behave yourself, or else...

29. Marizampa (Castilla)

En muchos lugares de España encontramos ogros idénticos bajo apariencias masculinas o femeninas. Normalmente se trata de asustachicos dedicados a devorar niños traviesos como puede ser el célebre Tragaldabas castellano-leonés, pues esta es la categoría más abundante en la Península y sus representantes se cuentan bajo multitud de nombres y aspectos. De  esta forma tenemos al Zamparrón y a la Zamparrampa, a la Paparresolla y al Paparrotxu, al Zarrampla y la Zarrampla…

Aunque también existen ogros que solo tienen versión femenina. Como la Ransoña gallega, cuyo nombre también es utilizado para designar a las personas maliciosas o poco de fiar.  Pero la más terrible de estas ogresas no es otra la Marizampa, una criatura presente tanto en Castilla-La Mancha como en Castilla y León.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2010) dir. Troy Nixey

The douen comes to us from the folklore of Trinidad and Tobago; and, so you don’t embarrass yourself like I did while researching it, it’s pronounced dwen.

Douen are said to be the souls of children who were not baptized before their death. They are small, not known to wear a lot of clothes, and are known for one very specific physical deformity: their feet are turned around backwards. One of the few articles of clothing they’re mentioned wearing is a large floppy straw hat, pulled low to cover their face.

Douen are fond of pulling pranks on humans or the other creatures that live in their forest, swampland, or riverside homes. However, they’re even more fond of luring unbaptized children away from their homes or lurking around homes with lots of children, hoping to attract the love of the mother that lives there. Although they don’t seem to eat the children that they lure away, it is far from a good thing to be spirited away by a douen. Most of the children are never seen again.

Calling a child’s name out into open space is said to attract a douen, but so can just talking about them. Once in your home, a douen is supposed to be very difficult to get rid of.

So, we all know that the goblins are goblins. I get that. But often, the term goblin serves as something of a catchall term for the little, oftentimes misshapen, trickster creatures we all know and love. Note that this excludes Tolkien’s interpretation of goblins, which were orcs anyway.

Moving on.

Okay, I thought this blog was a bit chaotic, so I attempted to create some clarity by making a “library page” with links to all the creatures I posted articles about so far. The idea is that I’ll post a link to this page at the end of future posts, and also update this list with every new entry. (But keep in mind that I’m still fairly new to this site and I may be doing everything wrong as I have no idea what I’m doing.)

I also grouped some mythologies together for convenience, but clarified whenever possible.

Inuit mythology

The Mahahaa

The Amajuqsuit

The Palraijuq

The Ijirait

The Tunnituarjuit and related spirits

African mythology:

The Shetani (Makonde myths)

The Aigamuxa (Khoekhoen myths)

The Inkanyamba (Zulu myths)

The Adze (Ewe myths)

The Zin Kibaru (Songhai myths)

Thai+Laotian+Indonesian mythology:

The Phi Kong Koi

The Pocong

The Krasue (Thai, Laotian)

BeNeLux folklore:

The Witte Wieven (Dutch)

The Ossaert (Dutch)

The vuurmannen (Dutch)

Brazilian mythology:

The Curupira

The Lobreu

Corpo-Seco

The Encantado

The Anhangá

The Capelobo

The Caruara

Japanese mythology and Yokai:

The Dorotabō

The Umibōzu

The Joro-Gumo

British/Celtic mythologies:

The Blue Men of the Minch (Scotland)

The Fachan (Scotland)

The Kelpie (Scotland, Celtic)

The Bodach (Scotland, Gaelic)

Y Mari Lwyd (Welsh)

The Gwiber (Welsh)

Chiloé mythology and Chilean mythology:

The Imbunche

The Chonchon

Trinidad mythology:

La Jabless

The Douen

Slavic mythologies:

The Karakondžula (Serbian myth)

The Samodivas

The Krivomjeri (Croatia)

The Kikimora

The Lesovik or Leshy

The Zmaj

Medieval European mythologies:

The Mermecoleon

The Trolual (also Icelandic myth)

The Aspis

The Peryton

Italian folklore:

The Badalisc

Spanish folklore:

The Huay Chivo

Maori mythology:

The Ponaturi

The Taniwha

The Patupaiarehe

Chinese mythology:

The Fenghuang

The mirror people

Mexican/Nahua/Aztec mythology:

The Tlahuelpuchi (Nahua)

The Ahuizotl (Aztec)

Dineh/Navajo mythology:

The Skin-walkers

Algonquin mythology:

The Wendigo

Egyptian mythology:

The seven scorpions of Selket

Greek mythology:

The Amphisbaena

The Hekatonkheires

Persian mythology:

The Manticore/Mantichora

The Simurgh

Bulgarian, Anatolian mythologies:

The Karankoncolos and the Karakondjul

German folklore:

The Roggenmuhme

Mesopotamian mythology:

The Lilin

The Stone Men

Aboriginal mythology:

The Garkain

Taíno mythology (Caribbean):

The Zemis

Hinduism and Buddhism:

The Apsaras

Modern cryptids:

The sky rods

The River Ribble was said to have a spirit called Peg O’ Nell, and at the end of every seven years, she claimed a life unless an animal was drowned to placate her.

-Encyclopedia of Superstitions, Radford, 1949

11. Coche de la sangre (varias comunidades)

Los asustachicos pueden parecer seres arcaicos o ancestrales, pero en algunos casos se han modernizado con el devenir de los tiempos. La llegada de los primeros automóviles a España, por ejemplo, despertó nuevos miedos y fobias que pedían a gritos su propia leyenda grotesca. Imaginemos el asombro de los habitantes de pequeños pueblos en aquella España antigua al contemplar, a lo lejos, nuevas máquinas recorriendo los rústicos caminos y senderos. Si a la desconfianza en esta moderna tecnología le sumamos la omnipresencia de los sacamantecas y sacauntos en el imaginario popular, tenemos la combinación perfecta para la germinación de nuevos mitos acerca de horrores sobre ruedas que sirvieran, al menos, para alejar a los jóvenes de las carreteras y demás lugares donde podían ser atropellados.