Bultungin
Region of origin: Chad
Literally “I change myself into a hyena,” it was believed some people used witchcraft to to turn a hyena, a creature heavily stigmatized as dirty scavengers. The bultungin would turn into the hyena at night and upturn graves to feast on the dead bodies. A similar creature in Ethiopia was known as a bouda, and was heavily associated with blacksmiths.
Werewolves of Ossory
Region of origin: Ossory, Ireland
Thought to be descendants of Clan Allta who were cursed by St. Natalis for blasphemy, the people of medieval Ossory were believed to be faoladh, creatures capable of turning from humans into wolves or, in some variations, sending their spirit out of their human form and taking possession of a wolf. Some said they could change at will, other stories told there were two Ossorians at any given point who were uncontrollably compelled to change and stayed as wolves for seven years before returning to their human forms and two more took their place. Ossorian wolf-men would kill cattle and otherwise behave as wolves when left to their own devices, but were capable of human speech and reasoning and were utilized by the king as fierce warriors in his army, giving them reputations as protectors and guardians more akin to Scotland’s benevolent wulvers than continental Europe’s more dangerous werewolf variations.
The Thriller
Region of origin: Lurking in the dark
Coming out near midnight, the Thriller is an intangible force of fear, utilizing the form of reanimated dead, ravenous were-beasts and things with forty eyes, among others, accompanied by the odor of ancient decay. The amassed forces will head from graveyards and tombs into neighborhoods and backroads in search of human prey to frighten through intricate choreography, forcing them to join the ranks of their undead troupe as the fear takes hold, their body rotting. It is said they prefer humans with no natural sense of rhythm, but can affect anyone as no mere mortal can resist the evil of the Thriller.
Originally posted on Tumblr on October 31, 2016
Babi Ngepet
Region of origin: Java, Indonesia
The result of a black magic spell to gain material wealth, the person casting the spell is possessed by a demon and cursed to take on the form of a large boar, the Babi Ngepet. While a boar, they will wander by or into nearby homes at night, magically collecting money and jewelry as they pass until they can return home and safely resume their human form. It is thought the concept likely shares some origins with cèlèngan, a Javanese term associated with piggy banks.
Originally posted on Tumblr on September 12, 2016
Wulvers
Region of origin: Shetland Islands, Scotland
Not a werewolf in a traditional sense, the wulvers were not transformed humans but faeries or spirits who appeared as furry figures with wolf heads. Also unlike the traditional werewolf, wulvers, while solitary and isolated, were calm, gentle creatures, said to assist people such as helping lost travelers find their path again. They often spent their time fishing off the shoreline, leaving excess fish they had caught at the homes of poor families when they were done for the day. Some stories referred to them as death omens, or that they would sit mournfully outside the homes of those who were sick or dying, but the wulvers themselves never meant people ill; they were happy to leave people alone in peace provided they were treated the same.
Originally posted on Tumblr on May 31, 2016
Pricolici
Region of origin: Romania
The strigoi, ostensibly equated with the modern vampire, was by most accounts a human who led a sinful life and would rise from the grave as an undead creature that possessed great demonic powers and fed on the living. But, now stay with me here, what if they were also a werewolf. The pricolici is similar to the strigoi in many ways but instead of maintaining their human form they are permanently transformed into a giant wolf. And instead of feeding on their victims slowly over time, their bestial nature would result in far more immediate, grizzly attacks. A more violent creature, it’s possible if in life the actions that condemned them were also violent in nature and led to their unique derivation from the usual strigoi. Alternatively, there are some versions of the lore that state the pricolici is a strigoi of a person who was already a werewolf when they were alive.
Originally posted on Tumblr on May 20, 2016
Luison
Region of origin: Paraguay
The seventh of the seven cursed children of Guaraní mythology, Luison was a god of death and the night; he lived in and guarded cemeteries, fed on dead bodies and appearing to those who were about to die. As European influence reached the Guaraní, Luison gained a more bestial countenance and became more prominently analogous with werewolf stories, replacing his traditional death-god role.
Originally posted on Tumblr on April 4, 2016
Wampus Cat
Region of origin: Tennessee, United States
Folklore in rural Tennessee tells of a Cherokee woman who wore a cougar pelt to spy on a men’s sacred hunting party was caught and cursed to take on the form of a demonic were-cougar who still haunts the Tennessee hillside to this day. Some believe the appearance of the Wampus Cat to be a death omen.
Originally posted on Tumblr on November 24, 2015
The Compendium of Arcane Beasts and Critters 