Post by QuirkyBestiary on Jul 3, 2018 12:56:39 GMT
We may now know monsters in the forms of famous figures such as Dracula and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, but these entities appeared in world mythology long before Universal films made them famous. Well, not the specific characters of Dracula and the Gill-Man, but similar creatures nonetheless. The Gill-Man finds its mythological equivalent in the South American Yacuruna, which were amphibious humanoids that lived in the Amazon River, and were well-known for kidnapping human women. Dracula is of course represented by the vampires of European folklore, but some other vampiric folklore (literally walking corpses instead of pretty boys that sparkle in the sunshine instead of burning) could be said to have been reinterpreted into our modern idea of the zombie, seeing as the Voodoo zombie pretty much shares nothing but its name with the monsters of Night of the Living Dead. But what about mummies? Are there any folkloric attestations to the bandaged corpses of ancient pharaohs spontaneously reanimating themselves to take vengeance on tomb raiders? The short answer is 'no', but let me go into more detail.
Egyptian mummies were never intended to be undead, and the supposed curses that are on the tombs of Egyptian rulers are mostly modern inventions by superstitious archaeologists. However, there are some records of curses inscribed on execration texts in the tombs of some of the rulers of the Egyptian 'Old Kingdom' era, such as that on the resting place of Ankhtifi, which promises that any ruler who does 'evil to this coffin' will not be able to give acceptable offerings to a local deity, and that their heirs shall not inherit their thrones. According to the ever-trustworthy Wikipedia, curses on tombs after the 'Old Kingdom' era mostly assured the wrath of Thoth or Sekhemet, and the tomb of Khentika Ikhekhi offers up this gem - "As for all men who shall enter this my tomb... impure... there will be judgment... an end shall be made for him... I shall seize his neck like a bird... I shall cast the fear of myself into him".
The bodies of rulers were preserved through mummification due to the very specific set of rules that the Egyptian religion(s) had laid out for entrance to the Afterlife. There was never any allusion to the bodies getting up again and chasing after Lara Croft. So where does that idea come from? Well, one of the first references to undead mummies came in a novel simply called 'The Mummy!' written by Jane C. Loudon in 1827. It contained the tale of the mummified body of a pharaoh which was resurrected in the twenty-second century, and proceeded to wreak havoc. Another story of a mummy's curse came in 1869, with Louisa May Alcott's novel 'Lost in a Pyramid'. The rest, as they say, is history. In 1932, Karl Freund directed 'The Mummy' and pharaohs were forever damned to shuffle the big screen.
But what about mythological monstrous mummies from elsewhere? I'm glad you asked - because Brazilian folklore has just the creature for you. It's called the Bradador, and it allegedly haunts the Southeast region of Brazil. Its name literally means 'shouter', named thusly due to the horrible screams that it emits as it runs through the fields every Friday after midnight. It is apparently born from a damned soul or a walking corpse that can never enter the Afterlife until it pays for its sins. I assume that it does this by screaming and wailing, for reasons best known to itself.
Pictured above is the drawing done of the Bradador by awesome artist 'Dani3lmatui'.
I'm not done with mythological mummies yet. Well I sort of am, but these next two creatures come from modern urban myth, so they're basically the same thing, right? Anyhoo, the 'Bandage Man' is a bizarre ghost that can allegedly be seen near Cannon Beach, Oregon. It pretty much does what it says on the tin, resembling a humanoid covered in bloody bandages and stinking of rotten flesh. According to the local legend, it is the ghost of a logger who died in a sawmill accident. The Bandage Man manifests on the short approach road that connects US Highway 101 to Cannon Beach, and is said to grab onto any slow-moving or stationary vehicles, attempting to attack the drivers - sometimes even breaking glass windows. It will remain latched onto the vehicle right up until the terrified drivers make it to the town of Cannon Beach, after which the spectre will disappear. Cryptid Wiki says that is has killed and eaten several pets, and even suggests that it may have done the same to humans. This monster is basically a classic example of the 'Lover's Lane' haunting, at home among such famous faces as the Hook Man and Mill Race Monster. The road on which the Bandage Man appears used to be a well-known spot for young couples to go and enjoy some private time, and it is said that in 1960 an unnamed couple was attempting to make love in their pickup truck when they noticed that the vehicle was shaking. They looked up and were terrified to see what appeared to be a man covered in bloodied bandages latched onto the back of the truck, smashing his fist against the window. Wisely, the boyfriend did not get out of the car and end up hanging upside-down from a tree, and instead the couple immediately drove off - with the Bandage Man still clinging to the back of their truck. However, the entity was nowhere to be seen by the time that they stopped driving. Since then, people have apparently seen the Bandage Man on this now-decommissioned road.
The final mummy monster that I have lined up for you today is the Fairfield Mummy, a fairly recently-emerged story. Fairfield is an area in Cypress, a quiet Texan town just Northwest of Houston. In January of 2011, however, the residents were forced to come face-to-face with a highly unusual intruder. According to Houston's KPRC News, there was a mummy prowling the neighbourhood, and Fairfield residents were 'living in fear' since the mysterious figure had started running around their locale. Cypress homeowner Jon Hill had called the police after spotting the entity moving around on the front lawn of his Chestnut Falls Drive home. According to Hill, the anomalous individual had 'Bandages, like a mummy. He looked like a mummy. It's scary not knowing what this man is up to or what he wants'. The Harris County sheriff's department advised residents to call 911 immediately if they caught sight of the creepy character. Authorities were convinced that the bizarre being was nothing more than a man dressed as a mummy, but were unsure of his motives. Steven Scheiffele, a resident of the mummy's new stomping ground, echoed the feelings of the general population of the neighbourhood when he said:
'It's creepy, especially since he's here in the neighbourhood with the kids and stuff.'
Judging by the lack of continued reports of the so-called Fairfield Mummy, suggesting that it disappeared as quickly as it came, I think that this being falls into the same category of modern folklore as Spring-Heeled Jack and the Mad Gasser, which were named as 'Phantom Attackers' over on Mysterious Universe. I shall be doing an article on those creatures as well pretty soon.
So there's some folkloric mummies to tide you over for now. I am certain that there are other preserved predators in folklore and mythology, and so feel free to discuss them and share them with me in the thread below!
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_pharaohs
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy_(monster)
www.deviantart.com/dani3lmatui/art/Bradador-703508163
cryptidz.wikia.com/wiki/Bandage_Man
swamplot.com/how-to-spot-a-mummy-attack-from-inside-your-fairfield-home/2011-01-10/
Strange Intruders by David Weatherly
Egyptian mummies were never intended to be undead, and the supposed curses that are on the tombs of Egyptian rulers are mostly modern inventions by superstitious archaeologists. However, there are some records of curses inscribed on execration texts in the tombs of some of the rulers of the Egyptian 'Old Kingdom' era, such as that on the resting place of Ankhtifi, which promises that any ruler who does 'evil to this coffin' will not be able to give acceptable offerings to a local deity, and that their heirs shall not inherit their thrones. According to the ever-trustworthy Wikipedia, curses on tombs after the 'Old Kingdom' era mostly assured the wrath of Thoth or Sekhemet, and the tomb of Khentika Ikhekhi offers up this gem - "As for all men who shall enter this my tomb... impure... there will be judgment... an end shall be made for him... I shall seize his neck like a bird... I shall cast the fear of myself into him".
The bodies of rulers were preserved through mummification due to the very specific set of rules that the Egyptian religion(s) had laid out for entrance to the Afterlife. There was never any allusion to the bodies getting up again and chasing after Lara Croft. So where does that idea come from? Well, one of the first references to undead mummies came in a novel simply called 'The Mummy!' written by Jane C. Loudon in 1827. It contained the tale of the mummified body of a pharaoh which was resurrected in the twenty-second century, and proceeded to wreak havoc. Another story of a mummy's curse came in 1869, with Louisa May Alcott's novel 'Lost in a Pyramid'. The rest, as they say, is history. In 1932, Karl Freund directed 'The Mummy' and pharaohs were forever damned to shuffle the big screen.
But what about mythological monstrous mummies from elsewhere? I'm glad you asked - because Brazilian folklore has just the creature for you. It's called the Bradador, and it allegedly haunts the Southeast region of Brazil. Its name literally means 'shouter', named thusly due to the horrible screams that it emits as it runs through the fields every Friday after midnight. It is apparently born from a damned soul or a walking corpse that can never enter the Afterlife until it pays for its sins. I assume that it does this by screaming and wailing, for reasons best known to itself.
Pictured above is the drawing done of the Bradador by awesome artist 'Dani3lmatui'.
I'm not done with mythological mummies yet. Well I sort of am, but these next two creatures come from modern urban myth, so they're basically the same thing, right? Anyhoo, the 'Bandage Man' is a bizarre ghost that can allegedly be seen near Cannon Beach, Oregon. It pretty much does what it says on the tin, resembling a humanoid covered in bloody bandages and stinking of rotten flesh. According to the local legend, it is the ghost of a logger who died in a sawmill accident. The Bandage Man manifests on the short approach road that connects US Highway 101 to Cannon Beach, and is said to grab onto any slow-moving or stationary vehicles, attempting to attack the drivers - sometimes even breaking glass windows. It will remain latched onto the vehicle right up until the terrified drivers make it to the town of Cannon Beach, after which the spectre will disappear. Cryptid Wiki says that is has killed and eaten several pets, and even suggests that it may have done the same to humans. This monster is basically a classic example of the 'Lover's Lane' haunting, at home among such famous faces as the Hook Man and Mill Race Monster. The road on which the Bandage Man appears used to be a well-known spot for young couples to go and enjoy some private time, and it is said that in 1960 an unnamed couple was attempting to make love in their pickup truck when they noticed that the vehicle was shaking. They looked up and were terrified to see what appeared to be a man covered in bloodied bandages latched onto the back of the truck, smashing his fist against the window. Wisely, the boyfriend did not get out of the car and end up hanging upside-down from a tree, and instead the couple immediately drove off - with the Bandage Man still clinging to the back of their truck. However, the entity was nowhere to be seen by the time that they stopped driving. Since then, people have apparently seen the Bandage Man on this now-decommissioned road.
The final mummy monster that I have lined up for you today is the Fairfield Mummy, a fairly recently-emerged story. Fairfield is an area in Cypress, a quiet Texan town just Northwest of Houston. In January of 2011, however, the residents were forced to come face-to-face with a highly unusual intruder. According to Houston's KPRC News, there was a mummy prowling the neighbourhood, and Fairfield residents were 'living in fear' since the mysterious figure had started running around their locale. Cypress homeowner Jon Hill had called the police after spotting the entity moving around on the front lawn of his Chestnut Falls Drive home. According to Hill, the anomalous individual had 'Bandages, like a mummy. He looked like a mummy. It's scary not knowing what this man is up to or what he wants'. The Harris County sheriff's department advised residents to call 911 immediately if they caught sight of the creepy character. Authorities were convinced that the bizarre being was nothing more than a man dressed as a mummy, but were unsure of his motives. Steven Scheiffele, a resident of the mummy's new stomping ground, echoed the feelings of the general population of the neighbourhood when he said:
'It's creepy, especially since he's here in the neighbourhood with the kids and stuff.'
Judging by the lack of continued reports of the so-called Fairfield Mummy, suggesting that it disappeared as quickly as it came, I think that this being falls into the same category of modern folklore as Spring-Heeled Jack and the Mad Gasser, which were named as 'Phantom Attackers' over on Mysterious Universe. I shall be doing an article on those creatures as well pretty soon.
So there's some folkloric mummies to tide you over for now. I am certain that there are other preserved predators in folklore and mythology, and so feel free to discuss them and share them with me in the thread below!
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_pharaohs
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy_(monster)
www.deviantart.com/dani3lmatui/art/Bradador-703508163
cryptidz.wikia.com/wiki/Bandage_Man
swamplot.com/how-to-spot-a-mummy-attack-from-inside-your-fairfield-home/2011-01-10/
Strange Intruders by David Weatherly
