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Amabie, Amabiko and Arie

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 This week I have three very similar yokai for you. All three of them became popular in the Edo period. They would emerge from the ocean and relay almost identical prophecies. The prophecy said that there would be several years of prosperity and good harvests (usually 8 years, but the exact number varied) then there would be hardship and an outbreak of disease. The three yokais also said to use their image to protect people against the oncoming disease. This all came about while Japan had a series of devastating cholera and typhoid outbreaks, hence why people were interested in yokai that protected from disease. There were actually several more yokai who played a similar role, but varied more than these three. Either their origin was somewhere other than the ocean, or their prophecy differed slightly, but still warned of oncoming disease. These three however, copy each other almost identically other than appearance and their exact location. The first is amabiko, which itself is th...
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Chouyu

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  The chouyu is a hybrid creature from Chinese mythology. It is mentioned in the Classic Of Mountains And Seas . The chouyu looked like a rabbit with the eyes of an owl, the beak of a bird and the tail of a snake. The chouyu was said to fall asleep if frightened, similar to an opossum playing dead. And if a chouyu was seen it was an omen than locusts and famine would soon follow. Sources https://abookofcreatures.com/2019/06/24/chouyu/ https://naturerules1.fandom.com/wiki/Chouyu https://creatures-of-myth.fandom.com/wiki/Chouyu
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Butatch-Ah-Ilgs

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  The butatsch-ah-ilgs, is a lake monster from Switzerland, which appeared three times in the medieval era. It is an unusually Lovecraftian creature for that era, and far different from any other lake monster. The butatch-ah-ilgs is a giant amorphous sack of a monsters, completely covered in eyes. The overall shape of the monster is reminiscent of a cow’s stomach, which is what the name means. The name is properly Butatsch-cum-ilgs, but is most often written with ah instead because of a previous spelling mistake, and is easiest to find under this erroneous spelling. The butatch-ah-ilge lived in L ü scher Lake, in the Grisons region. It was said, in the past, that even though the lake looked tranquil and inviting no shepherds or travellers would dare stop near the lake. While the butatch-ah-ilgs had not been seen in centuries it was still very much feared. It was believed the butatch-ah-ilgs could shoot a beam of fire from its eyes when all its many eyes focused on one spot, a...
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Shiro Ukari

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  When I think of Japanese ghosts my mind usually goes to things that are quite scary, such as yurei and shiryo. There is one kind of ghost like yokai that is rather harmless, and even cute in a cartoonish sort of way, and that is the shiro ukari. The name means white floater, and it looks like a pale white creature with a long ghostly tail and vacant staring eyes. They move by floating off the ground, so they move about at the same height as standing people, but without touching the ground. The shiro ukari was harmless being, and generally considered a nuance rather than frightening. It just wanders aimlessly, getting people’s way and observing the world is wide eyed naivety. The thing is, the shiro ukari was never actually a ghost, but a veiled way for the upper classes to make fun of country folk when they came into the city. Pure white in Japan represents emptiness. In this case it meant emptiness of mind, complete naivety in derogatory way, being stupid and ignorant o...
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Black Dog of Newgate And Yeth Hound

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  Ghostly black dogs that foretell doom are monsters that are found in the mythologies of the world over, from the okuri inu of Japan, to the cadejos of central America. These phantom hellhounds are especially common in European mythologies, and they reach critical density in England, where practically every county has its own legends about a local black dog. Black dog monsters in general tend to be well known beasts of mythology. And unlike many mythical beasts, who have slipped into the realm of fantasy in modern times, these black dogs are still occasionally seen by people today, falling somewhere between cryptid and ghost sightings. While ghostly black dogs would usually be too popular of a monster to cover on this blog, I have found some highly local and unusual black dogs to cover. The Black Dog of Newgate The legend of the black dog of Newgate supposedly started with a moral tale written by Luke Hutton. Luke Hutton was a college educated man and born into a fami...
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Las Vegas Backyard Aliens

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  On May 1sts 2023 Angel Kenmore and his family encountered alien beings in their back yard after they witnessed a fireball crash into the same back yard. The family’s encounters with these beings terrified them so they called the police. A few days later Angel posted a video where he talked about his encounter. As well a recorded by Angels mother, and posted by either Angel or his brother was uploaded to Tik Tok showing their family entering the back yard and quickly running back out again after seeing the aliens hiding within. These two videos launched the incident into internet virality for a short period of time. But just as quickly as the events became popular, holes started appearing in Angel’s story and odd new details about the family being haunted came forth, causing many to believe the whole thing was a hoax, causing people to lose interest in the story. Yet there are strange details in the account which can’t be written off so easily. The Events: Around 11:45...
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Gaueko

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  The gaueko comes from Basque mythology. There he is the lord of the night and a shadowy shape shifter. He can take the forms of a wolf, a bull, a giant, or a shadowy cloud of mist. He often has glowing red eyes. Some people believe the gaueko is a form of the devil. Others suggests it is some long forgotten pagan deity. Gaueko is a solitary individual, rather than a species of monster. Gaueko is the guardian of the night, scaring humanity inside and punishing anyone who works after hours, or travels in the dark. The gaueko first tries to scare the offending human back inside. If this doesn’t work then he takes the person, never to be seen again. How he does this or what is done to the captive isn’t said, but it can’t be anything good. Gaueko takes special offence to anyone who says they’re not afraid of the night. In addition to this the gaueko can also inflict confusion, nausea, panic and being lost in familiar places on a person. Gaueko’s presence can be felt as a col...
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