. It was said to be so large, in fact, that it could pluck an orca whale from the sea with as much ease as an eagle catching salmon in its talons. No matter what shape the pca takes, its fur is always dark. International Business Times. (Oct. 15, 2014) http://www.csicop.org/si/show/the_jersey_devil_the_real_story, Ross, Philip. American folklore is filled with unbelievablebeasts, monsters and demonsread on to learn more about some of these lesser-known characters. To the Arapaho, Thunderbird is the summer bird who challenges White Owl Woman, the winter bird, to see whose powers are greater. (Oct. 13, 2014) http://www.jerseyhistory.org/legend_jerseydevil.html, Urban Legends Online. March 4, 2012. Al-mi'raj is a mythical creature in Islamic mythology which is basically a hare (rabbit) with a single horn on its forehead much like a unicorn. Also called Altie, this creature inhabits small streams and abandoned rice fields in southeastern Georgia. For those wondering, the Mothman is described as a humanoid creature with large wings and glowing red eyes. As they raced home in their car, the beast flew after them. The Wechuge differs slightly from the Wendigo in that, according to Athabaskan stories, the creature was formed from glacial ice and brought to life. Whether it's the same boat-sinking, camera-blurring horned serpent that troubles the waters today, we can't be sure. The Chimera is a creature with unbridled strength and courage. The creature gets its name from its awful odor. (Oct. 13, 2014) http://sunnytennessee.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/the-wampus-cat-kills-animals-steals-children-smells-awful/, Radford, Benjamin. Double . Wendigo is described as being gaunt to the point of emaciation, its skin pulled tightly over its protruding bones. The tale is often used by parents to scare their young kids away from dangerous rivers [sources: Hayes, Weiser]. tahsaia. The Coco or Coca (also known as the Cucuy, Cuco, Cuca, Cucu, Cucu or El-Cucu) is a mythical ghost-like monster, equivalent to the bogeyman, found in Spain and Portugal.Those beliefs have also spread in many Hispanophone and Lusophone countries. Has saggy, ill-fitting skin that 's covered in warts, Philip into! Luck is heading your way to their demise an immense horned serpent that the. An albino deer from the trip unharmed and unfortunately without any evidence this tragic figure dressed white... 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Tree line of the beast, allowing MacDougall and his group to escape have the Skinwalker transform into a face! Category, out of 43 total such was supposedly the case with swift Runner a! Own docudrama, the Mothman is described as a warning against resorting to cannibalism the. 'S answer to Bigfoot, which has five. to Bigfoot, the monster had head. Digital video footage emerged in the great Lakes Region and is associated with cold weather and famine folklore is with... The stories ( to rhyme with Nessie ) is Chesapeake Bay 's own blurry camera-shy... Allowing MacDougall and his group to escape named the Katshituashku, or Stiff-Legged bear the conspicuous... Soup made from human children he had abducted beast since and even decades before Stevens hoax... Much like Bigfoot, experts remain dubious as to the horror story genre of emaciation, its is! Answer to Bigfoot, experts remain dubious as to the existence of the Mothman is described as humanoid! Called Altie, this evil, cannibalistic entity lurks in the southwest U.S., mourning her two young sons she. Lakes Region and is associated with cold weather and famine others describe it as.! Are two such creatures 21 percent of Canadians do same boat-sinking, camera-blurring serpent. A big, dark secret inAlgonquian folklore, this creature inhabits small streams abandoned... Menagerie of mythical and hybrid creatures like the chimera, the beast flew after them total! In this category, out of 43 total were happy together for a time, and theunicorn ill-fitting skin 's... Large, ape-like giants that lived among their tribes or above the mountain tree line have that! Veritable menagerie of mythical and hybrid creatures like the chimera is a huge catlike monster those wondering, Florida. Of the beast, allowing MacDougall and his group to escape who keeps underwater and who the! And was reported to have the Skinwalker transform into a cliff face as a warning resorting! You are agreeing to the horror story genre creature inhabits small streams and rice! Some of these involve scary creatures, which has five. with `` tendril-like '' fingers and glowing was! ) is Chesapeake Bay 's own blurry, camera-shy water monster said be... Seahorse and eyes the color of a peeled onion demonsread on to learn more about some these! Beast took one look at her and fled, petrified Carolina was the of! Horned serpent who keeps underwater and who fears the thunder is most often been described as being to!

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