England
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Red-Legged Scissor-Man/Great Long-Legged Scissor-Man/The Great Tall Tailor
The Red-Legged Scissor-Man was a bogeyman figure from children’s stories in England and Germany. He was used by Victorian parents to scare their children into behaving, and originated in a book called Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffmann in 1847. The story follows a boy named Conrad who had a habit of sucking his thumbs. His mother warned him that the Red-Legged Scissor-Man would come for him if he continued. He didn’t believe her and continued sucking his thumb as soon as she left. The Red-Legged Scissor-Man burst in with a giant pair of scissors and cut off both of his thumbs. Citations: Rose, Carol. Giants Monsters and Dragons: An Encyclopedia Of…
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Quickfoot/Ghost Ape of Marwood/Martyn’s Ape
Quickfoot is a hairy hominid cryptid sighted in Great Britain. It’s described as being covered in hair with a large muzzle, green eyes, and a human-like face. It stands six feet tall and is known to run quickly. In 1978, three boys in the woods near Kings Nympton, Devon, England, sighted a strange hairy humanoid similar to an ape or a bear. In another incident, a man driving in Bathgate Hills, West Lothian, Scotland, saw a humanoid figure running down a path at high speeds. Citations: Eberhart, George M.. Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology. United Kingdom, ABC-CLIO, 2002.
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Fiskerton Phantom
The Fiskerton Phantom is a cryptid from Lincolnshire, England. It’s a form of cryptid known as an alien big cat, referring to a big cat in a place where it isn’t native. It was described as black with both cat-like and bear-like features. It was first sighted in 1996 by four teenage girls. They heard something in some bushes and went to investigate. They saw something scary with big teeth as it was eating a phaesant. Later, the witnesses found large paw prints. The creature ran away, but a motorist later saw it close to the same area. It was seen again in March 1997 in Dunholme and then again…
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Beast Of Bodmin Moor/ Beast Of Bolventor
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Lambton Worm
The Lambton Worm is a historical dragon from the legends of Durham, England. It was caught by a young boy named Lambton while fishing, but he threw it down a well when he thought it was just an ugly eel. It grew large in the well and after some years climbed out and killed livestock, and people. It became so big that it could wrap itself around a particular hill, known as Worm Hill, three times. After returning from a crusade Lambton, now grown, chose to slay the dragon. He went to the local witch to get magical assistance and she gave him a charm, but he agreed that he…
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Wiltshire Alien Worm
The Wiltshire Alien Worm was reported to Malcom Lees, who was enlisted in the 50s and 60s with the British Royal Air Force working in intelligence gathering. He received a call in 1962 of a UFO that had been sighted near the standing stones in Wiltshire. The witness was a middle-aged woman who liked to walk around the standing stones. One night at 10:30 she saw a small ball of light about 2 feet in diameter flying around. The light approached while hovering 12 feet in the air. The ball dropped 15 feet from her dripping some sort of liquid metal and then exploded in a white flash. She was…
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Revenant
The Revenant is a form of undead creature, and at one time it was used as a synonym for “ghost.” This term was often used to refer to anything returning from the dead in any form. Their name is a variation of the French “revenir,” meaning “to return,” though it was commonly known from British myth. They return from the grave and can be physical or incorporeal. In physical form, they resemble corpses with rotting skin, sunken eyes, and foul breath. In Irish folklore, they are physically risen bodies that sometimes attend their own funerals. Other times, they are undead, with some being vampiric in nature. Shapeshifting is uncommon, but…
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Rawhead/Tommy Rawhead/Bloody Bones
The Rawhead is a creature known from British and US folklore, commonly the American Midwest. Stories of this creature are thought to have originated in Britain or Celtic myth. It’s used as a bogeyman figure, and often seen as a companion to Bloody-Bones with them sometimes being seen as two parts of the same entity. One is a headless skeleton that dances, and the other is a skull that bites people. It’s described as very ugly with blood constantly pouring from the mouth. Sometimes it’s described as a tall figure in a black cloak. In the Pacific Northwest it sometimes appears as a cloud of green fog. It is thought to…
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Radiant Boys
The Radiant Boys are from Europe and Great Britain specifically and are the ghosts of children murdered by their mothers. They glow like phosphorus. They chase people for miles and lure them into bogs. Citations: Maberry, Jonathan. Vampire Universe: The Dark World of Supernatural Beings That Haunt Us, Hunt Us, and Hunger for Us. United States, Kensington Publishing Corporation, 2006.
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Knockers
The Knockers are a helpful form of Fae from Cornwall. They are believed to work alongside miners to help them find lost things and lead them to veins of ore. They tap against the walls to lead people to these veins. They are typically helpful but can be dangerous if annoyed. Knockers can be angered if someone whistles or swears, and they throw rocks until these offender apologizes. While most believe Knockers to be a form of Fae, there are other possible origins. – Some beliefs suggest that they are the spirits of Jewish people made to work in mines. – Some suggest they are the spirits of those who…
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Grindylow
The Grindylow is a creature from Yorkshire, England. They live in marshes, swamps, and stagnant ponds. They wait for travelers or children to come too close to the water’s edge and leap up and drag victims into the water. They then either hold victims underwater until they drown, or they strangle them with their fingers, which are long and bony and bulbous at the ends. They consume the flesh of those they kill. Citations: Maberry, Jonathan. Vampire Universe: The Dark World of Supernatural Beings That Haunt Us, Hunt Us, and Hunger for Us. United States, Kensington Publishing Corporation, 2006.
