From Minuscule Spirits To Gigantic Cosmic Monsters
March 9, 2017 10:46 AM   Subscribe

A Book of Creatures is a sprawling illustrated guide to monsters of myth and folklore from around the world, with non-Western creatures heavily featured. Updating on a tri-weekly schedule, it aims to provide a comprehensive database of legendary creatures, accompanied with art and thoroughly sourced. Sadly I can't find a way to look at all the creatures at once - however, in the sidebar you can search by creatures by country or region of origin, type, and theme. Just to get you started, there's Animate Inanimates, Deadly Gaze, and Creatures of Darkness and Night; Iceland, Sub-Saharan Africa, and China; Whales, Unicorns, and Insects. And so very much more.
posted by showbiz_liz (13 comments total) 71 users marked this as a favorite
 
Please post your awesome creature finds in the thread - I've only read a fraction of the site's backlog, it's HUGE.
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:47 AM on March 9, 2017


Awesome find.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:51 AM on March 9, 2017


NO SUCCARATH NO PEACE
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:00 PM on March 9, 2017


So, basically a Monster Manual without the attributes?
posted by Chuffy at 12:03 PM on March 9, 2017


When I was in Iceland last summer I picked up a copy of Meeting with Monsters which is used as a reference for most of the Icelandic monsters in the link above. If you like that kind of thing I recommend it heartily.

I like this site a lot and will check out the associated book but I'm a little disappointed by the thinness on Canadian monsters. The absence of the Windigo is particularly notable. Though the site does have this handsome devil - Baxbakwalanuxsiwae.
posted by Ashwagandha at 12:35 PM on March 9, 2017 [3 favorites]


He's so cute!
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 12:37 PM on March 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


I wish I had Super Favorites I could mark a post with.
posted by curious nu at 1:11 PM on March 9, 2017 [2 favorites]


This is so up my monster-choked alley I am ashamed it was not already something I had bookmarked.

Anyway, South Africa has the craziest, most cosmic horror addled Pokemon I've ever seen, just look at these guys:
Usilosimapundu, “the rugose beast” or “the nodulated beast”, is a creature of superlatives. There are hills and mountains on his vast body, with rivers on one side, highlands on another, forests on the next, highlands and cliffs on other sides; he is so large that it is winter on one side of him and summer on the other.
Isiququmadevu, “Smelly Whiskers”, is a mountainous “swallowing monster” from Bantu and Zulu folklore. She is bearded, bloated, hairless, and squatting, with an enormous mouth capable of engulfing entire villages. Other clues as to her appearance are given in her many epithets, which include Unomabunge (“Mother of Beetles”), O’gaul’-iminga (“Feller of Lofty Thorn-trees”), and O-nsiba-zimakqembe (“She Whose Feathers are Long and Broad”).
The Isitwalangcengce, or “Basket-bearer”, is hardly seen these days. Which is all the better, as this monster known to the Zulu people is a dedicated man-eater. Somewhat like a hyena in appearance, an Isitwalangcengce’s most notable feature is its basket-shaped head, complete with an opening in the top for carrying its prey.
Thanks so much for posting this, I think it should automatically be nominated Best Post of the Year.
posted by byanyothername at 2:13 PM on March 9, 2017 [4 favorites]


The Balbal is wicked. Keep a strong flashlight handy if you live under a thatched roof.
posted by artdrectr at 4:16 PM on March 9, 2017


Baba Yaga is always missing from these compilations and I never know why.

:(
posted by Faintdreams at 7:14 PM on March 9, 2017 [1 favorite]


Anyway, South Africa has the craziest, most cosmic horror addled Pokemon I've ever seen, just look at these guys:

Uh.. that's.. that's just Torterra! But bigger.

Liiiiittle bit bigger.
posted by curious nu at 7:40 PM on March 9, 2017


Baba Yaga is always missing from these compilations and I never know why.

Well, she's not a monster!
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:09 PM on March 9, 2017


Sadly I can't find a way to look at all the creatures at once
tumblr archive
posted by unliteral at 9:18 PM on March 9, 2017


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