Reddit user Snoo26837 asked:
"Without saying your country, what's the mythical beast in your culture?"
So I don't need to tell you where I live, if you're a regular reader you already know and if you're not - you're about to find out.
And yes, the stories are true.
Alligator Magic
"Florida Man."
- Naalbindr
"Native to SW FL."
"I will say that every time a Florida Man is arrested, another one is called on by god to carry the legacy on."
- Specific_Afternoon96
"How does he manage to commit so many crimes in one day? He’s very talented."
- reative-Ad-3222
"Alligator magic."
- Naalbindr
GiphyShe Who Removes
"A vampire that looks like a woman by day, but at night she gruesomely rips herself in half at the waist, sprouts wings from her back, and flies off into the night with her entrails hanging out (leaving the legs behind)."
"Her preferred food is the unborn fetuses of pregnant humans, which she feeds on with a long, proboscis-like tongue. Before dawn breaks she finds her legs, re-attaches, and assumes human form."
"Yes this is actual folkore. Can't name the country or the creature, but a hint is that its name is a local phrase meaning 'separator' / 'she who removes' "
- AdvocateSaint
The Science Makes It Scarier
"Probably my favorite mythological creature, the Wendigo."
"It’s interesting, because while it’s technically a 'nature spirit,' it’s not benevolent, or at worst, mischievous, like nature spirits in mythology tend to be (putting aside the unseelie court, of course)."
"It represents the dark aspects of nature: hunger, cold, predation, savagery."
"It’s also interesting to me, because the story actually seems like it could be about prion diseases."
"The Wendigo spirit possesses people who eat the flesh of other people and it slowly drives them insane and turns them into vicious beasts."
"Sounds a lot like what Creutzfeldt-Jakob does, how it slowly destroys your brain leading to psychosis and rapid mental decline before death. Creutzfeldt-Jakob , of course, spreads through eating the flesh (primarily brain and spinal fluid) of infected people."
"So to my mind, the Wendigo story was a way for them to explain people being infected with a prion disease, and as a warning to not eat human flesh so as not to become infected as well."
- Holybartender83
Naked Fiddling
"My favourite is Näcken - a naked fiddle player who lured young women into rivers and drowns them."
"Occasionally he’ll appear as a white horse instead, and once you are on his back you can’t get off."
- ZaMiLoD
"A lesser known part of the the stories of Näcken/Nøkken is that he demanded one person each year - and I'm highlighting the word demanded."
"He did not only lure people to their death, or simply take their life. This means that communities would have to drown someone 'less desirable' to make sure that the nøkk didn't take someone who was crucial in the community, or in other way of importance/loved."
"To me at least, this would be more terrifying than the nøkk's abductions in itself."
"Because it would mean that your community would be what actually kills you, and it's not as easy to avoid as ponds and lakes."
- creative_userid
GiphySlither
"The country that I live on, which is the land of the Wadjuk Noongar people, is part of the Country that I am a citizen of."
"The 'primary' mythical creature of this country and it’s people is the Wagyl (pronounced “wogl”) who is the Rainbow Serpent, the Creator who shaped the country in the beginning."
"It is his tracks as he slithered across the formless and barren land that created the rivers and streams, it is the depressions that he made when he curled up to rest that created the estuaries and the lakes."
"It was the scales of his body that he shed that created the bush and the forests, it was his droppings that formed the rock formations."
"When his work was done and he lay down to rest after his labors, it is his body that created and formed what most people now know as the 'Darling Escarpment.' ”
- [Reddit]
Known For Lurking
"She is known for lurking in fast food parking lots, she looks like a normal woman but has a certain haircut no sane person would have. She strikes fear in retail workers and managers, and her rage makes anyone in a five mile radius pull out their phones to record."
"Never get her order wrong unless you want the cops called for being bad at your job"
- Shmoowarrior123
"Oh god not a Karen!"
- darthurface
Don't Fall
"Dahu: A 4 legged monster that has shorter legs on one side so it can run straight on the mountain side, and if it changes sides it falls."
- EmuVerges
"And don't forget the Dahu hunt that all teenagers must perform at least once."
"Better when it's 4am Sunday morning and still drunk from the party."
- Paehon
"When I was very young, there was then a big Dahu hunt with all the other kids and the organizers had spread some clues like pieces of fur and scratches on trees around the forest."
"This was awesome but no one caught the beast of course!"
- Pataplonk
Nothing Sketchy
"Åmand and Åpige."
"Basically, imagine you're walking along a stream and you spot a girl (or a guy, if you're so inclined) walking naked in the water."
"She says 'Why don't you come down for, you know, sex?' and you go 'Sure, I don't see anything sketchy about that.' and you're never seen again."
- AppleDane
GiphyThis Seat's Taken
"Country road hitchhikers."
"It's a myth my family was pretty familiar with that you should keep all seats in a car filled, whether by people or objects. Otherwise you might pick up a ghostly or otherwise not-of-this-world, and unwelcome "passenger" while driving down the highways, especially out in country."
"I've mostly seen it talked about with older generations though."
- EthanEpiale
Killed Multiple Times
"A very sad/angry/ashamed man in the mountains, with predatory characteristics, who can teleport."
"He has to be killed (torn to shreds) multiple times to rid him of bodily functionality, or else he will regenerate after one has left his remains."
"The female version is half woman, half bear, with same abilities."
- [reddit]
Now that we've taken a world tour with Reddit, let's take things a little closer to home for you.
What's a mythical beast, legend, cryptid, or other creepy cultural creature from your culture?
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.