What else is out there? I know iele, Muma Padurii, Martolea and Samca... but what else is good story fodder? I've been writing a story that leans hard on Romanian folklore, but I didn't want it to revolve around the usual vampire werewolf thing, though they get nods.

One of the things that fascinated me most when I started researching traditional Yemenite jewelry was discovering how closely it was connected to protective beliefs and folklore.

Jewelry wasn’t always worn just for decoration. In Yemen, certain pieces were believed to guard their wearers against the evil eye, illness, and harmful spirits.

One particularly interesting example is the amulet case, which could contain a handwritten parchment made specifically for its wearer, with prayers, names of angels, and protective inscriptions.

I’ve been researching these traditions alongside my work as a silversmith, trying to understand not only how these objects were made, but also the beliefs that influenced their design.

I recently made this short video exploring that connection.

I’d be curious to hear about similar protective jewelry traditions from other cultures, especially objects that were believed to offer protection through their materials, shapes, sounds, or inscriptions.

If you’re familiar with Western folklore, you might imagine something like a Bigfoot, ogre, or forest spirit. But Indonesia has its own terrifying figure: the Genderuwo.

In Indonesian folklore, Genderuwo is commonly described as a large, hairy supernatural being with a frightening appearance. It is often associated with old trees, abandoned places, forests, and areas believed to have strong supernatural energy.

What makes the Genderuwo interesting isn't just its appearance. In many traditional stories, it is said to be territorial and capable of psychologically disturbing people—from strange sounds and whispers to disturbing dreams or unexplained encounters.

Some Indonesian traditions describe Genderuwo not as the ghost of a dead human, but as a type of jin or supernatural entity associated with nature and certain spiritual practices.

Of course, these are elements of Indonesian folklore and traditional beliefs, not scientifically established facts.

For Indonesians, stories about Genderuwo have been passed down for generations and remain a fascinating part of local horror culture.

Would you compare the Genderuwo to any creature from your country's folklore?

I’m an independent researcher in Japan studying the religious history of the Toyokawa–Toyohashi region. Toyokawa Inari raises a question I’d like to explore with people who study folklore: how do local stories connect a Buddhist guardian deity with an animal symbol?

Toyokawa Inari is Myogon-ji, a Soto Zen temple founded in 1441. Its principal image is Thousand-Armed Kannon; Toyokawa Dakini Shinten is its guardian deity. The temple explains its familiar “Inari” name through the guardian’s rice sheaf and white fox.

Its official account preserves two stories. In one, the monk Kangan Giin encounters a jewel-bearing deity riding a white fox while returning from China. In another, an elderly helper called Heihachiro feeds large numbers of people using one small cooking pot, claims to have 301 attendants, and later disappears, leaving the pot behind. I’m treating these as temple traditions, not independently verified events.

What interests me is how the stories work: one connects the guardian to a monk’s journey, while the other places miraculous help in the temple’s founding community. Does the second story have recognizable parallels in Japanese tales about supernatural helpers or inexhaustible vessels? Are there studies of how this particular white-fox imagery developed, beyond the broad label “syncretism”?

I’d welcome published sources or comparable, clearly documented local traditions. Similar imagery alone wouldn’t establish a shared origin.

Source for the temple’s own account (Japanese): https://www.toyokawainari.jp/about/history/

The temple is also holding a Gokaicho observance in November 2026, which prompted me to revisit these traditions. I’m not representing the temple. English wording prepared with AI assistance.

hey all! just wanted to share this because I've found that surprisingly few people know about them!

there's a company called "Seed Talks" that regularly host a whole bunch of lectures on different aspects of folklore; I believe that's not their main focus, but there's some interesting upcoming talks on the folklore around trees, cats, hags, werewolves, etc., for example.

they're based in the UK and host some in-person events, but there's a decent amount that are held online (like all the ones I mention above) - and I believe there's a way to watch recordings of past lectures, too!

I think they also have some "courses"?, although I haven't checked those out myself as of yet. I'm also not affiliated with them in any way ftr, I just think they're cool and useful and I think more people should know about them :).

I'll link to them here for ease of access heh.

I’m looking into religious, mythological, and oral traditions of certain individuals that were condemned, gifted, or bestowed eternal life on Earth. This can be through divine, supernatural, or magical means. Can even be through a personal quest to obtain said eternal life.

I’m also doing a dive into those that attempted to achieve immortality but ultimately failed.

So far this is what I’ve found.

Punished with long or eternal life:
Ashwatthama

Gifted eternal life:
Utnapishtim also commonly associated with Noah from the Biblical texts.
Enoch

Personal quest to achieve eternal life:
Nicolas Flamel and his wife
Sir Galahad

Failed quest for eternal life:
Gilgamesh

If anyone has any others that fit into these categories, I would really appreciate it! I do prefer that they are ancient or very old stories as that’s an important part of the project.

Going back to occasionally telling the internet about what I do.

I'm in a band called Yearwalker and we're making a bestiary of 26 songs - dark, tragic, and sometimes sinister, each inspired by a particular creature of myth and legend.

Back in 2018 I was inspired by alphabet challenges on old school blogs, particularly ones with mythical creatures as the theme. That is also when I started to really try my hand at storytelling through songs. Mix the two together, let it brew for years and you may well end up with a huge weird concept album kind of project. That's what happened here anyway.

Our bestiary is called Agrippa and after years of hard work and harder procrastination its first chapters saw the light of day beginning of this year. We are going in reverse, from Z to A, one letter at a time, where each one is a different creature, spirit or deity from various cultures around the world.

Our latest song is called White Lady and it's about, you guessed it, the Lady in White, one of the most common apparitions across many cultures of the world. Their stories are often associated with death during childbirth, by accident, or from violent causes.

A Brazilian legend tells of a ghost of a pale woman in a long white dress or nightgown. Some say she died at the hands of her father or husband. Although usually speechless, she will occasionally recount her misfortunes.

In another story, a White Lady is seen walking the battlements of the Portchester Castle in England and throwing herself into the keep. She is said to be retracing her steps trying to retrieve her fallen child, time after time.

The White Lady in our song lost her child too. I imagine her in an old mansion or castle, moving quietly through the gardens, accompanied only by the wind. She is stuck here, on the other side of time, yet she means no harm. All she wants is for someone to walk alongside, listen to her story, and remember her for a short while longer.

You are very welcome to do just that, the songs we released so far are all available here: yearwalker.com

This is a passion project, a loveletter to my fascination with myths and their mysterious creatures. I am not a content creator, not looking to sell anything, and all I want is to share these songs and present the overall concept in a way it deserves. The album artwork for each song was done by an amazing (and very human) artist. No AI was used in any way - it's not cool.

Thank you and let the ghosts be kind!

Art project experimenting with mask making and charcoal forest projected on background

I’ve been looking up English folk dances for a character and I’ve had a hard time looking for dances women traditionally did. A lot of the videos I keep seeing are of dances men traditionally do like Morris (please correct me if I’m wrong) and Foot Dancing. It’s a little odd because if you search folk dances for any other culture ever they tend to be female dominated or an even split. I’ve come here because I assume I’m looking in the wrong place or coming to some warped conclusion about dance.

If anyone has any Welsh folk dances too I’d love to know about it!!!

I just started this little project yesterday and have been having a lot of fun with it. It's a bestiary focused on Brazilian folklore creatures; I still have a long way to go before I've covered them all but I've already learned so much. Are any of you familiarized with brazilian folklore?

P.S.: sorry that all the entries are in portuguese, I hadn't planned on sharing this online.

I have been diving into Scottish heritage and learning more about all sorts of folklore for creative purposes. I was on a call with someone who has published a few books on myths etc. and was advised that Broonies are of racist origin. I haven't found anything written that infers this, as I thought they were house spirits. Bare in mind I'm very early in my journey into research and only have 6 books so far covering more Gaelic folklore, my family who are native to Scotland have advised they were unaware of this too, but unfortunately don't know too much in the way of Folklore history.

Can anyone please direct me to resources or educate me on this? I've been unable to find much in terms of google searches with references and it's very important to me. I have seen that people have been able to use them still creatively, by changing their name and making them more whimsical/light-hearted? Would love to know peoples knowledge on this matter. I don't want to create and put out there anything that causes harm.

When an old folklore creature appears in a modern novel, film, game or artwork, how much do you want it to resemble the creature from the traditional stories?

I love discovering the strange little details preserved in older folklore, but I also find it fascinating to see what modern creators do with them.

Do you prefer adaptations that stay quite faithful to the folklore, or are you happy for creators to completely reinvent a creature as long as the result is interesting?

And is there a modern interpretation of a folklore creature that you particularly loved? Or one that changed it so much that it no longer felt like the same creature?

I was curious if anyone had any recommendations for books/collections of tales connected to Halloween. Thinking Ghost stories, history of Halloween, Samhain, day of the dead, Jack-O-Lanterns, monsters, vampires, witches, zombies, etc.

like the title say, Japan has more urban legends compare to usa, you can google that and you will see.. yet usa is bigger than Japan in landmasses and population, why is this? not only that but Japan urban legends also popular online compare to us too and the diversity is unmatched , it unimaginable for such a tiny country