Nekromanti Hejsan alla monsterdiggare!

[JJoghans]

Draug

Draugar are animated corpses of ancient scandianvian and icelandic folklore. Unlike ghosts, they have a corporeal body with similar physical abilities as in life. After a person’s death, if the corpse is found in an upright or sitting position, this is an indication that the dead one might return as a draug. Any mean, nasty, or greedy person can become one. The motivation of the actions of a draug is primarily jealousy and greed, and they exist either to guard their treasure, wreak havoc on living beings, or torment those who had wronged them in life.

The appearance of a draug is that of a dead body: swollen, blackened and generally hideous to look at. Draugar possess superhuman strength, can increase their size at will, and carry the unmistakable stench of decay. The draug's ability to increase its size also increased its weight, and the body of the draug was described as being extremely heavy.

In folklore, draugar slay their victims through various methods including crushing them with their enlarged forms, devouring their flesh, devouring them whole in their enlarged forms, indirectly killing them by driving them mad, and by drinking their blood. Animals feeding near the grave of a draug may be driven mad by the creature's influence. The roaming undead decimated livestock by running the animals to death while either riding them or pursuing them in some hideous, half-flayed form. Shepherds, whose duties to their flocks left them out of doors at night time, were also particular targets for the hunger and hatred of the undead.

"During the first night, Aran got up from his chair and killed the hawk and hound and ate them. On the second night he got up again from his chair, and killed the horse and tore it into pieces; then he took great bites at the horse-flesh with his teeth, the blood streaming down from his mouth all the while he was eating... The third night Asmund became very drowsy, and the first thing he knew, Aran had got him by the ears and tore them off." -- excerpt from Gautrek's Saga and Other Medieval Tales

 

[Ymir]

Av någon för mig okänd anledning tycks sydostasien ha de överlägset mest metal mytologiska monstren. Det kanske är nån typ av feberyror man bara får till i Heart of Darkness-miljöer? Men Inte ens leyak, penanggalan och manananggal är så fucking jävla metal som aswangen. Min emfas:

An Aswang (or Asuwang) is a vampire-like witch ghoul in Filipino folklore and is the subject of a wide variety of myths and stories. Spanish colonists noted that the Aswang was the most feared among the mythical creatures of the Philippines, even in the 16th century.

Aswangs are shape-shifters. Stories recount aswangs living as regular townspeople. As regular townspeople, they are quiet, shy and elusive. At night, they transform into creatures such as a cat, bat, bird, boar or most often, a dog. They enjoy eating unborn fetuses and small children, favoring livers and hearts. Some have long proboscises, which they use to suck the children out of their mothers' wombs when they are sleeping in their homes. Some are so thin that they can hide themselves behind a bamboo post. They are fast and silent. Some also make noises, like the Tik-Tik, (the name was derived from the sound it produces) which are louder the farther away the aswang is, to confuse its potential victim; and the Bubuu, an aggressive kind of aswang that makes a sound of a laying hen at midnight. They may also replace their live victims or stolen cadavers with doppelgangers made from tree trunks or other plant materials. This facsimile will return to the victim's home, only to become sick and die. An aswang will also have bloodshot eyes, the result of staying up all night searching for houses where wakes are held to steal the bodies.
Aswangs are physically much more like humans at daytime; they only change their appearance at night when they feel they are in need of food. It has been said that if an aswang married a human, upon their wedding, his or her mate would become an aswang as well but rarely can they reproduce. The couple may hunt together at night but will go in separate directions, either to avoid detection or because they do not like to share their meal.

 

[Ymir]

En intressant typ av monster är annars dharmapala, de väsen som är ett viktigt inslag i tantrisk buddhistisk konst, och tex syns överallt i tibetanska och kinesiska tempel. De ser typiskt ut som bisarra demoner, ofta mångarmade och brinnande och försedda med klor och huggtänder med kronor av dödskallar, grafiskt knullande en kvinnlig avatar av sig själva. De är definitivt menade som monster - tibetanska tempel har ofta kolsvarta, delvis tabubelagda rum dedikerade åt dem, fyllda med vapenatrapper, morbida reliker och groteskt bildspråk (klicka bakåt i min photobucket här så får ni se exempel). Det är så nära såna här orealistiska "onda kulter" som finns i fantasy/horror som vi egentligen kanske kommer på jorden. För grejen är ju att ingen människa egentligen vill dyrka onda gudar.

Dharmapalorna är inte onda. De är "wrathful gods", del av en paradoxal tradition inom mahayana kopplat till upaya, de "skickliga medel" bodhisattvor använder för att på otippade vis vägleda folk till insikt. Dharmapalorna är buddhor och bodhisattvor, förkroppsliganden av medkänsla, som antar skräckinjagande former i syfte att skrämma dharmans fiender och knyta an till komplexa tantriska föreställningar kring strid, illusion och insikt.

 

[Robert]

Internetkreationer som Slender man? Jag tycker han är så läskig att jag inte vågar leta upp några bilder att länka till.

 

[PjåtrimKaj]

Bukavac
"Bukavac is a demonic mythical creature in Slavic mythology. Belief in it existed in Srem.

Bukavac was sometimes imagined as a six-legged monster with gnarled horns. It lives in lakes and pools, coming out of the water during the night to make a loud noise (hence the name: buka - noise), jump onto people and animals, and strangle them."

Bukavac är även namnet på fågeln rördröm, som är känt för sitt läte, som kan höras på uppåt en halvmils avstånd. Jag har alltid gillat när djur och naturliga fenomen ger liv åt myter och monster. Skapar för mig alltid en sån stämning att aldrig riktigt vara säker på om sägnerna är sanna eller inte...