Some people believe them to be real, while others think that they just graze the silver-screen as well as comic-books and novels just for a sole purpose: to scare the s**t out of people. Which do you think among these make-believe monsters is the most frightening of all?
Zombie
Originating from Haitian folklore, this monster is often called and referred as “the undead.” Initially depicted as corpses being reanimated to life via supernatural means, modern zombie depictions generally involves experimentation mishaps, viral outbreaks, and other sci-fi elements.
Featured in dozens of movies and TV shows already for many decades, zombies have been the source of constant nightmare for kids, and will always be a great revenue-generator for many film studios all over the world.
Werewolf
Dogs are generally cute, we get that. Their ancestors however, the species we come to know as wolves, are not. They're ferocious and scary. But what could be more scary than a man who becomes a wolf?
Emerging from the medieval times and have gained high notoriety when witch-hunts were commonplace in England, werewolves were said to be persons cursed at birth to carry a supernatural condition called Lycanthropy.
When full moon strikes, they strike too – transforming themselves into bipedal wolves unleashing a blast of terror and dread upon the chosen prey.
Vampire
Like the Werewolf and the Zombie, the Vampire must be present in a list like this. Otherwise, the list wouldn't be deemed complete. Contrary to modern depictions that flock the screens today, these bloodsucking monsters were actually dark, bloated and ugly.
Because of stupid romanticism however, modern writers transformed them into pale, smooth-skinned and good-looking matinee idols. This makes the Vampires' existence questionable. How scary are they really? Are they even scary at all?
Manananggal
Anything that eats living flesh will always be scary. Seeing any monster that fits this category would make us run like a marathon champ to seek for cover. But what if you saw a flesh-eating woman who can separate its torso from its waist, grow some bat wings on its back and fly?
What would you do? An ever popular element in Philippine folklore, the Manananggal is the ultimate Asian monster, absolutely capable of victoriously going toe-to-toe, or in its case, intestine-to-toe (since its tummy bowels can be seen hanging as it flies) against any Caucasian monster on this list and would remain unscathed... since it's more than scathed already upon its transformation.
Tikoloshe
Believed to be a practically harmless creature who just aims to scare children, the Tikoloshe is of African origin, reportedly created by shamans who wish to inflict harm to anyone who offended them. With its dwarfish, gremlin-like appearance, it is believed to be a wandering stealthy little monster who may not directly harm a victim but may just cause bad luck or invoke a fatal illness.
In addition to its undetectable harming style, it may also be a source for restlessness since it may sneak up to you in your sleep, biting off your toes, and raping the females in your household.
Wendigo
With a transformation triggered by greed and gluttony, Algonquian folklore states that any person could become a Wendigo when driven by too much desire for something. Often attributed to cannibalism, lust, and murder, a Wendigo person could continue to grow proportionally so it can eat more and more – it could never be full, never be satisfied.
Although some psychologists and scientists simply believe Wendigo cases to be just a form of mental illness, the monster is still a source of unparalleled scare in the American-Canadian borders.
Pukwudgie
The larger the monster, the more imposing it is, and the scarier it gets. But then, there is the Pukwudgie, a 3-foot midget creature from the Wampanoag folklore. This monster who resembles a porcupine lures people, kidnaps them, and pushes them off the cliff or traps them to their deaths.
Native Americans believe that Pukwudgies are better left alone. Insisting on messing up with them may lead you into severe trouble as they would follow you and cause you a great amount of trouble, misfortune, pain and misery.
Pontianak
Believed to be the spirits of women who died during pregnancy, Pontianaks are vampiric ghosts who usually appear as long-haired attractive females, dressed in white clothing smeared in blood. According to witness accounts, a Pontianak may victimize you by letting you hear a baby's cry which varies in loudness as she gets closer.
You may also smell a floral scent of a plumeria which will determine that she is very near. Victimizing males most of the time, this monster's motivation is revenge. She will plunge her fingers into a man's internal organs and eat them.
Kuchisake-Onna
Crimes of passion are hot topics for journalism and literature. Sometimes, such a topic is pushed too far to the point that it becomes exaggerated and brought into supernaturalism. Take this figure appearing in Japanese urban legends – Kuchisake-Onna, a woman who was mutilated by her husband after finding out that she was cheating.
The guy then used a sword to cut her mouth from ear to ear. She then allegedly resurfaced later as a street-wandering monster around the Nagasaki Prefecture. She spread panic throughout many towns in Japan. Although more valid testimonies describe her as a former patient of a mental asylum, Kuchisake-Onna is a legend that Japan considered to be one of its most unforgettable.
Black Annis
A bogeyman variant within the English folklore, this iron-clawed woman preys on humans and animals as well. When children are not around, lambs would be a good substitute. After eating them, she would then peel off their skins, and hang them dry so she could wear them in later times.
Aside from having a very grotesque appearance, her iron fingernails are deadly enough to be used for digging into rocky mountains where she digs her own caves which provides her shelter.
Though considered to be just another urban legend, the Black Annis has scared a lot of people in the past, and has earned her niche within the halls of pop culture in these modern times.
Which do you think among these should be declared as number 1?
