Rare Monsters

  The Alber is a demon or dragon from the legends of the Ziller Valley in Tyrol. It’s said to live on Teufelseck mountain, the mountain’s name meaning ‘devil’s corner’. At times the Alber would descend from the mountain, towards Ziller Valley as a giant fiery dragon, flying through a hole in the cliffs called the Bleiarzkar and down to the valley, spreading plagues, war and famine. It was thought the Alber was the devil himself in dragon form. Legend tells of two men from the village of Meran who witnessed the flight of the Alber and were lucky enough to survive such sights. One was the tailor Hanser, who was a wicked and dishonest man. He partook in every sort of sinful activity, lying, scamming, idleness and debauchery. The other was Loaserer Sepps, a good and honest villager. One night Hanser made a bet with his equally loathsome friends to steal cherries from the cherry tree in the yard of the Mission Cross of Algund. But Hanser was a coward and wouldn’t travel out there at nig...

  The wondrous wraith of Willow Creek was a cryptid spotted in Kentucky in 1868. The outlandish name was given to it by the newspapers reporting on the incident at the time. This monster was a fiery centaur. It had pale, corpse-colored skin all over its body. The mane and tail were made of fire covering its body. Its eyes burned with a sulfur blue. The monster stood six feet tall at the top of its head. The centaur carried a sword in one hand and a torch in the other.   The fiery beast was seen by a prominent tobacco merchant, who wished to stay anonymous after his sighting. The incident happened on October 10th, 1868. The tobacco merchant was traveling through Bracken County on his way home to Brooksville. He was running late and ended up riding on dark country roads after nightfall.  The monster was first spotted in the middle of the road, blocking the way forward. It breathed out a cone of flame every time it exhaled. The tobacco merchant stayed motionless on hors...

  The zburator is a type of demon from Romanian mythology. The name means flyer. The zburator's true form is that of a wolf with draconic features and bat like wings. It's often depicted with fire as well, either being surrounded by flames, or having a mane or tail of flame. This is especially prevalent when the zburator flies across the sky at night in the form of a shooting star. The zburator is capable of shape shifting. Most often it takes on the form of a handsome young man. It uses this capability to visit women at night and temp them into sleeping with it. The zburator most favours women who are engaged, or otherwise in a relationship but not married yet, and takes great delight in convincing these women to cheat on their partners. Zburators are often invisible to all except the women they pursue. Zburators drain their victim's life force through sex, much like an incubus. This leaves their victims tired, pale and anemic. Zburators are often compared to vampires, e...

  The hadhayosh was a giant bull from Persian mythology. It was also known as the sarsaok. The hadhayosh had six horns and a flaming mane. It's body was made of brass. There were multiple hadhayoshes made, each one exactly 52 feet tall and 57 tons in weight. The hadhayosh were created by 'the god of the forge'. While there are various angels or lesser gods in Zoroastrianism, I couldn't find exactly who this god of the forge was. Possibly Khshathra Vairya, the angel of metals, that would be my best guess. The hadhayoshes were primordial beings who were created right after the earth was finished. They were tasked with carrying the newly created humanity across the Voutkasha sea from the land of the gods to the know world. Once they had reached the mortal world the hadhayosh acted like normal cattle, grazing on the ample grasslands. The hadhayosh were slain and prepared like cattle by the newly arrived humans. When the hadhayosh were slain 55 species of grain and 12 spe...

  Falak is a gigantic snake from Arabian legend. It's larger than the whole world combined. Falak resides in the abyss, the seventh and final level of hell. The other levels of hell are held in its mouth. In Arabian mythology the world is carried on the back of an angel, who stands on the celestial bull Kuyuta, who in turn stands on the whale (not dragon) Bahamut. Bahamut in turn swims in the celestial ocean, which are the surface waters leading to the abyss. Falak desperately wants to reach up out of the abyss and devour all these other beings and the whole world. It's only the fear of God's punishment that stops Falak from doing so. God also gave Falak the other six levels of hell to hold to keep it busy and not focused on destroying the world.  

  Aitvaras are a type of malicious house spirit from Lithuanian mythology. They look like purely black or white roosters with flaming tails while inside the house, and like small dragons outside. When they fly they look like a comet streaking across the sky. Aitvaras hatch from eggs of a 9 to 15 year old rooster. Don't ask how a rooster would lay eggs, although it's a motif I've noticed popping up in mythology occasionally. The aitvaras would serve a family in a household through deceptive means. It would bring wealth and good fortune to the household by stealing from the neighbours. The aitvaras would go on nightly flights to rob them. Owning an aitvaras would inevitably bring strain between the household and the rest of the community. Additionally, the aitvaras would slowly siphon away the souls of the residents, damning them. Once an aitvaras was inside a house it was very difficult to remove. Killing it would be difficult as it would heal as soon as it touched the floor...