With mystical creatures
Supernatural beings
With ghastly features
Spirits of the undead
That roam the land
Taking us into the afterlife
By the hand
Every country from around the world
Possesses a different tale
So here are 26 of the best
Deep breath now, inhale...
A is for Acheri
An Indian ghost
Of a little girl
That brings illness to most
She descends from the mountains
Preying on children in bed
The only form of defence
Is a ribbon in red
B is for Black Dog
From the coastlines of the UK
A sighting of the creature
Will cause much dismay
For it is linked to the devil
And to the dead
Larger than a normal dog
With eyes that glow red
 |
| Cerberus guards Hades |
A three-headed hound
Who the Greeks believe
Lives below ground
The beast guards the gates
To the place called hell
Where banished souls can never escape
Because Cerberus guards it so well
D is for Dybbuk
From Jewish folklore
They are spirits denied access
Through the front door
To a place called Sheol
Where all dead rest
Denied for suicide
Or serious acts for which they cannot attest
E is for Erlking
From German description
A creature that haunts forests
Carrying travellers away to extinction
Linked to the elf king
Who was Scandinavian
The Erlking got his name
From a mistranslation
F is for Fucanglong
Dragons of the underground
Chinese mythology believes
They guard treasures found
When a volcano erupts
It is one of the Fucanglong
Carrying a message
To heaven's echelon
G is for Grine
From Moroccan verse
A duplicate of ourselves
Born in a parallel universe
Every action we make
Influences that of the Grine
And vice-versa
Making you unable to call your life "mine"
 |
| Heikegani crabs |
A type of crab from Japan
Unusual in that its shell
Depicts the face of a man
Legend has it they are the faces
Of the Heike warriors that died
In the sea during the battle
Of Dan-no-ura in 1185
I is for Incubus
A demon in male shape
That preys on sleeping women
In order to copulate
Succubus is the female version
And Medieval legend has it
That Merlin was conceived this way
Hence the wizard's magic
J is for Jörmungandr
A humungous serpent of the sea
The god Loki was his father
Loki's children he had three
Jörmungandr grew so big
He's able to grasp his own tail
Encompassing the earth
If he lets go the world will fail
K is for Kishi
That lives in Angolan hills
A two-faced creature
One side is handsome the other leaves chills
The Kishi seduces women
And invites them for dinner
Then when alone
It devours them like a sinner
 |
| La Llorona |
The Weeping Woman of Latin America
A spirit of a woman who drowned her children
Her name was Maria
She committed the murder for a man
Who rejected her loving bids
So she killed herself and now wanders the earth
Looking for her kids
M is for Mimi
Who taught the Australian Aborigines
How to hunt, prepare food
And light fires for families
Fairy-like beings
Their bodies are so thin
They remain in rock crevices
As protection from the wind
N is for Nightmarchers
Hawaiian warrior ghosts
They revisit places of battle
On grounds which played hosts
Marching and chanting is heard
By people living close by
If you are seen by a Nightmarcher
Then you'll supposedly die
O is for Orang Bunian
Forest dwelling supernatural beings
In parts of West Borneo
There have been many seeings
They kidnap children
And lead adults astray
Some have married humans
Without ever giving anything away
P is for Pesanta
A demon that sits on peoples chest
While they are sleeping
They will surely gain no rest
Catalonians believe the Pesanta
Brings nightmares and causes problems to breathe
In the shape of a cat or dog
It creates feelings of unease
Q is for Qareen
That is everyone's personal jinn
According to Islamic faith
It is hidden within
God gave us one each
And it tries to make us disobey
But it is a test in life
And our responsibility not to be led astray
R is for Rusalka
A Slavic ghost of the river
A sight of their form
Would make a man shiver
 |
| Saci of Brazil |
And could turn him into a knave
Then once under a spell
They'd be taken to their watery grave
S is for Saci
A one-legged spirit with a red cap
Brazilians say he'll grant you a wish
If you capture him in a trap
But his cap is magic
So make sure to not dwell
You must take it from him, get your wish
And beware of the cap's smell
T is for Trauco
A sexually potent dwarf with skill
At summoning any woman
He desired at will
Despite his repulsiveness
No woman could resist
If a single woman fell pregnant
Then it was rumoured to be his
U is for Urmahlullu
A Mesopotamian hybrid
His job was to keep bathrooms
Safely guarded
The body of a lion
But the torso of a man
Urmahlullu was a legend
At protecting the can
V is for Vardøger
A Norwegian form of déja vu
But in this case it is a person's smell or voice
Or footsteps that precedes them coming into view
Those who encounter this
Believe it to be someone they know
But in actual fact the person hasn't arrived yet
It's merely their Vardøger spirit on show
W is for Witte Wieven
Spirits of wise Dutch women
That had the power to heal
And abilities to cast out sin
Lingering in burial sites
They can be helpful to those they choose
But for others they will not assist
Instead they will lose
X is for Xana
An Asturian fairy found in a river or a cave
They're extraordinarily beautiful
With a tendency to misbehave
During spring and summer nights
They sing come sun or rain
Those of pure souls who hear them are filled with peace
While those who are not go insane
Y is for Yilbegän
Talked about by Turkic folk
It is a monster with several heads
And devours humans like egg yolk
Some say it is like a serpent
While others claim it has wings
Some reckon it rides a 99-horned ox
While some suggest its a descendant of kings
Z is for Zmeu
A Romanian giant in life
He kidnaps young girls
And makes them his wife
He appears as a human
But this isn't his natural sight
His real form is a dragon
Which he turns into at night
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