Mad Gasser of Mattoon
Mananagal- Viscera sucker. Vampiric being of the Philippines.
Manipogo-Lake Monster north of Winnipeg
Manticore- monster of India with the body of a lion, the head of a man, thin comb-like teeth, and poison spikes on its tail.
Medusa- Also Gorgon.
Men in Black
Mermecolion- Monster with the head of a lion and the body of an ant. Died quickly because head wanted meat but body could only digest plants.
Mimick Dog -little prairie dog-like animals capable of perfectly imitating any human.
Minotaur -Bull-headed man.
Miraj -Persian rabbit with a single spiraling horn sprouting from its forehead. Also a really vicious little bugger.
Mokele-Mbembe- Brontosaurus like monster living in the lakes of Central Cameroon.
Momo
Moselantja- African roads were once haunted by a monster called the Moselantja. The moselantja looked human, except that its body was covered in scales. Also it had a long tail with a second mouth at its end. The moselantja followed lone travelers, whispering lies to make them turn around. If the traveler knew anything about moselantjas he wouldn't. For if he did turn around and see it, it would never leave him alone, but would pester him for favors forever.
One story tells of a young bride named Fenyane. On her way to her fiancee Sopo's village, the moselantja told her that her own village was burning. Fenyane turned around to see it, but only saw the moselantja. By the time they arrived at Sopo's village the monster had 'borrowed' all of Fenyane's wedding clothes. It then claimed to be Fenyane, saying that the real Fenyane was a servant. Sopo, never having actually seen Fenyane, believed it, as did the rest of the village. Only one old wise woman recognized the moselantja. Together with Fenyane she plotted to expose the false bride. The next day the old woman dug a deep pit in the village square, and placed a bowl of milk at its bottom. Now milk was the one thing that moselantjas loved more than anything else. When it saw the milk, it forgot that it was supposed to be human. It dropped its long tail into the pit and, much to the spectators' surprise, began to drink the milk. When it was finished, it rolled over and went to sleep. While it slept the villagers were able to kill it and return all the stolen property to its rightful owner. Fenyane and Sopo lived happily ever after17.
Mothman
Mouthless Dingmaul- One of the strangest of all fearsome critters was the pounding plunkus, or Mouthless Dingmaul. This creature, as its name suggests, had no mouth. Thus in order to gain nourishment, it trampled its prey into a gas and inhaled it through its nose.
Naga - Indian snake women
Nixie-German water sprite
Nucklavee- centaurlike lake creature without skin. Its breath brings pestilence but it can't cross running water.
Ogopogo-Lake monster of S.British Columbia
Ogre -
Old Woman of the Elder Trees
Oni- Onis were a species of ogre living in Japan7. An oni had blue skin, a single horn on its head, and one eye. Onis loved destruction, but became quite tame if one cut their horns off. Onis, like all ogres, were quite stupid, as the following story reveals.
There was once an old woman in Japan who was quite fond of dumplings. One day, while she was cooking some, one happened to fall out of the pot, and through a crack in the floor. The old woman quickly dug up her kitchen floor, and followed it down. She soon found herself in a series of underground caverns. Statues of various gods stood along the walls, and the old woman asked them if they had seen her dumpling. " No", they replied,"But there is an oni that comes through here everyday. Run away before he catches you!" And at that moment who should come in but that very oni. The old woman hid behind one of the statues, but the one's keen nose found her. He intended to eat her, but the statues pleaded on her behalf. Finally, he agreed. Instead, he said, she would merely be his slave. After saying this, he carried the old woman across an underground river, to his house. There she was forced to cook for the oni's very large family. After they had eaten, all the onis fell asleep. This allowed the old woman to escape. When she had rowed halfway across the river, the onis awoke and came running. Seeing the old woman, they stuck their heads in the water and drank the entire river. The old woman tried to run, but slipped and fell in the mud. This amused the onis so much that they began to laugh, releasing the river, which carried the old woman safely home.
Orance
Orange Eyes
Orc
Pegasus
Peryton
Phoenix
Piasa- Also Thunderbird. One was defeated by Chief Ouatoga of the Illinois Indians.
Pixie
Poisonous Darby-Hick- Fearsome Critter. Swells to twice its size everytime it bites a log. So poisonous that looking at it irritates your eye.
Ponjureen
Polevik-Polish field elf.
Pooka- Mischevious spirit. Puck.
Poltergeist-Noisy ghost
Rainbird- One-legged Chinese bird that spits out rain
Rakshasha- Rakshasas were demons that lived in Arabia. Actually, they lived in a beautiful city in the clouds above Arabia, but they did come down once in a while to cause trouble. Rakshasas could change shapes, but usually looked like fat gorillas with backwards-pointing claws9. Rakshasas treated each other courteously, but were not polite at all when dealing with humans. There were several kinds of Rakshasa, and each kind had its sort of 'mischief'. All types, however, were quite stupid. If you met one all you had to do was pretend that you were related to him. The Rakshasa would become confused, and allow you to pass, unharmed.
Ratchet Owl- Owl with a ratchet in its neck. This allows the bird to turn its head a full 360 degrees but only in one direction. It always faces away from the sun.
Raw Head and Bloody Bones- Monster that lived under the staircase. Known to grab children as from between the slats as they climbed the stairs at night. Also Tommy Rawhead Bloodybones.
Red Cap- An evil clawed dwarf. Red cap wore iron boots and his approach was heralded by their clanking. He also wore a bright red cap, dyed in human blood. He generally took up residence in old ruins or caves. Reciting a Bible verse would repell a Red Cap.
Roc- Giant bird of Madagascar. Fed elephants to its young. Encountered by Sinbad on his voyages.
Roperite
Rosmarin- Tusked water monster based upon a Fanciful description of a sea lion.
Rubberado
Ruebezahl- Ruebezahl was a stupid storm spirit that lived in the Riesengebirge mountain range in Germany. His name actually meant' Turnip Counter', and this is how he came to be called that. Ruebezahl once fell in love with a human girl. Knowing little of human courtship rituals, he simply kidnapped her. Life in the mountains, of course, was much different from life in the village, and the girl was lonely and miserable. To cheer her up, Ruebezahl used magic to turn turnips into playmates. The only problem was they turned back into turnips and shriveled up at sunset. One day the girl asked Ruebezahl to count the turnips in his garden so that she would know how many more days worth of playmates she had. Ruebezahl, not being too bright, did this, giving her time to escape6. Ruebezahl, for all we know, may still be counting.
Rumptifusel - Big cat of North america that beasr an unfortunat eresemblance to a fur coat
Rusalka- spirits of drowned girls, the rusalka haunt the lakes of Russia.
Salamander-The Alchemist's lizard. A fire elemental.
Sand bar fish
Sand Squink
Scorpian man
Scylla- Multi-headed Greek sea monster. Threatened Ulysses.
Sea Serpent
Selkie-water spirit that can appear either as a seal or as a beautiful woman with gray heair and gray eyes.
Simurgh- A giant really wise bird-like creature from the middle east. Knew everything. (Picture by Kitsune25)
Siren
Shadhahver
Slide rock bolter
Sliver Cat
Snawfus
Snazzy
Snolly-Goster
Splinter Cat
Sprite-see fairy
Stymphalian bird - vicious birds with brass claws and brass beaks. Captured by Hercules
Squidgicum-squee
Squonk
Su-
Succubus-A female demon that engages in sexual intercourse with sleeping men, thus draining them of energy and vitality. The male counterpart of the Succubus is the incubus.
Taxim- Eastern European name for the walking dead.Sometimes a person will desire revenge so much that even death won't stop them. This is what makes a taxim13. Unfortunately, a taxim is not the ideal vehicle for carrying out revenge. A taxim can only travel a few miles a night, as it must return to its grave before dawn. Of course, it has to walk, as it has no bus fare, and no one in their right mind would stop to offer it a ride.( Actually, a taxim wouldn't hurt anyone except its target, but it couldn't help frightening people terribly ) Because of this, it is quite easy to escape a taxim by moving to a different part of the country. Taxims are thus doomed to their fruitless searching forever, unless someone brave enough to confront one tells it that justice is the responsibility of God alone. Upon hearing this, the taxim will give up its search and finally be able to rest.
Tea Kettler
Tengu
Tiburon
Timber doodle-North American Fearsome critter. Once it bit, it wouldn't let go until it heard thunder
Tommyknocker
Tree Squeak
Triperdo
Unicorn
Upas Tree
Upland Trout
Vain Pomola
Vampire- May 10, 1951- Manila- Police arrested hysterical 18 year old Clarita Villaneuva, who claimed that she was being attacked by a man-like creature with bulging eyes and a loose fitting black cape. Bite marks with what appeared to be saliva appeared on her flesh as medical examiner Mariana Lara and the chief of police watched. The attacks ceased shortly before she fell asleep at the police station. They resumed again the next morning. This time Clarita claimed that there were two creatures. The police sent for the Archbishop and the Mayor of Manila, Arsenio Lacson. The attacks continued as they drove to the prison hospital and then stopped. Clarita was never again attacked. Although this occured in the Philippine, it is most definitely not an aswang attack, although it was some sort of vampiric being. The description of the creature's cape is confusing, since, contrary to popular belief, vampires rarely, if ever, wear capes. (Most vampires are actually peasants) Perhaps this was a westernized vampire that had made its way over together with American forces during the war?
Vilemurk- Giant pig that ate the sun. Defeated by Finnish hero McCool.
Vodymoi-While Ahuizotl protected South American lakes, Vodyanoi protected Russian ones. Like
Ahuizotl, no one was sure what Vodyanoi looked like. Unlike Ahuizotl, however, this was not because no one had ever seen him, but because he could change shape. Sometimes he was a man with red eyes and paws instead of hands; sometimes he was an old man with a green beard; sometimes he was a giant, moss-covered fish. Every Vodyanoi lived in a beautiful palace of glass,gold, or silver. The palace was lighted by a magic stone which " glowed brighter than the sun."Also vodyanoi, like Ahuizotl, seemed to hate people. If he caught anyone swimming in his lake, he drowned them. A drowned person became vodyanoi's slave forever as vodyanoi didn't die. They became older from new moon to full moon, but then became younger from full moon to new moon.
Vouivre- winged firey serpent with a diamond in its forehead
Wakonyingo- The Wakonyingo of Tanzania were a race of little people with very big heads. Their heads were so big, in fact, that they had to sleep standing up; once they lied down, they couldn't get up again. Wakonyingo were very kind and willing to give people magical assistance. They lived at the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and the only entrance to their world was a door at the mountain's top. Once you got there, you had to be very careful not to mistake the Wakonyingo for children. They were very sensitive about their height, and if they were offended they would refuse to help at all.
Wampus Cat
Wapaloosie
Washer by the Ford (Bean Nighe)
Waw waw fish
Wendigo-Of all the monsters in this section, the wendigo of North America was definitely the worst. The wendigo, or spirit of lonely places, tortured its victims in the most horrible way: by doing nothing. Instead of frightening, teasing, or attacking a person, the wendigo followed them. The person began to feel as if he were being followed. He might turn around quickly, hoping to get a glimpse of his pursuer, but wendigo always managed to dart out of sight. As time passed, the traveler became more and more uneasy. He might shout challenges to his unseen watcher, but the wendigo would remain hidden. Eventually, the person became so paranoid that he ran, screaming. But no matter how fast he was, the wendigo would always be right behind him. Some are said to be eyeless stone giants.
Whiffle-poofle
Whowie- Australia was once the home of a huge and horrible monster called the Whowie4. This creature had the head of a lizard, the body of an ant, the tail of a snake, and a tremendous appetite. This made life hard for the Aborigines as it just so happened that the Whowie's favorite food was humans. Once he ate an entire village, except for one little boy, who woke up just in time to escape. Eventually, all the tribes joined forces against the Whowie. They plugged up all the entrances to his lair, except for one. In front of this door, they built a big bonfire. After a while, the Whowie, roaring and coughing, lumbered out of the cave. The warriors immediately killed it, but, according to legend, its ghost still haunts that cave. Sometimes you can still hear his roar, echoing around down there...
Wicked Lady Howard- Legend that mixed up Lady Frances Howard, a Stuart woman at the court of James I, with Lady Mary, the granddaughter of Sir John Fitz of Fice's Well fame (?). Had 4 husbands, two of whom she is said to have poisoned. She and her second husband were sent to the tower, accused of poisoning Sir Thomas Overbury. Her spirits rides in a coach of bones, driven by a headless coachman pulled by skeletal horses, and followed by a large black dog. She drives to Okehampton Castle. In her day its park was part of the Fitzford estates. She plucks one blade of grass every night before returning to Tavistock. When all the grass is gone, her punishment is over.
Wild Hunt- Also Herne the Hunter. Sometimes hunts unbaptised babies.
Will o' the wisp- Also corpse candle, fox fire, jack o' lantern, and St. Elmo's fire.
Winnipogo - Yet another lake monster
Whing-whang - Creature of North American beaches. Every night it comes out and writes "Whing Whang" over and over in the sand with its tail. At dawn, it erases its writing.
Whopperknocker
Worm of Lambton- One day, 600 years ago, Sir John, the Lord of Lambton, went on a fishing trip. He didn't have much luck, as all he caught was a disgusting worm-like creature, which he threw, for unknown reasons, down a nearby well. Soon afterwards Sir John was called off on a crusade to the Holy Land. While he was gone, the worm grew into a giant, leggless dragon. It would come out of the well at night, and, being quite angry at John, destroy the surrounding countryside. Upon his return, Sir John was shocked to see his land in ruins. He vowed to kill the 'Lambton Worm', and consulted a wise woman to find out how. She advised him to attach hundreds of knives to his armor. John did this, and rode off to challenge the worm. The worm, upon seeing John, wrapped itself around him like a boa constrictor, but stabbed itself on the knives. It soon bled to death, freeing the land. Unfortunately, killing the worm brought a curse down upon the Lambton family. For the next 200 years, every Lord of Lambton died a violent death5.
Wunk
Yale- African beast with movable horns.
Yeti
Yu-lung - Chinese water dragon. Half dragon and half fish. (Picture by Kitsune25)
Zombie
