The International Guide to the Mythological

Origin: Japanese Mythology  Habitat: Countryside Behavior: Aggressive Description:  Gashadokuro (translated to "Starving Skeleton") are skeletal giants fifteen times taller than an average person which wander around the countryside in the darkest hours of the night. Their teeth chatter and bones rattle with a “gachi gachi” sound, which is this yokai’s namesake.  Facts:  The Gashadokuro are created from the amassed bones of people who died of  starvation  or in battle, without being buried.   Soldiers whose bodies rot in the fields and victims of famine who die unknown in the wilderness rarely receive proper funerary rites.  Unable to pass on, their souls are reborn as hungry ghosts , longing eternally for that which they once had. These people die with anger and pain in their hearts, and that energy remains long after their flesh has rotted from their bones. As their bodies decay, their anger ferments into a powerful force –...

Origin: Norse  mythology Habitat: Graveyards/Gravesite Behavior: Aggressive Description:  They are d ead bodies usually swollen, blackened or dead blue skin, and generally hideous to look at. Their bodies are described as being extremely heavy. Facts: Draugar live in their graves, often guarding treasure buried with them in their burial mound, wreak havoc on living beings, or torment those who had wronged them in life. They are animated corpses — unlike ghosts they have a corporeal body with similar physical abilities as in life. Older literature makes clear distinctions between sea-draugar and land-draugar.  Draugar possess superhuman strength , can increase their size at will, and carry the unmistakable stench of decay.  They are also noted for the ability to rise from the grave as wisps of smoke and "swim" through solid rock ,  which would be useful as a means of exiting their graves.  In folklore, draugar slay their victims through va...