Bulgarian folklore is filled with mythical heroes, monsters and ghosts. Repulsive, valiant, stupid, mischievous - there are all kinds of characters, some of whom are especially afraid not only of children, but also of their older parents.
Here are the most popular horror creatures among the most terrifying creatures that have ever existed in Bulgarian mythology.
Lamia
Lamia is most often associated with a dragon-like creature and is similar to the Russian Serpent Gorynych.
Lamia is a female monster who is depicted as a giant reptile with several heads. According to some tales, she has three dog's heads protruding from snake-like necks. Others depict her with nine heads. Regardless of the total number, the animal settles in forests, near the sea or in secluded mountain areas. Its malice is expressed in cutting off the water supply for human settlements. If people want to restart the water supply, then Lamia requires human sacrifices from the villagers, usually in the form of a young girl. Numerous legends, songs and tales have been written about Lamia, in which the hero cuts off her head and frees the villagers and a young girl from danger. It is believed, however, that Lamia's greatest adversary is not the brave hero, but the serpent, the male dragon.
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Baba Yaga
Popular in all Slavic countries, Baba Yaga is a fearsome creature that inhabits countless myths.
Some of them are even horror stories. Most often, Baba Yaga is the antagonist in children's fairy tales, which claim to be an old witch with a grotesque appearance living in a wooden forest hut. Legend has it that she kidnaps the children and takes them to the indicated hut, where she cooks and eats them as punishment for not behaving according to their parents' rules. The village elders still fear her because they think she can cast insidious spells and curses on them.
Torbalan
Nobody really knows what Torbalan looks like, other than the fact that he wears a huge "bag" (sack) on his back.
It is usually the subject of stories from parents trying to teach their children to behave properly. The myth states that if a child misbehaves, then Torbalan comes for him to kidnap him or her from the safety of their home and carry the poor child somewhere far away in his bag. The same myth applies to those children who wander too far from their homes and wander near dangerous places. By not giving this mythological figure a special look, a child's imagination can draw a terrible monster and thus further increase the fear of Torbalan.
Talasam, Drakus
A widespread myth tells of the spirits of Talasam or Drakus - the restless spirit of a person who died in a house, on a bridge or other stone structure.
The stories tell that the man was either stoned or somehow died prematurely. The spirit takes the form of a shadow or an animal, sings, groans, whines and makes other intrusive sounds and refuses to leave the room, like a poltergeist. Luring these otherworldly beings with false promises to wedding feasts or burning incense in their home is believed to be the only two methods that can drive them out of the house.
Judas-Samovila. Samouda
Samovils are popular in many folklore legends and are even included in Harry Potter's tales of Bulgarian Veels.
Although they are usually depicted as young girls with long hair, exquisite voices and mesmerizing gazes, the negative equivalent of these nymph-like forest dwellers is called the Judas-Samovils or Samojuds. The spirits of Judas-Samovil are evil sorceresses who are believed to live in deep forests where they brew potions and poisons. If a male traveler crosses their territory, they charm him to marry one of them. According to fairy tales, if a person marries Jude-Samovil, she will take his soul to the land of the dead and leave his soulless body to perish on Earth. In the past, superstitious people wore amulets on clothes made of wormwood, basil, white melilot, and tansy as protection from these spirits.