Our Haunted World: Discovering Monsters, Myths & Legends Across the Globe
Take a deep breath of that crisp October air and pretend you’re sitting around a campfire ready for some ghost stories.
We’re about to take you on an eerie storytelling adventure to hear about some of the most mysterious creatures, spooky legends, and mythical beings that have kept local communities in our study abroad destinations on edge for centuries.
CANADA: The Wendigo
Once human but transformed into a savage cannibalistic spirit-like supernatural monster after eating human flesh, the Wendigo (or Windigo) lives in the deep, dense forests of Canada. The Wendigo is a creature born from cold winters and starvation. Locals describe the Wendigo as “tall and emaciated, with glowing eyes, a skeletal frame, and an insatiable hunger.” Its skin has an ashy or pale green shade, its lips are either chewed or missing altogether, and it carries the scent of rotting flesh. Seeking its next victim with acute eyesight, exceptional hearing, and extraordinary sense of smell, the Wendigo spends its days roaming through the wilderness, an embodiment of greed and gluttony. It survives in harsh conditions including deep snow and ice, and loves to stalk its victims for a long time. The legend of the Wendigo comes from the oral history of North American tribes, specifically from Algonquian folklore. As a word, “wendigo” means “evil that devours." You’ll find Wendigos in many novel and movie plots, and maybe also in Ontario, the “Wendigo Capital of the World” where many sightings have taken place.
CHILE: La Pincoya
Sailors and fishermen who work in the seas off of southern Chile’s coast will tell you about the myth of the stunning water spirit, La Pincoya, who locals see as both enchanting and terrifying. She is the goddess of marine species—a personification of their fertility. She is also a nod to the salmon fishing industry and the devastation it has caused to the waters neaby. As both a protector and a punisher, the powers of La Pincoya can influence the fishermen’s catch. If she’s seen, with her long flowing hair, dancing on the shores with her back to the sea, there will be famine and scarcity and the beaches will become barren. If she is seen dancing while she faces the sea, the catch will be plentiful and there will be abundance, with so many fish that they overflow onto the rocky coast. La Pincoya is recognized for her beauty, her suit made of kelp with a seaweed belt, and her long hair.
CHINA: Jiangshi
A nightmare of a mix between vampire and zombie, China’s Jiangshi rise from graves and take away the life force from the living. Its name literally means “stiff corpse”. These creatures move jerkily with stiff limbs, hopping with outstretched arms rather than walking toward victims. They wear the uniform of a Qing Dynasty official and some may look a bit…decomposed. They’ve been described as having “sharp teeth, long nails, and emitting a green phosphorescent glow.” There are mixed opinions on how a Jiangshi is created, but some stories claim it happens when someone suffers a violent death—likely by suicide, hanging, or drowning. Other stories state that a Jiangshi is a result of an improper burial. One tale goes that, during the Qing Dynasty (hence the uniforms), “corpse drivers” would transport bodies home if they died while working away so that their spirits wouldn’t be homesick. Some people believed these drivers could magically reanimate the bodies, turning them into Jiangshi.
IRELAND: The Banshee
The legend of Ireland’s Banshee, a spirit known as “the wailing woman,” is a chilling one. Her mournful scream, high-pitched wail, or shriek echoing through the night is the sound of imminent death. If you hear it, legend says that a family member will soon die. Banshees are seen as a warning rather than a cause of death. In depictions, a banshee has long hair (which she is sometimes seen grooming with a silver comb) and pale skin, eyes blood-red from crying, with drops of tears or blood on her cheeks. Like many of these supernatural beings that stay alive through oral storytelling, there are different descriptions of a Banshee, but they’re said to wear a green dress and grey cloak or be dressed all in white. A Banshee is both beautiful and terrifying, feared and respected. Many people believe that each family in Ireland has its very own banshee that watches over them in life and death. They are also an important figure in Ireland’s Fairy Faith.
ITALY: The Lupo Mannaro
If there’s a full moon, look out for the Lupo Mannaro—the Italian version of a werewolf—as it prowls through the night, cursed in its continuous shift between beast and human. Under the light of the moon, Lupo Mannaro might thrash about on the ground, screaming or howling ferociously like a wolf. Expect uncontrollable violence and a thirst for blood. When returned to a human state, the Lupo Mannaro doesn’t remember what happened during their bout of madness. The story of Lupo Mannaro is especially deep-rooted within the oral culture of southern Italy, specifically in the area home to the legend —the Sila Forest in Calabria.
JAPAN: Yurei
In Japan, the spirits of the dead are called Yurei. They linger on earth because of unresolved issues or violent deaths through murder or suicide. They are described as “vengeful” and haunt the living person or people who wronged them or they simply haunt their place of death. Interesting the Yurei have a preferred haunting time which happens around 2:00 am–2:30 am. They’re tied to earth, unable to live a peaceful afterlife, until they can resolve any emotional conflict or perform rituals that were left out when they died. Yurei wear white funeral kimonos and they have long black disheveled hair which covers their faces. They walk with dangling lifeless hands hanging from outstretched arms and usually float, without legs or feet to walk on.
PERU: El Pishtaco
The dark tale of El Pishtaco comes from the Andean regions of Peru. It was born as a cautionary story about colonial oppression—likely related to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. Pishtacos look like pale, white-skinned, hyper-masculine men, usually with beards, usually wearing broad-rimmed hats, and usually brandishing a knife. They are said to drain and eat the fat from their local Peruvian victims who they lure into the depths of the Amazon—most likely travelers or drunks who have lost their way. Pishtacos attack at night on the highways, or sometimes in the valleys that are out of sight from the main villages. The name Pishtaco comes from the Quechua word “pishtay” and literally means to “behead, slit the throat, or cut into slices.”
SPAIN: El Coco
Spanish children throughout generations have learned to fear El Coco, the main character of a folkloric story invented in medieval Spain to scare young ones into submission. El Coco is a ghostly monster or a “bogeyman”, a shapeshifter who takes naughty children away in a sack and eats them or simply makes them disappear. He lives in their imaginations as a “dark and shadowy figure” without a specific form or is sometimes described as “a hairy monster.” He lurks at night in closets or under beds watching the children so they don’t misbehave—the typical stuff of nightmares. There is even a creepy nursery rhyme from the 17th century that is still recited to children today: “Duérmete niño, duérmete ya…(Sleep child, sleep or else…) Que viene el Coco y te comerá (Coco will come and eat you).
UNITED KINGDOM: Black Shuck
The countryside in the UK, mainly around East Anglia, is haunted by Black Shuck or simply “Shuck”—an enormous (by some accounts as big as a horse) ghostly black hound who roams the moors, the graveyards, and the coasts. The dog’s eyes glow either red or green depending on who is telling the tale. Spotting Black Shuck means doom; he’s said to bring bad luck, or even death, especially if you see him alone at night along a lonely road or abandoned coastal path. The story of Black Shuck is connected to old Norse mythology where ghostly dogs were sometimes seen as guardians of the underworld. Its name might come from the old English word “succa” meaning “devil” or “demon.”
UNITED STATES: The Mothman
The story of the mysterious Mothman begins in more recent history—in a cemetery in 1966 when a group of gravediggers in West Virginia spotted something huge soaring from tree to tree above their heads. They were terrified and described it as a huge humanoid creature with dark clothing and enormous brown or black bat-like wings. He looks like a giant moth with glowing red eyes and is said to be able to fly at up to 100 mph. Some theories point to Mothman as an alien or a bird we haven’t yet identified, but in local folklore, sightings are connected to tragedies—like the collapse of a bridge in 1967, an even that killed 46 people. Like many other supernatural figures in this list, Mothman is considered to be a harbinger of doom.
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Learning about the myths and legends of different cultures is not only fun, but a way of gaining a deeper appreciation of the beliefs, values and fears of the people who share them and whose ancestors have created them. The way societies see concepts of good and evil, life and death, and the relationships between humans and the supernatural can be reflected in these stories. Others touch on morality and share lessons about greed, humility, or courage. Like study abroad, they offer a window into how people from other cultures make sense of their own world. The more we understand about others, the smaller the gaps between us become; stories like these passed down through time help foster empathy, bridge gaps in worldviews, and bright to light certain themes that are important to all of us.
