Category: Monsters
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The Changeling—Swapping Life for Life
Although found in many cultures, the Celtic changeling is a faerie that has been exchanged with a human child by other nefarious faeries. The motives for such a swap range from punishment, revenge, and jealousy to a complicated hoax in which the changeling is an elderly faerie who needs to live out his years in…
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Big Grey Man Incites Fear
Enveloped in mist and trailing a dank chill in his wake, Am Fear Liath Mòr (pronounced am fair LEE-ah mor) emerges from the sea as fog to haunt the British Isles. Also known as the Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui in Scotland, he has other names in Ireland—the Brolaghan (which means “a formless or…
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Kelpie Hauntings
Typically appearing as a strong, magnificent stallion or a gentle, lost pony, the kelpie was a malevolent shapeshifting spirit that haunted the lochs (lakes) and deep rivers of the Scottish Highlands. With the legendary strength of 10 horses and a wet, dripping mane, its tail crashed like thunder when it hit the water. The kelpie…
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Caorthannach—A Fire-Spitting Demon
Considered by some to be the devil’s mother, by others as the forebearer of all things wild who claimed birth and death to herself, and yet others as the progenitor of all the gods, Caorthannach (KEER-hawn-nock) is known to the Celts as the Fire Spitter. An oilliphéist (great sea monster), she haunted swamps and lakes,…
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Headless Dullahán—An Ancient Agent of Death
Like the banshee, the Dullahán is a harbinger of death. Unlike a banshee, though, the Dullahán does not warn. When he stops riding and calls out a name, death is swift and imminent. Commonly known as the Headless Horseman or Gan Ceann (pronounced gan chann, meaning “without a head”), Dullahán means “dark man.” Clad in…