The bogeyman is a mythical creature used by adults to frighten children into good behaviour. Bogeymen have no specific appearances and conceptions vary drastically by household and culture, but they are most commonly depicted as masculine or androgynous monsters that punish children for misbehaviour. The bogeyman, and conceptually similar monsters can be found in many cultures around the world. Bogeymen may target a specific act or general misbehaviour, depending on the purpose of invoking the figure, often on the basis of a warning from an authority figure to a child. The term is sometimes used as a non-specific personification of, or metonym for, terror, and sometimes the Devil.
Kikimora is a legendary creature, a female house spirit in Slavic mythology. Her role in the house is usually juxtaposed with that of the domovoy. The kikimora can either be a "bad" or a "good" spirit, which will depend on the behavior of the homeowner. When the kikimora inhabits a house, she lives behind the stove or in the cellar, and usually produces noises similar to those made by mice in order to obtain food. Kikimory were the first traditional explanation for sleep paralysis in Russian folklore.
The manananggal is a mythical creature in the Philippines that is able to separate its upper torso from the lower part of its body. Their fangs and wings give them a vampire-like appearance.
Other than the many gods and goddesses of the Slavs, the ancient Slavs believed in and revered many supernatural beings that existed in nature. These supernatural beings in Slavic religion come in various forms, and the same name of any single being can be spelled or transliterated differently according to language and transliteration system.
A mare is a malicious entity in Germanic and Slavic folklore that walks on people's chests while they sleep, bringing on nightmares.
A boo hag is a mythical creature in the folklore of the Gullah culture. It is a locally created unique contribution to the worldwide hag folklore based on the syncretic belief system of Gullah or Hoodoo cultures.
Mythic humanoids are legendary, folkloric, or mythological creatures that are part human, or that resemble humans through appearance or character. Each culture has different mythical creatures that come from many different origins, and many of these creatures are humanoids. They are often able to talk and in many stories they guide the hero on their journey.
A hag is a wizened old woman, or a kind of fairy or goddess having the appearance of such a woman, often found in folklore and children's tales such as "Hansel and Gretel". Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of the chosen forms of shapeshifting deities, such as The Morrígan or Badb, who are seen as neither wholly benevolent nor malevolent.
Dziwożona is a female swamp demon in Slavic mythology known for being malicious and dangerous. Most at risk of becoming one of these demons after death were thought to be midwives, old maids, unmarried mothers, pregnant women who die before childbirth, as well as abandoned children born out of wedlock.
Ephialtes is an anxiety disorder identified as such by John Bond in 1753, along with other authors of those times, in his treatise "An Essay on the Incubus, or Nightmare". The famous Greek physician Galen in the 2nd century AD had already named nightmares "Ephialtes". Throughout history, sleep paralysis and the similar term nightmare have been widely accompanied by mythological creatures with paranormal powers.
Poludnitsa is a mythical character common to the various Slavic countries of Eastern Europe. She is referred to as Południca in Polish, Полудниця in Ukrainian, Полудница (Poludnitsa) in Serbian, Bulgarian and Russian, Polednice in Czech, Poludnica in Slovak, Připołdnica in Upper Sorbian, and Полознича (Poloznicha) in Komi, Chirtel Ma in Yiddish. The plural form of this word is poludnitsy. Poludnitsa is a noon demon in Slavic mythology. She can be referred to in English as "Lady Midday", "Noonwraith" or "Noon Witch". She was usually pictured as a young woman dressed in white that roamed field bounds. She assailed folk working at noon, causing heatstrokes and aches in the neck; sometimes she even caused madness.
The Guajona or Lumia is a mythological creature in Cantabrian legend, resembling a disfigured human female. It is thought to resemble one of the many forms of witches and hags of medieval Europe.
The night hag or old hag is the name given to a supernatural creature, commonly associated with the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. It is a phenomenon which a person feels during a presence of a supernatural malevolent being which immobilizes the person as if sitting on their chest or the foot of their bed. The word "night-mare" or "nightmare" was used to describe this phenomenon before the word received its modern, more general meaning. Various cultures have various names for this phenomenon and supernatural character.
In Slavic mythology, bolotnik, balotnik, bolotyanik or błotnik is a male swamp spirit. There are many descriptions of bolotnik. Usually he was portrayed as a man or an old man who has big, frog-like eyes, a green beard and long hair. His body is covered with dirt, algae and fish scales. The legends from the Vitebsk Governorate of Russia said that bolotnik is a dirty, fat, eyeless creature that motionlessly sits at the bottom of the swamp. In some accounts bolotnik is also said to have long arms and a tail. Just like the majority of Slavic water spirits, he would lure and drag people into the water if they get close to the edge. It is believed that bolotnik has neither wife nor children; in the other legends he is married to bolotnitsa, a female swamp spirit.
In Slavic paganism there are a variety of female tutelary spirits associated with water. They have been compared to the Greek Nymphs, and they may be either white (beneficent) or black (maleficent). They may be called Boginki, Navki, Rusalki, and Vily.
Upiór (Tatar language: Убыр , Turkish: Ubır, Obur, Obır, is a demonic being from Slavic and Turkic folklore, a prototype of the vampire. It is suggested that the ubır belief spread across the Eurasian steppes through the migrations of the Kipchak-Cuman people, after having its origins in the regions surrounding the Volga River and the Pontic steppes. The modern word "vampire" derives from the Old Slavic language and Turkic form онпыр , with the addition of the sound "v" before a large nasal vowel, characteristic of Old Bulgarian, as evidenced by the traditional Bulgarian form впир.
