Buckle up, folks, I’ve got some bad news.
Or good news, depending on the kind of person you are.
Monster-lovers rejoice.
No matter where you go on this lovely planet we call home, there will be monsters.
Under your bed, among the trees, lurking in the shadows, pretending to be other things,
you name it.
There’s a reason to be scared wherever you end up.
The types and functions of monsters vary widely between locations and cultures, but they often
serve similar purposes: to frighten you, and often encourage specific types of behaviour.
This makes it quite fascinating to look at different monsters from different areas, and
compare and contrast each one, looking at it’s origins, features, and other qualities.
Which, incidentally, is what we’ll do today!
Hello horror heads, and welcome back to the scariest channel on YouTube: Top5ScaryVideos.
I’m your horror host, Keegan Hughes, and today we’re going to be talking about the
Top 5 Scary Monsters From Around the World.
Five seems like a bit of a low number for a list that could potentially include so many
creatures, eh?
Before we get started, make sure to give this video a big thumbs up, and subscribe for more
international intrigue.
Perfect, let’s begin.
NUMBER FIVE: PENANGGALAN We’ll start our journey around the world
of monsters in Malaysia.
This monster is terrifying for a bevy of reasons, the first of which is partially illustrated
in its name.
Penanggalan comes from the word tanggal, which means to remove or take off.
Don’t get too excited, this isn’t a sexy demon list.
Unless you’re really into vinegar and witchcraft.
See, this monster usually presents itself as a floating female head, organs dangling
down from her neck.
It floats around at night, looking for blood to drink and people to slowly kill.
Often they will seek out pregnant women and young children, slurping up their blood whenever
they can.
Anyone who is fed upon by this monster will contract a terrible illness, too, one that
is more often than not unavoidably fatal.
Plus, even if you’re not a common target, you can still get really messed up by this
creature.
Anyone who comes into contact with a Penanggalan’s dangling organs will develop awful open sores.
These wounds are painful, and will not heal without help from a shaman.
Another scary bit concerning this monster is that any woman can become one.
If you practice black magic, you have the ability to become a Penanggalan.
There’s a certain ritual that will transform you into this floating mass of organs.
If a woman meditates in a bathtub full of vinegar, with only her head above the acidic
liquid, she can become one.
The vinegar shrinks her organs, allowing for easy removal and re-entry.
Plus, it adds an acrid, vinegary smell wherever the monster goes.
Bloodthirsty, sore-causing, and they smell like vinegar.
The Penanggalan has it all, eh?
NUMBER FOUR: THE TATZELWURM God, I love these things.
It seems like something that would fit in perfectly in a Souls game.
The kind of monster that can be slain, but only by the bravest and most competent of
warriors.
Slip up or hesitate, and you’re cooked.
Hailing from the Alps, the Tatzelwurm is often described as a lizard beast, with the face
of a cat.
Depending on who you ask, they stand on two or four legs, or maybe even switches between
them.
If you’re ever in Switzerland, stay alert.
If you hear a horrible shriek or hiss, it’s likely a Tatzelwurm is nearby.
If a giant lizard-cat-thing wasn’t enough to keep you on your toes, make sure to watch
out for its breath.
Austrian and Bavarian versions of this creature are said to have poisonous breath.
So even if you put up a good fight, or attempt to run away, you might just collapse regardless.
Hell, even if you win you could fall victim to the poison.
Even the Tatzelwurm’s blood is made up of acidic compounds, so if you accidentally splash
some on you, you’re sizzled.
Sightings of this beast date back to 1779, where a man ran into not one, but two Tatzelwurms
and succumbed to a heart attack.
My goodness, they can kill with fear, too.
Thanks to their huge teeth, scales, and bad attitude, many consider these to be a sort
of dragon.
And I’m not so sure I would argue with that denomination.
Sure, they don’t breathe fire or fly, but they’ve got poison on lock and love to kill
folks.
NUMBER THREE: THE TUPILAQ To cool things down for a moment, let’s
head to Greenland.
On this island, you can find all sorts of fascinating beings.
One of the most interesting, if not entirely disturbing, is known as the Tupilaq.
Unlike plenty of other mythical monsters, this is a manmade creature.
Shamans would collect all sorts of objects, including animal parts and pieces of dead
children, and then perform rituals to give them life.
Often, the creature would take on a chimeric appearance, and have the head of a baby or
young child.
If that’s not enough to turn your blood to ice, I don’t know what to say.
Shamans would create these beasts to seek revenge on their enemies.
Once given life they could be placed into the sea, where they would then seek out the
person the shaman was trying to get.
Tupilaq are a bit of a double-edged sword, though.
If you sent one after a person who was better at magic than you, they could stop it and
send it back to kill its creator.
So if you are looking for some revenge via dead baby monster, you’d better be confident.
The last thing anyone needs is a boomeranging bringer of doom.
Thankfully, you could call off the spell that kept the Tupilaq alive if you publicly confessed
to creating it.
This would be a great source of shame, though, as black magic is usually frowned upon.
Plus, some rituals involve sexual contact with your materials, and nobody wants to admit
to that.
NUMBER TWO: NAMAZU Have you ever seen someone go noodling?
It’s fascinating and freaky.
It’s a special kind of fishing, where you reach your bare arm into an underwater hole
containing a catfish, and let it latch on.
If the fish is big enough, you can grab onto its gills and pull.
To some folks, this is a terrifying thought!
To others, it’s an exciting sport.
Catfish can grow to ridiculous size if left alone for long enough, so the catches some
folks come up with are crazy.
But none are anywhere near as crazy as the Japanese Namazu.
There are big catfish, and then there are giant ones.
Namazu falls under that second category.
It lives under the islands in the mud, and can cause earthquakes when it flops around.
So in addition to being a horrific gigantic catfish, arguably the freakiest looking of
freshwater fish, it causes earthquakes.
You don’t want to mess with Namazu.
In fact, it’s so destructive, the god Kashima watches over it.
Kashima does his best to keep it restrained under a rock, but if he ever lets his guard
down the fish can return to flopping.
If a god can’t keep Namazu under control, what hope does anyone else have?
I suppose we’ve all just got to deal with earthquakes now.
But hey, if we do end up taking it down through teamwork and heart, we could follow it up
with the world's most insane fish fry.
Who’s down?
NUMBER ONE: ALLGHOI KHORKHOI Also known as the Mongolian Death Worm.
Need I say more?
Alright, I suppose I will.
Folks have been claiming that these terrifying slitherers live in the Gobi Desert for years
now.
Back in the 1920’s, an American paleontologist was introduced to the idea, but never saw
one himself.
In fact, the Mongolian officials that told him about the worm had never seen one themselves,
either, but claimed that it was real.
The death worm is two feet long, bright red, and extremely poisonous.
If one was to touch any part of the creature, they would die almost immediately.
If that wasn’t enough, the worm is also known to spray corrosive venom at prey.
Thankfully, it’s only active during a couple months out of the year.
The rest of its time is spent underground, tunneling through the sand.
It mostly eats camels, laying eggs in their intestines, but has been known to feast on
parasitic plants as well.
For whatever reason, the Mongolian Death Worm really likes the colour yellow.
So, uhh, don’t be wearing anything too lemony while traversing the desert.
I always thought that the big ole sandworms would be a big issue, but now it seems like
Dune and Tremors have not adequately prepared us.
So watch out for little ripples in the sand, and if you see anything red try to remember
the last time you updated your will.
OUTRO Do you feel more worldly now?
Has the additional monster culture positively impacted your brain?
Or are you more likely to stay in your hometown forever and ever?
I’m sure wherever you live has some wicked monsters, but you’ve probably made your
peace with them by this point.
The devil you know, etc etc.
What did you think of the video?
How many of these monsters would you be willing to take on?
What is your favourite monster?
Should we be scripting limited series about any of these freaks?
Make sure you let me know down in the comments.
Speaking of comments, let’s take a look at some of your more spatially aware ones
from the TOP 5 SCARY EXORCISMS THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
Largo778 says “I was exorcised once, never again am I going to the gym.”
Did you run on the dread-mill?
Or maybe you did some dead-lifting.
Perhaps you performed some skull-crushers?
Hans Bergh says “I witnessed an exorcism, it was actually really scary.”
I don’t know if that’s something I want to add to my bucket list or not.
Something tells me not many people come away from an exorcism feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
Tiffany Abell says “The family whose boy walked up the wall in front of staff at the
hospital was not Indianapolis, it was Gary Indiana.
I live a few towns over.
Police and DCS staff also wrote in their reports that they too saw unexplained things such
as furniture moving.
I personally knew the DCS worker.”
Thanks for the correction!
It’s wild how many people claim to have seen supernatural phenomena connected to that
case.
Something strange must be going on in Gary.
Edmond Williams says “Hey Keegan.
Can I please get a shout-out, today’s my birthday.”
Absolutely, but it’ll be a few days late!
Happy birthday Edmond!
Adrian says “It’s so cool man.”
You know it!
And that’s all the time we have for today.
Before I grab a couple of live wires with my bare hands, make sure to give this video
a big thumbs up, and subscribe for more fastidious fear!
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.