BESTIARY
Black Lady—the antithesis of the usually benevolent spirit known as the White Lady. The Black Lady committed serious crimes while alive, most often the murder of her husband, and was sentenced to an eternal haunting as punishment.
Bludiczka—similarly to the will o’ the wisp, they lure pilgrims from the roads deeper into the forest, but in Czech folklore they often take the form of beautiful ethereal women who lure travellers in a swamp or dance them to death.
Bosorka—one of the many Czech words for a witch, who can be either human or a forest fairy.
Brno Dragon—one of the two famous medieval stuffed crocodiles in Czechia; the other, also mentioned in this anthology, is located in the town of Budyně. While the origin of the Brno dragon is uncertain, the Budyně one was brought back from an expedition to Egypt in 1522 by the adventurer Jan IV. Zajíc of Hazmburk and the crocodile made the entire journey across the Mediterranean Sea and half of Europe alive.
Chort—basically a devil—a creature with horns, black fur, a tail and hooves; but in Czech legends they do not live only in Hell, but also in abandoned houses, sawmills and mills, where they haunt travellers, offering to grant them wishes in exchange for their souls or making bets; if humans lose a bet, they also lose their souls or are taken straight to Hell.
Deadlings—the ghosts of children, killed at birth by unwed mothers who then secretly buried them without a proper burial. According to legends, deadlings then weep piteously at their graves until someone gives them a shirt or says the Lord’s Prayer backwards to them.
Domovoy—a Slavic house spirit (“domov” meaning “home”), which brings prosperity to the family if they give him sacrifices, and harms them if this sacrifice is denied.
Durandl—see Mountain Spirits
Fayermon—a fiery wraith that usually appears in the form of a burning man or a dog, but there are more curious stories where it takes the form of a flying burning sheaf of grain or a shoe, for example. Usually it is the ghost of a farmer who was secretly moving boundary stones to enlarge his fields.
Fext—one of the modern monsters appearing hand in hand with technological advancement. The first legends date back to the Thirty Years’ War, one of the first major conflicts fought with firearms. Because some soldiers emerged unscathed from even the worst firefights, they came to be called fexts, a name derived from the German kugelfest—bulletproof—and even a few generals were considered to be fexts in addition to ordinary soldiers. In the end, however, it was always the bullet that killed them; it just had to be made of glass.
Hastrman—see Vodnik
Heykal—woodland creatures that provoke travellers at night with their loud shouts . . . and if anyone dares to answer them in the same loud voice, a heykal would come running and tear them to pieces.
Leshen—a male forest shapeshifter that considers himself a protector of the forest and game and hates humans. He would chase hunters and poachers out of the forest, kidnap women, and replace human children with his own offspring, who then return to his forest when they grow up. Humans can protect themselves from him by wearing their clothes inside out or by swapping their shoes.
Lord of the Woods—see Mountain Spirits
Melusine—in the original French legend, Melusine was a cursed woman who turned into a half-serpent every Saturday. In the Czech lands, however, she eventually became a wind wraith that wails mournfully in the chimneys.
Mountain spirits—protectors of mountains, neither good nor bad, who often help people in need, but at the same time severely punish those who do not show proper respect to the mountains.
The most famous is Krakonoš, the protector of the Giant Mountains, sometimes nicknamed the Lord of the Woods. He appears as a tall man with a beard, a long cloak and a wide-brimmed hat. Sounds familiar? According to one theory, it was a postcard with a picture of Krakonoš that inspired Tolkien when he created Gandalf.
On the other hand, Durandl shows up in the form of a small man. He resides in the Bohemian Forest to the south and helps local glassmakers because he fell in love with their craft.
The Eagle Mountains are an exception, because they have not one, but two protectors. The older one is the brave and beautiful Katherine, whose origins derive from St. Katherine, who was a popular saint in the local mountains. In modern times she was joined by her husband Rampušák.
And Ranger? As he said, he’s already forgotten.
Mura—a nocturnal creature that sits on the chest of sleepers, suffocating them and disturbing their sleep. Its name can also be found in English—the “mare” in “nightmare” is of the same origin as mura. Its descriptions vary, with mura being described as a small devil-like creature, a white cat, or a pale woman, but there are also more bizarre descriptions, such as the one used in this anthology.
Noonwraith—a wraith from Slavic mythology that walks the fields at noon, because noon is considered the hour of spirits, just like midnight. It punishes people who are working at that time or gives them unsolvable riddles, and abducts children who are playing in the fields without their parents.
Permonik—a small creature inhabiting mines and shafts in large numbers, similar to gnomes and kobolds. Their sighting usually heralds impending mining misfortune, but when sacrifices are offered to them, they can alert miners to ore veins. On the other hand, violations of mining traditions such as the ban on whistling in a mine usually anger them.
Plivnik—like a domovoy, it serves the owner of a house and ensured their well-being, but mostly it is a creature with an evil nature. The house owner can find it or raise it by carrying a black hen’s egg in their armpit for nine days without washing or praying, but then they have to pay for seven years of happiness with their soul.
Print gremlin—a mischievous creature that is supposedly responsible for all the typos, smudges, flipped pages and other printing defects you can find in books.
Rarach—according to legends, they are feral domovoys who started harming humans. They take on the form of children or small people, spreading disease and setting houses on fire, but if a person is able to tame them again, they bring their owner luck in gambling.
Rusalka—a Slavic water demon. Usually living in a group, they rise from young girls who died by drowning, either by accident or suicide. They lure young men into rivers and lakes, where they envelope them with their hair and drown them, and by combing their hair they cause floods.
Slibka—another Slavic demon preying on young men. Her name is derived from the word slib (promise), because during night in the woods she promises love games with her singing, only to dance the whole night with men at best or kill and eat them at worst.
Stodolnik—a relative of a domovoy, but while a domovoy lives in a farmer’s house, a stodolnik lives in a barn, where he guards the crops.
Striga—a Slavic name for a witch, usually of inhuman or demonic origin.
Strigoi—a vampire creature that was not created by another vampire, but was cursed as a human to rise from the grave and drink blood after death. During the day they return to their grave or tomb, to get rid of them, they have to be staked and beheaded.
Voden—see Vodnik
Vodnik—a water demon that resides in rivers, ponds and lakes. They drown people and collect their souls in cups in their underwater hideout. They especially target young girls, who they lure in with colored ribbons and small mirrors hanging in the reeds or on branches above the water’s surface.
Yezinka—in Old Slavic, their name literally means “evil women.” They are ugly, humped creatures covered with long hair, who hunt travellers in forests and feed on their flesh. They are also sneaky and manipulative. In the most famous story about yezinkas, they coax a little boy through the door to let them into the house so they could warm themselves, only to kidnap him afterwards.