Guilala

Guilala

Region of origin: The depths of space

A massive creature born of a fungal or plant-like spore, the guilala feeds on energy to increase its mass, abilities or reproduction rate. The guilala was weaponized by an unknown alien race, who sprayed a human vessel that was attempting to approach Mars with the spores; as the humans returned to Earth one spore that was brought back for research was broken out of containment in an accident and grew to a gigantic size, rampaging through cities in a search for more energy to consume, shrugging off any artillery and other military intervention it encountered. From a casing that originally housed the spore, human scientists involved in the Mars missions were able to synthesize a material, named Guilalium after the monster, that they coated the creature with and was able to block its energy absorption and, starving it, reduced it back down to its original dormant state, which was then sealed away and launched back into space.

[Sources referenced: X | X ]

Jubokko

Jubokko

Region of origin: Japan

As with many yokai that were inanimate objects which had achieved autonomy, the jubokko were once ordinary trees that happened to be growing at the sites of battles with massive casualties. The blood from the fallen warriors soaked into the tree’s roots and as they fed they eventually gained sentience, and a hunger for more blood. The jubokko would grab anyone who ventured too close with arm-like branches, pierce their bodies and drain out the blood, discarding the remains to their roots where birds would come and pick them clean, leaving piles of bones to build up around the jubokko’s base.

Originally posted on Tumblr on September 23, 2016

Arboreal Abomination

Arboreal Abomination

Region of origin: Peru

Two men out driving in southern Peru encountered what was described as “an extraterrestrial Christmas tree,” a blackish shrub-like entity covered in golden eyes. The two got out of there car to investigate but there wasn’t much interaction with the creature itself before noticing above their car was a large flying saucer, presumably connected to the shrub-thing (sightings of the same craft by other witnesses in the area from some ways away we recorded, though no one else encountered the plant-like creature). The two the returned to their vehicle and put as much distance between themselves and the creature as possible.

Originally posted on Tumblr on July 15, 2016

Mandrake Root

Mandrake Roots

Region of origin: Mediterranea

The root of a mandragora plant that resembled a human shape, albeit a tiny one, and there was some belief that it was formed similarly to a homunculi, life born from sperm without a egg, that had spilled to the ground (often that of a hanged man, earning the plant its German nickname galgenmannlein, the “Little Gallows Man”). The plant was thought to emit a shrill scream when uprooted that was fatal to those who heard it, so farmers would tie dogs to the plant to pull it out for them while they remained at a safe distance. The plant itself is poisonous and hallucinogenic and had been utilized classically for various purposes such as a painkillers and aphrodisiacs.

Originally posted on Tumblr on April 16, 2016

The Green Knight

The Green Knight

Region of origin: England

Arguably the “Die Hard is a Christmas movie” of Christmas monsters, the Arthurian stories of the Green Knight have been chronicled and discussed by those far more informed and verbose than I (as well as any number of high school English classes, I suspect). Origins of the knight’s unique coloring are spotty at best but some historians link him to the Green Man, a plant-faced man who appears as a motif in pagan and Christian iconography, as well as borrowing elements from similar earlier Celtic myths.

Originally posted on Tumblr on December 16, 2015

Umdhlebi

Umdhlebi

Region of origin: Zululand, South Africa

A purported but so far undiscovered species of poisonous tree in southern Africa, it was said merely approaching the tree could cause a sickness or even death in any animal life, although the area around the tree was left fertile for other plant life (possibly assisted in part from being fertilized by the decomposing victims at the tree’s base). Local tribes believed demons inhabited the tree and sent it goats and sheep as sacrifices to appease them.

Originally posted on Tumblr on November 1, 2015

Borometz

Borometz

Region of origin: Tartary

Possibly exaggerations or miscommunications about an indigenous wooly fern, early European travelers going through western Asia spread tales of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, a hybrid plant/animal which grew a living lamb as a fruit attached to a flexible umbilical stalk.

Originally posted on Tumblr on October 15, 2015