Mythical Monsters
Travel the world in search of the strangest and most powerful creatures from myth and legend. These beasts are alternately beautiful and ferocious, seductive and sadistic. But no matter what form they take, they tell a story about their culture as only a monster can. Mythical Monsters is a Spotify Original from Parcast.
51
Monsters of Disease: Jwara
Jwara is the lord of all diseases. Part Ayurvedic medical concept and part Hindu god, he’s a shapeshifting figure that causes a mysterious fever that has no cure.
41 min
52
Monsters of Disease: Sopona
Sopona is one of the most powerful gods of the Yoruba religion. He's the god of the earth, in charge of blessing the crops and grains. But if you anger him, he'll clap back in a fearsome way, infecting your body with a deadly rash — a disease known today as smallpox.
39 min
53
Nightmare Creatures: Mara
Deep in the forests of Germany and Britain lies a creature seemingly made of darkness. It will render you immobile in sleep, then crush your lungs so you can't breathe. This is the Mara, and she's the origin of the word “nightmare.”
36 min
54
Nightmare Creatures: Manananggal
A beautiful woman transforms at nightfall, sprouting bat wings and severing the lower half of her body. Dragging her entrails, she goes in search of the one thing that will sate her appetite: fetuses.
31 min
55
Nightmare Creatures: Camazotz
A fearsome bat god of the K’iche’ Mayans, the Camazotz is at home in both the underworld and the apocalypse. And it specializes in slicing heads.
31 min
56
Nightmare Creatures: Soucouyant
In the Caribbean, a blood-sucking fireball has an insatiable hunger, a terrible grudge, and a secret that will divide a family…
40 min
57
Nightmare Creatures: Mares of Diomedes
The monsters of Hercules’ eighth Labor put the ‘mare’ in ‘nightmare’ — they may look like ordinary horses, but these creatures are supernaturally strong, with an insatiable taste for human flesh.
35 min
58
Hercules’ Labors: Cretan Bull
Hercules heads south to meet the Minoans. You might know them from the stories of Icarus, Daedalus, Theseus, and the Minotaur.
33 min
59
Hercules’ Labors: Stymphalian Birds
On the surface, hunting the Stymphalian Birds seems right in Hercules' wheelhouse: it should be a simple point and shoot. Unfortunately, things start to look a little more complicated once our hero gets to Lake Stymphalia...
30 min
60
Hercules’ Labors: Ceryneian Hind
The chase is on when Hercules is tasked with capturing the fastest creature in the world — a deer that can outrun the goddess of the hunt herself, Artemis.
33 min
61
Hercules’ Labors: Hydra
An epic hero. An unusually terrifying monster. If Hercules is going to survive, his greatest weakness will need to become his greatest strength.
36 min
62
Monsters of Revenge: Oiwa
The disfigured, betrayed bride known as Oiwa is one of Japan’s most legendary spirits. Her hideous appearance and thirst for revenge are scary enough, but what’s even more terrifying is her ability to warp her victims’ entire sense of reality.
38 min
63
Monsters of Revenge: Tupilaq
Stalking the waters and villages of the Greenlandic Inuit, the Tupilaq is a horrific creature made up of parts from many dead animals. It’s conjured by a shaman for revenge… but all bets are off once the Tupilaq begins to think for itself.
29 min
64
Monsters of Revenge: The Erinyes
The Erinyes are some of Greek mythology’s most menacing figures. Though the three winged sisters make their home in Hades torturing wicked souls, they will also rise up to the human world if it means they can drink the blood of those who break the moral laws of society.
35 min
65
Monsters of Revenge: Kanontsistóntie
The Kanontsistóntie is a flying, blood-thirsty head that terrorized Native American and First Nation clans across the U.S. and Canada.
34 min
66
Monsters of Revenge: The Pontianak
From Southeast Asia comes the legend of the Pontianak. Once an innocent victim, she’s now a vampiric monster who pursues men and pregnant women to avenge her unfair death…
33 min
67
American Monsters: Dark Watchers
First observed by Spanish colonizers in the 16th century, the Dark Watchers reside high up in California’s Santa Lucia Mountains. But these phantom figures do far more than just watch…
34 min
68
American Monsters: Flathead Lake Monster
It has a home covering nearly 200 square miles in Big Sky Country. This slithering, serpentine water-beast is Montana's Flathead Lake Monster and you better hope you see it before it sees you.
33 min
69
American Monsters: Mothman
From the dregs of war-loving humanity’s industrial waste comes the terrifying winged Mothman, who’s a warning of danger to come... and also the danger itself.
31 min
70
American Monsters: Skunk Ape
The red-haired skunk ape stalks the Florida Everglades, and it’ll do anything to protect its territory against nosy humans and their cameras.
34 min
71
Grendel
Grendel is the fearsome villain from the classic “Beowulf,” but this beast started out as a protector of nature. He only went bad to fight a terrifying threat to nature: humankind.
36 min
72
Solstice Special: Scorpion Men
Stinging tails. Fatal venom. The Scorpion Men from Babylonian mythology are ruthless guards of the underworld.
46 min
73
Hecatoncheires
With their fifty heads and one hundred arms, the giant Hecatoncheires terrorize ancient Greece as they rise from their undersea prison to wreak havoc.
42 min
74
Sphinx
The winged, feminine, and very feline Sphinx terrorizes ancient Greece with her sharp claws and unsolvable riddles.
35 min
75
Shojo
The Shojo is a water-dwelling monkey with bright red fur and a fondness for getting drunk.
37 min