Alright, let me walk you through how I put together that post about ancient scary monsters. Honestly, it started kinda simple and got weirdly messy, just like that old Go language rant I once saw.
Saw an old dusty book about myths at the thrift shop. Grabbed it, paid like two bucks, thought "Hey, maybe folks online'd dig the scariest bits." Figured I'd make a listicle. Easy, right? Ha.
Step 1: Picking the Monsters
Cracked open the book, ready to find pure nightmare fuel. Started scribbling down anything that sounded nasty:
- The one where a spirit possesses you during winter famine, makes you eat people? Wendigo. Obvious pick.
- That child-stealing old hag from Russia, living in the chicken-legged house. Baba Yaga. Creepy grandma vibes for sure.
- Japanese ghost lady, hair all over the place, dragging a comb, moaning nonsense. Kuchisake-onna. Definitely unsettling.
Looked good! Aimed for seven, so kept digging. Flipped pages, made notes. Seemed straightforward.
Step 2: The Online Rabbit Hole
Thought I should double-check names, get some details clearer. Big mistake. Typed "Wendigo mythology" into a search bar.
Holy confusion. Suddenly had:
- Twenty different spellings of "Wendigo." Which one was right?
- Articles arguing if it was Algonquian or Anishinaabe lore.
- Modern horror movies that got it all wrong.
- People debating if it had antlers or not. The book didn't mention antlers!
Same thing happened with Baba Yaga. Was her house always chicken-legged? Or sometimes goose? Did she help people sometimes? Suddenly felt like I needed a PhD just to write "Scary Witch Lady."
Step 3: Trying to Simplify & Wrapping It Up
Spent hours, seriously hours, going down these holes. Coffee went cold. Needed to stop the madness. Grabbed my initial thrift-store book notes.
Thought: "Forget the endless debates. Just go with the simple, scary idea that hooked people for centuries." Went back to basics:
- Wendigo: Cold hunger spirit that makes you eat people. Terrifying enough.
- Baba Yaga: Old witch who might grind you up for dinner. Classic fear.
- Kuchisake-onna: "Am I pretty?" Slashed faces are scary. Done.
- Added a Greek sea monster messing with ships, a flesh-eating ghoul from Arabic tales, a soul-stealing hag from Celtic swamps, and that ghost ship sailing forever. Filled the seven spots.
Wrote short, punchy descriptions focused purely on the "why it freaks people out" angle from the old tales I read. Cut all the complicated arguments.
And Then... My Kid Woke Up Screaming
Finished drafting around midnight. Felt pretty good. Went to bed.
Around 3 AM... BAM! My kid bursts into the room, completely hysterical. Eyes wide, screaming about "the mouth-lady" coming to get him because her mouth was cut! Hadn't even published the darn post yet, but talking about Kuchisake-onna while researching had apparently leaked out enough to fuel toddler nightmares!
Spent the next hour calming him down, assuring him no scary ladies were hiding in our hallway. Felt slightly like a monster myself. Proof the myths do still have some scary power, even accidentally delivered by a clueless dad!
Published the cleaned-up list the next day. Lesson learned: Ancient monsters are tricky... and maybe don't discuss child-eating spirits where little ears can hear. Whoops.
