Mythological creatures have been the basis of many forms of adaptations. Whether those are books, TV shows, or movies, folklore has set the stage for many movies in the horror genre throughout the years. Indeed, per CBR, many popular horror movies have taken a mythological creature or demon and put them in a story that coincides with the creature’s background. In The Conjuring, for instance, screenwriters based the first movie on a mythological demon named Bathsheba. This high-grossing horror franchise actually has two mythological spirits on this list, with the second being the Spanish demon La Llorona who seeks out children.

Newer movies like the 2021 film Antlers used Indigenous mythological creatures like the Wendigo. According to an interview with Inverse, the director Scott Cooper said the use of the Indigenous-based Wendigo was vital to his film and required meticulous planning to get the mythological creature just right. Regardless of whether the mythological creatures can be proven real, their legends make for scary horror movies. These are 8 of the scariest mythological creatures in horror movies.

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8 The Krampus — Krampus

     Legendary Pictures

Christmas is a time of merry and joy — until it isn’t. When children misbehave, Krampus, a horned anthropomorphic figure, appears to scare the children. The creature isn’t necessarily good or bad; its folklore says he is the representation of punishment and retribution. Of course, at the same time, he has been known to lure the children to his cave and eat them, which we can all agree isn’t very “nice”. You can catch this mythological creature in the 2015 horror film Krampus, starring Toni Collette and Adam Scott.

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7 Leprechaun — Leprechaun Franchise

     Trimark Pictures

Leprechauns are always depicted as cute, lucky, green-wearing men. In the eight-film franchise, beginning with 1993’s Leprechaun, the titular creature is malicious and murderous and will stop at nothing to get back any gold that is stolen from him. While the Irish mythological creature is often associated with good, humans tend to take things to far, which is the case in this franchise. Humans’ own greed can often lead to bad things like taking someone else’s gold, thereby unleashing a terror they couldn’t imagine.

6 La Llorona — The Curse of La Llorona

     Warner Bros. Pictures

In The Curse of La Llorona, another film in the Conjuring Universe, the spirit, also known as The Weeping Woman, is a ghost who roams waterfront areas, mourning the children she drowned. The spirit is from Mexican folklore origin. She preys on children who wander too close to the water. She is often shown wearing a white dress and veil.

5 Bathsheba – The Conjuring 2

In The Conjuring 2, the spirit Bathsheba serves as the main antagonist. Bathsheba is based on Bathsheba Sherman, a woman who tried to sacrifice her newborn son to Satan. Her husband caught her before the sacrifice went through, causing her to hang herself after proclaiming her love to Satan and cursing the land. She was then on known to possess the mother in the families who lived on her land and would force the mother to slaughter her children.

4 Bagul (The Boogeyman/Mr. Boogie) – Sinister

     Entertainment One

Bagul, or Mr. Boogie as he is called in the Sinister franchise, is based on the Babylonian pagan deity who consumes the souls of children. He can travel to our realm via images of himself, which he does through film in the franchise. His mouth was sewn shut by his brother, making the deity even more sinister. He is bloodthirsty and forces the children he wants to brutally murder their families. These murders were filmed and left to be watched by the new inhabitants of the house in the first Sinister film.

3 The Wendigo – Antlers

     TSG Entertainment

In the 2021 film Antlers, the mythological Wendigo creature is brought to life after the creature inhabits a father. The Indigenous-based evil spirit makes its captive human body crave the flesh and blood of others. In Antlers, the creature possesses a father and slowly drives him insane in his thirst for human flesh. His youngest son was also infected, and it’s up to his other son to take care of the two, which he locked in their attic.

2 Homunculi – Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark

     Miramax

Homunculi, also known as Tooth Fairies, are creatures who started to prey on children’s teeth, but now prey on the child itself. The small creatures are nocturnal fairy-like creatures from the netherworld. They appeared in the 2011 fantasy-horror film Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. The goblin-like creatures are locked in a basement only to be awoken by eight-year-old Sally’s carousel-style nightlight, which plays a lullaby. Sally releases them and is terrorized by the creatures who long for children, but settle for grownups if the situation presents itself as so.

1 Jötunn aka Moder – The Ritual

The 2017 horror film The Ritual brings to life the mythical creature called Moder or Jötunn. In Swedish cults, Moder the Jötunn, is known to be a bastard offspring of the Norse God, Loki. Moder, which means mother in Scandavian, stalks people who enter her forest and marks the one who has suffered the most emotionally. That marked person is then given the choice to join to cult or to die. Those who are not marked are tortured and killed by Moder.