So last Tuesday night I'm scrolling through Instagram when this freaky artwork pops up – some goat-legged dude with way too many eyes staring straight into my soul. Couldn't sleep for hours after that. Next morning, coffee in hand, I dump my sketchbook and laptop on the kitchen table thinking: "Alright, where the HELL did humans dream up these nightmare creatures anyway?"
The Messy Start
Grabbed my oldest notebook first – the one with coffee stains and doodles in the margins. Flipped past grocery lists and bad poetry. Page 37 had a half-finished note from last Halloween: "Skinwalkers??? Navajo???" and "Japanese river ghosts?". No sources, no details. Just pure chaos. Typical me. Slammed the laptop open and fired up five browser tabs like a maniac. Googled "scariest mythical things" and immediately bombarded myself with a tsunami of red-eyed demons and snake-haired ladies. Absolute migraine fuel before my second coffee. Pro tip: Never research Lithuanian ghosts before breakfast. Big mistake.
Library Deep Dive & The "Ah-HAH!" Moment
Hauled my tired butt to the downtown library Thursday morning. Smelled like dust and anxiety. Wandered past the romance section straight to Myth & Folklore – shelves crammed with thick books sporting cracked leather spines. Grabbed three heavy ones promising "origins" in their titles. Settled into a squeaky chair near a guy loudly eating chips. Annoying, but whatever. Started flipping pages. Found squatty little trolls under "Norwegian fjord weather fears." Okay, kinda makes sense? Then stumbled on a page about gorgons. Turns out those snake-haired sisters like Medusa? Probably inspired by ancient Greek sailors seeing freaky jellyfish or tangled seaweed underwater. Scribbled "WTF!" in my notebook margin. Actual lightbulb moment there! Slapped the book shut so hard the chip-eater jumped. Whoops.
The Pattern Hunting Grind
Back home, cleared the dinner dishes off the table and spread my chaotic notes everywhere. Pink sticky notes for European beasties, yellow for Asian ones. My cat tried to steal a pen. Made little doodles next to names: ugly goblin near coal mines, creepy water spirit near rivers, flesh-eating demon near battlefields. Noticed every single culture had things lurking in the freaking dark. Started connecting dots. Monster origins usually fall into three buckets:
- Explaining Scary Stuff: Thunder = Thor's angry or some hammer-wielding giant. Simple.
- Warning Labels: Kelpies dragging kids into Scottish lakes = "DON'T PLAY BY THE WATER, IDIOT."
- Misunderstood Critters: Bats + darkness = vampires. Owls hooting at night = messengers of death. Animals got done dirty.
Took a break to make ramen, realizing how many stories are just old-timey cautionary tales mixed with bad weather sightings.
Creepy Connections to NOW
Friday afternoon, I'm typing up my messy scribbles when my neighbor's kid comes screaming through the yard wearing a cheap plastic werewolf mask. Made me freeze. These ancient beasties still got teeth, man. Slapped my laptop screen showing a Japanese "Nurikabe" (invisible wall monster making travelers lost) and realized - isn't that just a stupid app draining your phone battery when you need Google Maps most? Felt a chill. Old fears dressed in new tech clothes. Went down a rabbit hole about internet urban legends (Creepypasta stuff). Modern mythmaking still works the same way: shared panic + the unexplainable = new monsters breeding online. Creepy. Hugged my cat for safety.
Wrapping Up The Weirdness
By Saturday night, my table looks like a conspiracy theorist's headquarters – books stacked sideways, highlighted printouts everywhere, and one page just says "WHY SO MANY EYEBALLS???" in giant red letters. Double-checked my notes under a too-bright lamp. Ghouls? Started as desert graverobbers people demonized. Dragons? Komodo dragons sightings plus earthquake rumors all twisted together. Realized humans have been projecting their deepest fears onto shadows and weird noises since forever. Felt strangely relieved closing the laptop. These monsters started in the dark corners of our own minds, trying to make sense of a scary world. Still double-checking under my bed tonight though. Just in case.
