Thread by @aaolomi

From the Middle East to North Africa to South Asia, legends tell of jinn and monsters at the edges of society; embodiments of terror and fear.

A thread on things that go bump in the night

Among the most feared jinn, Qarinah appears as a beautiful woman with long hair. Alluring and terrifying she causes nighttime emissions, sleep paralysis, and death of small children.

King Solomon is said to have used a powerful charm to bind her hair and thus limit her power.

In South Asia, the vengeful churail is a spirit of a woman wronged by her in-laws or who suffered in childbirth.

She hides in trees and lures the unsuspecting to their deaths. Gifted with powers of shapeshifting, she can be identified by her backwards feet.

Churails are at times considered a type of jinn-like being, while other times are completely separate.

In Egypt, the Ifit are a class of fiery jinn who are especially dangerous to travelers. Gifted in powers of illusion they create mirages drawing their victims deep into the unforgiving desert before killing them.

The wrath of an ifrit appears in sudden catastrophic sandstorms

By the banks of the Nile lurks El Naddaha a watery jinn-like ghost whose beautiful and mesmerizing voice draws her victims close before drowning them.

The foot-fetish Palis, lurks waiting for its victim to fall asleep before slinking forward to lick their life from their feet. Victims wake up groggy and drained.

The palis keeps at this until the victim slowly dies.

The fearsome Qutrub haunts cemeteries and graveyards. Part canine, part human the Qutrub is a cousin of the ghul and like them feasts on corpses and living flesh

Qutrub prefer to stalk their prey, victims report seeing watchful yellow eyes for days before meeting their fate.

Then there is the Shiqq, a malformed jinn who mates with humans to create monstrous offspring.

The Shiqq have only half a head, one arm, and one leg, but can move with supernatural speed.

The disembodied Hatif is a jinn who can mimic the voice of loved ones. If you hear someone calling your name, it could be this mischievous creature

It warns of impending doom.

In the mountains of Afghanistan is the deyo, a monstrous giant over 20 feet tall. They fall upon shepherds eating human and lamb alike.

It is said these giants were one of the original inhabitants of Afghanistan and their burials can still be found there.

By the shores of the Red Sea, the canine jinn Ghaddar stalks its prey before devouring their genitals.

Terrifyingly fast, it appears as part dog, part shadow.

Finally there is the hamzaad, a jinn doppelganger. The hamzaad is derived from the Islamic concept of the qareen, a jinn assigned to tempt each human through life.

The hamzaad in folklore becomes a corporeal being who appears in your guise to take your place

Legends of monsters speak to the anxieties of the people telling the stories. Fear of the other, the different, gendered anxieties have all been part of human society.

As has the feeling that there is something lurking just at the edges of our periphery.