Spring-heeled Jack is a character in English folklore of the Victorian era who was known for his startling hops. The first claimed sighting of Spring-heeled Jack was in 1837. Later sightings were reported all over England and were especially prevalent in suburban London, the Midlands and Scotland.

There are many theories about the nature and identity of Spring-heeled Jack. This urban legend was very popular in its time, due to the tales of his bizarre appearance and ability to make extraordinary leaps, to the point that he became the topic of several works of fiction.

Spring-heeled Jack was described by people who claimed to have seen him as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical physiognomy, clawed hands, and eyes that “resembled red balls of fire”. One report claimed that, beneath a black cloak, he wore a helmet and a tight-fitting white garment like an oilskin. Many stories also mention a “Devil-like” aspect. Others said he was tall and thin, with the appearance of a gentleman. Several reports mention that he could breathe out blue and white flames and that he wore sharp metallic claws at his fingertips. At least two people claimed that he was able to speak comprehensible English.

The first alleged sightings of Spring-heeled Jack were made in London in 1837 and the last reported sighting is said in most of the secondary literature to have been made in Liverpool in 1904.

According to much later accounts, in October 1837, a girl by the name of Mary Stevens was walking to Lavender Hill, where she was working as a servant, after visiting her parents in Battersea. On her way through Clapham Common, a strange figure leapt at her from a dark alley. After immobilising her with a tight grip of his arms, he began to kiss her face, while ripping her clothes and touching her flesh with his claws, which were, according to her deposition, “cold and clammy as those of a corpse”. In panic, the girl screamed, making the attacker quickly flee from the scene. The commotion brought several residents who immediately launched a search for the aggressor, who could not be found.

The next day, the leaping character is said to have chosen a very different victim near Mary Stevens’ home, inaugurating a method that would reappear in later reports: he jumped in the way of a passing carriage, causing the coachman to lose control, crash, and severely injure himself. Several witnesses claimed that he escaped by jumping over a 9 ft (2.7 m) high wall while babbling with a high-pitched, ringing laughter.

Gradually, the news of the strange character spread, and soon the press and the public gave him a name: Spring-heeled Jack.

A few months after these first sightings, on January 9, 1838, the Lord Mayor of London, Sir John Cowan, revealed at a public session held in the Mansion House an anonymous complaint that he had received several days earlier, which he had withheld in the hope of obtaining further information. The correspondent, who signed the letter “a resident of Peckham”, wrote:

It appears that some individuals (of, as the writer believes, the highest ranks of life) have laid a wager with a mischievous and foolhardy companion, that he durst not take upon himself the task of visiting many of the villages near London in three different disguises — a ghost, a bear, and a devil; and moreover, that he will not enter a gentleman’s gardens for the purpose of alarming the inmates of the house. The wager has, however, been accepted, and the unmanly villain has succeeded in depriving seven ladies of their senses, two of whom are not likely to recover, but to become burdens to their families.At one house the man rang the bell, and on the servant coming to open door, this worse than brute stood in no less dreadful figure than a spectre clad most perfectly. The consequence was that the poor girl immediately swooned, and has never from that moment been in her senses.The affair has now been going on for some time, and, strange to say, the papers are still silent on the subject. The writer has reason to believe that they have the whole history at their finger-ends but, through interested motives, are induced to remain silent.

The matter was reported in The Times on 9 January, other national papers on 10 January and, on the day after that, the Lord Mayor showed a crowded gathering a pile of letters from various places in and around London complaining of similar “wicked pranks”. One writer said several young women in Hammersmith had been frightened into “dangerous fits” and some “severely wounded by a sort of claws the miscreant wore on his hands”. Another correspondent claimed that in Stockwell, Brixton, Camberwell and Vauxhall several people had died of fright and others had had fits; meanwhile, another reported that the trickster had been repeatedly seen in Lewisham and Blackheath.

A peculiar report from The Brighton Gazette, which appeared in the 14 April 1838 edition of The Times, related how a gardener in Rosehill, Sussex, had been terrified by a creature of unknown nature. The Times wrote that “Spring-heeled Jack has, it seems, found his way to the Sussex coast”, even though the report bore little resemblance to other accounts of Jack. The incident occurred on 13 April, when it appeared to a gardener “in the shape of a bear or some other four-footed animal”. Having attracted the gardener’s attention by a growl, it then climbed the garden wall and ran along it on all fours, before jumping down and chasing the gardener for some time. After terrifying the gardener, the apparition scaled the wall and made its exit.

Perhaps the best known of the alleged incidents involving Spring-heeled Jack were the attacks on two teenage girls, Lucy Scales and Jane Alsop. The Alsop report was widely covered by the newspapers, including a piece in The Times, while fewer reports appeared in relation to the attack on Scales. The press coverage of these two attacks helped to raise the profile of Spring-heeled Jack.

Jane Alsop reported that on the night of 19 February 1838, she answered the door of her father’s house to a man claiming to be a police officer, who told her to bring a light, claiming “we have caught Spring-heeled Jack here in the lane”. She brought the person a candle, and noticed that he wore a large cloak. The moment she had handed him the candle, however, he threw off the cloak and “presented a most hideous and frightful appearance”, vomiting blue and white flame from his mouth while his eyes resembled “red balls of fire”. Miss Alsop reported that he wore a large helmet and that his clothing, which appeared to be very tight-fitting, resembled white oilskin. Without saying a word he caught hold of her and began tearing her gown with his claws which she was certain were “of some metallic substance”. She screamed for help, and managed to get away from him and ran towards the house. He caught her on the steps and tore her neck and arms with his claws. She was rescued by one of her sisters, after which her assailant fled.

Eight days after the attack on Miss Alsop, on 28 February 1838, 18-year-old Lucy Scales and her sister were returning home after visiting their brother, a butcher who lived in a respectable part of Limehouse. Miss Scales stated in her deposition to the police that as she and her sister were passing along Green Dragon Alley, they observed a person standing in an angle of the passage. She was walking in front of her sister at the time, and just as she came up to the person, who was wearing a large cloak, he spurted “a quantity of blue flame” in her face, which deprived her of her sight, and so alarmed her, that she instantly dropped to the ground, and was seized with violent fits which continued for several hours.

Her brother added that on the evening in question, he had heard the loud screams of one of his sisters moments after they had left his house and on running up Green Dragon Alley he found his sister Lucy on the ground in a fit, with her sister attempting to hold and support her. She was taken home, and he then learned from his other sister what had happened. She described Lucy’s assailant as being of tall, thin, and gentlemanly appearance, covered in a large cloak, and carrying a small lamp or bull’s eye lantern similar to those used by the police. The individual did not speak nor did he try to lay hands on them, but instead walked quickly away. Every effort was made by the police to discover the author of these and similar outrages, and several persons were questioned, but were set free.

The Times reported the alleged attack on Jane Alsop on 2 March 1838 under the heading “The Late Outrage At Old Ford”.This was followed with an account of the trial of one Thomas Millbank, who, immediately after the reported attack on Jane Alsop, had boasted in the Morgan’s Arms that he was Spring-heeled Jack. He was arrested and tried at Lambeth Street court. The arresting officer was James Lea, who had earlier arrested William Corder, the Red Barn Murderer. Millbank had been wearing white overalls and a greatcoat, which he dropped outside the house, and the candle he dropped was also found. He escaped conviction only because Jane Alsop insisted her attacker had breathed fire, and Millbank admitted he could do no such thing. Most of the other accounts were written long after the date; contemporary newspapers do not mention them.

After these incidents, Spring-heeled Jack became one of the most popular characters of the period. His alleged exploits were reported in the newspapers and became the subject of several penny dreadfuls and plays performed in the cheap theatres that abounded at the time. The devil was even renamed “Spring-heeled Jack” in some Punch and Judy shows.

But, even as his fame was growing, reports of Spring-heeled Jack’s appearances became less frequent if more widespread. In 1843, however, a wave of sightings swept the country again. A report from Northamptonshire described him as “the very image of the Devil himself, with horns and eyes of flame”, and in East Anglia reports of attacks on drivers of mail coaches became common.

In the beginning of the 1870s, Spring-heeled Jack was reported again in several places distant from each other. In November 1872, the News of the World reported that Peckham was “in a state of commotion owing to what is known as the “Peckham Ghost”, a mysterious figure, quite alarming in appearance”. The editorial pointed out that it was none other than “Spring-heeled Jack, who terrified a past generation”. Similar stories were published in The Illustrated Police News. In April and May 1873, there were numerous sightings of the “Park Ghost” in Sheffield, which locals also came to identify as Spring-heeled Jack.

This news was followed by more reported sightings, until in August 1877 one of the most notable reports about Spring-heeled Jack came from a group of soldiers in Aldershot’s barracks. This story went as follows: a sentry on duty at the North Camp peered into the darkness, his attention attracted by a peculiar figure “advancing towards him.” The soldier issued a challenge, which went unheeded, and the figure came up beside him and delivered several slaps to his face. A guard shot at him, with no visible effect; some sources claim that the soldier may have fired blanks at him, others that he missed or fired warning shots. The strange figure then disappeared into the surrounding darkness “with astonishing bounds.”

In the autumn of 1877, Spring Heeled Jack was reportedly seen at Newport Arch, in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, wearing a sheep skin. An angry mob supposedly chased him and cornered him, and just as in Aldershot a while before, residents fired at him to no effect. As usual, he was said to have made use of his leaping abilities to lose the crowd and disappear once again.

By the end of the 19th century the reported sightings of Spring-heeled Jack were moving towards the north west of England. Around 1888, in Everton, north Liverpool, he allegedly appeared on the rooftop of Saint Francis Xavier’s Church in Salisbury Street. In 1904 there were reports of appearances in nearby William Henry Street.

No one was ever caught and identified as Spring-heeled Jack; combined with the extraordinary abilities attributed to him and the very long period during which he was reportedly at large, this has led to all sorts of theories of his nature and identity. While several researchers seek a rational explanation for the events, other authors explore the more fantastic details of the story to propose different kinds of paranormal speculation. Sceptical investigators have dismissed the stories of Spring-heeled Jack as mass hysteria which developed around various stories of a bogeyman or devil which have been around for centuries, or from exaggerated urban myths about a man who clambered over rooftops claiming that the Devil was chasing him. Other researchers believe that some individual(s) may have been behind its origins, being followed by imitators later on.

A variety of wildly speculative paranormal explanations have been proposed to explain the origin of Spring-heeled Jack, including that he was an extraterrestrial entity with a non-human appearance and features (e.g., retro-reflective red eyes, or phosphorus breath) and a superhuman agility deriving from life on a high-gravity world, with his jumping ability and strange behaviour, and that he was a demon, accidentally or purposefully summoned into this world by practitioners of the occult, or who made himself manifest simply to create spiritual turmoil.

The vast urban legend built around Spring-heeled Jack influenced many aspects of Victorian life, especially in contemporary popular culture. For decades, especially in London, his name was equated with the bogeyman, as a means of scaring children into behaving by telling them that if they were not good, Spring-heeled Jack would leap up and peer in at them through their bedroom windows, by night.

However, it was in fictional entertainment where the legend of Spring-heeled Jack exerted the most extensive influence, owing to his allegedly extraordinary nature. Almost from the moment the first incidents gained public knowledge, he turned into a successful fictional character, becoming the protagonist of many penny dreadfuls from 1840 to 1904. Several plays where he assumed the main role were staged as well.

The most notable fictional Spring-heeled Jacks of the 19th and early 20th centuries were:

• A play by John Thomas Haines, in 1840, Spring-Heeled Jack, the Terror of London, which shows him as a brigand who attacks women because his own sweetheart betrayed him.
• An 1863 play, Spring-Heel’d Jack: or, The Felon’s Wrongs, written by Frederick Hazleton.
• Spring-heel’d Jack: The Terror of London, a penny dreadful published by the Newsagents’ Publishing Company c. 1864–1867.
• Spring-heel’d Jack: The Terror of London, a 48-part penny weekly serial published c. 1878–1879 in The Boys’ Standard, written either by veteran author of dreadfuls George Augustus Henry Sala or by Alfred Burrage (as “Charlton Lea”).
• Spring-Heel Jack; or, The Masked Mystery of the Tower, appearing in Beadle’s New York Dime Library #332, 4 March 1885, and written by Col. Thomas Monstery.
• A 48-part serial published by Charles Fox and written by Alfred Burrage (as “Charlton Lea”), 1889–1890
• A 1904 version by Alfred Burrage.
  
• Director Paul Leni’s Das Wachsfigurenkabinett (1924) presents the character as an amalgam with Jack the Ripper.
• A play based on the Aldine penny dreadfuls entitled The Curse of the Wraydons, written in 1928 by surrealist Swiss author Maurice Sandoz. This was later filmed with Tod Slaughter in the lead role.

More recently, Spring-heeled Jack was a major character in Mark Hodder’s steampunk book The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack published in 2010 as the first of three novels in the Burton & Swinburne series. In this book many of the seemingly bizarre appearances described above are explained in the context of time travel.

Spring-Heeled Jack is a 2008 horror film directed by William Honeyball, in which the character is revived in 2004.

In recent years, the character has also appeared in a variety of comics.

Wikipedia

Posted by DF using information via Wikipedia which is freely and legally available to share and remix under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The Mummy is a 1932 fantasy horror film from Universal Studios directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff (billed as ‘Karloff the Uncanny’) as a revived ancient Egyptian priest. The movie also features Zita Johann, David Manners and Edward Van Sloan. It was shot in Cantil, California, Universal City, and the Mojave Desert.

Above all others, The Mummy is the Universal horror film of their golden period for which repeated viewings are essential to truly grasp the almost ethereal atmosphere and multi-layered plot. An archaeological dig in Cairo by starchy Sir Joseph Whemple (Arthur Byron, an American with a very convincing English accent) and his wet behind the ears assistant, Ralph Norton (Bramwell Fletcher), leads to the discovery of a mummy, that of the 2700 year-old Imhotep (Karloff, to bill him under just the one name, as the credits and posters do) and a lost long box found with him. Unable to resist the temptation to open it, despite the curse written on the outside, Norton discovers a scroll within and awakens Imhotep from his dusty slumber by reading the hieroglyphics written on it.

Norton goes instantly loony, gibbering the famous lines, “He just went out for a little walk – you should have seen his face!” whilst Whemple vows never to return to Egypt. Some ten years later, Whemple’s son, Frank (David Manners, John Harker in Tod Browning’s Dracula), Professor Pearson (Leonard Mudie) and  Dr. Muller (the redoubtable Edward Van Sloan, seen in Dracula, Frankenstein and many others of the era) return to Africa to seek out the tomb. Along the way they encounter the mysterious Ardath Bey, actually Imhotep in a slightly more human form, Scroll of Thoth under his arm, seeking out his reincarnated lover from the past, Ankhesenamun.

Showing the pair where to dig to find the tomb, the sarcophagus of his beloved is taken to the museum of Cairo. It transpires, through flashback, that Imhotep was mummified alive as punishment for attempting to resurrect Ankhesenamun, who had died tragically, by performing heretical rites.  Upon meeting Helen Grosvenor (Broadway star Zita Johann, wearing surprisingly few clothes, almost falling out of them entirely in one scene), he is convinced she is the reincarnation of his lover and vows to finally reunite them by killing her and bringing her back to life in the same manner he was.

If this sounds rather tangled, you’d be forgiven. Not ten years before the release of the film, the imagination of the whole world was captured by the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb and more especially the stories which quickly circulated of curses and the mishaps which befell Carter and his fellow raiders. Egyptian iconography and gaudy faux-Pharaoh decorations were commonplace in cinemas and bars and the public’s appetite for all things mummified was unquenchable, the more twisted and convoluted the plot, the more fact and fiction seemed to merge.

If there’s one factor that puts off fans of the other Universal Monsters, it’s that Karloff’s performance in bandages is surprisingly brief, the majority of his role being as the tall and imposing Bey, initially at least, far less iconic and immediately frightening. This is unfortunate. Rather like Frankenstein’s Monster, the titular creature is actually a sympathetic character, having died for love centuries before, he means only to be reunited with his bride. As such, the mood is distinctly misty-eyed, almost dreamlike as well as the desert locations, adequately standing in for Egypt, adding a heavy dose of the exotic.

It is unfortunate that the stand-out sequence in the film, the resurrection of the mummy, happens so early on in the film. One of Karloff’s most subtle scenes on film, the barely perceptible opening of his eyes is haunting, almost moving, the agony and agelessness of his torment communicated without a sound. Of course, as well as Karloff’s terrific acting, this was largely down to the skill of Universal’s in-house make-up genius, Jack P.Pierce.

After studying the mummy of Egyptian Pharaoh, Set I, Pierce elected to use Egyptian cotton which was treated with acid and baked. An 8-hour process of applying the bandages with spirit gum and collodion, as well as clay to his hair, left Karloff unable to speak and, anecdotally, go to the toilet. It was not only lengthy, taking even longer than the techniques used to create Frankenstein’s Monster but incredibly painful, though the relationship on this film between Pierce and Karloff was more cordial than usual. It is still the most staggering realisation of a walking mummy, modern techniques not even coming close. The make-up took another 2 hours to remove.

Much work also went into Karloff’s appearance as Ardath Bey, his skin stretched and then spirit gum applied. Many layers of collodion-soaked cotton were then applied, which, when dried created the wrinkled, dessicated effect. The high ether content in the plastic-based collodion sent stinging fumes up into the actor’s eyes. Also of note is the appearance by Noble Johnson, Bey’s aide, ‘The Nubian’. Johnson had previously appeared in The Most Dangerous Game (‘whited-up’, an unthinkable act nowadays) and the following year in King Kong.

The director, Karl Freund, was only given the job two days before filming began. He was best known as a cinematographer, most famously for Dracula  and Murders In The Rue Morgue, both heavily expressionistic. His plans for the scenes depicting Imhotep’s life when he was alive were eventually heavily cut, the original intention being that these would be played in a highly exaggerated manner whilst also being slightly speeded up, giving the impression of being an archival relic.

The musical score is easy on the Egyptian motifs, actually using the main theme from Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ as the opening theme as it had in Dracula the year before. The other, uncredited themes were mostly the work of James Dietrich and Heinz Roemheld, though it is the great passages of silence which really give you the creeps. The film is the first of Universal’s Monsters to not be based on a previously published literary source.

Bey’s actual Fez – his ring was purchased by Famous Monsters of Filmland‘s Forrest J. Ackerman.

Though massively successful, it was another 8 years before another mummy film appeared, the unconnected Mummy’s Hand. Despite being financially inferior, as well as in quality, this did spawn sequels — the Lon Chaney Jr-starring The Mummy’s Tomb in 1942, The Mummy’s Ghost in 1944 and The Mummy’s Curse from the same year. Later efforts, swathed in CGI rather than bandages (The Mummy (1999), 2001′s The Mummy Returns and two further debacles are to be ignored, though the Hammer contributions to mummy lore - The Mummy (1959), The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964), The Mummy’s Shroud (1967) and Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb are much more fun. Universal is due to start again with yet another mummy relaunch in the not-too distant future.

Daz Lawrence, Horropedia

The Ghoul (1933) is a British horror film starring Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, Ernest Thesiger, and renowned thespian, Ralph Richardson, making his film debut. Although often mentioned in the same breath as the Universal horror films of the period, the film was a product of the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation, the British arm of the French film company Gaumont.

A dying Egyptologist, Prof. Henry Morlant (Karloff), purchases a valuable stolen gem, “The Eternal Light”, which he believes will grant him passage into the afterlife – to ram the point home, he says ‘Anubis’ a great deal. He warns his servant, Laing (Ernest Thesiger, in a role reversal of their stations in The Old Dark House), that if the jewel is stolen from him when he dies, he’ll return from the grave to get it back. Ernest pretty much looks straight down the camera lens in an entirely Laurel and Hardy manner, the first of many comical moments in a film that struggles to maintain its horror stance. Naturally, the jewel finds its way out of Karloff’s bandaged hand and changes hands through most of the cast until The Ghoul himself makes a dramatic return…or does he?

Headless Horseman is a 2007 horror film that aired on the Sci-Fi (now Syfy) Channel in October 2007, based on the legend of the Headless Horseman. The movie takes the tack that the Washington Irving story was the “white-washed” version and the events in this horror film is the real story. It was directed by Anthony C. Ferrante and stars Richard Moll and Billy Aaron Brown.

Plot:

After going through the woods on the way to a party, seven teenagers stumble upon a town called Wormwood Ridge. The townspeople are celebrating a Headless Horseman ceremony, which unbeknownst to the teenagers requires human heads from young people. The teens, with the help of a young tow-truck driver named Candy (who is initially on the town’s side, but later feels guilty and decides to help the teens), attempt to escape the town before they are killed…

Wikipedia | IMDb

Guest Reviewer:

As freshness-expired as Headless Horseman (2007) is, seven teens end up in Wormwood Ridge, a mysterious rundown town with no Jiffy Lube™. What it does have, though, is a vengeful headless horseman, named Headless. Cute.

HH coincidentally needs seven heads to drop into that boiling tar hole in his garage. This dirty orifice is Hell’s dumbwaiter as a tentacled thingamajig reaches out to snag said offerings, thereby allowing HH to roam the earth. If he doesn’t put the required amount of heads in the pit by midnight, he and the whole town will be sucked down to Hell.

Craniums get lopped off, but sadly it’s all done digitally. The best moment – aside from a young supermodel-in-training slowly changing clothes – comes when she drives her  father’s truck right over Horsy’s head and it pops like a grape in pliers. Major plot spoiler: the Headless Horseman has a head.

There’s a third-grade backstory about a priest, enchanted sword and the snake constellation whose stars line up to…  Yep, it’s stupid. So is the Headless Horseman himself, who even rides a motorcycle at one point. (Ghost Rider is gonna want to have a word with you, pal). It takes less than two minutes total for the heads to be cut off. You’re on your own for the movie’s remaining eighty-eight.

Jeff Gilbert – Drinkin’ & Drive-In

Baron Samedi (the slightly less impressive Baron Saturday in English, also Baron Samdi, Bawon Samedi, or Bawon Sanmdi) is one of the Loa of Haitian vodou, the spirits of the dead. Samedi is a Loa of the dead, along with Baron’s numerous other incarnations Baron Cimetière, Baron La Croix, and Baron Kriminel. He is the head of the Guédé (or Ghede) family of Loa, or an aspect of them, or possibly their spiritual father. His wife is the Loa Maman Brigitte.

Haitian Vodou, also written as Voodoo is a syncretic religion practiced chiefly in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. Practitioners are called “vodouists” or “servants of the spirits”. The word is first documented in 1658 and is distinct, though very similar, to the practices of Voodoo in Louisiana, hence the differing spelling.

Vodouists believe in a distant and unknowable creator god, Bondye (Bon Dieu, literally ‘Good God’). As Bondye does not intercede in human affairs, vodouists direct their worship toward spirits subservient to Bondye, called loa. Every loa is responsible for a particular aspect of life, with the dynamic and changing personalities of each loa reflecting the many possibilities inherent to the aspects of life over which they preside. In order to navigate daily life, vodouists cultivate personal relationships with the loa through the presentation of offerings, the creation of personal altars and devotional objects, and participation in elaborate ceremonies of music, dance, and spirit possession.

Vodou originated in the French slave colony of Saint-Domingue in the 18th century, when African religious practice was actively suppressed, and enslaved Africans were forced to convert to Christianity. Religious practices of contemporary Vodou are descended from, and closely related to, West African Vodun as practiced by the Fon and Ewe. Vodou also incorporates elements and symbolism from other African peoples including the Yorùbá and Bakongo; as well as Taíno religious beliefs, and European spirituality including Roman Catholic Christianity, European mysticism, Freemasonry, and other influences.

Those in the Haitian Vodou practices that serve the loa are the Bokor. The Bokor are the Vodou priest/priestesses who can be hired to perform various sorcery. The Bokor practice both light and dark forms of magic. The Dark magic that they practice revolves mainly around the creation of zombies through the use of a mixture of poisons. These poisons are derived mainly from puffer fish and other poisonous substances.

The Ghede are the largest family of Loa in vodou embody the power of death and fertility. They are traditionally led by the Barons (La Croix, Samedi, Cimitière, Kriminel), and Maman Brigitte. The Ghede as a family are loud, rude (although rarely to the point of real insult), sexual, and usually a lot of fun. As those who have lived already, they have nothing to fear, and frequently will display how far past consequence and feeling they are when they come through in a service – eating glass, raw chillis, and anointing their sensitive areas with chilli rum for example. Their traditional colours are black and purple.

Samedi is often pictured as a tall, handsome black man, wearing a top hat (white or black), a black tuxedo and dark glasses. He carries a cane and smokes cigarettes or cigars and is sometimes shown with cotton plugs in each nostril, reflecting the practice of Haitian burials. Other representations show him with a more skeletal appearance. He is regularly seen swigging alcohol (usually rum) and is known for dancing, disruption, obscenity and debauchery, none of which get in the way of his actual duties of healing those near or approaching death, as it is only Baron who can accept an individual into the realm of the dead. Baron Samedi spends most of his time in the invisible realm of spirits. He is notorious for his outrageous behaviour, swearing continuously and making filthy jokes to the other spirits. He is married to another powerful spirit known as Maman Brigitte. Baron Samedi can usually be found at the crossroads between the worlds of the living and the dead. When someone dies, he digs their grave and greets their soul after they have been buried, leading them to the underworld.

Maman Brigitte is similarly crazed and drinks rum infused with hot peppers and is symbolized by a black rooster. Like Baron and the Ghede, she uses obscenities, protecting gravestones in cemeteries if they are properly marked with a cross. Baron La Croix (The Cross) is the ultimate suave and sophisticated spirit of Death – quite cultured and debonair. He has an existential philosophy about death, finding death’s reason for being both humorous and absurd. Baron La Croix is the extreme expression of individuality, and offers to you the reminder of delighting in life’s pleasures.

Baron Cimitière is said to be the male guardian of the cemetery, protecting its graves. His horses wear a tuxedo or tails and a top hat. They have expensive tastes, smoking cigars and drinking wine or fine liquor. They are just as crass as the other Ghede, but ape polite manners and upper-class airs while doing so.

Baron Kriminel is a much feared spirit or Loa in the Haitian Vodou religion. He is envisioned as a murderer who has been condemned to death, and is invoked to pronounce swift judgment. When a person becomes possessed by Baron Kriminel they shout obscenities, spit and try to stab surrounding people. If, during possession, Baron Kriminel is presented with food he does not like, he will bite chunks out of the arms of the possessed person. He sometimes calls for sacrifices of black chickens to be doused in petrol and set alight. The shrieking of the chickens when being burned alive is said to appeal to the cruel nature of Baron Kriminel and appease him. Baron Kriminel is said to be one of Baron Samedi’s many aspects. Baron Kriminel will often grant requests in lieu, he is said to return on Fete Ghede, the Voduns’ “Festival of the Dead” (November 2nd), to claim payment. Baron Kriminel is often represented by Saint Martin de Porres, perhaps because his feast day is November 3rd, the day after Fete Ghede. His colours include black, purple, white and deep blood.

Samedi ensures all corpses rot in the ground to stop any soul from being brought back as a brainless zombie. What he demands in return depends on his mood. Sometimes he is content with his followers wearing black, white or purple clothes or using sacred objects; he may simply ask for a small gift of cigars, rum, black coffee, grilled peanuts or bread.

The most well-known representation of Baron Samedi in film is undoubtedly in the James Bond film, Live and Let Die. Played by Geoffrey Holder, the film is somewhat ambiguous as to whether the character is a mortal man playing the Baron or is indeed the Baron of vodou lore. Perhaps a more successful representation of the Baron is in the 1974 film Sugar Hill where he is played by Don Pedro Colley, a film far more soaked in the traditions and practices.

Horror films have long used vodou or voodoo as inspiration, from early efforts likes White Zombie, I Walked With a Zombie, King of the Zombies and Voodoo Man to Hammer’s take on walking slaves, The Plague of the Zombies, Umberto Lenzi’s Black Demons, cinematic outrage Zombie Nightmare and Wes Craven’s The Serpent and the Rainbow. The latter is one of the bolder attempts to capture the essence of the Haitian’s beliefs and is loosely based on the non-fiction book of the same name by ethnobotanist Wade Davis, wherein Davis recounted his experiences in Haiti investigating the story of Clairvius Narcisse, who was allegedly poisoned, buried alive, and revived with a herbal brew which produced what was called a zombie.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

With thanks to http://satanicmojo.blogspot.co.uk for some of the pics.

The Owlman, sometimes referred to as the Cornish Owlman, or the Owlman of Mawnan, is a purported cryptid that was supposedly sighted around mid-1976 in the village of Mawnan, Cornwall. The Owlman is sometimes compared to the Mothman, first seen in 1960′s America. Both, it must be said, straddle the tricky border of ‘inventive’ and ‘we’ve run out of spooky creatures’.

The rural town of Mawnan rests in the south of Cornwall in the south-west of England, an area of the country teeming with supernatural fare, from monstorus black dogs to sea serpents to devilish imps. A town notable for little else than a couple of churches it attracts a smattering of holiday-makers due to it being situated in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

http://www.mawnansmith.org.uk/home.html

The first sightings of the owlman appear around April 1976, when Don Melling and his daughters June (12) and Vicky (9) had their Easter break rudely interrupted. Whilst walking through the woods near Mawnan church, they saw a large winged creature “like a big man with flapping wings” hovering above the church tower. The girls were frightened and immediately ran to tell their father, who, being a responsible parent, took them to the local police station but, rather confusingly, refused to allow them to be interviewed, instead instructing them to draw pictures of the beast, both of which were strikingly similar. So alarmed were the three holidaymakers that they cut short their break by a whole three days, returning to the safety of Lancashire.

In July of the same year, two fourteen year-old girls, Sally Chapman and Barbara Perry, camping in the vicinity of the church, also saw the owlman, describing it thus:

“It was like a big owl with pointed ears, as big as a man. The eyes were red and glowing. At first, I thought that it was someone dressed up, playing a joke, trying to scare us. I laughed at it, we both did, then it went up in the air and we both screamed. When it went up you could see its feet were like pincers”.

Paranormal researcher Tony “Doc” Shiels, again got the two girls to use their artistic skills to describe their sighting and again, the results were consistent with both each other and the earlier incident. Just a few days later, another girl witnessed to foul flying creature;

“It has red slanting eyes and a very large mouth. The feathers are silvery grey and so are his body and legs, the feet are like a big, black, crab’s claws. We were frightened at the time. It was so strange, like something out of a horror film. After the thing went up, there were crackling sounds in the tree-tops for ages. Our mother thinks we made it all up just because we read about these things, but that is not true. we really saw the bird-man, though it could have been someone playing a trick in a very good costume and make up. But how could it rise up like that? If we imagined it, then we both imagined it at the same time”.

Though sightings after this thinned out significantly, in 1986, Shiels was being accused of making up the accounts and in nearby Truro, the even headier charge of blasphemy, reportedly performing occult rituals, invoking the owlman on holy ground. In 1989 the owlman appeared once more, this time in an incident not linked to Shiels. A man named Gavin reported as seeing something ”about five feet tall… The legs had high ankles and the feet were large and black with two huge ‘toes’ on the visible side. The creature was gray with brown and the eyes definitely glowed.” The most recent visitation by the owlman was reported in 1995 when a female tourist from Chicago sent a letter to the local newspaper, the Western Morning News in Truro.

“Dear Sir, I am a student of marine biology at the Field Museum, Chicago, on the last day of a summer vacation in England. Last Sunday evening I had a most unique and frightening experience in the wooded area near the old church at Mawnan, Cornwall. I experienced what I can only describe as ‘a vision from hell’. The time was fifteen minutes after nine, more or less, and I was walking along a narrow track through the trees. I was halted in my tracks when, about thirty metres ahead, I saw a monstrous man-bird ‘thing’. It was the size of a man, with a ghastly face, a wide mouth, glowing eyes and pointed ears. It had huge clawed wings, and was covered in feathers of silver/grey colour. The thing had long bird legs which terminated in large black claws. It saw me and arose, ‘floating’ towards me. I just screamed then turned and ran for my life.

“The whole experience was totally irrational and dreamlike (nightmare!). Friends tell me that there is a tradition of a phantom ‘owlman’ in that district. Now I know why. I have seen the phantom myself. “Please don’t publish my real name and address. This could adversely affect my career. Now I have to rethink my ‘world view’ entirely. Yours, very sincerely scared… ‘Eye Witness’.”

Several explanations for the monster have been proffered; the church reportedly sits on ley lines, a mystical power source linking ancient sites, the owlman being a manifestation of the energy bursting forth from the bowels of the Earth. Others suggest a huge eagle owl with fungus on it’s feathers causing a phosphorescent glow in the twilight. It may be related to a Phoenician owl god to whom infant sacrifices were often made. It might just be an owl.

Daz Lawrence

Jeepers Creepers 3 (originally Jeepers Creepers 3: Cathedral) is a 2013 horror film written and directed by Victor Salva (Jeepers Creepers and sequel) that was originally slated to be released in 2011. The film stars Ray Wise, Jonathon Breck — who plays the creeper — and Gina Phillips.

The storyline goes back to the Wild West and brings in a Native American folklore angle…

IMDb | Facebook

The Beast of Bodmin, also known as the Beast of Bodmin Moor is a phantom wild cat purported to live in Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. Bodmin Moor became a centre of these sightings with occasional reports of mutilated slain livestock: the alleged panther-like cats of the same region came to be popularly known as the Beast of Bodmin Moor.

In general, scientists reject such claims because of the improbably large numbers necessary to maintain a breeding population and because climate and food supply issues would make such purported creatures’ survival in reported habitats unlikely. A long held hypothesis suggests the possibility that big cats at large in the United Kingdom could have been imported as part of private collections or zoos, later escaped or set free. An escaped big cat would not be reported to the authorities due to the illegality of owning and importing the animals.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food conducted an official investigation in 1995. The study found that there was ‘no verifiable evidence’ of exotic felines loose in Britain, and that the mauled farm animals could have been attacked by common indigenous species. The report stated that ‘the investigation could not prove that a “big cat” is not present.’

Less than a week after the government report, a boy was walking by the River Fowey when he discovered a large cat skull. Measuring about 4 inches (10 cm) long by 7 inches (18 cm) wide, the skull was lacking its lower jaw but possessed two sharp, prominent canines that suggested that it might have been a leopard. The story hit the national press at about the same time of the official denial of alien big cat evidence on Bodmin Moor.

The skull was sent to the Natural History Museum for verification. They determined that it was a genuine skull from a young male leopard, but also found that the cat had not died in Britain and that the skull had been imported as part of a leopard-skin rug. The back of the skull was cleanly cut off in a way that is commonly used to mount the head on a rug. There was an egg case inside the skull that had been laid by a tropical cockroach that could not possibly be found in Britain.

British author Peter Tremayne‘s 1977 Hound of Frankenstein novel is set on Bodmin Moor.

Wikipedia

From the earliest times, mythical demons have inhabited all faiths and religions but Christianity really grasped the nettle whole-heartedly, with various writers recording ever-more elaborate inhabitants of Hell and going to great lengths to explain their roles and where specifically they resided. The Spanish Franciscan Catholic Bishop, Alphonso de Spina, recorded in 1467 that demons could be classified in the following ways:

• Demons of fate
• Goblins
• Incubi and succubi
• Wandering groups or armies of demons
• Familiars
• Drudes
• Cambions and other demons that are born from the union of a demon with a human being.
• Liar and mischievous demons
• Demons that attack the saints
• Demons that try to induce old women to attend Witches’ Sabbaths

A hundred years later, Peter Binsfield, a German bishop, honed these vague categories and aligned them to the seven deadly sins, hence, the seven princes of Hell looked like this:

• Lucifer: pride
• Mammon: greed
• Asmodeus: lust
• Leviathan: envy
• Beelzebub: gluttony
• Amon or Satan: wrath
• Belphegor: sloth
  

Another theologist, Johannes Wierus, recounted the evidence as he saw it and proclaimed that when Lucifer fell from Heaven, he took 2400 evil angels with him; when they arrived at Hell, there were eleven princes of Hell, each commanding 6,660,000 demons each. Hell was essentially the mirror image of Heaven, so whilst Cherubim and Arch Angels featured for the good, ‘downstairs’, Lucifer (most often agreed to be the head of all the demons) appointed many of the most evil angels to preside of different areas of the Underworld.

Abaddon (the destroyer)

His early career as the angel sent to collect the earth which was used to create Adam, he later took up the role of angel of the bottomless pit. Chief of the human-faced, scorpion-tailed, horse-bodies demon locusts

Adramelech (king of fire)

Great minister of Beelzebub’s Order of the Fly. Adramelech became the President of the Senate of the demons. He is also the Chancellor of Hell and supervisor of Satan’s wardrobe. Being generally depicted with a human torso and head, and the rest of the body of a mule (or sometimes as a peacock).

Asmodeus 

Asmodeus takes charge of the casinos of Hell, specialising in all things related to greed and illicit pleasure. Sporting three heads (bull, ram and human), he leads mortals to squander their wealth of frippery and tempt them into wildly inappropriate relationships.

Astaroth (Treasurer of Hell)

Riding around on a dragon and carrying a serpent like a staff, Astaroth is a mentor to newer demons joining the ranks

Azazel

Referenced in Christianity, Judaism and Islam, Azazel was one of the first angels to fall from Heaven and lists amongst his achievements, leading men to create and take-up weapons and women to apply make-up. Bit sexist.

Baal

Baal is the demon most heavily related to idleness. Situated in Eastern Hell, he has the arms of a spider and three heads – human, cat and toad.

Beelzebub

Chief of staff and second only to Lucifer in the rankings, even attempting coups in Hell. Presiding over the Order of the Fly, Beelzebub often takes the form of a fly and is notorious for inspiring heresy and tempting humans with sin, envy and pride. Witch trials often attempted to coerce those under suspicion to confess to worshipping Beelzebub.

Behemoth (devil’s cupbearer)

Appearing, variously, as a crocodile, elephant, whale or a hippo, this demon, obviously, lent his name to describing anything huge. Employed as night watchman of Hell, he also serves as the Devil’s cook.

Beleth

Responsible for eighty-five legions of demons, he announces his appearance with great fanfares of trumpets upon a pale horse.

Belial (prince of arrogance and deceit)

Dervied from the Hebrew for ‘worthless’, Known to be a great speaker, he is depicted as being particularly vicious and vocal against the work of God. Belial is said to already have been in Hell when Lucifer fell and tempts mortals into acts of rebellion and disloyalty. Also the name of the little chap in the film Basket Case.

Belphegor

One of the seven princes of Hell, who helps people make discoveries. He seduces people by suggesting to them ingenious inventions that will make them rich. According to some 16th-century demonologists, his power is stronger in April. Often appearing as an attractive young woman, he spends his time outside of Hell in Paris.

Carnivean

Invoked during Witches’ rituals, he is the patron devil of lewdness, lasciviousness and obscenity.

Crocell

Speaking in dark and mysterious way, Crocell leads 48 legions of demons and when summoned by humans can teach mathematics and geometry. Can control the sound and temperature of water at will.

Dagon

Often depicted as a fish or fish/human hybrid, Dagon in the pantry chef of Hell and is the God of Philistines. Adopted by H.P. Lovecraft in his tales.

Dommiel

Gatekeeper of Hell and responsible for terror and trembling

Forcas

Teacher of maths and logic in the realms of eternal fire. In charge of Lucifer’s stables.

Furculor

Appears as a winged human.

Gaap

Governor of Southern Hell, in charge of 66 legions. Human-like, apart from massive bat wings.

Gressil

The mirror of Saint Bernard, Gressil tempts mortals into acts of impurity and sloth.

Hornblas

Demon of musical discord, his tuneless blasts summon the denizens of Hell together.

Leviathan

As his name suggests, responsible for the infernal navy and on stand-by to devour all the unsaved on Judgement Day. Created on the same day as Behemoth.

Mammon (demon of averice and greed)

Mammon is heavily associated with England and is ranked amongst the most influential of all the princes of Hell. Bent double from the speed of his fall from grace, he spends his days staring at the ground, tempting men into acts of jealousy for material goods.

Mephistopheles (the destroyer/prince of deceit)

Now used to describe any act of pretence or falsehood, he has been known to try to lead even God astray and leads humans to selling their souls

Misroch (Lucifer’s cook)

With the head of an eagle, Misroch now serves the Devil fruit he has cursed from the Tree of Immortality.

Moloch (Chief of Hell’s army)

“And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Moloch”. Moloch is a frightful sight, covered in the blood of murdered children and drenched in the tears of their grieving mothers. Anxious to start immediate warfare against God

Paimon

Depicted as a camel-riding young woman, Paimon is utterly loyal to Lucifer and as a reward controls over 200 legions. Regularly invoked in rites and ceremonies, Paimon knows all Earthly secrets…for a price.

Rimmon

Although his name derives from the Hebrew for the innocent pomegranate, he is associated with Russia and is the only doctor in Hell. Largely involved in the creation of storms and thunder.

Rosier (demon of seduction)

Although considered a lesser-demon, Rosier still leads humans into being seduced against their will and is linked with tainted love, putting frothy, foolish words on the lips of smitten lovers.

Sammael (devil of death)

Accused by some of being the serpent in the Garden of Eden, Sammael crosses over into the same character as Lucifer in some texts. Demon of the arts.

Satan (Vice president of Hell, demon of anger)

Perhaps a slightly low rank for such a familiar name, Satan is a demon of destruction, appearing throughout the Old Testament, from the Garden of Eden to annoying Jesus in the desert. Assuming such a high rank in Heaven that he sported twelve wings, he finally met his match in a battle against the angel, Uriel.

Xaphan

Known for causing chaos, Xaphan attempted to raise troops into setting Heaven on fire, a plot that was rumbled leading to eternal damnation, fuelling the fires of Hell with a set of bellows.

During the 16th century, it was believed that each demon had more strength to accomplish his mission during a special month of the year. In this way, he and his assistants’ powers would work better during that month.

• Belial in January
• Leviathan in February
• Satan in March
• Belphegor in April
• Lucifer in May
• Berith in June
• Beelzebub in July
• Astaroth in August
• Thammuz in September
• Baal in October
• Asmodai in November
• Moloch in December

For more demonic fun, pick up The Devil by Tom and Genevieve Morgan

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

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In February 1855, Satan took a stroll through Devon, England. At least that’s what many locals thought at the time, and despite assorted explanations for the series of mysterious footprints left behind, some still cling to that belief.

On the night of either February 8th or 9th, 1855, there was a heavy snowfall, and the people of the Exe Estuary in Est Devon and South Devon apparently awoke to find a series of mysterious, hoof-like marks in the snow. Measuring around four inches long each, the tracks were between eight and sixteen inches apart, mostly single file, and continued for a distance of between 40 and 100 miles, from Exmouth to Topsham, Dawlish and Teignmouth. Nothing interfered with the relentless march of the prints – house, haystacks and frozen rivers were traveled over, the prints appearing on roofs, walls and even up to and then exiting four inch drain pipes. No wonder that people though there was something supernatural about the event, and the cloven hoof shape of the ‘footprints’ suggested that Satan had indeed decided to take a stroll through the snow.

Actual eye-witness accounts from the time are few and far between, however. The only documents to have been found were published in 1950, after an article in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association asked for  information about the event. This helped unearth a collection of papers belonging to Reverend H. T. Ellacombe, the vicar of Clyst St. George in the 1850s, including letters sent to the vicar from his friends, a letter to The Illustrated London News marked ‘not for publication’ and several tracings of the alleged footprints.

With no hard information from the time available – and of course, no photographic evidence – it is impossible to know exactly what really happened that night. Not that it hasn’t led to assorted theories, none of which seem much more plausible than the idea that they were left by Satan. Doubts as the validity of the story include questions about whether the tracks really did extend as far as is claimed, how accurate the descriptions of them were and if they actually took the relentless route claimed. As eye-witness reports are contradictory, there is no real evidence that the footprints reported were even the same from place to place.

Researcher Mike Dash, author of The Devil’s Hoofmarks (1994), has claimed that the footprints came from various sources, including hoaxes (though this requires the hoaxers to be aware of the mystery appearing elsewhere and to act quickly), donkeys and ponies and even wood mice, the marks left by these hopping rodents allegedly resembling the marks as described.

Author Geoffrey Household has suggested that an ‘experimental balloon’, released by mistake from Devonport Dockyard, had left the mysterious tracks by trailing two shackles on the end of its mooring ropes. While he claims a local source for this covered up story, others have questioned if a balloon could travel such a distance, so conveniently close to the ground, without being caught in trees or other obstacles.

Other theories include badgers, escaped kangaroos (a theory not helped by the fact that there is no evidence that any escaped kangeroos were at large at the time) and the more plausible ‘mass hysteria’, with people hearing tales of Satan’s stroll and subsequently mistaking ordinary animal tracks for the prints.

The truth is, we’ll never know quite what happened on that snowy night in Devon. The major unanswered question must surely be: if Satan did walk for a hundred miles through the snow, why?

David Flint, Horrorpedia

Cthulhu is a fictional deity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft and first introduced in the short story “The Call of Cthulhu”, published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pantheon of Lovecraftian cosmic entities, the creature has since been featured in numerous popular culture references. It is one of the central Great Old Ones of the Cthulhu Mythos, and is often cited for the extreme descriptions given of its hideous appearance, its gargantuan size (hundreds of feet tall), and the abject terror that it evokes.

After its first appearance in “The Call of Cthulhu”, Cthulhu makes a few minor appearances in a few other Lovecraft works; “The Dunwich Horror”, “The Horror in the Museum and “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”. It is also referred to in “At The Mountains of Madness” and “The Whisperer in Darkness”

The physical appearance and dimensions of this mythical creature are almost secondary to the effect he has on mortal man but regardless, its appearance is described as follows:

“A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings. . . .”

“A monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind”

“a thing that cannot be described…the green, sticky spawn of the stars”

“…an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature”

“…a squatting octopus-headed thing”

“…many tentacled Cthulhu”

“…a monstrous creature resembling nothing so much as a squid, beaked and tentacled, with great yellow eyes, and with certain abominable approximations to the human form in its contours. . . . On the paws, feet, and head tentacles were curious claws — while the entity as a whole sat upon a great throne-like pedestal inscribed with unknown hieroglyphs of a vaguely Chinese cast”

Lovecraft’s rich mythology contained many deities, Cthulhu being one of the Great Old Ones (specifically their Priest) powerful, monstrous Gods from space who once ruled the Earth and who have since fallen into a deathlike sleep. Other Great Old Ones include Azathoth, Ghatanothoa, Shub-Niggurath, Yog-Sothoth, Nyarlathotep and Yig. They attract the worship of wayward and insane cults but operate in different dimensions to humans ordinarily and with utter disdain. Cthulhu’s worshippers chant “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn” (“In his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”)

These Gods are supplemented by Outer Gods and, post-Lovecraft, Elder Gods, created by writers such as August Derleth, who also founded Arkham House Publishing. It was Derleth who expanded upon Lovecraft’s descriptions and tales to develop an entire Cthulhu Mythos. Though Cthulhu is destined to once again rule the Earth, humans are doomed never to understand it, as it is ultimately beyond mortal comprehension.

A particular bone of contention is the correct pronunciation of The Great One’s name.

Cthulhu has also been spelled as Tulu, Clulu, Clooloo, Cthulu, Cthullu, C’thulhu, Cighulu, Cathulu, C’thlu, Kathulu, Kutulu, Kthulhu, Q’thulu, K’tulu, Kthulhut, Kutu, Kulhu, Kutunluu, Ktulu, Cuitiliú, Thu Thu, and in many other ways. It is often preceded by the epithet Great, Dead, or Dread.

Lovecraft transcribed the pronunciation of Cthulhu as Khlûl′-hloo and said that “the first syllable [of Khlûl′-hloo is] pronounced gutturally and very thickly. The u is about like that in full; and the first syllable is not unlike klul in sound, hence the h represents the guttural thickness.” According to Lovecraft, this is merely the closest that the human vocal apparatus can come to reproducing the syllables of an alien language.

Such is the relative ambiguity of Cthulhu, it has been interpreted in many different forms by artists over the years and in more recent times has become something of a pop culture figure, appearing on cereal boxes, as cuddly toys and on T-shirts. The Californian spider species Pimoa cthulhu, described by Gustavo Hormiga in 1994, is named with reference to Cthulhu. Two microorganisms that assist in the digestion of wood by termites have been named after Cthulhu and Cthulhu’s “daughter” Cthylla: Cthulhu macrofasciculumque and Cthylla microfasciculumque, respectively.

The size of Cthulhu and its ghastly appearance have made it a difficult one to make the transition into film, though attempts were made in 2005’s The Call of Cthulhu and a 2007 film simply titled Cthulhu. More successful has been Cthulhu’s appearance in role playing games, animation (an appearance in The Simpsons and South Park), video games, toys and statuary. The H.P.Lovecraft Historical Society have regularly performed recorded and stage musical work based on Lovecraft’s world, including ditties relating to the Great One.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

The entrance to Hell (or more accurately, entrances) has been designated at  various locations on the surface of the Earth from ancient times right up to the present day. They have acquired a legendary reputation for being entrances to the underworld due to their remote location, often in regions of unusual geological activity, particularly volcanic areas, or sometimes at lakes, caves or mountains.

Legends from both ancient Greece and Rome record stories of mortals who entered or were abducted into the netherworld through the gates of Hell. The god Hades kidnapped the Goddess Persephone from a field in Sicily and led her to the underworld through a cleft in the earth so he could marry her. Orpheus traveled to the Greek underworld in search of Eurydice by entering a cave at Taenarum or Cape Tenaron on the southern tip of the Peloponnese. Hercules entered the Underworld from this same spot. Both Aeneas andOdysseus also visited the underworld. The former entered the region through a cave at the edge of Lake Avernus on the Bay of Naples; the latter through Lake Acheron (with friendly local ferryman, Charon) in northwest Greece.

In Israel, The Twins Cave in the Judean hills outside Jerusalem have revealed evidence of pagan rituals linked to the underworld and may have been thought to be an access point for Persephone’s journey to the underworld.

In the medieval period, Mount Etna on Sicily was considered to be an entryway to Hell, understandably perhaps considering the regular eruptions and in a similar vein during this period, Icelanders believed their own Mount Hekla was also a gateway, beginning in the 12th century, after its 1104 eruption. Benedeit’s 1120 Anglo-Norman poem Voyage of St. Brendan mentions the volcano as the prison of Judas.That reputation continued with further eruptions; after the 1341 eruption, there was a report that people saw birds flying amidst the fire—birds, some thought, that must really be swarming souls. Even in more recent times, Hekla has maintained its diabolic status, as some superstitious folk have claimed that it’s a spot where witches meet with the devil.

The most famous of medieval gateways, however, was St Patrick’s Purgatory in Lough Derg, Co. Donegal, Ireland. Here, it is said, St. Patrick spent time contemplating his doubting flock when a vision of Christ appeared, pointing out the entrance to Hell (Purgatory) and the doom and anguish that awaited such folk. Over the coming decades, Catholic pilgrims sought out Purgatory on Station Island to such an extent that by the 17th Century, local officials sealed off the Satanic cave to prevent it from attracting the wrong sort of visitor. Such was the lure, this did little to dissuade pilgrims and even today, religious types will enter the cave for up to three days at a time, performing their vigil alongside a fast to atone for their sins as close to their potential agony as possible.

Away from Europe there are many examples of people pointing the accusatory finger at various local places of interest. In China, Fengdu has a long history in the Taoist tradition of being a portal to Hell. The 2,000-year-old City of Ghosts, located in Chongqing municipality, has a particularly charming route to everlasting misery; firstly, the soul of the recently departed must cross the Bridges of Helplessness to have their virtue judged, then face the Mirror of Retribution at the Ghost Torturing Pass and either become immediately reincarnated or face a series of torments before reaching the Wheel of Rebirth. Those who are undecided can take a moment to take in the vastness of the largest image carved into rock, the 138 metre-high and 217 metres across, Ghost King. In truth, much of the mythology surrounding this area is very much based in tourism (who’d have thought?)

Staying in Asia, Japan had its own volcano which ushered souls into the fire eternal, Mount Osore, a region filled with volcanic cauldrons located on the remote Shimokita Peninsula of Japan’s Honshu island, is literally named “Mount Fear”. With a small brook running to the neighbouring Lake Usori that is equated to the Sanzu River, a river that deceased souls needed to cross of their way to the afterlife. The Sanzu River, or “River of Three Crossings,” is believed to be the boundary between the realms of the living and the dead. Local fungi known as “skull mushrooms” add to the gloomy tone of the place. On the island of Kyushu, Japan, another area has a similar reputation, the blood-red sulphurous Pools of Beppu. Several of these pools have such hot water within them that they were used for torture purposes in past years.

The cave systems of Belize have been described in Popol Vuh, the Mayan text, as Xibalba, the entrance to Hell for newly lost souls. These texts described rivers of blood and scorpions, and a vast subterranean labyrinth ruled over by the Mayan death gods, the demonic “Lords of Xibalba.” Since their rediscovery in 1989, the caves of Actun Tunichil Muknal have become a popular destination for explorers. There are numerous landmarks that make this network particularly interesting, including a vast chamber of stalactites known as the “Cathedral.” Amongst scattered fragments of pottery and bone, one of the more notable discoveries is the skeleton of an 18-year-old girl. Believed to have been ritualistically murdered in the cave as a sacrifice to the Death Gods, she has been nicknamed the “Crystal Maiden”; over the 1,000 years since her death, her bones have calcified to create a shimmering, crystal effect. Although riverboats full of tourists now regularly explore these grottos, they are advised not to touch any of the relics for fear of reawakening the restless dead.

Over in America, local legend tells of Hellam Township, Pennsylvania, sitting upon the Seven Gates of Hell. No fewer than two local legends attempt to explain the “Seven Gates” of Hellam Township. One of the better-known myths ties them to an insane asylum on the town’s outskirts, which supposedly burnt to the ground in the 19th century. According to this particular legend, the inmates – most of them criminally insane, of course – escaped, only to be recaptured using a series of tall fences and secure gates. Many were beaten to death by guards in the process. This story falls down somewhat at the stage where it is discovered there was never an asylum in this area. The other tale sees a local doctor who once lived in the town. This man (by some accounts a Satanist, by others merely eccentric) was said to have designed a series of strange gates on his land, which followed a winding path running deeper and deeper into the forest. Where stories agree, is that those who pass through the gates in order will find themselves transported straight to the underworld.

Even as recently as this year, in the ancient Phrygian city of Hierapolis, now Pamukkale in southwestern Turkey, an area has roused suspicion amongst locals (and the Daily Mail) that the Devil’s lounge is closer than you might think .The evidence for this points the finger at an archaeological dig which uncovered statues of Pluto and Kore, the diabolical Gods, as well as the carcasses of dead birds, allegedly killed instantly by noxious carbon dioxide fumes. This echoes ancient accounts from the Greek geographer Strabo (64/63 BC — about 24 A.D.), who said: ‘This space is full of a vapour so misty and dense that one can scarcely see the ground. ‘Any animal that passes inside meets instant death. I threw in sparrows and they immediately breathed their last and fell.’

Equally modern is the breathtaking fiery pit known as The Door to Hell at Derweze, Ahal Province, Turkmenistan.The Door to Hell is noted for its natural gas fire which has been burning continuously since it was lit by Soviet petrochemical engineers in 1971. The fire is fed by the rich natural gas deposits in the area. The pungent smell of burning sulphur pervades the area for some distance. The fire, boiling mud, and orange flames in Derweze’s large crater (with a diameter of 70 metres) attracts many onlookers, though the President of the country has demanded the hole be filled in, lest it drain any of his nation’s lucrative natural resource. Regardless, over 40 years on, the flames show no sign of receding.

There is one more place of interest which perhaps came closer than any to being proven to be the entrance to Hell. Around 1990, it was reported on various internet sites that whilst digging a  putative borehole in Russia which was purportedly drilled so deep that it broke through into Hell, or at least close to it. The legend holds that a team of Russian engineers purportedly led by an individual named “Mr. Azzacov” in an unnamed place in Siberia had drilled a hole that was 9 miles (14 km) deep before breaking through to a cavity. Intrigued by this unexpected discovery, they lowered an extremely heat tolerant microphone, along with other sensory equipment, into the well. The temperature deep within was 2,000 °F (1,090 °C) — heat from a chamber of fire from which (purportedly) the tormented screams of the damned could be heard. That recording, however, was later revealed to have been a cleverly remixed portion of the soundtrack of the 1972 Mario Bava movie, Baron Blood, with various effects added. Warning – the following Youtube clip contains some attempted Christian brainwashing towards the end.

Alas, the so-called “Well to Hell” has since been debunked but not before various spin-offs appeared – these included a 1992, US tabloid Weekly World News published article which was set in Alaska where 13 miners were killed after Satan came roaring out of Hell. Other alternative stories included an alleged story where Jacques Cousteau quit diving after hearing “screams of people in pain” underwater. Another story told of one of Cousteau’s men fainting in terror after hearing screaming voices in a trench in the Bermuda Triangle.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia, round the corner from Hell.

http://www.entrances2hell.co.uk/

Related: The Hierarchy of Hell (article)

El Sombrerón is a fictional character and one of the most famous legends of Guatemala, told in books and a 1950 film. El Sombrerón is also a bogeyman figure in Mexico and is referred to in some Colombian legends.

This character is also known with other names, like Tzipitio, the goblin, and sometimes Tzizimite, his main characteristics are always the same: a short, old-looking man with an opaque face, dressed in black with a thick, shiny belt; he wears a black, large hat and boots that make a lot of noise when he walks. His appearance is in conjunction with a sudden and unlikely cold breeze which soon disappears. A similar legend in El Salvador is called Cipitio, who is a short boy with backward feet, and, of course, a big hat. El Cipito pursues pretty girls and torments them if they reject his advances.

When no-one is around he likes to mount horses and braid their tails and manes – when he cannot find horses, he braids the hair of dogs. He also likes to court young ladies who have long hair and big eyes. When he likes one in particular, he follows her, braids her hair and serenades her with his silver guitar – only the intended female victim can hear the song of El Sombrerón;  his victims become enamoured with his song and stop sleeping and eating, proceeding to waste away. Upon departure from the mortal realm, the El Sombrerón steals their soul to be with him forever.

El Sombrerón appears at dusk with two huge black dogs attached by heavy chains, dragging along a group of mules carrying coal, with whom he travels around the city and its neighbourhoods. When a woman corresponds to his love, he ties the mules to the house’s pole where she lives, unhooks his guitar and starts singing and dancing. Some residents of La Recolección and Parroquia Vieja say he still wanders at nights when there is a full moon.

A particular legend of La Recolección in Guatemala tells of a young woman named Susana; she was a very pretty girl, with long hair and big, hazelnut eyes. One night when there was a full moon, Susana was sitting in the balcony admiring the sky when suddenly, a short character with a big hat and a guitar approached her. Entranced by her beauty, he sang her a song but her parents overheard her stirrings and ordered her inside. Since that day she was unable to sleep as El Sombrerón continued to appear in the house or sang to her from the street. Unable to eat either as every time they served her food, it was contaminated with soil; her parents cut her hair and took it to the local church so that the priest would put holy water on it and prayers were said for her. A few days later the goblin stop bothering her. Culturally, the legend advises teenage girls to preserve the collective values of a society.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

The Jersey Devil is a legendary creature or cryptid said to inhabit the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey, United States. The creature is often described as a flying biped with hooves, but there are many different variations. The common description is that of a kangaroo-like creature with the head of a goat, leathery bat-like wings, horns, small arms with clawed hands, cloven hooves and a forked, serpentine tail. It has been reported to move quickly and often is described as emitting a “blood-curdling scream.”

The legend of the Jersey Devil spans at least 260 years and has been witnessed by no fewer than 2000 people. The earliest legends date back to Native American folklore, wherein the Lenni Lenape tribes called the New Jersey area “Popuessing” meaning “place of the dragon”. Swedish explorers later named it “Drake Kill” (“drake” being a word for dragon, and “kill” meaning channel or arm of the sea in Dutch).

The basis of the most widely reported sightings are based on the story of Mother Leeds (born a Mrs Shrouds of Leeds Point), a supposed witch who, having been given of twelve children, announced that her expected thirteenth was to be the spawn of the devil. When the stormy night of the birth came, the child was delivered safely though deformed. Shielded from the outside world, a matter of days later, it metamorphosised into a creature with hooves, a goat’s head, bat wings and a forked tail. It growled and screamed, then flew up the chimney, circled the village and then headed toward the pines. Five years later, In 1740, a clergyman exorcised the demon for 100 years and it wasn’t seen again until 1890. Variants of the tale see the child born as the ghastly creature or changing soon after birth, the creature held captive by the witch in the attic or cellar, or alternately, killing the midwife en-route up the chimney.

The earliest reported sightings concern a Commodore Stephen Decatur (one of the U.S. navy’s greatest heroes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries) who, whilst visiting the Hanover Mill Works to inspect his cannonballs being forged, sighted a flying creature flapping its wings and fired a cannonball directly upon it to no effect. Joseph Bonaparte, elder brother of Emperor Napoleon and former King of Spain, is also said to have witnessed the Jersey Devil while hunting on his Borden town estate around 1820. In 1840, the devil was blamed for several livestock killings. Similar attacks were reported in 1841, accompanied by tracks and screams.

Claims of a corpse matching the Leeds Devil’s description arose in Greenwich in December 1925. A local farmer shot an unidentified animal as it attempted to steal his chickens. Afterwards, he claimed that none of 100 people he showed it to could identify it. On July 27, 1937 an unknown animal “with red eyes” seen by residents of Downingtown, Pennsylvania was compared to the Jersey Devil by a reporter for the Pennsylvania Bulletin of July 28, 1937. In 1951, a group of Gibbstown, New Jersey, boys claimed to have seen a ‘monster’ matching the Devil’s description and claims of a corpse matching the Jersey Devil’s description arose in 1957. In 1960, tracks and noises heard near Mays Landing were claimed to be from the Jersey Devil. During the same year the merchants around Camden offered a $10,000 reward for the capture of the Jersey Devil, even offering to build a private zoo to house the creature if captured.

During the week of January 16 through 23, 1909, newspapers of the time published hundreds of claimed encounters with the Jersey Devil from all over the state, the eventual number rising to over a thousand. Amongst alleged encounters publicised that week were claims the creature “attacked” a trolley car in Haddon Heights and a social club in Camden. Police in Camden and Bristol, Pennsylvania, supposedly fired on the creature when spotted at the banks of a canal, to no effect other than a loud scream. Other reports initially concerned unidentified footprints in the snow, but soon sightings of creatures resembling the Jersey Devil were being reported throughout South Jersey and as far away as Delaware and Western Maryland. The widespread newspaper coverage led to a panic throughout the Delaware Valley prompting a number of schools to close and workers to stay home. During this period, it is rumoured that the Philadelphia Zoo posted a $10,000 reward for the creature’s dung. The offer prompted a variety of hoaxes, including a kangaroo with artificial wings. A report from a Mr & Mrs. Nelson Evans of Gloucester detailed the following particulars of their late-night encounter at their bedroom window:

“It was about three feet and half high, with a head like a collie dog and a face like a horse. It had a long neck, wings about two feet long, and its back legs were like those of a crane, and it had horse’s hooves. It walked on its back legs and held up two short front legs with paws on them. It didn’t use the front legs at all while we were watching. My wife and I were scared, I tell you, but I managed to open the window and say, ‘Shoo’, and it turned around barked at me, and flew away”.

There were many reports from various locales declaring that hoof-prints had been found in trees and rooftops but aside from a few dead chickens and being chased away from an attempted dog-napping attempt, there were no incidents of humans being hurt by the beast. It was 1927 when sightings returned, the first seeing a cab driver changing a tyre one night whilst heading for Salem, when his car began shaking violently. He looked up to see a gigantic, winged figure pounding on the roof of his car. The driver, leaving his jack and flat tire behind, jumped into the car and quickly drove away.

Buy The Jersey Devil book from Amazon.co.uk

In August 1930, berry pickers at Leeds Point and Mays Landing reported seeing the Jersey Devil crashing through the fields and devouring blueberries and cranberries. It was reported again two weeks later to the north and then it disappeared again. In November 1951, a group of children were allegedly cornered by the Devil at the Duport Clubhouse in Gibbstown. The creature bounded away without hurting anyone but reports claimed that it was spotted by dozens of witnesses before finally vanishing again. Similarly, in 1953, a man encountered the beast whilst walking down the street. During the mid 60’s, there were more infrequent sightings, though more carnage than usual, the carcasses of several fowl and dogs, including an Alsatian with its throat ripped out, were found.

Skeptics believe the Jersey Devil to be nothing more than a creative manifestation of the English settlers, Bogeyman stories created and told by bored Pine Barren residents as a form of children’s entertainment, and rumours arising from negative perceptions of the local population, known as “pineys”. According to Brian Dunning of Skeptoid, folk tales of the Jersey Devil prior to 1909 calling it the “Leeds Devil” may have been created to discredit local politician Daniel Leeds who served as deputy to the colonial governor of New York and New Jersey in the 1700s. Folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand wrote that the spread of contemporary pop culture has overtaken traditional Jersey Devil legends. Jeff Brunner of the Humane Society of New Jersey thinks the Sandhill Crane is the basis of the Jersey Devil stories, adding, “There are no photographs, no bones, no hard evidence whatsoever, and worst of all, no explanation of its origins that doesn’t require belief in the supernatural.” Outdoors-man and author Tom Brown, Jr. spent several seasons living in the wilderness of the Pine Barrens. He recounts occasions when terrified hikers mistook him for the Jersey Devil, after he covered his whole body with mud to repel mosquitoes.

One New Jersey group called the “Devil Hunters” refer to themselves as “official researchers of the Jersey Devil”, and devote time to collecting reports, visiting historic sites, and going on nocturnal hunts in the Pine Barrens in order to “find proof that the Jersey Devil does in fact exist.”

More forgiving, naturalistic explanations see the Jersey Devil as a bird, one suggestion being an invasion of ducks (!) others believing the devil is really a sand hill crane, a bird of around the right dimensions which, if confronted, will fight and emit a loud screaming, whooping sound. This could account for the screams heard by witnesses but doesn’t explain the killing of live stock, or indeed the bizarre facial features and tail.

The Jersey Devil has become a cultural icon in the state, inspiring several organizations to use the nickname. In professional hockey, the Eastern Hockey League Jersey Devils played from 1964 through 1973. When the National Hockey League Colorado Rockies relocated to New Jersey in 1982, a fan poll voted to rename that team the New Jersey Devils. The Devil has also featured in films such as 13th Child (2002), The Jersey Devil (2005) and The Barrens (2012) and has been adapted as a comic book. 

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

A jack-o’-lantern is a carved pumpkin or similarly-sized gourd or turnip, associated chiefly with the holiday of Halloween, and was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, called will-o’-the-wisp or jack-o’-lantern. In a jack-o’-lantern, the top is cut off to form a lid, and the inside flesh then scooped out; an image, usually a monstrous face, is carved out of the pumpkin’s rind to expose the hollow interior. To create the lantern effect, a light source is placed within before the lid is closed, traditionally a candle flame. It is common to see jack-o’-lanterns on doorsteps and otherwise used as decorations during Halloween.

The term jack-o’-lantern is in origin a term for the visual phenomenon ignis fatuus (lit., “foolish fire”) known as a will-o’-the-wisp in English folklore. Used especially in East Anglia, its earliest known use dates to the 1660s. The term “will-o’-the-wisp” uses “wisp” (a bundle of sticks or paper sometimes used as a torch) and the proper name “Will”: thus, “Will-of-the-torch.” The term jack-o’-lantern is of the same construction: “Jack of [the] lantern.”

The carving of root vegetables may appear to be a way of utilising usually unwanted oversized harvest but records of Man performing this task date back hundreds, if not thousands of years. Gourds were used to carve lanterns by the Maori over 700 years ago, with the Māori word for a gourd also used to describe a lampshade. There is a common belief that the custom of carving jack-o’-lanterns at Hallowe’en originated in Ireland, where turnips, mangelwurzel or beetroot were supposedly used. The carvings were said to represent spirits or goblins around the festival of Samhain. Conversely, other theories suggest they were simply ornate lanterns or even perhaps the representation of souls stuck in purgatory.

Although study into Irish folklore has found no specific records of turnip lanterns, English accounts record something very similar, turnips being used to carve what was called a “Hoberdy’s Lantern” in Worcestershire at the end of the 18th century. These were placed randomly atop hedgerows to ward off ne’er-do-well travellers. More precise accounts are recorded from the early 1800’s across Europe but in particular, the British Isles, Scandinavia, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Irish tales speak of Stingy Jack, also known as Jack the Smith, Drunk Jack, and Jack of the Lantern, a character always associated with All Hallows Eve. It is common lore that the “jack-o’-lantern” is derived from the Jack of this legend. The most repeated account tells of a drunkard known as “Stingy Jack”, known throughout the land as a deceiver, manipulator and otherwise dreg of society. On a fateful night, the devil overheard the tale of Jack’s evil deeds and silver tongue. Unconvinced (and envious) of the rumours, the devil went to find out for himself whether or not Jack lived up to his vile reputation. Lo’, the inevitably drunken Jack staggered home one night and found a body on his cobblestone path. The body with an eerie grimace on its face turned out to be Satan. Jack realized somberly this was his end; Satan had finally come to collect his malevolent soul. Jack made a last request: he asked Satan to let him drink ale before he departed to Hades. Finding no reason not to acquiesce the request, Satan took Jack to the local pub and supplied him with many alcoholic beverages. Upon quenching his thirst, Jack asked Satan to pay the tab on the ale, to Satan’s surprise. Jack convinced Satan to metamorphose into a silver coin with which to pay the bartender (impressed upon by Jack’s unyielding nefarious tactics). Shrewdly, Jack stuck the now transmogrified Satan (coin) into his pocket, which also contained a crucifix. The crucifix’s presence kept Satan from escaping his form. This coerced Satan to agree to Jack’s demand: in exchange for Satan’s freedom, he had to spare Jack’s soul for ten years.

Ten years later to the date when Jack originally struck his deal, he found himself once again in Satan’s presence. Jack happened upon Satan in the same setting as before and seemingly accepted it was his time to go to Hades for good. As the Satan prepared to take him to Hades, Jack asked if he could have one apple to feed his starving belly. Foolishly Satan once again agreed to this request. As Satan climbed up the branches of a nearby apple tree, Jack surrounded its base with crucifixes. Satan, frustrated at the fact that he been entrapped again, demanded his release. As Jack did before, he made a demand: that his soul never be taken by Satan into Hades. Satan agreed and was set free.

Eventually the drinking and unstable lifestyle took its toll on Jack; he died the way he lived. As Jack’s soul prepared to enter Heaven through the gates of St. Peter he was stopped. Jack was told by God that because of his sinful lifestyle of deceitfulness and drinking, he was not allowed into Heaven. The dreary Jack went before the Gates of Hades and begged for commission into underworld. Satan, fulfilling his obligation to Jack, could not take his soul. To warn others, he gave Jack an ember, marking him a denizen of the netherworld. From that day on until eternity’s end, Jack is doomed to roam the world between the planes of good and evil, with only an ember inside a hollowed turnip (“turnip” actually referring to a large swede) to light his way.

On a very basic level, Jack o’ lanterns were also a way of protecting your home against the undead. Superstitious people used them specifically to ward away vampires as it was said that the Jack-o-lantern’s light was a way of identifying the fiends and, once their identity was known, would give up their hunt for you.

The American tradition of carving pumpkins (chosen because of their profusion and bright colour) is first recorded in 1837 and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until later in the 19th century. The tradition of carving pumpkins is still largely more associated with America than Britain, the British tradition of Guy Fawkes Night fireworks and bonfires on November 5th still taking precedence – it is also the case that Americans have concocted many recipes to ensure masses of gigantic orange vegetables do not go to waste. But pumpkin carving is rapidly becoming a must in the UK too…

The carving of pumpkins has progressed from a craggy-toothed will-this-do effigy to a true art-form. Popular figures, symbols, and logos are now seen used on pumpkins, a variety of tools used to carve and hollow out the gourd, ranging from simple knives and spoons to specialised instruments. Candles are sometimes replaced with electric light of various colours to enhance the end result. So competitive has the pursuit become that pumpkins are sometimes grown into moulds so that usually impossible creations can be attempted.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

Yvonne De Carlo (later Lili Munster) circa 1940s

“That’s not my mother’s voice I hear.
I think that Baba Yaga’s near!”

Baba Yaga is a recurrent figure in East European folklore, usually as a single entity though sometimes appearing as one of a trio of sisters, all using the same name. Baba Yaga appears as a filthy, hideous or ferocious-looking woman with the ability to fly around in a large mortar, knees tucked up to her chin, using the accompanying pestle as a blunt weapon or a rudder to guide her strange craft. Some tales omit her ability to fly but see her ‘rowing’ along the forest floor, using the pestle as an oar.

With connections to the elements and nature, she usually makes appearances near her dwelling in birch woods and forests, where she resides in a ramshackle hut which is peculiarly perched atop chicken-like legs. These unusual foundations allow her to move her abode to different locations, the hut spinning as it goes, emitting a strange, unearthly moan. The eye-like windows also serve to give the hut the appearance of a living entity. The hut is protected by a fence made of bones, the skulls atop the posts glowing to illuminate the night – one post remains empty, awaiting another visitor. Some tales see the hut protected by what are essentially ‘familiars’, taking the form of vicious dogs, cats or geese.

There are numerous derivations of Baba Yaga’s name – many cultures use “ba-ba” or “ma-ma” as a sound to refer to a mother figure, or in this case an older woman (for example “Babushka”, meaning “grandmother”, in Russian). However, in countries such as Poland, the similar word, “Babcia”, has connotations of cruelty and ugliness, both phrases lending tonality to Baba Yaga as a character. “Yaga” is more difficult to pin down, though linguists have pointed to similarities with words from various Slavic cultures and beyond; the Russian verb, “yagat”, meaning “to abuse”; Serbia/Croatia – “jaza”, meaning “horror”; Old Czech, “jězě” – “witch”; Polish, “jędza” – “witch or fury”; even the Old English term, “inca” meaning “pain”. You get the gist. In Russia and Finland, stone statues known as Yaga have long existed, pitched atop tree stumps with offerings of gifts from devotees.

The first reference to Baba Yaga dates back to as early as 1755, when a similar name appears in a Russian book describing various Deities and their Roman counterparts; it is interesting that the mention of “Iaga Baba”, is not cross-referenced with any older God, suggesting that the being is very much rooted in European and Slavic lore, with characteristics and behaviour which is unique to the region and the traditions of the local inhabitants.

As previously mentioned, Baba Yaga could often be seen flying in a mortar, though not always equipped with a pestle – occasionally this would be a staff, or, reflecting more familiar witch-like behaviour, a broom. Witches and brooms appear in Western folklore far earlier than references to Baba Yaga, so it is likely this element was developed across land borders. The witch also has other strange traits, such as smelling out visitors to her environs by sticking her enormous, deformed nose, which reaches up to the ceiling of her hut, allowing her to sniff out, “the Russian smell”. Often she is found to be stretched out over the stove in her hut, using her wretched, spindly, elongated limbs to reach for objects in distant corners. Russian legend depicts her with large, iron teeth, huge, hairy chin and warts.

Her appearance is accompanied by a strange wind blowing through the forest, signs of her arrival evidenced by trees and leaves being blown around on a normally calm day. So that she can stay hidden within the forest, she uses her broom to sweep up any traces of her being in a location. In common with a certain vampire myth, visitors to her hut are asked if they came of their own free-will – if they have, she is given carte-blanche to do her evil worst. As with another famous legend of a wolfy nature, the “pure of heart” are exempt from her cruelty. Her usual habits when receiving ‘willing guests’ are to wash them, feed them and then to sit them on a large spatula-like shovel which she will then push into her stove. Lucky human meals may be offered a chance of escape if they happen to sit on the spatula in such a way that they can’t fit into the oven. Despite Baba Yaga’s appetite of up to ten men a day, she remains skeletal in appearance.

Beyond her hut attendants, the witch controls the elements and has three servants; a red (“My red sun”), black (“My black midnight”) and white (“My bright dawn”) horseman, whom she entrusts to fuel the times of day. She also has a number of ‘soul friends’ or ‘friends of my bosom’; a pair of disembodied hands which acquiesce to her bidding, as well as a herdsman, the sorcerer, Koshchey Bessmertny (or Koshchey the Deathless), something of a Grim Reaper role in the double act.

Although her horrid appearance and habit for eating both adults and children, some famous stories show another side to the character. The tale of ‘Vasilisa the Fair’, sees a young girl bequeathed a Russian doll by her dying mother who tells her that she will be guided with advice throughout her life by the object. Alas, her father remarries and the step mother and her two new step sisters make her life a misery, taunting her and forcing her to do all the chores for the family.

One day, the trio conspire to make the fire go out in the house and the cruel sisters and father send her to Baba Yaga to ask for coal to fuel the furnace, in the assumption she will meet her end. Upon reaching the old crone’s hut, she meets the three horses previously mentioned and she is shown to the witch’s lair. Chastised by the hag for being idiotic for letting the fire go out, she is nevertheless welcomed in as she is unfailingly polite and gracious.

Vasilisa is given two days of chores, after which two seemingly impossible tasks are presented to her: separating mildewed corn from fresh, and poppy seeds from soot. Assisted by the doll, she achieves these, which Baba Yaga grudgingly acknowledges. She is presented by one of the glowing skulls outside the hut and is shooed on her way. Back at the unhappy family home, the doll guides Vasilisa away from danger but the skull waits until the father and two wicked girls are asleep and sets fire to the house, burning them all to death. Vasilisa’s exploits attract the attention of the Tsar and in the end, both are wed.

Baba Yaga featured as a character in several films made in the Soviet Union, from the 1930’s right up until the 1960’s. Notable examples include: 1939’s genuinely disturbing, Vasilisa Prekrasnaya (Vasilisa the Beautiful) directed by Aleksandr Rou; 1972’s Zolotye Roga (The Golden Horns), also by Rou; and 1979’s Baba Yaga Protiv!, a bizarre animated film by Vladimir Pekar which sees the witch incensed at Misha the Bear becoming mascot for the 1980 Olympics and setting off to sabotage the arrangement and make herself the icon. Highly rated, though very difficult to track down is the Turkish film, Babasiz Yasayamam, said to be unnervingly horrific and violent. Sad to report that the most famous film connected to Baba Yaga, Corrado Farina’s 1973 movie, Baba Yaga, (Devil Witch; Kiss Me Kill Me) has little, if anything to do with the legend, though is worth a watch for entirely different reasons.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

El Silbón (English translation: “The Whistler”) is a character appearing in both Colombian and Venezuelan folk tales, famed for terrorising men, women and children, especially the latter whom he is known to feast upon.

The legend of El Silbón is thought to date back to the 19th Century and always concerns the events beginning with a young man murdering his father, for deeds as diverse as:

1. Finding his father abusing his young wife.

2. His father’s refusal to allow his son to feast upon the blood and innards of a recently slaughtered deer. The son’s solution is to kill and gut his father and to serve the resultant stew of human offal to his mother.

Either way and accounting for further slight deviations, the mother flees the scene, returning with her father who it seems is a dab hand at dishing out punishments and curses. Tying the boy to a tree, he rubs lemons and chillies (or red peppers) into his eyes, whips him soundly and, being a frugal sort, squeezes the remaining lemons over the wounds. He is then presented with a sack containing his father’s remains (or sometimes, future victims), which he must carry on his back for eternity. Not quite finished, spectral hounds are sent to pursue him wherever he wanders. A final curse is uttered to send him on his way:

“Eso no se le hace a su padre…¡Maldito eres pa´ toa´ la vida” [roughly: “You should not have killed your father, you are cursed for the rest of your life”]

As the ghostly son sets off, with dogs not far behind, he whistles a distinctive tune; think “Do-re-me…” or the note progression C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C.

The cursed young man now takes his anger out on many who cross his path but particularly men who have cheated on their wives, drunkards and children. The sight of him distantly traipsing across the plains, stick-thin and sporting a large-brimmed farming hat, can often be preempted by the sound of his distinctive whistle, at well as the sound of the bones in his sack grinding against one another. Though common sense would dictate the louder it is heard, the nearer he is, in actual fact is actually true, meaning a distant sound after a glimpse of the boy could spell imminent doom.

Every night the ghoulish traveller stops at a different house in order to count the bones in his sack. If no-one at home is roused by the sound of this by the following dawn, a member of the household is certain to die. Drunks are given less of a chance; those found sleeping off the booze are dispatched at once, by the novel approach of having their alcohol and blood sucked out of their body via the belly button.

He is often to be seen during the rainy seasons. It is possible to arm oneself against attack from El Silbón by either reminding him of the crimes which have lead to his torment or by keeping one of the items he was tortured with close to hand; red peppers, a whip or a dog. This writer makes no comment on the kind of homes which may have all three of these things.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

A nachzehrer is a form of vampire found in Germanic regions including Silesia and Bavaria, which also exhibits behaviour displayed by ghouls. The name translates as “after (nach) living off (zehre)” likely alluding to their living after death or living off humans after death in addition to the choice of “nach” for “after” which is similar to “nacht” (“night”). The nachzehrer was also prominent in the folklore of the northern regions of Germany and the word was also used to describe a similar creature of the Kashubes of Northern Poland; Kashubes are also referred to as Pomeranians and are descended from Slavic tribes found in Poland before what being inhabited by people referred by typically as Poles. Though officially a vampire, they are also similar to ghouls, and in many ways different from either undead; it quite clearly differs hugely from the slightly more noble or dashingly suave vampires popularised in fiction. The nachzehrer is not a blood-sucker, but like a ghoul, rather consumes already dead bodies.

A nachzehrer is created most commonly after suicide, though sometimes from an accidental death. According to German lore, a person does not become a nachzehrer from being bitten or scratched; the transformation happens after death and is not communicable. Nachzehrers are also related to sickness and disease. If a large group of people died of the plague, the first person to have died is believed to be a nachzehrer.

Typically, a nachzehrer devours its family members upon waking. It has also been said that they devour their own bodies, including their funeral shrouds, and the more of themselves they eat, the more of their family they physically drain. It is not unlikely that the idea of the dead eating themselves might have risen from bodies in open graves who had been partly eaten by scavengers such as rats.

The nachzehrer was similar to the Slavic vampire in that it was known to be a recently deceased person who returned from the grave to attack family and village acquaintances. Some Kashubes believed that the nachzehrer would leave its grave, shape-shifting into the form of a pig, then paying a visit to their family members to feast on their blood. Other animal shenanigans are involved in a popular nachzeher hobby of plaiting cow’s tails together, leading to plague and disease. In addition, the nachzehrer was able to ascend to a church belfry to ring the bells, bringing death to anyone who hears them. Another lesser known ability of the nachzehrer is the power it had to bring death by causing its shadow to fall upon someone. Those hunting the nachzehrer in the graveyard would listen for grunting sounds that it would make while it munched on its grave clothes.

It usually originated from an unusual death such as a person who died by suicide or accident. They were also associated with epidemic sickness, such as whenever a group of people died from the same disease, the person who died first was labeled to be the cause of the group’s death. Another belief was that if a person’s name was not removed from his burial clothing, that person would be a candidate for becoming a nachzehrer. A child born with a caul (a piece of the amniotic sac) will turn into a nachzehrer upon death.

Such a belief was found even in the Republic of Venice, where the body of a woman, with a brick in her mouth, was recently discovered in a mass grave of plague-dead people. As well as bricks and stones, spikes have also been found in corpses’ mouths, achieving the same result.

The official killing myth says you can kill a nachzehrer by placing a coin in its mouth, and then chopping off its head. It can be discerned from this that a mere coin in the mouth may result in paralysis as some myths say that a stake through a vampires heart does. It is essential to bury all dead with a cross next to their grave; as with other vampires and ghouls, seeds or rice are scattered to distract rising corpses. Those buried who are suspected of future nachzehrer activity have their necks broken prior to burial. On occasion, graves are opened to check for movement – any signs of clothing being eaten or other tell-tale signs may see the corpse having the heart and lungs removed to be burned, preventing them receiving their supernatural sustenance. Though it would perhaps seem odd to put flowers in a corpses’ mouth, this is fiercely discouraged as the tasty morsels may tempt the corpse to seek out other more fleshy snacks.

It is characteristic of a nachzehrer to lie in its grave with its thumb in its opposite hand, and its left eye open.

Daz Lawrence

Loch Ness Monster, also called Nessie, is a cryptid that reputedly inhabits the Loch Ness lake in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next, with most describing it as large in size. Popular interest and belief in the animal’s existence has varied since it was first brought to the world’s attention in 1933. Evidence of its existence is anecdotal, with minimal and much-disputed photographic material and sonar readings. The creature has been affectionately referred to by the nickname Nessie (Scottish Gaelic: Niseag) since the 1940s.

The most common speculation among believers is that the creature represents a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs. Much of the scientific community regards the Loch Ness Monster as a modern-day myth, and explains sightings as including mis-identifications of more mundane objects, outright hoaxes, and wishful thinking. Despite this, it remains one of the most famous examples of cryptozoology, aided by the sheer size of the loch – equivalent to all the other lakes in the UK combined.

The first reported sighting of something unusual lurking near Loch Ness (actually the River Ness) appears in the Life of St. Columba by Adomnán, written in the 7th century. According to Adomnán, writing about a century after the events he described, the Irish monk Saint Columba was staying in the land of the Picts with his companions when he came across the locals burying a man by the River Ness. They explained that the man had been swimming the river when he was attacked by a “water beast” that had mauled him and dragged him under. They tried to rescue him in a boat, but were able only to drag up his corpse. Hearing this, Columba stunned the Picts by sending his follower Luigne moccu Min to swim across the river. The beast came after him, but Columba made the sign of the Cross and commanded: “Go no further. Do not touch the man. Go back at once.” The beast immediately halted as if it had been “pulled back with ropes” and fled in terror, and both Columba’s men and the pagan Picts praised God for the miracle.

In truth, many waterways had legends very similar to this attached to them, usually with a pious soul saving the day. It took a very long time for any further activity to be widely reported. It was only in October 1871, or 1872, that a Doctor D. Mackenzie of Balnain described seeing an object that looked much like a log or upturned boat “wriggling and churning up the water.” The object moved slowly at first, then disappeared off at a faster speed. Mackenzie sent a letter containing his story to Rupert Gould in 1934, shortly after popular interest in the monster skyrocketed.

A sighting on July 22nd 1933 can most reasonably be considered the true Year Zero of Nessie activity, though ironically, not in the water but on land. George Spicer and his wife saw ‘a most extraordinary form of animal’ cross the road in front of their car. They described the creature as having a large body (about 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in) high and 7.6 metres (25 ft) long), and long, narrow neck, slightly thicker than an elephant’s trunk and as long as the 10–12-foot (3–4 m) width of the road; the neck had undulations in it. They saw no limbs, possibly because of a dip in the road obscuring the animal’s lower portion. It lurched across the road towards the loch 20 yards (20 m) away, leaving only a trail of broken undergrowth in its wake. Five years later, Invernesshire Chief Constable William Fraser wrote a letter stating that it was beyond doubt the monster existed and stated the potential hunting parties it would attract were of major concern.

In August 1933 a motorcyclist named Arthur Grant claimed to have nearly hit the creature while approaching Abriachan on the north-eastern shore, at about 1 a.m. on a moonlit night. Grant claimed that he saw a small head attached to a long neck, and that the creature saw him and crossed the road back into the loch. A veterinary student, he described it as a hybrid between a seal and a plesiosaur. Grant said he dismounted and followed it to the loch, but only saw ripples. Some believe this story was intended as a humorous explanation of a motorcycle accident.

Sightings of the monster increased following the building of a road along the loch in early 1933, bringing both workmen and tourists to the formerly isolated area. Sporadic land sightings continued until 1963, when film of the creature was shot in the loch from a distance of 4 kilometres. Because of the distance at which it was shot, it has been described as poor quality.

On 12 November 1933, Hugh Gray was walking along the loch after church when he spotted a substantial commotion in the water. A large creature rose up from the lake. Gray took several pictures of it, but only one of them showed up after they were developed. This image appeared to show a creature with a long tail and thick body at the surface of the loch. The image is blurred suggesting the animal was splashing. Four stumpy-looking objects on the bottom of the creature’s body might possibly be a pair of appendages, such as flippers. Although critics have claimed that the photograph is of Gray’s labrador retriever swimming towards the camera (possibly carrying a stick), researcher Roland Watson rejects this interpretation and suggests there is an eel-like head on the right side of the image. This is the first known photograph allegedly taken of the Loch Ness Monster.

In December 1954 a strange sonar contact was made by the fishing boat Rival III. The vessel’s crew observed sonar readings of a large object keeping pace with the boat at a depth of 146 metres (479 ft). It was detected travelling for 800 m (2,600 ft) in this manner, before contact was lost, but then found again later. Many sonar attempts had been made previously, but most were either inconclusive or negative.

The most iconic Nessie photo was supposedly taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London gynaecologist and was published in the Daily Mail on 21 April 1934. Wilson’s refusal to have his name associated with the photograph led to it being nicknamed the “Surgeon’s Photograph”. He claimed that he was looking at the loch when he saw the monster, so he grabbed his camera and snapped four photos. Only two exposures came out clear: the first one shows what was claimed to be a small head and back, while the second one shows a similar head in a diving position. The first one was more iconic one, while the second attracted little publicity because it was difficult to interpret what was depicted, due to its blurry quality.

For many years, the photo was regarded as good evidence of the monster. However, skeptics variously dismissed it showing a piece of driftwood, a bathing circus elephant, an otter, or a bird. Another factor that was brought up by skeptics was the scale of the photo; it is often cropped to make the monster seem proportionally large and the small ripples seem like large waves, while the original uncropped shot shows the other end of the loch and the monster in the centre. Despite this, the ripples on the photo were found to fit the size and circular pattern of small ripples, as opposed to large waves when photographed up close. Analysis of the original uncropped image fostered further doubt.

In 1993, the makers of Discovery Communications’ documentary Loch Ness Discovered analysed the uncropped image and found a white object was visible in every version of the photo, implying it was on the negative. It was believed to be the cause of the ripples, as if the object was being towed, though it could not be ruled out as a blemish in the negative. Additionally, one analysis of the full photograph revealed the object was quite small, only about 60 to 90 cm (2 to 3 ft) long.

Details of how the photo was accomplished were published in the 1999 book, Nessie – the Surgeon’s Photograph Exposed, that contains a facsimile of the 1975 article in The Sunday Telegraph. Essentially, it was a toy submarine built by Christian Spurling, the son-in-law of Marmaduke Wetherell. Wetherell was a big game hunter who had been publicly ridiculed by his employers in the Daily Mail, after finding “Nessie footprints” that turned out to be those of a hippopotamus-foot umbrella stand. To get revenge on the Mail, Wetherell committed the hoax, with co-conspirators Spurling (sculpture specialist), Ian Wetherell (his son, who bought the material for the fake), and Maurice Chambers (an insurance agent). The toy submarine was bought from F.W. Woolworths and its head and neck made out of plastic wood. After testing it out on a local pond, the group went to Loch Ness, where Ian Wetherell took the photos in the vicinity of Altsaigh Tea House. When they heard a water bailiff approaching, Duke Wetherell put his foot out and sank the model. It is presumably still somewhere in Loch Ness. Chambers handed over the plates to Wilson, a friend of his who enjoyed “a good practical joke”. Wilson then took the plates to Ogston’s, an Inverness chemist, where he gave them to George Morrison for development. He sold the first photo to the Daily Mail, who then announced that the Loch Ness Monster had been photographed.

In 1960, aeronautical engineer Tim Dinsdale filmed a hump crossing Loch Ness, leaving a powerful wake. Dinsdale allegedly spotted the animal on his last day hunting for it, and described the object as reddish with a blotch on its side. When he mounted his camera the object started to move and said that he shot 40 feet of film. Many were sceptical, saying that the “hump” cannot be ruled out as being a boat and claimed that when the contrast is increased, a man can be seen in a boat.

In 1993, Discovery Communications produced a documentary entitled Loch Ness Discovered, which featured a digital enhancement of the Dinsdale film. A computer expert who enhanced the film noticed a shadow in the negative that was not very obvious in the positive. By enhancing and overlaying frames, he found what appeared to be the rear body of a creature underwater. He commented that “Before I saw the film, I thought the Loch Ness Monster was a load of rubbish. Having done the enhancement, I’m not so sure”. Some have countered this finding by saying that the angle of the film from the horizontal along with sun’s angle on that day made shadows underwater unlikely. Others pointed out that the darker water is undisturbed water that was only coincidentally shaped like a body. The same source also says that there might be a smaller object (a second hump or a head) in front of the hump causing this.

Further video footage, photographs and even sonar images continued to appear, though with the advent of advanced technology and forensic techniques, the sightings were even more vague and verifications of authenticity were often from somewhat biased collectives as US military monster experts. On 19 April 2014 it was reported that Apple Maps was showing what appeared to be the monster close to the surface of the loch. It was spotted by Andrew Dixon who was browsing a map of his home town at the time and took a moment to take a look at the loch. Possible explanations for the image are that it could be the wake of a boat, a seal causing ripples or a floating log. Some believe that the image was Photoshopped using an image of a whale shark.

Google commemorated the 81st anniversary of the release of the “Surgeon’s Photograph” with a “Google Doodle”, and added a new feature to their Google street view feature in which users can explore the lake both above water level, and below. Google reportedly spent a week at Loch Ness collecting imagery with one of their street view “trekker” cameras. They attached the camera to a boat to photograph above the water, and collaborated with members of Catlin Seaview Survey to photograph beneath the water.

Since 1934, many expeditions have sought to find Nessie for both monetary reward, fame and scientific reasons. These have ranged from lone eccentrics on rickety boats to hi-tech sonar surveys, submersible craft and large scale American investigations. Perhaps the most quaintly engaging of these was the The Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau (LNPIB), a UK-based society formed in 1962 by Norman Collins, R. S. R. Fitter, David James, MP, Peter Scott and Constance Whyte “to study Loch Ness to identify the creature known as the Loch Ness Monster or determine the causes of reports of it.” It later shortened the name to Loch Ness Investigation Bureau (LNIB). It closed in 1972. Its main activity was for groups of self-funded volunteers to watch the loch from various vantage points, equipped with cine cameras with telescopic lenses.

Although one of the most advanced sonar and mapping surveys, undertaken by the BBC in 2003, essentially proved nothing out of the ordinary inhabited the loch, the mystery still exists. Possible explanations for previous sightings include:
• Bird wakes. The effect on the water’s surface of swimming/landing and taking-off of birds producing a V-effect similar to those regularly attributed to the monster
• Giant eels. Largely discounted, though some species to live in the loch.

• The aforementioned elephant.
• Sharks. Certain species can survive in fresh water and can grow to a great size.
• Seals. Certainly an environment they could thrive in and would also account for the land sightings

• Optical effects, natural phenomena (escaping gas etc) and rotting tree debris
• Dinosaurs. Plesiosaurs are often used to represent the beast in mocked-up pictures. I am obliged to tell you why it couldn’t be an extinct creature; the logistics of the dinosaur’s body would not allow its neck to be raised out of the water; plesiosaurs would only be able to thrive in tropical waters; plesiosaurs became extinct around 66 million years ago – the loch has only existed for around 10,000 years.

The monster has appeared regularly in popular culture throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries.

Film:

• The first film to deal with the creature was Secret of the Loch (1934) an English feature film directed by Milton Rosmer, a “mildly amusing exploitation item”. The monster appeared at the end and was an iguana enhanced by special effects.

• The monster is treated in a tongue-in-cheek fashion in a 1961 film What a Whopper. The monster makes a cartoon appearance at the end of the film.

• The 1964 film 7 Faces of Dr. Lao features the monster as a small fish in a fish bowl which balloons into gigantic proportions when removed from the bowl.

• In the 1970 film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes the monster is revealed to be a miniature submarine in disguise.

• The monster is featured in the 1981 American horror film The Loch Ness Horror, directed by Larry Buchanan.

• In Ghostbusters, (1984) the Loch Ness Monster is among the various things Janine Melnitz asks Winston Zeddemore whether he believes in.

• Nessie, das Monster von Loch Ness or Nessie – Das verrückteste Monster der Welt is a West German film made in 1985.

• The 1987 movie Amazon Women on the Moon features a sketch involving a mock TV program, Bullshit or Not?, hosted by Henry Silva in which it is postulated that the Monster was, in fact, Jack the Ripper.

• Ted Danson starred in the 1996 film Loch Ness in which he plays an American scientist trying to disprove the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, only to later disprove his own evidence when he comes to recognise that the Monster is best left alone to survive by itself.

• The 2001 horror movie Loch Ness Terror deals with a series of attack allegedly made by the monster.

• In the Disney-Pixar film Monsters, Inc., the Loch Ness monster is mentioned as one of the monsters who got banished from Monstropolis.

• In the 2004 movie Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster the characters from the Scooby-Doo The Mystery, Inc. gang travel to Loch Ness in Scotland to see the famous Blake Castle, the home of Daphne Blake’s cousin, Shannon.

• A mockumentary starring director Werner Herzog titled Incident at Loch Ness (2004) shows the director filming scenes around Loch Ness in an attempt to disprove the theories of the monster. His writer/producer continually tries to make a “blockbuster” film that Werner does not want. They eventually run afoul of the real Nessie with eerie results.

• In the 2005 film Lassie, Nessie can be seen swimming in the Loch Ness.

• The 2007 film The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep featured a young boy who discovers and hatches an egg belonging to the legendary Celtic creature, the Water Horse. Naming it Crusoe after the fictional character, he eventually is forced to release it into Loch Ness and the world begins to notice. Based on a novel by Dick King-Smith.

• Beyond Loch Ness (at one point named Loch Ness Terror is a 2008 horror television movie made for the Sci-Fi Channel, directed by Paul Ziller.

• Disney released The Ballad of Nessie along with their main feature Winnie the Pooh in 2011. It is a short cartoon narrated by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly and is a story about Nessie’s origins.

Television:

• The 1964 Gerry Anderson puppet television series, Stingray, included an episode where the crew was transported to Scotland to find the Loch Ness Monster. They discovered that the monster was secretly a robot operated by locals to attract tourists. The Stingray crew agreed to keep the secret once they left Loch Ness.
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• In the 1971 Goodies episode Scotland, the Goodies travel to Scotland in order to capture the Loch Ness Monster as an exhibit for the new Monster House at London Zoo.

• In the 1971 Bewitched episode “Samantha and the Loch Ness Monster”, the monster turns out to be a warlock named Bruce that Serena put a spell on.

• In the 1975 Doctor Who story Terror of the Zygons, the Loch Ness Monster is revealed to be a Skarasen, an alien cyborg controlled by the extraterrestrial race known as the Zygons, who use it in a bid for world.

• The BBC television series The Family-Ness showed the adventures of a whole family of Loch Ness Monsters and their human friends, Elspeth and Angus McTout.

• An animated series, Happy Ness: Secret of the Loch, featured two groups of the creatures. The friendly Nessies included Happy Ness, Brave Ness, Forgetful Ness, Silly Ness, and Bright Ness, while the villains included Pompous Ness, Mean Ness, Devious Ness and Dark Ness

• In the TV series How I Met Your Mother one of the main characters, Marshall, has a continuing obsession with the Loch Ness Monster
• The TV series The Simpsons featured the Loch Ness Monster in the episode Monty Can’t Buy Me Love, in which Montgomery Burns captures the monster with the help of Homer Simpson, Professor Frink and Groundskeeper Willie.

• In Godzilla: The Series, which is an animated ‘continuation’ of the 1998 film, one episode features the Loch Ness monster as a foe of Godzilla.

• An episode of Disney’s Gargoyles titled “Monsters” featured a captured female plesiosaur Dr. Sevarius kept in a hidden cavern within his base of operations beneath Urquhart Castle. His goal was to collect a variety of “exotic DNA” for future mutation experiments and Nessie was merely bait to lure out “Big Daddy” – her larger and more fearsome mate.
• In “Achilles Heel”, the second story in series 7 of The Tomorrow People, a pair of aliens visiting earth to extract a rare mineral found in the vicinity of Loch Ness note that another race of aliens who had previously dominated the earth had transplanted a “giant plascadron” in the lake to ward off the natives.

• An 1978 episode of Scooby-Doo (“A Highland Fling With a Monstrous Thing”) featured a case that tied the Mystery Inc. gang between the Loch Ness Monster, and a phantom that seemed to be controlling it.

Music

• The Sensational Alex Harvey Band wrote a song based on the Loch Ness Monster called “Water Beastie”, which can be heard on their 1978 album Rock Drill. The previous year frontman Alex Harvey recorded and released a spoken-word album, Alex Harvey Presents: The Loch Ness Monster, after spending a summer at Invermoriston and interviewing locals about the Monster.

• In Spitting Image’s 1986 song “I’ve Never Met a Nice South African”, the narrator claims that he has “met the Loch Ness Monster, and he looks like Fred Astaire”.

• Lo-fi rock band Some Velvet Sidewalk included a song titled “Loch Ness” detailing the exploits of the lake’s mythical monster on their 1992 album “Avalanche”

• American progressive metal band, Mastodon, have a song titled “Ol’e Nessie”, named after the Loch Ness Monster, on their 2002 album Remission.

• The Judas Priest song “Lochness” from their 2005 album Angel of Retribution is about the Loch Ness Monster.

• The Loch Ness Monster was referenced in the Grinderman song Worm Tamer in the line “My baby calls me the Loch Ness monster, two great big humps and then I’m gone”

Literature

• In the Leslie Charteris short story “The Convenient Monster” (1959, coll. 1962) Simon Templar investigates an alleged monster attack, finding a human culprit – who is then attacked by the real monster. A 1966 TV adaptation ends more ambiguously.

• The Scottish poet Edwin Morgan published the sound poem “The Loch Ness Monster’s Song” in 1973

• In the book The Boggart and the Monster (1997) by Susan Cooper, the Loch Ness Monster is actually an invisible shape-shifting creature that has become trapped in one form.

• In the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2001) by J.K. Rowling, the “Loch Ness Monster” is said to be a misunderstanding of what is in fact the world’s largest kelpie.

• The Loch (2005) by Steve Alten is a novel about the Loch Ness Monster which incorporates many historical and scientific elements into the story line. In the book, the creature is said to be a species of gigantic and carnivorous Eel.

• The tabloid Weekly World News often reports on the creature, claiming that it has become pregnant, or been captured, sold, or killed.

• Dick King-Smith wrote a novel, The Water Horse, also the basis for a film