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La Calchona/Chiludo
La Calchona is a mythical creature from South America whose name means “ghost” or “bogeyman.” It sometimes looks like a large, bearded man covered in sheep-like wool, but in Chile its thought to look like a large dog with tangled wooly fur. It’s nocturnal and lives in fields and hills. They mostly just scare horses and travelers and sometimes steal food. Citations: Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. United States, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2016.
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Caladrius
The Caladrius is a creature that resembles a white bird and is capable of predicting the fate of a sick person, either death or recovery. If the bird is placed next to a sick person and looks away, the person will die; if it looks at the person then it will absorb the illness from the person. It takes the absorbed illness and burns it off, allowing it to flow away into the wind. Looking at the bird was thought to cure jaundice and its droppings were capable of healing the blind. Citations: Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. United States, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers,…
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Cailleac Bhuer/Black Annis/Blue Hag/Stone Woman
Cailleac Bhuer is a monster from Scottish folklore. She appears as a monstrous old woman with blue skin and a single eye, and when seen on the road, she often presents herself as a struggling old woman. She is believed to haunt moors and rocky passes. She is viciously hungry and targets lone travelers, beating her victims over the head to knock them out, and dragging them away to be consumed. She sits on a pile of human bones and when human prey is unavailable she kills livestock. She often has a crow on her shoulder that acts as a familiar. Citations: Maberry, Jonathan. Vampire Universe: The Dark World of…
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Cagrino
The Cagrino is from Roma mythology. They are demonic yellow hedgehogs that are one and a half feet in length and width. They ride horses to exhaustion causing them sickness and tangled hair. They can be kept from horses by tying them to stakes covered in garlic juice and making a cross from red thread and laying it on the ground. They can also be repelled by making bread from the horse’s hair along with salt, meal, and bat blood, rubbing the bread on the horse’s hooves, then hiding the mixing bowl used to make this bread and saying “Tarry, pipkin, in this tree, till such time as full ye be.”…
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Cafre
The Cafre is a creature from the Philippines. They resemble a boar with long tusks and black fur. They are significantly stronger and faster than normal boars. They can stand on two legs and understand human speech. They are relentless in hunting and tracking but are stupid and easy to trick. Citations: Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. United States, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2016.
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Cactus Cat
The Cactus Cat is a creature from Lumberjack folklore. It is from Arizona and has the “scientific name“ cactifelinus inebrius. They live among cholla and palo verde trees. They have thorny hairs covering their body, a forked tail, and sharp knife-like bones coming from their paws. They slash open large cacti to drink the sap from inside. The Cactus Cat lets it ferment during the day and returns at night to drink up the alcohol and yells through the night while intoxicated. Citations: Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. United States, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2016. Matthews, John, and Matthews, Caitlin. The Element Encyclopedia of…
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Cabyll-Ushtey/Glashtinhe
The Cabyll-Ushtey is a mythical creature from Manx folklore. Their name means “water horse” and they are similar to the Kelpie and Each-Uisge. They resemble pale grey horses, but may take the form of a handsome man. They prey on cattle and humans, and are known to stampede horse herds and steals children. Citations: Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. United States, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2016.
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Büxenwolf/Boxenwolf/Böchsenwolf
This is a Werewolf from the Schaumberg region of Germany. A Büxenwolf is formed when a person makes a pact with the devil for knowledge, wealth, and power. They use a magic girdle to fully change from a human to a wolf. In wolf form they have enhanced speed, strength, and intelligence on top of their animal instincts and senses. They are known to be incredibly sadistic and will attack people from behind aiming for the neck to drag victims away. Despite their supernatural power, they can still be killed by normal weapons. Putting a piece of iron or steel above the creature’s head will break its connection with Hell.…
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Busaw
The Busaw are known from the Bagobos, Bukidnons, and Mandayas people of the Philippines. During the day, they look exactly like regular humans and are known to have normal lives and may even have farms. At night they take ogre-like forms with hooked claws, long tongues, and pointed teeth. Female Busaw are also thought to have a singular eye like a cyclops. They live in trees near cemeteries, in caves, or on isolated farms in the woods. They move through the night to search for human flesh to consume, most often digging up corpses rather than hunting living humans. Buried bodies can be protected from the Busaw if they are…
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Buruburu/Zokuzokugami/Okubyohgami
The Buruburu is a Yokai from Japan. They often appear as old men or women, shaking, and with one eye. The name Buruburu is meant to represent the sound of shivering in fear. They attack people by leaving their physical form and attaching their spectral form to a victim’s spine. The feeling of this attack causes the victim’s heart to seize up in horror. Sometimes it possesses without killing, leaving the victim overcome by fear so intense they fear everything. Victims of the fear caused by a Buruburu often commit suicide. Citations: Maberry, Jonathan. Vampire Universe: The Dark World of Supernatural Beings That Haunt Us, Hunt Us, and Hunger for…
