- Monsters under your bed, in your closet,
lurking in the darkness.
Fiction, right?
Creatures that roam the night and terrorize humans
have been in fiction for a long time,
but what if they aren't just fairy tales?
What if some of the most famous scary monsters of all time
actually once did exist?
Or, even do currently.
Here are 10 real-life monsters that actually exist.
Number 10 are werewolves.
(spooky music)
The modern werewolf story states
that such a creature bites its victims
and then the victim turns into a werewolf as well,
but there are a number of well-documented instances
where real werewolves abducted people
rather than just biting them.
One of the most famous is Gilles Garnier,
who lived in a forest near the village of Dole
in 15th century France.
He had spent most of his life
fending for himself in the woods,
but when he got married, he had another mouth to feed.
Worried that he and his wife would starve,
Gilles claimed that he was met by a man
who he later believed to be the Devil himself.
The man offered Gilles a magical ointment
that would bring food to the door,
but when Gilles wore the ointment
he turned into a mindless, ravenous creature
which kidnapped four children and ate them with his wife.
Number nine is the Mothman.
(eerie music)
The Mothman is a famous cryptid
which appears just before a great tragedy occurs.
One theory however, states that the Mothman creature
does more than just warn people,
it kidnaps some of those that it encounters.
Take the Point Pleasant Disaster for example.
In 1967, after the Mothman was spotted
around the U.S. town of Point Pleasant,
a bridge collapsed killing 46 people.
That much is commonly known, but what isn't
is the sinister possibility that the Mothman
brought about the disaster to kidnap two people
present at the bridge's collapse.
When the dust settled, the bodies of Kathy Byus
and Maxine Turner, who were on the bridge, vanished
as if something otherworldly had swooped in
and taken them away for an unknown purpose.
Number eight are astral entities.
(eerie music)
Astral projection allows a person to vibrate
their spiritual body in such a way
that it leaves the physical form behind.
Users of the astral projection method
describe being able to float out of their bodies
and travel to far flung places before returning
to their corporeal vessel.
However, the dimension through which
astral projection occurs is not an empty void.
There are spiritual creatures which live in that realm.
Practitioners have cited numerous instances
when some of these creatures have attempted
to kidnap their soul or spirit.
This then allows such entities to enter the body
and become flesh, taking over the individual.
What catches victims out during this process
is that the entities, while demonic in nature,
take the form of passed on loved ones
to trick the individual into losing their body forever.
Number seven is the charama entity.
(eerie music)
With so many people vanishing in the modern world,
it's not surprising that such abductions
also took place thousands of years ago
when human beings were less protected.
It's also unsurprising that ancient people
would record these moments as a warning
to anyone willing to listen.
The cave paintings at Shawarma in Central India
show strange beings taking human beings
away for an unknown purpose.
While some believe these creatures are alien in origin,
many believe that what can only be called
the charama entities are something completely unknown
which ancient humans encountered regularly.
Perhaps the people who made those paintings
were using those caves to shelter from more
than just the elements outside.
Who knows what creatures walked the Earth
and whether they're still around.
Number six are road trolls.
(eerie music)
There's an unknown creature which is plaguing
the country roads of North America.
Known as a road troll, these creatures
have been the cause of road accidents,
terrifying encounters at night, and even kidnappings.
Road troll encounters tend to follow a pattern
similar to the experience of trucker, Gary Durbin,
who first saw one of the creatures
by the side of an empty road in 1981.
The creature looked like a wild man covered in hair
and it had appeared to have had a wooden leg.
During the drive, Durbin would see the creature
appear again, hundreds of kilometers
from the first sighting.
Some believe that the occasional empty car
found by the side of the remote road
is evidence of a road troll pulling the driver off the road
and disappearing into the wilderness with their catch.
Number five is the Highgate Vampire.
(eerie music)
Vampires aren't just a relic of old world mythology.
They may be real and during the 1970s,
one of them came to London.
It fed on animals nearby and took a young girl prisoner
by controlling her as she slept.
The girl would walk to London's Highgate Cemetery
and visit the creature.
Investigators who believed witness accounts
followed the girl and allegedly drove the creature
out of the cemetery.
Years later, one of those investigators,
Sean Manchester, came face to face with the vampire
as it slept in a local basement.
There, he destroyed it.
The Highgate Vampire remains one of the most
well documented cases of vampire activity in history.
Those who believe the claims say that the vampire
spread its influence, placing people into a daze
while leading them to where it lay
to slowly drain them of what it craved; life.
Number four are witches.
(eerie music)
Whether supernatural monster,
misunderstood religious practice, or dark spiritual zealot,
witches are very real.
From the Mora Witch Trial in the 17th century in Sweden,
to 21st century Mozambique, where bald men
where being abducted and killed in witchcraft ceremonies,
witches remain hidden in the darkest corners
of every country on the planet.
In Tanzania, children suffering from albinism,
which removes pigment from their skin,
have been kidnapped for use in witchcraft rituals
supposedly designed to bring good fortune
and health to their kidnappers.
But while most of these terrible crimes
can be accounted for by humans alone,
many believe that some witches have entered
into a pact with evil demonic beings
which assist them in their attempts to kidnap people
and sacrifice them for unknown satanic purposes.
Number three is the unknown abductor.
(eerie music)
In his book series, Missing 411, former police detective,
David Paulides, has uncovered a terrifying number
of disappearances in national parks across North America.
A large number of people have been disappearing
in remote parts of these parks.
What's more sinister about these disappearances
is that they appear to be connected.
Many of the disappearances involve children
with their parents.
In one second, a parent looks away from their child
while camping, only to look back
and see that the child has vanished.
In cases where a body is later found,
it's discovered where rescue teams have already searched
as if the abductor has returned the body
to the scene of the crime.
Some believe that whatever is taking these people
is of supernatural origin and walks through the wildernesses
of America and Canada.
Number two are greys.
(eerie music)
Since the advent of modern science fiction,
alien abductions have increased with alarming regularity.
Those abducted describe terrifying scenarios
like being lifted from their beds
and placed on a surgical table as aliens with gray skin
and large black eyes operate on them.
One theory is that they are an alien species
which treats human beings much like we
treat animals in a zoo.
Another is that it's all a figment of imagination
brought on by popular culture's obsession with alien life.
But, looking at history, it's clear
that these experiences actually pre-date
modern science fiction.
Almost every culture has similar stories
which have been reinterpreted
by the conventions of the times.
Angels, demons, ghosts, succubi, and aliens, take your pick.
Whatever they are, they're abductions are horrifying,
leaving no one safe at night as they sleep.
And number one is Bigfoot.
(eerie music)
Bigfoot is one of the most elusive cryptids in the world,
hiding in dense forested areas.
But, many claim that they do cross paths with us
and not always peacefully.
In fact, there are several accounts
of Bigfoot creatures charging out of tree lines
and kidnapping people enjoying the scenery.
One of the earliest accounts is that of a lumberjack
in Canada in 1924.
His name was Albert Ostman and he was carried prisoner
by a group of Bigfoot creatures
and held captive for six days before making his escape.
Several other accounts exist of other abductions
including women being held against their will
by male Bigfoot creatures.
In one account, a girl called Oksana Terletskaya
was abducted for an entire year.
When she escaped and rested in a hospital,
it's said that the creature came back for her
and Oksana vanished without a trace.
(eerie music)