Vampires
          Nosferatu...the undead. Once human, these immortal blood-suckers can only come out at night because the sun will destroy them. They can transform himself into a bat and fly away.They sleep in coffins. Garlic, holy water or a crucifix will repel them. To kill them without the help of the sun, you have to drive a stake through their hearts...yuck. But, where did these ideas come from?

       lthough there are these kinds of creatures in most cultures throughout our history, the vampire myth we know best seems to have come from Eastern Europe centuries ago, where the rich and powerful killed the locals and drank their blood. As the story was told, it got bigger and supernatural. But, the idea that he was just a rich murdering nut case isn't as creepy as a rich , flying guy who never dies. So, he can always come back in another book or movie to get us.

Mummies
            Egyptian Mummies...and their curses. Thousands of years old and wrapped in layers of linen, these guys will get up out of their sarcophogi, hunt you down and kill you in the dark narrow passages of their tombs if you go in their burial chambers. If they don't get you while you're there, their curse will get you soon enough. Where did these ideas come from?

       This group of myths begins in Egypt. The Pharoahs were mummified to be sure they would go on in the afterlife. They believed they should take certain things of this world with them. So, they had treasures in their tombs with them. To guard their stone-sealed tombs from thieves, they left curses written in heiroglyphics on walls, just before the entance to each burial chamber. The most famous of mummies' curses is King Tutenkhamen's. It warns of   "death on wings".

       King Tutenkhamen's chamber was rediscovered in 1922. Within ten years, over twenty people who had entered the tomb, or messed with the mummy had died. The latest  was a young woman in 1995.  Mold spores that grow on he walls there infected her lungs.            Mummies are filled with killer bacteria. People who handle mummies have to wear a lot of protective clothing. 

The curse of Tutenkhamen is more true than false...death on wings. But, it isn't supernatural. It's science.

Werewolves
When the moon is full, anyone bitten by the supernatural wolf or another werewolf will turn into a werewolf on the next full moon...cursed to change and kill. He can be killed by a silver bullet. Where does this myth come from?

Again, this seems to come from Europe. Maybe a mix of many stories from all over and generations back. We found stories of people changing because of a bite, and even a belt buckle.

What doesn't change is the idea of humans turning into wild animals.

Aliens
             The creatures from other planets. They fly in intergalactic space ships to come down to Earth to eat people, take over people's bodies, or to rule the world. Sure there are lots of movies about aliens, like Men in Black, or Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But no one knows what's really out there. Are the stories about these space creatures true?

           In August of 1996, NASA scientists found fossilized microbes a in meteorite believed to be from Mars. So they believe there was life on Mars. Now NASA is looking for these fossils of actual life on Mars. Will they find any? We shall all find out in the future.

Cannibal Woman
This is a Native American character who comes to get bad kids or those who wander off . She puts them in her basket and goes to eat them. In some stories, the kids outfox her. 

Meteors
Many Native American Tribes saw meteors or shooting stars as a bad omen,   
and believed they were a sign that sickness was coming.

The Bad

            In scary myths and stories, the sun is good and the moon is bad. You can always expect the bad at night.
          These well-known myths and stories have scared generations around the world. They are man's fear of the different and unknown mixed with the night and our  imagination.

           But, sometimes,  scary folklore has been used to teach   kids things...like not to wander off , or not to act mean or something bad, like the Cannibal Woman, or the Boogie-man will get you.

       Click on the topics below to read more

          Vampires   Mummies  Werewolves  Aliens

               Cannibal Woman   Meteors

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