Have you ever wanted to go looking for the Loch Ness Monster? Or wondered what the Baba Yaga flies around in or even where to find a three-headed dog? Or even just the monsters under the bed. We’ve put together 40 of the most scary monsters that will give you a real fright if they chose to hide under your bed. In case you want to find your local scary monsters, we’ve included where to find them, and their danger rating. Be careful, leave the night light on, and enjoy!

If you would like a file of the original artwork or selected based on the types of monsters mythological, film or literary provenance, then please get in touch in the comments.

Related – The History Of That Monster Under The Bed

40 Monsters of the Night & Where To Find Them – Transcript

Amarok:

Gigantic legendary grey wolf found in the Arctic Circle – Feared by the indigenous Inuit – Hunts alone and at night, particularly targeting unguarded hunters.

Baba Yaga:

A deformed and ferocious looking old woman or ‘hag’ – Flies around in a mortar, wielding a pestle – Has a kind and maternal disposition when not provoked.

Babadook:

A very tall pale faced man with long fingers – Wears a top hat – Tends to act as a metaphor for grief – Can be scared into a basement when one overcomes loss.

Banshee:

Female spirit or fairy resembling an ugly and frightful hag – Wears green or red – Known for her loud shrieking or keening to herald the death of a family member.

Basilisk:

King of all serpents – Has often been said to kill simply through eye contact – When that fails, it resorts to using its deadly venom – Despises the smell of weasels.

Beast of Bodmin moor:

Phantom wild cat that only appears at great distances – Tends to keep to itself and has been described as being of various sizes and colour – Is possibly an alien.

Betobeto-san:

Formless spectre or ghost found across Japan – Known for walking behind people at night – Can only be heard – Clearly takes great pleasure in being disconcerting.

Big Foot:

Giant hairy bipedal ape – Known for being incredibly shy – Lives in mountains and forests – Likely to be closely related to the Yeti – Also goes by the name ‘Sasquatch’.

Black Annis:

Blue faced witch or bogeyman with iron claws and extremely sharp teeth who enjoys having children for supper – Lives in a cave – Takes lambs or naughty children away.

Black Shuck:

Demonic ghost dog – Often considered to represent an omen of death – Tends to be accompanied by thunder – Left a still visible claw mark in Blythburgh back in 1577.

Bloody Mary:

A ghostly apparition in a mirror that either shows the person you will marry, or shows a skull, signifying your impending demise – Is among the more harmless ghosts.

Bogeyman:

Monster of no strict form, shape or appearance – Enjoys being the embodiment of terror and nightmares – Convinces children to behave without even being present.

Bukavac:

Six-legged demon with gnarled horns living in lakes and pools – Emerges from the water making a loud noise – Hunts animals and people at night by jumping on them.

Candyman:

Demonic immortal serial killer with high intelligence – Wields a nasty looking hook – Taunts his victims until they die – Originally from New Orleans – Real name ‘Dan’.

Cerberus:

Giant three-headed dog guarding the gates to hell and preventing the dead from escaping – Famed for being captured by Heracles – Answers to the name ‘Fluffy’.

Chupacabra:

A strange and rarely seen creature reportedly similar to a large dog or small bear – A row of spines reaches from the neck to the base of the tail – eats livestock.

Cornish Owl Man:

A four or five-foot tall owl-like humanoid – Is rarely sighted but reports tell of large glowing eyes and huge wings – Could to be related to the American ‘Mothman’

Demogorgon:

Ancient Greek pagan deity or demon in the underworld – Hunts and eats anything that moves – Has been known to appear during a rip in the time-space continuum.

Dracula:

Blood-sucking immortal demon of human form – Moonlights as a bat – Sleeps in a coffin – Bears close resemblance to Vlad the Impaler – Known to hold a grudge.

Dullahan:

Unseelie fairy who carries its head under its arm – when the dullahan stops rides, it calls out a person’s name and that person immediately dies – frightened of gold.

Frankenstein’s Monster:

Monster created by Dr Frankenstein of notable strength – has a kind nature when not tormented by mad scientists – easily spooked by lightning and loud sudden noises.

Ghoul:

A monster or evil spirit that enjoys feasting on human flesh and is commonly found around burial grounds and abandoned places – sometimes shapeshifts into a hyena.

Golem:

A man of immense strength and made of clay or mud – Tends to obey the maker – Known for being incredibly dim – Responsible for the occasional murderous rampage.

Gremlins:

Incredibly mischievous creature who enjoy damaging machinery – Related to imps and goblins – Typically found in aircraft hangers trying to break anything they find.

Gwyllgi:

A giant and imposing mastiff – Has notably baleful breath and blazing red eyes – Hunts on country lanes at night – Is sometimes known as ‘The Dog of Darkness’.

Hob:

Small household or farmyard spirit or goblin – Utterly harmless – Is said to perform helpful chores during the night – Has been known to be a nuisance if not respected

Jack Frost:

Brings frost, snow, sleet and ice during winter – Nips your extremities to make you cover up – Leaves the frosty, fern-like patterns on windows on cold winter mornings

Jack The Ripper:

Serial killer famed for hunting women in East London in the 19th century – Identity unknown – Has an obsessively keen interest in general surgery and human biology.

Jorogumo:

Demon goblin resembling a giant spider that takes the form of a woman to entice its victims – When in the mood, has been known to save people from drowning.

Kelpie:

Horse shaped water spirit which preys on those who paddle too far – Can appear in human form, but retains horse’s hooves, leading to comparisons with Satan.

Kraken:

Giant sea monster known for taking down entire ships and devouring their crew – Haunts the depths of the oceans – Could be related to a giant squid of octopus.

Krampus:

Horned, anthropomorphic half-goat, half-demon serving as the companion to Santa Claus – Punishes naughty children at Christmas – Possibly a cousin of the Grinch.

Loch Ness Monster:

Aquatic monster, possibly a dinosaur – Known for evading detection while also providing enough evidence to build a large fanbase – Affectionately known as ‘Nessie’

Medusa:

A hideous Gorgon featuring the head of a woman, snakes for hair, a winged body and the tail of a snake – Anyone who looks at her turns to stone – Lives in a cave.

Monster Under The Bed:

Non-descript monster living in the space under your bed – Can be sent away by combining bravery with common sense – Is far more scared of you than you are of it.

Poltergeist:

A supernatural being that causes mischief – Blamed for unexplained noises in the night – Known for waiting until you are asleep before suddenly making a loud noise.

Slender Man:

A tall and faceless figure wearing a suit that stalks people at night – Hunts, abducts and terrorises people – Notable for being very slim and causing minor moral panic.

Troll:

A very large and solitary humanoid creature that roams in the dark – Instantly turns to stone if exposed to sunlight – Dangerous to humans but can be easily out-witted.

Werewolf:

Shape-shifting (Therianthropic) wolf-like creature – Discards human form for that of a large and dangerous wolf during a full moon – can only be killed with a silver bullet.

Zombie:

Undead being occupying a human corpse – Famously slow walkers – Has a penchant for canibalism – Can be dispatched by removing the head or destroying the brain.

This image is free to user under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. to use the whole infographic or segments of it, please cite and link back to this page.

We hope you’ve enjoyed these 40 monsters of the night, have we missed your favourite? Tell us in the comments!