18 Scary Folklore Tales That Deserve To Be Retold

Where Is It From? The wendigo legend began among the Algonquian peoples in Canada, then spread to the US.The Algonquian peoples' folklore includes the wendigo legend, also spelled windigo or wendago, which started in Canada and moved to the US.

What’s The Legend? The basic story says the wendigo was a lost hunter. To survive a harsh winter, he ate human flesh and became a crazed man-beast.Some versions differ, but the core story is that the wendigo was a lost hunter. To survive a brutal winter, he turned to cannibalism and became a crazed man-beast that craved human flesh. Algonquian tribes blamed the missing people on this.This is a frightening aberration.Wendigo is described in the list '18 Scary Folklore Tales That Deserve To Be Retold'.

The wendigo often appears as a gaunt skeleton smelling of death. Many mentions appear in various sources.TV series like Supernatural mention the wendigo.Supernatural.. The TV series describes the wendigo.Lost Tapes.Lost Tapes depicts the strange noises.Strange noises.A fictional rescue team heard these noises while searching for lost campers in the Appalachian mountains.

How Spooky Is It? Given the wendigo's desire for human flesh, you should avoid it during a hike. Many people see it as myth, yet some real encounters happen.Because the wendigo wants human flesh, do not meet it while hiking. Many people dismiss it as myth, but some real encounters happen.

The story of Swift Runner exists. A Cree man reportedly killed his family in 1879 and blamed the wendigo for it, though he later retracted his claim and confessed to the murders.The Wendigo confessed to the murders.Many people go missing in the wilderness of Canada and the US. The legend of the Wendigo remains a lasting one.

Where Is It From? The wendigo legend comes from the Algonquian peoples.The Kuchisake-onna comes from Japanese folklore and urban legends. Movies like Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman show the legend in a modern style.Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman.Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman presents the legend in a modern format.

What’s The Legend? What is the story behind the Kuchisake-onna?Supposedly the Kuchisake-onna is the subject.Kuchisake-onna.The Kuchisake-onna was once a beautiful woman who was mutilated. Lore varies. Some say her samurai husband punished her for lovers; others claim another woman disfigured her out of jealousy. Either way, her mouth is cut to one ear.Her mouth is slashed to either ear.Inside her mouth are sharp teeth.

Legend says the Kuchisake-onna stops people, asking if they are beautiful. If they answer yes, she shows her scar and asks again. If they say yes again, she disfigures them. If they say no or gasp in shock, she kills them. Some tellings state that the only way to safely escape the Kuchisake-onna is to give an unclear answer to her questions.The only way to safely escape is to confuse the Kuchisake-onna with an ambiguous or vague reply to her questions.To escape the Kuchisake-onna, confuse her with an ambiguous or vague reply to her questions.

How Spooky Is It? Meeting a mutilated woman at night who disfigures or kills you is a scary thought. She uses scissors or a knife for violence, adding horror, plus she usually targets children.The idea of meeting a mutilated woman at night who either disfigures or kills you is a frightening thought. She commits her violence with scissors or a knife, so there is the added horror of that, plus she typically targets children.

Where Is It From? La Llorona is rooted in the folklore of Mexico and other Latin American nations.La Llorona, or “The Weeping Woman,” is found in the folklore of Mexico and other Latin American countries.

What’s The Legend? Legend states thatLegend states thatLa Llorona was once a beautiful woman.Named Maria, La Llorona either killed her sons or let them drown, then she drowned herself. She wanders as a spirit and wails hauntingly.wails hauntingly., “Mis hijos! Mis hijos! ¿Dónde están mis hijos?The phrase "My sons! My sons! Where are my sons?" appears in this popular ghost story, which finds many modern takes in movies like the 2019 version.The Curse of La LloronaThe cast itself had many aspects.People experience supernatural events.They share these experiences.

How Spooky Is It?The tale of La Llorona makes a memorable warning for children. It warns them against going too near water or leaving at night. A mother killing her children and then killing more because she wants what she lost carelessly is a spooky thought. Many people claim to hear her crying or wailing, and the legend continues.

Where Is It From?Black Annis is English folklore, likely from Leicester. Some call her Black Anna or Black Agnes.

What’s The Legend?Although Many tellings and retellings exist.Her origin story leads to reclusive Dominican nun Agnes Scott.Agnes ScottAfter she died in 1455, her spirit went to the Dane Hills in Leicester. There, she carved a cave with her long talons. This cave is now known as the Black Annis Bower.Black Annis BowerOther stories compare her to a pagan goddess. She is imagined as a blue hag with sharp claws who likes to eat children. Some call her a witch, though.witchThere are no spells or cauldrons mentioned.

How Spooky Is It? After eating children, Black Annis supposedly hangs their skins to dry. She then stitches them into clothes for herself. People still believe she haunts the Church of St. Mary de Castro and Leicester Castle. These lasting legends offer good tourism for Leicester.

Where Is It From? The legend of Baba Yaga comes from Slavic folklore. It exists across Eastern European countries like Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, and Bulgaria.

What’s The Legend?In common lore, Baba Yaga is the typical wicked witch.typical wicked witchShe is a hag who lives in a creepy house that walks on chicken legs. She feeds on children and uses sorcery. Parents often use her as a warning against straying too far in the woods or staying up too late.

However, modern views see her as a feminist character in folklore. New spin-offs include Into the Forest, a short story collection.Into the Foresta short story collection.John Wick is called Baba Yaga.in the Baba Yaga film franchise, giving the assassin mythical proportions.

How Spooky Is It?Folklore states that Baba Yaga often travels with Death, freeing souls as she goes. She cooks and eats children in her cauldron. Her house is fenced with skulls and bones; she is definitely nightmare material.travels with Deathcooking and eating children in her cauldron.

Where Is It From? The name is Spanish and means "goat-sucker." The legend of the chupacabra exists throughout North and Central America.chupacabraexits throughout North and Central America.

What’s The Legend?The chupacabra acts like a vampiric creature. It sucks blood from animals, not just goats, and then kills them. Some legends describe it as dog-like; others call it reptilian. Many scientists believe it is caused by mange-stricken canids.Mange-stricken canids.Coyotes look like chupacabras. The disease causes skin to shrivel. This explains the skeleton-like look and the canine teeth that look like vampiric fangs.

How spooky is it?Things that move at night scare enough. Adding a vampiric element makes it scarier. The disease-stricken animal is perhaps more terrifying than any human who sees it. Today, the chupacabra exists more as an imprint on your T-shirt than in the forests or fields.Imprint on your T-shirt.This imprint happens more often than in forests or fields.

Where is it from?Arabic, Bedouin, and Berber folklore feature ghouls. These stories appear in countries with Arabian and/or Islamic roots.

What is the legend? Ghouls.Demonic beings inhabit burial grounds. They belong to the djinn (or jinn) family. Ghouls usually appear as women. They lure travelers to death and then eat human flesh. This happens in the TV series Supernatural.Supernatural., Sam gets attacked by a ghoul.To save yourself from a ghoul, respond to the Islamic adhan (call to prayer). If necessary, convert to Islam to escape the religion's demons.Adhan.(Call to prayer) and, if needed, convert to Islam to escape.the religion's demons..

How spooky is it?The folklore of the ghoul and the djinn is a religious warning. It shows what happens when people ignore their faith. These cannibalistic bogeymen still send a chill down anyone's spine, religious or not.

Where is it from?Bantu folklore provides this. the tokoloshe.The tokoloshe (or tikoloshe) myth exists in many African countries.

What is the legend?The tokoloshe is a goblin-like, hairy creature. It has a childlike size. It causes evil for anyone unlucky enough to cross it. It also leads children astray, giving them bad minds, and kills people in their sleep. The British TV series Mad Dogs features a tokoloshe that only one character can see.Mad Dogs.Features a tokoloshe that only one character can see.

How spooky is it?People supposedly call tokoloshes to harm others. Among Bantu and Zulu people, unexplained deaths or other incidents often point to the tokoloshe, so the legend continues.Unexplained deaths or other incidents.The tokoloshe often causes these incidents, keeping the legend alive. An archived article in Time magazine recalls how the creatures disrupted a South African church service.Time.The magazine recalls how the creatures managed to.Disrupt a South African church service..

Where is it from?Known by many names., the legend of these aquatic creatures comes from Germanic mythology. Nordic legends also include this story, and many people in Scandinavia know about it.

What is the legend?The nakki (AKA nokk or nixie) are water spirits or fairies that change shape. Some stories give them gills; others give them scales or fish-like tails. Like sirens in Greek mythology, they exist.Sirens.In Greek mythology, legends say they.Call to sailors for help.. Scandinavian tales feature the nakken or nokken sing, irresistible tunes that lure people to them. However, good Samaritans fall into cold waters and vanish. Video games like Bramble: The Mountain King also mention these creatures.The nakken or nokken sing lures people with irresistible tunes.These tunes pull people into cold waters; would-be good Samaritans drown and disappear. These creatures appear in video games like Bramble: The Mountain King.Bramble: The Mountain King.

How Spooky Is It?Nakki drown and eat people, so they act as warnings. These stories also appeal to sailors.Songs exist about them.Songs exist about them as well.

Where Is It From? The Yara-ma-yha-whoThe Yara-ma-yha-who appears in the folklore of Australia's Aboriginal people.

What’s The Legend?Described as a frog-like man with a huge head and mouth, the Yara-ma-yha-who hides in fig trees. David Unaipon's book, Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines, mentions it.Legendary Tales of the Australian AboriginesUnaipon recounts the Yara-ma-yha-who has no teeth but suckers on its hands and feet. It waits for a traveler to rest under its tree, sucks some blood, swallows the person, and takes a nap. When it wakes, it spits out the living person, now shrunk and red-tinged.

The victim must play dead.The victim plays dead while the creature pokes and tickles. After satisfying its victim, the creature naps, letting the person escape. Legend says repeated bad luck turns a person into a Yara-ma-yha-who.

How Spooky Is It?The legend's telling is spooky enough; many Aboriginal people believe it. William Ramsay Smith's Myths & Legends of the Australian Aboriginals includes this.Myths & Legends of the Australian AboriginalsThis book also includes tales of this creature.

Where Is It From? The legend stems from China's Qing dynasty (1636-1912). It inspired many tales in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

What’s The Legend?Jiangshi are thought to be a type of hopping vampire or zombie. They wear traditional clothes from the Qing dynasty.The Qing dynastyThese creatures result from evil spirits possessing corpses. They walk with stiff, outstretched arms. Their look ranges from fresh to decomposed bodies, and often, yellow paper with writing sticks to their faces or foreheads. Jiangshi kill people by sucking their qi or life force.qilife force. The movie Mr. Vampire helped make them part of pop culture.Mr. VampireThe movie Mr. Vampire helped make them part of pop culture.

How Spooky Is It?Jiangshi are gruesome reanimated corpses that kill by sucking life force. They are frightening undead versions.

Where Is It From? The faerie folk, known as the fae, are common entities in folklore throughout the British Isles.common entities in folkloreThe fae contrast with Disney fairies (like Peter Pan's Tinkerbell or Sleeping Beauty's Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather). The fae are known for being much more mischievous—sometimes evil.Peter Pan's Tinkerbell, or 's Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather's Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather

What’s The Legend?Legends say they cannot tolerate disrespect.cannot tolerate disrespectFae (Faeries) are vengeful and tend to carry people off. Fairy circles—mushrooms growing in a ring—still hold enough superstition that most people avoid them, even though science offers an explanation. Faeries use their powers to do scary things.These are scary things..

How spooky is it?Christianity shifted fae folklore into warnings. These tales cautioned people about what happens if they ignore Christian duties. Today, people usually do not cross fairy circles. Lone hawthorn trees supposedly house the fae, so people leave these trees alone even if motorways must go around them.Motorways must go around them..

Where is it from?The first mention appeared inDaniel Defoe (1660-1731), an English novelist, journalist, and merchant, introduced the Davy Jones's Locker. The story later spread to other seafaring countries.

What is the legend?The Davy Jones Locker differs from the one inPirates of the Caribbean.The Davy Jones Locker in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise houses Jones's cold heart. The actual locker is just the final resting spot for sailors who drown at sea. Defoe introduced this in his novel, The Four Years Voyages of Capt. George Roberts.. In Tobias Smollett'sThe Adventures of Peregrine Pickle., published in 1751, describes Davy Jones as a fiend with saucer eyes, three rows of teeth, horns, a tail, and blue smoke from his nostrils.

How spooky is it?Sailors out at sea often have superstitions. Just thinking about Davy Jones sends shivers down their spines. Dying at sea is bad; dying from an evil spirit is worse.

Where is it from?The Drekavac is a mythical creature from southern Slavic mythology.The legend of the Drekavac is common in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia, and among the Montenegrin and North Macedonian peoples.It is widespread in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia, and with the Montenegrin and North Macedonian peoples.

What is the legend?Legends vary. Some call the drekavac the soul of an unbaptized man; others see it as that of an unbaptized child. This undead creature rises from its grave to haunt family or passersby. Supposedly seen only at night, especially during the 12 days of Christmas or springtime, a drekavac's appearance allegedly predicts death. It is also said to have A piercing howl..

How spooky is it?Hollywood shows little of the drekevac, but it appears inBrave Mita and the Drekavac from the Swamp., a short story by 20th-century author Branko Ćopić. Ćopić uses it to break the myth and lessen the creature's spookiness. Still, this is an old warning story common in rural areas and will likely remain so.

Where is it from? It is a Scandinavian legend., the forest lady Skogsrå is called this in Sweden. Norway calls this female forest spirit the Huldra.

What is the legend?Mythophile Jill Karlsson says the Skogsrå is It is the keeper of the forest., with many legends surrounding her, including some erotic ones. She can be kind to lost children, but stories exist about her It seduces men.Skogsrå is jealous and possessive of her lovers. She acts like a pied piper in video games, leading men into the forest; some never come back. Norse myths state that even returning men go to her if she calls them, almost as if they are in a thrall.BrambleShe leads men into the forest, like a pied piper—some never return. Norse myths say men who return go to her if she calls, almost as if they are in a thrall.

How Spooky Is It?The Skogsrå can be good or bad. This legend stops people from going too deep into the wild. Her front look is attractive, and erotic versions show her nearly naked. She hides her back always because it might have a tail or look like a tree trunk, which stops many fantasies.

Where Is It From?The Mngwa is part of African folklore and is said to stalk Tanzania.

What’s The Legend?The Mngwa (or Nunda) is a large, bloodthirsty feline. It is the size of a donkey or horse, featuring abnormal coloring and a brindle pattern. Swahili folktales also blame the Mngwa for various livestock and human deaths.

Cryptozoologist Bernard Heuvelmans argues in his 1995 book,On the Track of Unknown Animals, that the creature might be a color change of the African golden cat (Caracal aurata). It appears in many other books, such as Edward Steere's 1870 collection Swahili Tales, As Told By Natives of Zanzibar.

How Spooky Is It?Some scientific studies exist about the creature. It may have been a very large wildcat in the jungles. However, a lack of recent sightings, modern technology, and wildlife tracking methods have removed most of the fear.

Where Is It From?It is called the Man-Eating Tree of Madagascar, so its origin is clear.

What’s The Legend?Unlike many old legends where the original story is gone, this one came from a literary creation by Edmund Spencerin 1874 for theNew York World. Spencer used a Poe-like writing style to make his stories seem real. The tale included the “Mkodo” tribe of Madagascar, who lost men to this cannibalistic tree, as suggested by German explorer Carl Liche. This has since been debunked, as Liche himself has done.

How Spooky Is It?The idea of a tree hunting people sounds like science fiction or fantasy, but it lets the imagination run wild.

Where Is It From?The urban legend of theGoatmanwas first reported in Prince George's County, Maryland, in the early 1970s.

What’s The Legend?The creature is supposedly a goat-human hybrid, though appearances differ. Some stories say it has a human face and a goat bottom, while others suggest the reverse. The Goatman kills both humans and animals.

Origin stories change, but some blame a scientist named Stephen Fletcherfor mixing human DNA with goat DNA. A supposed US Department of Agriculture site involved denied this oneThe legend remains strong, with many supposed sightings.Various newspapers reported these sightings.The legend started with a newspaper article on October 27, 1971, in Maryland’s Prince George’s County News.Prince George’s County News.Goatman appears in the list '18 Scary Folklore Tales That Deserve To Be Retold'.

This describes how spooky Goatman is.An aberrant man-beast jumping in front of you to kill you or your dog is a scary thought. This legend emerged during the “Flower Power” era, so take it with a grain of salt.