Sometimes it seems that nothing can frighten a modern person. We almost calmly watch even the most bloodthirsty horror films, read mystical novels, and sometimes various monsters of the world, both real earthly and fictional, are involved in computer games. All this no longer surprises anyone. Even teenagers and young children treat all these creatures with a touch of irony and skepticism.
And what will you answer to someone who will argue that monsters and monsters are also found in our world today? Will you smile? Twist your finger at your temple? Will you start proving otherwise? Do not hurry. Why? The thing is that from time to time unprecedented creatures still appear to people even now.
For example, rummaging through your memory, you will probably remember that one of your relatives, friends or just acquaintances once, under various circumstances, met a terrible monster or some inexplicable creature. Really?
What if it's not just a figment of an unhe althy imagination or a consequence of a sleepless night? Suddenly mythological ancient Greek monsters actually existedand continue to live somewhere in our world? To tell the truth, from such thoughts, even the most daring of us get goosebumps and begin to listen to the surrounding rustles and sounds.
All this will be discussed in this article. However, in addition to the story about where the monsters live, we will touch on other equally interesting topics. For example, let's dwell on epics and beliefs in more detail, and also introduce readers to modern beliefs and hypotheses.
Section 1. Mythical monsters from fairy tales and legends
Each spiritual culture and religion has its own myths and parables, and they are composed, as a rule, not only about good and love, but also about terrible and disgusting creatures. Let's not be unfounded and give some of the most typical examples.
So in Jewish folklore lives a certain dybbuki, the spirit of a deceased sinful person who can inhabit living people who have committed a serious offense and torment them. Only a very qualified rabbi can drive a dybbuk out of the body.
Islamic culture, in turn, as a mythical evil creature, offers jinn - an evil winged people created from smoke and fire, living in a parallel reality and serving the devil. By the way, according to the local religion, the devil was also once a genie under the name of Iblis.
In the religion of Western states, there are Rakshasas, i.e. terrible demons that inhabit the bodies of living people and manipulate them, forcing the victim to do all sorts of abominations.
Agree, such mythical monsters inspirefear, even if you just read their description, and you really would definitely not want to meet them.
Section 2. What are people afraid of today?
In our time, people also believe in various otherworldly beings. For example, in Malay (Indonesian) folklore, there is a Pontianak, a female vampire with long hair. What does this terrible creature do? Attacks pregnant women and eats all their insides.
Russian monsters are also not far behind in their bloodthirstiness and unpredictability. So, among the Slavs, the evil spirit is represented in the form of a water spirit, the embodiment of the dangerous and negative principle of the element of water. Creeping up unnoticed, he drags his victim to the bottom, and then preserves the souls of people in special vessels.
Let's try to imagine some monster of the seas. In this case, it is impossible not to mention one of the countries of South America. Probably, many have already heard that in Brazilian folklore there is an encantado, a snake or a river dolphin, which turns into a man, loves sex and has an ear for music. He steals the thoughts and desires of people, after which the person loses his mind and eventually dies.
Another mythical creature belonging to the "Monsters of the World" category is the goblin. He has a human appearance - very tall, hairy with strong arms and glowing eyes. Lives in the forest, as a rule, in dense and hard-to-reach. Goblin rides on trees, constantly fooling around, and at the sight of a person they clap their hands and laugh. By the way, they attract women to themselves.
Section 3. Lochness monster. Scotland
The lake of the same name with a depth of 230 m is the largest reservoir of water in the UK. It is believed that this reservoir, which, by the way, is the second largest in Scotland, was formed quite a long time ago, during the last ice age in Europe.
There are rumors that a mysterious beast lives in the lake, which was first mentioned in writing back in 565. However, the Scots from ancient times mentioned water monsters in their folklore, naming them with the collective name "kelpie".
The modern Loch Ness monster is called Nessie, and its history began almost 100 years ago. In 1933, one married couple, resting nearby, saw with their own eyes something unusual, which they reported to the special service. However, despite the testimony of 3,000 witnesses claiming to have seen the monster, scientists are still unraveling the mystery.
Today, many locals agreed that a creature two meters wide and moving at a speed of 10 miles per hour lives in the lake. Modern eyewitnesses claim that Nessie looks like a giant snail with a very long neck.
Section 4. Monsters from the Valley of the Headless
The secret of the so-called Valley of the Headless is that whoever goes to this area and no matter how armed he is, it is still worth saying goodbye to him in advance. Why? The thing is that no one has ever returned from there.
The phenomenon of the disappearance of people has not yet been solved. Are they goingthere are all the monsters of the world or people disappear due to some other circumstances, it is not known for certain.
Sometimes only human heads were found at the scene, and the Indians living in the area claim that Bigfoot, who lives in the valley, does it all. Eyewitnesses of the events claim that they saw a creature in the valley that looked like a giant furry man.
Perhaps the most fantastic version of the secret of the Valley of the Headless is that this place is the entrance to some parallel world.
Section 5. Who is the Yeti and why is he dangerous?
In 1921, on Mount Everest, whose height is more than 6 km, a footprint left by a huge bare foot was discovered in the snow. It was discovered by an expedition led by Colonel Howard-Bury, a very famous and respected climber. Then the team reported that the print belongs to Bigfoot.
Earlier, the mountains of Tibet and the Himalayas were considered places of residence for the Yeti. Now scientists believe that Bigfoot can also live in the Pamirs, Central Africa, in the lower reaches of the Ob, in some areas of Chukotka and Yakutia, and in the 70s of the twentieth century, Yetis were also met in America, as evidenced by numerous documentary evidence.
How dangerous they can be for a modern person remains a mystery to this day. There were known cases of the theft of food products, sports equipment, but the people themselves seem to be of little interest to these creatures, so you should not be afraid of them, and even more so afraid of panic.
Section 6. The monster of the seas. Sea serpent: myth orreality?
Many ancient myths and legends tell about sea monsters and the big sea serpent. Both sailors and scientists once believed in the existence of such a monster.
All opinions agreed that there are at least two species of large marine life unknown to science. Scientists suggest that a giant eel or an unknown species of cryptozoology acts as a sea monster.
In 1964, sailors crossing the Australian Stonehaven Bay on a yacht saw a huge black tadpole, about 25 m long, at a depth of two meters.
The monster had a huge snake head about 1.2m wide and high, a thin, flexible body about 60cm in diameter and 20m long, and a whip-like tail.
Section 7. Megalodon shark. Does it exist now?
In principle, according to several documents that have survived to this day, such a fish, which could easily be classified as "Monsters of the World", existed in antiquity and resembled a great white shark.
Megalodon was supposedly about 25 meters long, and it is precisely this size that turns it into the largest predator that has ever existed on the planet.
Far from one fact proves the existence of megallodon in our time. For example, in 1918, when crayfish fishermen worked at great depths, they saw a giant shark 92 m long. Most likely, it was this particular fish.
Modern scientists are also in no hurry to deny this assumption. They approve,that such animals could easily survive in the unexplored ocean depths to this day.
Section 8. Do you believe in ghosts?
Myths about spirits have existed since pagan times. The Christian faith also prevails with spirits, telling about the existence of special creatures, for example, angels who control the elements, and the so-called "unclean", which include goblin, brownie, water, etc.
It just so happens that good and evil spirits constantly interact with a person. Christianity distinguishes even some human companions: a good guardian angel and an evil demon-tempter.
A ghost, in turn, is an anomalous phenomenon, a vision, a ghost, a spirit, something invisible and intangible. These substances appear, as a rule, at night in sparsely populated places. There is no consensus on the nature of the appearance of ghosts, and the ghosts themselves are often radically different from each other.
Section 9. Giant cephalopods
From a scientific point of view, cephalopods are creatures without a backbone, whose body was formed like a bag. They have a small head with a clearly defined physiognomy and one leg, which is a tentacle with suction cups. Impressive appearance, right? By the way, not everyone knows that these creatures have a fairly developed and highly organized brain and live at sea depths from 300 to 3000 m.
Very often, all over the world, the bodies of dead cephalopods are thrown onto the shores of the oceans. The longest discarded cephalopod was over 18 m long and weighed 1t.
Scientists who explored the depths saw these animals over 30 m long. But in general, it is believed that such monsters of the world can be over 50 m long.
Section 10. Mysteries of bottomless lakes
In the Solnechnogorsk district of the Moscow region there is a lake called Bezdonnoye. Locals constantly tell legends about the connection of the lake with the ocean and about the wreckage of sunken ships thrown onto its sandy shores.
This body of water is considered a real phenomenon of nature, with its small size, only 30 m in diameter, it has immeasurable depth.
In the same area there is another strange object - Lake Krugloye, which was formed more than half a million years ago at the site of a large meteorite fall. The pond has a diameter of about 100 m, but no one knows the size of its depth. There are almost no fish in it, and living creatures do not live on the shores. In summer, there is a large circulation in the middle of the lake, resembling a large pool on the river, and in winter, when it freezes, the circulation forms a bizarre pattern on the ice. Not so long ago, local residents began to observe the following picture: on serene days, certain creatures began to crawl ashore to bask in the sun, according to the description resembling either a huge snail or a lizard.
Section 11. Beliefs of Buryatia
Another lake of unknown depth - Sobolkho, in Buryatia. In the lake area, both people and animals constantly disappear. It is very interesting that the missing animals were later found in completely different lakes. Scientists suggest that the reservoirconnected with other underground channels, amateur divers in 1995 confirmed the existence of karst caves and tunnels in the lake, but local residents believe that scary monsters can hardly do here.
