Horrifying Mythical Creatures You've Never Heard Of

Australia, a country that already wants to kill you with a spider, but wait there's more. We are here for the Bunyip, an aboriginal legend of a thing that lives in the dark swamp water. The Bunyip is less a singular monster and more a water-based greatest hits album of horror. Old Tom here, he's just trying to catch a fish for his sad little dinner and go home. The silence of the outback is only broken by the occasional chirp and the gentle lap of the river. But suddenly there's a big oily swirl right where Tom's bait should be because apparently it lets out a sound that they say is a mixture of a booming foghorn and a cow. The first form we meet is the common seal slash dog Bunyip. Its body is described as a giant seal with black matted fur and powerful flippers. It's a dog with the body of a chunky seal and a mouth full of teeth like shattered dinner plates. As if that wasn't bad enough it uses those teeth to crush and devour everything nearby. It's a horrifile swamp vacuum consuming anything that gets too close to its watering hole. For the indigenous aboriginal people this creature was known as the devil or the spirit of the water. Nothing says aquatic predator like a giant monster trying to wear a tiny rubber ducky. The biggest headache about the Bunyip is that no two people agree on what it looks like. They had to invent a single word for this whole zoo of chaos so they called it the Bunyip. Some early European settlers tried to link the myths to ancient extinct megafauna skeletons. Our archaeologist is very focused on this one particular bone. Look how proud he is! But bones are not supposed to vibrate like that. The scientist's excitement starts to fade a little. Then a terrible squelching sound and the proud scientist quickly backs away in sheer panic. The Bunyip takes on the form of a strange emu manatee hybrid growing from the very earth. It's a bizarre mix of feathery scales and the massive clumsy body of an aquatic beast. The manatee emu Bunyip is now fully formed. It stands there angry and very very confused. It's a lumbering dry land horror that can drain a creek just by sheer physical size. This form drowns victims by sinking to the bottom where it then sits on their lungs. It is also said to have a voice that is a cross between a bull, an alligator and a very bad dad joke. As if that wasn't bad enough it gets stuck trying to waddle on those ridiculous flippers. Let's move from the what to the why. The Bunyip is often described by its terrifying hunting style because apparently it has a preference for the most vulnerable. Women, children and livestock. Here's little Timmy just playing by the creek. A perfect target for a territorial swamp monster. He sees a glittery little piece of something shiny just below the surface of the quiet water. Timmy reaches out convinced he has found some sort of legendary swamp treasure or a coin. The Bunyip strikes from below a flash of grotesque teeth and a quick wet snapping sound. Claws or tentacles quickly pull the unsuspecting victim down into the cold dark depths. The creature takes the elderly male dragging him under with a massive terrifying unseen force. This is the Bunyip's ultimate power to pull you into the dark without leaving a single trace. LIMAX! The sheer horrifying void of the water where the victim just disappeared. And just like that the creek is quiet again. The Bunyip gets its meal and no one saw a thing. These stories were meant to scare people especially children away from dangerous bodies of water. The Bunyip then spits out the tiny non-nutritious object that it probably didn't even want. As the country got bigger so did the descriptions of its most horrifying creatures. A Bunyip had an upgrade. Meet the giant crocodilian horned beast variant. Out in the open range a farmer is just trying to water his cow. Everything seems fine. The water near the bank begins to turn an unnatural. Before the farmer can even yell the Hereford cow is pulled under by a massive unseen force. Surface explodes. Something huge armored and ancient is now breaching the water. The crocodile Bunyip's massive skull complete with glowing eyes is now fully exposed. The farmer knows he is next. The sheer size of this monster is beyond any earthly threat. The horned crocodile Bunyip is gigantic. A massive armored tank that should not be able to swim. Climax. Terrifying power of the Bunyip is why they called this creature a water devil and for good reason. Some stories say that the appearance of a Bunyip means a massive drought or flood is coming. Nothing says evil water monster like wearing the cowbell you just stole from your last meal. The ultimate question remains is the Bunyip real or is it a clever mix of misunderstood animals. Some cryptozoologists think it's a species of extinct Diprotodon. A massive giant wombat. They were big but they weren't exactly known for their underwater highly aggressive attack. More reasonably it's probably the result of people seeing a seal or an elephant seal in a river. The noises are probably a result of a massive koala stuck in a tree near the water. They make a sound that is similar to a human coughing up a massive phlegmy loogie. Or it could be a simple giant black feathered bird. That's probably the least exciting. But maybe just maybe it's a terrifying multi-formed monster that lives in the black water. Climax because this is Australia and the water devil is almost certainly going to kill you. So the next time you go fishing in the outback don't get too close to the edge of the swamp because the Bunyip is probably still down there waiting for its next unsuspecting victim. The Bunyip. Happy hunting mate. But wait there's one final terrifying Bunyip variant. The one you truly do not want to meet. It's the man-sized water horse. Part stallion, part sea serpent. An all terrible idea. In this scenario we have a lonely outback traveler. Clearly very new to the Australian rules. He's by the water looking for the fabled swamp pub and a cold questionable beer. Suddenly the traveler hears the unmistakable sound of a Arabian horse neighing nearby. But why? A massive equine head with long flowing kelp-like hair lunges from the surface. It's the man-horse Bunyip. Long and serpentine with a slick black rubbery body. The traveler realizes that the pub sign he was looking for probably isn't worth the trouble. The Bunyip wraps its serpentine neck around its prey squeezing the life out of the terrified East Asian man. Climax. It crushes him and drags him into the deepest darkest part of the watery void. The sheer variety of Bunyip stories proves only one thing. Aussies are terrified of their water. The moral of all Bunyip stories is simple. Don't wander off alone, mate. The water always wins. Good luck!