Thread by @aaolomi

Throughout history, people have told tales of monsters and ghouls who haunt the edges of human imagination.

From jinn to fearsome beasts, a thread

We are told of the terrifying ghuls, described by Damiri as horrifying in manner they can appear alluring and beautiful guiding strangers astray until falling upon them and devouring them.

They have a taste for the flesh of the living and the dead and haunt cemeteries

Crafty and cunning they stalk their prey carefully

Their queen is Ghola, attested to commonly in North African tales, as the most fearsome and wisest of the ghul. She is described as a large woman with goat’s feet.

If however you can trick her into fostering you, she will become a guardian for you and your descendants.

In South Asia there is the churail, seen as both a revenant spirit as well as a spirit of trees, she is described as having backwards feet and has the ability to take on different forms.

She haunts those who wronged her in life luring them to their deaths.

In Egypt, the El Naddaha haunts the banks of the Nile as an apparition.

This watery spirit leads people to their doom with her siren-like voice bringing them to the waters of the river before drowning them.

The Hatif is a shapeshifting trickster who can disguise its voice as anyone you know.

Sitting alone in your room when you hear the voice of a loved one call out to you? It may be Hatif.

Another jinn of the night, Kabus is a shadowy, winged creature.

Slipping through the cracks of a home, it descends upon unsuspecting sleeping humans perching upon their chest causing sleep paralysis and night terrors.

The night holds many terrors, including Umm al Subyan the stalker of children. This terrifying creatures was said to cause death among the young, appearing without warning.

So dangerous was Umm al Subyan that King Solomon is said to have bound it.

Each human is believed to have been born with a jinn counterpart, known as the Qarin.

Their leader is the Qarinah who causes night terrors and wet dreams.

Near the Red Sea, the dog-jinn Ghaddar hunts human prey.

It stalks its victims, waiting for them to rest before falling and devouring them starting with the genitals.

But not all jinn appear monstrous. The Si’lat take on the guise of beautiful people who lure and seduce their prey.

From their coupling comes the Nasnas, a half-formed creature with one eye, one arm, and one leg.

Both the Nasnas and the Si’lat are hunted by some types of wolves according to Damiri.

But the most terrifying appearance of Si’lat is that of the random stranger. They are said to appear with large, dark eyes at your door unmoving, waiting.

The monstrous can tell us a lot about a society. Note some of the gendered fears around alluring women.

The churail here is fascinating as it flips the script; she is the spirit of a woman who was wronged. A clear warning to wicked in-laws

Even the evolution of the stories are telling. The si’lat are monsters of the wilderness but in the city they become strangers at your door

In any case, ‘tis spooky season so gather round, tell tales and scare one another for a little fear is good for the soul 😈