Bosnian Mythical Creatures

After WW2, rumours circulated about chilling apparitions which were named Prepasti.
Often appearing on roads and meadows or next to rivers and creeks, they began as
ambiguous, black mists, silhouettes and whirlwinds.

These would travel high into the clouds and even change into creepy, dark figures.
Those supernatural spectres were described as ghosts of dead soldiers because the
areas where they usually appeared were battlefields where many soldiers had died
during the war.

Prepasti often manifested in places where the soldier had lost a body part. According to
popular belief, they returned to the area to search for their lost limbs. Prepasti would
eventually disappear forever. But not until the rain completely washed their blood from
the ground and when their bones were ploughed back into the earth.

Croatia’s Mythical Creatures

Croatia is home to many of the mythical creatures of Balkan folklore. This particular one
is called the Night Hag. She is a female demon who comes to you at night, in many
forms, to give you nightmares and terrify you. Sometimes she manifests as a dark
mass, or a shadow, which can be seen on a person’s chest or neck during the night. If
you are unfortunate enough to be attacked in your slumber by a Night Hag, you will
become restless, grunt, move around, have difficulty breathing, experience a tight chest
and, when you wake, it will feel like something was strangling you in your sleep. The
defense against Night Hags is to close all keyholes to stop them from entering the room.

North Macedonian Mythical

Creatures
Zmey are beings with vaguely human features. They also have the tail of a snake,
golden wings and incredible physical strength. They can live either in caves or mountain
tops, and are particularly intelligent. Zmey are specifically attracted to female beauty
and have been rumoured to capture young maidens and take them to their remote lairs.

A Lamia is a creature said to be half woman, half serpent. Her skills include shape-
shifting, predicting the future, and witchcraft. By some accounts, her form is repulsive.
However, others have viewed her differently. In the 1800s, John Keats, a romantic poet,
created this vision of Lamia AJO GJEJA QE PE TE AI SERIALI
“SHE WAS A GORDIAN SHAPE OF DAZZLING HUE, VERMILION-SPOTTED,
GOLDEN, GREEN, AND BLUE; STRIPED LIKE A ZEBRA, FRECKLED LIKE A PARD,
EYED LIKE A PEACOCK, AND ALL CRIMSON BARR’D; AND FULL OF SILVER
MOONS, THAT, AS SHE BREATHED, DISSOLV’D, OR BRIGHTER SHONE, OR
INTERWREATHED THEIR LUSTRES WITH THE GLOOMIER TAPESTRIES—SO
RAINBOW-SIDED, TOUCH’D WITH MISERIES. SHE SEEM’D, AT ONCE, SOME
PENANCED LADY ELF, SOME DEMON’S MISTRESS, OR THE DEMON’S OWN
SELF. […] HER HEAD WAS SERPENT, BUT AH, BITTER-SWEET! SHE HAD A
WOMAN’S MOUTH WITH ALL ITS PEARLS COMPLETE: AND FOR HER EYES:
WHAT COULD SUCH EYES DO THERE BUT WEEP, AND WEEP, THAT THEY WERE
BORN SO FAIR?”

Having said that, she is also known to be a bloodthirsty baddy who slithers through the
night, searching for children to consume. She also enjoys walking in beauty through the
daylight, searching for men to eat for dessert.

Serbia
The “Drekavac” is translated literally as “the screamer” or “the screecher”. This is a
mythical creature in South Slavic mythology.

The creature has been described as an undead man that left his grave during the night
to haunt people. Other descriptions have him as an undead child, who was unbaptised,
that has returned to haunt its parents. In Eastern Serbia, the Drekavac has been
described in the form of a humanoid canine creature that walks on its back legs.

Most believe he is visible only at night, especially during the twelve days of
Christmas and in the early spring.

When assuming the form of a child, the Drekavac predicts someone’s death, while in its
animal form, it predicts cattle disease. The drekavac will avoid dogs and bright light, and
if the shadow of drekavac falls upon a person then that person will become ill and die.

ILLYRIAN
The Paeonians worshipped Dualos, a god equivalent of Dionysus. His name is compared with
‘dej’ (drunk) and ‘dwals’ (a madman), thus reinforcing the connection between the Paeonian
deity with drinking and intoxication.

Dionysus was the god of fertility and wine, later considered a patron of the arts. He
created wine and spread the art of viticulture. He had a dual nature; on one hand, he
brought joy and divine ecstasy; or he would bring brutal and blinding rage, thus
reflecting the dual nature of wine.
The kulshedra or kuçedra is a water, storm, fire and chthonic demon in Albanian mythology and
folklore, usually depicted as a huge multi-headed female serpentine dragon.[2][1] The kulshedra is
believed to spit fire, cause drought, storms, flooding, earthquakes and other natural disasters against
mankind.[3][4] In Albanian mythology she is usually fought and defeated by a drangue, a semi-human
winged divine hero and protector of mankind.[3] Heavy thunderstorms are thought to be the result of
their battles.[5]
In northern beliefs, the kulshedra can take possession of the sun and moon.[4] In southern beliefs,
she is described as an enormous female serpent who surrounds the world. According to this version,
if she were ever to touch her tail with her mouth, she could destroy the whole world. [3] It is said that
she requires human sacrifices for accepting to postpone the natural disasters and catastrophes. [2]
According to folk beliefs, the kulshedra's earlier stage is the bolla, which has the appearance of a
water and chthonic demonic serpent. The bolla's eyes remain shut for the whole year except
on Saint George's Day, when it gazes the world and will devour any human on sight. The bolla will
eventually morph into kulshedra if it lives many years without being seen by a human.
The bollar and errshaja are considered intermediate forms of this serpent as it goes through a
series of metamorphoses. These terms also signify serpents; the term bullar merely being a
synonym for bolla in Southern Albania.[6] In some regions the kulshedra is depicted like a female eel,
turtle, frog, lizard or salamander.[2][4]
According to folk belief, a snake after living a certain number of years will metamorphosize into a
bolla and eventually become the monstrous kulshedra.[11][8] The belief that an ancient snake becomes
a dragon is not unique to Albanian culture, and similar beliefs can be found for example in Hungary
and Romania, as pointed out by Robert Elsie.
In the Kosova town of Prishtina, the kulshedra begins life as a being invisible to mankind for the first
twelve years of its life, after which it turns into a bolla ("a kind of serpent"), and afterwards it sprouts
wings, becomes hairy, and begins to combat the drangue (dragúa).[17] But the folklore of Malësia and
the Northern Mountain Range in Albania provides a more complex life cycle: when the serpent
manages to live fifty years without being noticed by anyone, it becomes a bullar, a reptile that feeds
milk to snakes, from which these snake derive their venom. If it lives another fifty years without being
seen, it becomes an ershaj which coils around its human victim's neck, punctures his chest and eats
the heart. When an ershaj (er̄ šaj) lives for another century unseen, it finally becomes a kulshedra.[18]
In Tirana, kulshedra was said to begin life as a being hiding in a dark hole which became a snake
after six months; the snake must grow an additional six months before it exhibited the behavior for
which it could be properly called a kulshedra.[17] Among the Albanian Kastrati tribe, it was believed
that a snake sighted by a wren lost its ability to transform into a kulshedra.[8]

FACTs
Bleta (the Bee, associated with human life: when an animal ceases to live, Albanians predominantly
use the verb ngordh; When a bee ceases to live, the verb vdes is used often (which is used to refer
to human death)

Angu (shapeless ghost who appears in dreams)

DIVI ogre
Kallikantzaros

. Kallikantzaroi are believed to dwell underground but come to the surface during the twelve days of
Christmas, from 25 December to 6 January (from the winter solstice for a fortnight, during which time
the sun ceases its seasonal movement

There is no standard description of the appearance of kallikantzaroi; there are regional variations as
to how their appearance is described. Some Greek illustrators[who?] have imagined them with some
animal parts, such as hairy bodies, horse legs, or boar tusks. Sometimes they are enormous, at
other times diminutive.[citation needed] Other groups[who?] see them as small humans with a horrible odor.
They are predominantly male, often with protruding sexual characteristics.[1] Many Greeks have
imagined them as tall, black and hairy, with burning red eyes, goats' or donkeys' ears, monkeys'
arms, tongues that hang out and heads that are huge.[4] Nonetheless, the most common belief is that
they are small, black creatures, humanoid apart from their long black tails, and said to resemble little
black devils. They are also mostly blind, speak with a lisp and love to eat frogs, worms, and other
small creatures.[5]
Appearance[edit]
The Kukudh is a revenant, a miser's poor soul that haunts his house after his death. For this reason,
people feared the house of a miser and would avoid staying overnight out of fear of being killed.
Only a brave boy may defeat the creature and bring eternal peace to its damned soul, being
appointed heir in reward.[1]
In and around Tomorr, there is a legend that a lugat who is not burned in due time will become a
Kukudh.[1]
In some areas, the Kukudh appears as a stocky and short-legged man with a goat's tail. He is
invulnerable and may only be strangled with a noose made of vine. Because he brings mayhem, an
evil man is also commonly referred to as a Kukudh.[1]
The Kukudh and Karkanxholl (etymologically related to Kallikantzaros Greek: καλικάντζαρος, also
known as the Karkançoli) are also undead "gypsy" corpses, who go around in January, laden with
chains and effusing a deadly breath, known notably among Calabrian Albanians. According to
another version, the Karkançoli is vested with iron clothes, which is why chainmail armor is known
as këmish karkançoli in Albanian.[1]
In Southern Albania the Kukudh is a blind female demon of sickness, carrying the plague. "Kukudh"
is also the name of a sickness like cholera, but worse. Alexander the Great is said to have brought it,
after having raped the corpse of an Epirote princess, who would not return his love during her
lifetime. Consequently, there is a derisive Tosk saying, As të ha kukudhi!, which translates to: "Not
even the plague will devour you!"

 Pëlhurëza (veil ghost)[112]

 Qose (Barefaced Man)[135]