9 Mythological Entities That Might Haunt Your Dreams

All the obscure, cross-cultural nightmare fuel the Internet has to offer. (Well, maybe not all. But possibly the worst.)

1. Jersey Devil

WeirdNJ.com / Via weirdnj.com

Legends of this guy have been getting around the Pine Barrens of South Jersey for so long, the Jersey Devils hockey team is named after him. He allegedly emits bloodcurdling screeches, and moves in that jerky way, you know, the one you hate. Just think about a herd of these chasing you down the Jersey Shore.

2. Baba Yaga

Ivan Bilbin / Via oldrussia.net

Baba Yaga is one of the most famous characters in Russian and Slavic folklore. Despite the fact that she lives alone in the forest in a walking house of bones and feeds on kidnapped children, she sometimes has her good side too. Just hope you don’t have to cut a deal with her...anxiety dreams anyone?

3. Futakuchi-onna

Ehon Hyaku Monogatari / Via en.wikipedia.org

This woman often figures as the wife of a greedy man in Japanese stories. Since he never sees her eat, her husband assumes she is starving herself to help him save money.

Until the day he sees the back of her head start feeding itself rice with her hair. In other variations, the mouth demands to be fed until the woman can no longer resist. Either way, this chick has got teeth growing in her brain.

4. Fenrir

Resident Evil / Via norse-mythology.org

Fenrir the Wolf is the oldest son of the Norse God Loki. (Yes--Loki has a wolf son.) Fenrir was imprisoned by the gods after growing too large and powerful to control. One day this zombie-wolf will break free of his chains, kill Odin, and destroy the world. If that doesn’t terrify you...well, keep reading.

5. Dzunuk’wa

Museum of Anthropology at UBC / Via en.wikipedia.org

Dzunuk’wa was a hag-creature who stalked the children of the Kwakwaka’wakw tribes of British Colombia, in Western Canada. She was notorious for tucking away infants and toddlers in her black basket and carrying them away to eat, and also possessed the ability to bring herself back from the dead. Just in case you thought you could escape.

6. Drop Bear

Australian Geographic / Via australianmuseum.net.au

The drop bear is a joke played by the country of Australia on tourists, but that doesn’t make it any less terrifying. Supposedly this animal is closely related to the koala, but instead of eating eucalyptus it drops from the top of trees, lands on the heads of tourists, and savagely murders them. Don’t be too afraid--just spread some Vegemite on yourself and they’ll stay away.

7. Chichevache

unknown / Via paranormal-encyclopedia.com

This thing is like a reverse unicorn that loves blood. It’s a cow which wandered the moors and countrysides of England looking for good, faithful wives to eat raw, whole, and wriggling...which is why it constantly starved, since virtuous women were so hard to find. Just try not to be one and you’ll be safe, I suppose.

8. Nuppeppo

Toriyama Seiken / Via cryptidz.wikia.com

This blobby creature is one which will creep up on your sleeping mind slowly. It doesn’t actually do anything but be a blob that smells really bad. Some stories say it is actually an animated chunk of walking dead flesh, which would explain why it hangs out around graveyards at midnight. It really stinks. And it follows you around blobbing. Like a blob.

9. Manananggal

Gian Bernal / Via en.wikipedia.org

This Filipino vampire is capable of detaching its torso from its legs so it can fly after you faster, stick out its sharp writhing tongue, and eat your heart right out of your chest. Unless you’re a pregnant woman, in which case it will eat your fetus first.

Enough said.