In How to Write a Unique Spooky Story, I wrote about how to write a unique spooky story by either creating your own monster, creature, or horror yourself or by finding a monster that is not well known. I advised finding a monster by researching myths and legends in other cultures to find something that has a rich history surrounding it, but that is not considered modern. One of the countries that have some unique myths is Australia. Australia, also known as the Commonwealth of Australia, includes not only the Australian mainland, but also many smaller islands like Tasmania.

Yara-ma-yha-who

Yara-ma-yha-who is a creature that is about four feet tall with red skin and octopus-like suckers for fingers and toes. The Yara-ma-yha-who is a carnivorous creature that lives in the trees in only the densest forests in Australia. The Yara-ma-yha-who’s carnivorous appetite cannot be satiated with animals; instead this monster will only prey on humans. The Yara-ma-yha-who will stalk its prey from the trees to first ensure that the human is alone, then once the human stands underneath a tree, it will jump down and land on the human. The creature’s octopus-like suckers are used to enable it to cling onto the human’s head. During this stage, the Yara-ma-yha-who will drink almost all of the blood inside the human’s body in order to weaken the human and satisfy its appetite. Once almost all of the blood has been drained, but the human prey is still alive and conscious, the monster will swallow the human whole. Once the Yara-ma-yha-who falls asleep, it will spit the human back out, only to swallow the person again once the Yara-ma-yha-who wakes up. This cycle continues with the human being both awake and alive until the human is transformed into a Yara-ma-yha-who. The only time a human victim has ever escaped is when the human has been rescued while the monster was asleep. Any attempt to kill the monster, even while it sleeps, has almost always ended in all of the humans ending up dead.

Muldjewangk

Muldjewangk is a huge, fearsome water creature well known for living in the Murray River and Lake Alexandrina. Muldjewangk is a gigantic creature with the lower body of a large whale and the top half of its body looking mostly human, except for its long spindly fingers with razor sharp tips, its long oval face, and teal tattoo like markings that glow under moonlight. Muldjewangk is known for causing problems for anyone entering what it perceives as its territory. This can take the form of Muldjewangk destroying fishing nets, tipping boats over, and taking oars. However, the Muldjewangk has also been known to abduct children and adults that enter its waters after dark and, sadly, these unlucky souls are never seen again. Some believe that the Muldjewangk eats these poor souls while others theorize that the Muldjewangk transforms them into a Muldjewangk. It is unknown whether the Muldjewangk is a single creature or a race of creatures.