Abumi-guchi
An abumi-guchi (鐙口, lit. “stirrup mouth”) is a strange furry yōkai, or Japanese monster, that is illustrated in Sekien Toriyama’s Gazu Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro.
It is a type of tsukumogami formed from a stirrup, usually one that once belonged to a dead soldier that fell in battle. It is said that the abumi-guchi will wait where it lies for the dead soldier to return.
Squonk – Illustrated by Margaret R. Tryon
The squonk is a mythical creature that is reputed to live in the hemlock forests of northern Pennsylvania in the United States.1
The first written account of the squonk was from the 1910 book Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods.2 His provenance was attested in the next written iteration, in the 1939 book Fearsome Critters. This book suggested that the creatures had migrated from deserts to swamps to finally settle in Pennsylvania.3 As logging camps were continuously moving in the early 20th century, this could explain their migration to Pennsylvania.4
Unlike many mythological creatures, the supposed physical characteristics of the squonk remain unchanged from the original written account, which states:
The squonk is of a very retiring disposition, generally traveling about at twilight and dusk. Because of its misfitting skin, which is covered with warts and moles, it is always unhappy…Hunters who are good at tracking are able to follow a squonk by its tear-stained trail, for the animal weeps constantly. When cornered and escape seems impossible, or when surprised and frightened, it may even dissolve itself in tears.
from William T. Cox, “The Squonk”, “Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods” (1910)5
Later retellings included that squonks were slowest on moonlit nights as they try to avoid seeing their ugly appearance in any illuminated bodies of water. In addition to warts and moles, the creatures were given webbed toes on their left feet.6
The given “species” taxonomy of the creature, Lacrimacorpus dissolvens, is made up of the Latin tear, body, and dissolve. These refer to its supposed ability to dissolve when captured.7
A yōkai print by Kawanabe Kyōsai
I’ve always loved folklore and mythology and the creatures that inhabit them and our worst nightmares, both historical and more contemporary.
Whether it’s Grendel or The Creature from the Black Lagoon that creeps from the watery depths to terrorise the locals, I’m equally entranced by both.
Celluloid or scroll no matter where these beasts come from, they are there to hold a mirror to human behaviour and plumb the depths of the human psyche and I want to list (and listen to) them all.
I know there are other sites out there that look at these and explore them but they tend to be a bit advert heavy for my liking and it sometimes makes seeing the information difficult so I’m trying to make a site that is as clutter free as possible.
I’m going to put them in various lists. Alphabetical and geographical will be the two main ones, but there will also be lists for games, books, film, and others as I think about them.
All images I use on the site are in the public domain or are licensed under the Creative Commons BY License