Rare Monsters

  The nachtkrapp is a boogeyman that haunts Germany, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Poland. It’s name in German means night raven. The exact details of the legend vary quite a bit regionally. Sometimes it appears as a raven, or as a more human like undead being, or as a shadowy, shape shifting ghost. It also varies in size from huge, to human sized, to the size of an ordinary raven. The nachtkrapp is used as a cautionary tale to scare children into behaving. It’s said the nachtkrapp only comes out at night. If the nachtkrapp sees a child out at night it will carry the child off to its nest, rip the child apart limb from limb and eat its heart. Some tamer versions of the legend only have the Nachtkrapp putting children in a large bag it carries over its back and doesn’t say what’s done with them after that. The nachtkrapp has hollow skeletal eye sockets. If anyone looks into its empty eye holes they die instantly. Depending on the region the nachtkrapp is said to ha...

  Vishap is a dragon from Armenian mythology. He was depicted as a serpent with wings, often with features of other animals, such as horns. Vishap was closely associated with water. He was also venomous and able to taint everything around it, and associated with bad luck, curses and sudden tragedy. Vishap was thought to live in the Armenian highlands, especially Mount Ararat. The volcanic activity of Mount Ararat was attributed to Vishap. Vishap was also associated with thunderstorms, causing them when he ascended into the sky or descended back down to the ground. He was even responsible for eclipses. Unusual for dragons, but much like European fairies, Vishap was thought to steal children and replace them with a dragon whelp from its own brood. Vishap was slain by Vahagn, an important god in ancient pagan Armenia. He was the god of war, bravery and the sun. Vishap himself was also worshipped as an earlier god of water and fertility before becoming purely a monster. Vishap is also ...

  Valravn, meaning raven of the slain, is a sort of boogieman from Denmark. Valravns were created when a raven ate the flesh of the fallen in battle who had not been given a proper burial. The valravn was a thoroughly evil creature that sought to bring harm to the surrounding communities. After being transformed the valravn gained human intelligence and various magical abilities that allowed it to spread pestilence and misfortune. It also gained the ability to shape shift into wolves or a half wolf – half raven form. Even with these abilities valravns still sought out more power. The one thing they desired the most was the ability to take on the form of a black knight, which they could only gain by devouring the heart of a child. How they accomplished this was usually left to the imagination. However in one traditional Danish song a valravn offered to protect a maiden on her way to her marriage in return for her first born child, echoing similar trickster deals made with fairies an...

       The kludde was an evil spirit or boogeyman from the low countries, spanning Belgium and the Netherlands. The kludde was always associated with water and inhabited places like swamps, reed beds, ponds and under bridges. While the kludde was capable of travelling over land, it couldn't enter hallowed ground, such as church yards.      The kludde gets its name from the sounds it makes. Although it's known regionally as kleure, klerre, or waterkledde.      The kludde was a dangerous monster, luring anyone who travelled by night into its swamp. There it would kill its victim, either by strangling or drowning. The kludde was capable of causing confusion and fear in its victims just by proximity, even without being seen. The kludde was especially dangerous to children, which it would hunt down even when closer victims were available. Because of this the kludde was used a as boogeyman to scare children into not going outside at night. ...