Monster Monday: Screamers

When terror builds, sometimes all you can do is scream. Humans may scream in rage, despair, fear, pain or even in moments of joy. Ironically monsters also utilize their voices, pleasant or otherwise, in a variety of ways to attract, warn, stun or even kill. We call them the screamers.

Sirens hum or sing enticing melodies drawing humans to their deaths. Banshees wail and weep, warning that a family member is about to die. Shapeshifters can mimic the voices and appearances of humans or other creatures, making them the ultimate chameleons and most difficult to track. If you hear fairy music, you may be compelled to dance without rest and eventually meet your death.

Survival Tip: The expression "music soothes the savage beast" may apply in some situations. Monsters may be distracted, appalled or entranced by a human's singing voice, or perhaps the unexpectedness of music piped through an iPod or a cell phone ring tone. However, this technique meets with mixed results. Use at own risk.

Monster Monday: Windigo

Windigo is a shapeshifter canibal creature of Algonquian, Cree and Ojibwe lore with the ability to assume multiple forms, mimic voices and has a heart of ice. Residing in the North it is the face of winter, famine and isolation. Many believe windigo began as human, perhaps woodsmen lost in winter storms and resorted to cannibalism to survive - only to find themselves burdened with a never ending craving for human flesh. They are often described as gigantic creatures with supernatural strength and speed. They are cunning hunters and dwell in dark, Northern forests.

Just as the windigo can take on many guizes, there are many variations in spelling and pronunciation of its name: weedigo, wehndigo, wetigo, etc.

Do not be fooled. These are all the same creature and they are hungry for you.

Be warned, to dream of windigo is to become windigo, this canibal spirit can possess humans via the dreamworld. Arm yourselves with silver, as with most shapeshifters, the windigo can be killed by silver to the heart.

Windigo join our ever growing, ravenous list of Most-Wanted Monsters.

Monster Monday: Werewolves

Evolution and sophistication may have stifled man’s bestial nature, but every now and then it rises to the surface to reclaim its skin. The werewolf is one of the most ferocious of the shapeshifters, and though pop culture may suggest it nothing more than an oversized, best-in-show, domesticated wolf – a creature that can shift at will…beware the moon.

The silver orb has control over more than the ebb and flow of the sea - she calls to werewolves, bringing the beast out of the civilized man. Worried you might be taking nightly walks on the wild side?

Do you….

- have hairy palms? (and not for the reason you’re thinking…oy!)
- have a recent allergy to silver?
- wake with blood in your mouth and no clothes upon your person?
- have a hankering for raw meat?
- experience memory gaps around the full moon?

If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, consider yourself WARNED. You are AT LARGE and join the others on our list of Most-Wanteds.