Oral Tradition/Nightmare Fuel
Everybody loves a good story. Humans have been telling stories for millennia - and many of them are horror stories.
- Most people today think of faeries as dainty little pixies who fly around granting wishes. However, the people of the Middle Ages feared the wrath of the Fair Folk, and few were more vile than the Nuckelavee. A formless specter living off the coast of Orkney, this foul faerie would rise from the depths of the ocean and take the form of a massive, skinless black-blooded horse with its "rider" fused to its back from his waist down. The horse head had a single blazing eye and a mouthful of vicious teeth, while the "rider" had an oversized head that rolled about on its undersized neck, and long, muscular arms that ended with razor sharp claws. This monster was an Omnicidal Maniac of the highest order, rising from the sea to deliver a plague called the Mortasheen (Yes, that's where Bogleech got the name for Mortasheen from) that would kill livestock and crops, and it reserved a special hatred for any unfortunate humans it came across. Its one weakness was fresh water, which it could not cross.
- What are urban legends but modern folk tales? As such, they fit in perfectly here.
- The Chupacabra is the modern vampire, a beast of possibly alien origin who drains the blood from livestock, has supernatural strength and agility, and is feared among Latino populations everywhere. The "coyote with mange" depiction is full of Narm, but the classic Chupacabra, which resembles a mix between The Greys and a Velociraptor is one of the more nightmare inducing creatures of recent times. There are no confirmed attacks on humans yet, but who knows?
- Many aliens can be nightmarish, as well. Although many of the stranger aliens on this list are Nightmare Retardant, the more infamous aliens on this list are truly creepy.
- While the Hopkinsville Goblins are Ugly Cute, the fact that they're Nigh Invulnerable little bastards who attacked a Kentucky family's homestead makes them disturbingly creepy.
- The infamous Flatwoods Monster is another alien sighting that has actually been hostile to humans. Not to mention its resemblance to traditional depictions of the Grim Reaper.
- Finally, we have the Mothman, an infamous harbinger of doom who may not actually DO anything but silently stare at people and creep them the hell out, but it tends to forbode disasters.
- Similar to the Mothman, we have the Owlman of Mawnan, a beast who is far more malevolent than its American cousin.
- The Jersey Devil is more than just the namesake of a hockey team. This demon is a slayer of livestock who was reportedly born when its mother wished that her thirteenth child would be a devil. It then killed its family, and sightings of this monster have endured from the 1700's to the present day.
- The Wendigo of Algonquin folklore is a cannibalistic spirit that possesses anyone who engages in cannibalism. After its possessed someone, they turn into a tall, gaunt corpse-like being with sharp fangs that have shredded the former human's lips to nothing, bloody stumps where its feet would be (possibly due to frostbite), and transparent skin through which you can see its icy blood and heart of ice. It can turn invisible and ride on the wind to pursue prey, and it is ALWAYS hungry...
- The skinwalker, or yee naaldlooshii of Navajo mythology, is basically a cross between a Werewolf and a warlock. To become a skinwalker, one must cross the Moral Event Horizon by killing your family. After you become one, you can change into any animal you desire, gain the ability to cast powerful and deadly curses on anyone, and mimic the voices of your victims' loved ones.
- Back to Oral Tradition