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People, no matter from which era and what traditions, have always felt the need to explain their surroundings. After all, the greatest fear is the fear of the unknown. Before science did better explanations, myths, and mythical creatures fulfilled the need to know what, why, and how our reality exists.
Legends were often filled with grim events and scary monsters, and the reason for that was to scare people into behaving morally or into believing higher goodness. And no matter the ethnicity or beliefs, people thought that these supernatural creatures really exist and would warn each other to look out for them. Even though now these fantasy animals are accepted as fiction, stories of them still give us chills.
Artist from Portugal, Bruno Santos, brilliantly illustrated some of the lesser known mythical beasts. From a 400-year-old spider who eats handsome men to the mythological creature disguised as a ghost of a whale that brings famine. These terrifying monsters are sure to haunt your dreams.
Check out the illustrations below and tell us in the comments if you've heard about any of these mythical animals and monsters.
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#1
Bubak
The Bubak is a creature present in the old Czech folklore. It is usually described as a scarecrow looking monster, with the ability to cry just like a newborn baby, to lure its victims to their deaths.
Ashley Lopez 7 years ago
ITS SATURDAY NIGHT SO LETS STAY UP ALL NIGHT AND READ THESE!!!! 😀😀😀😀 (whose with me?)
Domi Lee Bjelka 7 years ago
I'm from the Czech Republic and I have never heard of it :-D "Bubák" can have a different meaning from ghosts to things in wardrobe and under the bed. By the way "Bubák" can be dry rest of the blossom at the bottom of the apple in czech :-) What is here in picture is a normal "strašák" - scarecrow - just scarier :-D
Iva Sušická 7 years ago
Barbucha from Kubula a Kuba Kubikula was nice example of "Bubák"... :-)
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JOSAYLAH GARCIA 2 years ago
is it wired that i love those type of people like not in love love like love the way they do there art
František Váňa 4 years ago
Well, bubak, or more pravidel bubák, translates from Czech as buggy man, you are right, that it may look like a scarecrow, but, as a Czech person, I never hrát s the test.
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#2
La Cegua
This supernatural creature from the Nicaraguan folklore is a shapeshifter. It typically takes the form of an attractive long haired woman who seduces drunken and unfaithful men before revealing her true face: a Horse Skull. The words she speaks to these men are so horrific that the victim goes insane instantaneously.
glowworm2 7 years ago
I love monsters who take the form of beautiful women who seduce and punish--and sometimes eat cruel men.
Ashley Lopez 7 years ago
OH MY GOSH WE HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS WHERE IM FROM!!! but she ALSO lures kids too and her face is a horse face
#3
La Llorona
La Llorona (The weeping Woman) was a woman who committed suicide after drowning her own children in a Mexican river as a means of revenge against her husband. Her wandering spirit is said to cry every night
¡Ay, mis hijos! ("Oh, my children!) The legends warns all children not to go out in the dark for she might snatch them, throwing them to their deaths in the flowing waters.
J. 7 years ago
I have a friend who grew up in Mexico who says she's real. She was outside using the restroom and she heard a lady crying. Right as she saw a female figure walking towards her, my friend's dad yelled for her and she ran away.
#4
Wendigo
A Wendigo is a half-beast creature appearing in the legends of the American Indians. The most frequent cause of transformation into a Wendigo was if a person had resorted to cannibalism.
Scarpednoodles 7 years ago
Wendigos are super well known. What the hell you talking bout, Whoevermadethispost?
Thomas Kolev 7 years ago
A Lot of video games do, Bloodbornes Cleric Beast is kind opf one.
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and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 2 years ago
They are NOT half-beast. That’s pop culture BS. They’re extremely tall, always emaciated humanoid figures with unnaturally long arms and legs, and lips chewed so ragged they’re almost gone.
#5
Rokurokubi
The Rokurokubi are Japanese mythical creatures that look like normal women by day. By night, however, their bodies sleep while their necks stretch to an incredible length and roam around freely, drinking other people's blood and even (rarely) eating humans.
Sarcasticow 7 years ago
If I had such powers, I would roam around at night drinking other people's wine
Quinn 7 years ago
A lot of this is incorrect. The rokuro-kubi just drinks lamp oil by night. The one that drinks blood is the nuke-kubi, where the head of the woman completely detaches and flies about freely. What's especially tragic is that rokuro-kubi and nuke-kubi are normal human women who are cursed (via something they or a family member did) and have no idea that they do anything while asleep.
Quinn 7 years ago
Stories often end with the woman committing suicide or being forced to commit ritual suicide for her family's honor, or being sold to a brothel or some sort of human circus :(
Load More Replies... Megan Ciarleglio 7 years ago
You know how sometimes a garden hose gets twisted? Now apply that to this situation ಥ_ಥ
ThatRandomGuy 3 years ago
If I had that power, I would just roam around eating everyone else's desert
#6
Jorōgumo
According to the Japanese folklore, the Jorōgumo is a magic, 400 year old giant spider, that can change its appearance into that of a beautiful woman. She seduces young handsome men, wraps them up in her webs and eats them.
Thomas Kolev 7 years ago
Ever noticed how many monsters disguise themselves as beautiful women?
Petra Christovová 7 years ago
Yeah it is strange. Maybe because beautiful woman functions as a lure. But still why there aren´t more mythological creatures disguising as beautiful men? I cannot think of any.
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Terror from Beyond Space 7 years ago
She is also known to surf the world wide web in search of her victims.
ThatRandomGuy 3 years ago
Why does it specify handsome? does this monster have beauty standards
#7
Bake-Kujira
The Bake-kujira ("Ghost whale"), is a huge, ghostly whale skeleton that is accompanied by a host of strange birds and fish. They appear on rainy nights near coastal whaling Japanese villages, scaring the fishermen and delivering a powerful curse to anyone who spots it. The whale's curse brings famine, plague, fire and other kinds of disasters to the villages it hits.
Christina Hayes 7 years ago
This is actually really cool! I love it :D It reminds me of the Ghost Leviathan from Subnautica! I LOVE THE GHOST LEVIATHAN :D Sorry for wasting your time if you read this. Move along. :3
#8
Manananggal
The Manananggal is a vampire-like mythical creature of the Philippines. It is described as hideous, scary, often dipicted as female, and capable of severing its upper torso and sprouting huge bat-like wings to fly into the night in search of its victims.
frank0ys 7 years ago
...You can kill a manananggal by looking for the lower half of her body while they are separated and spreading ash, salt or holy water on it. By doing this, the two halves cannot join and they will burn to death when the sun rises.
WeWillJustSeeAboutThat 7 years ago
My ex told me about this one (she was a native Filipino who moved here). Creepy sh*t right there.
frank0ys 7 years ago
...Aswang are shape-shifters which prefers to eat unborn babies. Tiktik and Wakwak ang other versions of aswangs depending on the sound they produce.
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stellermatt 7 years ago
but she couldn't go to the ball as she had no-body to go with... ahahahahaha...
Vanessica Bloxgirl 7 years ago
listened to a story a few days ago on Snarled (yt channel) about this. Love the chills
#9
La Mano Peluda
La Mano Peluda or "The Hairy Hand" is said to belong to a man who was killed during the inquisition in Mexico, chopped up and buried in an old Indian cemetery. Only his hand came back to life, and lurks in the darkness under the bed of misbehaved children hoping to grab them by the ankle and drag them to who knows where
jevais 7 years ago
Why childrend? The hand should haunt the priest and monks. The inquisition was after all a Catholics thing.
Thomas Kolev 7 years ago
To teach children to behave, lots of these monsters are made up for a special purpose.
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alexa_bessee 7 years ago
This is why I don’t stick my leg over the bed at night. And I’ve never even heard of this thing until now.
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What do you think ?
Šimon Špaček 7 years ago
Really? Those few are not enough for cool nightmares yet? In that case try the like written on those pictures, maybe there will be more...
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Jef Bateman 7 years ago
I agree. The calligraphy is also amazing--so beautiful.
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BurntBrownies 7 years ago
In Brazil, we have the "mula sem cabeça" It is said to be a headless mule that wanders around forests and farms, kills animals and people by combustion (fire can come out of it's neck) and by brutally stepping on them until their head come out too. As a brazillian, I was terrified of this myth when little! I wouldn't go out alone at night, especially if I heard galop...
T.J. Barber 7 years ago
The Wendigo is fascinating because of how many other monsters it shares similarities to. Creatures like Ghouls, Trolls, Giants and a large assortment of other folklore monsters are human like creatures that are monsters BECUASE they eat human flesh. The idea being that eating human flesh is monstrous and LITERALLY makes you a monster (which also actually happens when you look at what Kuru turns you into). I think it's fascinating that by tracking the origins of different folklore you can see common themes among them (for example, look how many monsters across different cultures focus on infidelity represented by seductive monsters). As years and years go on the monsters become embellished (the wendigo gets horns, ghouls become undead, troll have green skin) but the central message is the same.
Šimon Špaček 7 years ago
T.J About the similarities you are very right. BTW, have you ever heard why is a good wizard old man with staff? As I know the story, it came from the times when Europe was fighting all the time. Older man with staff wouldn't be so strange but if you will put some ornaments on the end, well, there is mercenary veteran who had something like medal on his stick. And when he was attacked by some robbers or muggers he showed them what this piece of wood can do... Usually they saw stars after, just like in cartoons.
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Hayley Lightcap 7 years ago
I don't know why, but I've been reading a lot of Not Always Right. So I just keep picturing customer service dealing with these monsters. "Ok sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to come down from the ceiling...". "Ma'am please reattach your head to the rest of your body, this is a respectable establishment."
Šimon Špaček 7 years ago
Really? Those few are not enough for cool nightmares yet? In that case try the like written on those pictures, maybe there will be more...
Load More Replies... Jef Bateman 7 years ago
I agree. The calligraphy is also amazing--so beautiful.
Load More Replies... BurntBrownies 7 years ago
In Brazil, we have the "mula sem cabeça" It is said to be a headless mule that wanders around forests and farms, kills animals and people by combustion (fire can come out of it's neck) and by brutally stepping on them until their head come out too. As a brazillian, I was terrified of this myth when little! I wouldn't go out alone at night, especially if I heard galop...
T.J. Barber 7 years ago
The Wendigo is fascinating because of how many other monsters it shares similarities to. Creatures like Ghouls, Trolls, Giants and a large assortment of other folklore monsters are human like creatures that are monsters BECUASE they eat human flesh. The idea being that eating human flesh is monstrous and LITERALLY makes you a monster (which also actually happens when you look at what Kuru turns you into). I think it's fascinating that by tracking the origins of different folklore you can see common themes among them (for example, look how many monsters across different cultures focus on infidelity represented by seductive monsters). As years and years go on the monsters become embellished (the wendigo gets horns, ghouls become undead, troll have green skin) but the central message is the same.
Šimon Špaček 7 years ago
T.J About the similarities you are very right. BTW, have you ever heard why is a good wizard old man with staff? As I know the story, it came from the times when Europe was fighting all the time. Older man with staff wouldn't be so strange but if you will put some ornaments on the end, well, there is mercenary veteran who had something like medal on his stick. And when he was attacked by some robbers or muggers he showed them what this piece of wood can do... Usually they saw stars after, just like in cartoons.
Load More Replies... Hayley Lightcap 7 years ago
I don't know why, but I've been reading a lot of Not Always Right. So I just keep picturing customer service dealing with these monsters. "Ok sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to come down from the ceiling...". "Ma'am please reattach your head to the rest of your body, this is a respectable establishment."
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