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All across the world, there is no experience  more carefree and fun than childhood. The world is so big, so exciting, and so filled with fun things to do: playing games with friends, exploring areas no one else has, and dreaming about the day when they will finally be grown up. Over 55% of people have stated that they wish they could go back to childhood and forget all the stress adult life has brought them. But was childhood really as carefree as we all remember? During the day, our childhood lives were filled with fun. At night, it was a completely different story, for tales of monsters and boogeymen, who were said to come out and look for naughty children to capture and eat, drifted through our sleepy heads.

 

Tales like these were not told to just one group of children. All over the world, many children hear such tales and learn to fear the monsters that will be discussed in today’s article.

 

 

 

The Boogeyman

 

Every child has misbehaved at some point or another. Some common forms of disobedience include refusing to eat dinner, refusing to go to bed, wandering off, or just throwing tantrums. Disobedient children are given a stern warning: if they do not behave, the boogeyman will come for them. The Boogeyman is said to live underneath beds, in closets, or in basements—areas that are frightful to children. There, the Boogeyman takes on different forms. Some say he has glowing red eyes, sharp fangs, claws, and talons. Others say he is only visible to his prey, while others claim he takes on the form of a child’s worst fears. Nevertheless, one thing stays the same, which is that the Boogeyman seizes the disobedient child and takes them away to be eaten in his lair.

 

The name “Boogeyman” comes from the Middle English word of “bogge” or “bugge,” which means “terror” or “frightening specter” in Modern English. The word “bogeyman” is said to date back to the 1500s, a reference to hobgoblins. However, that does not mean the Boogeyman is only restricted to European countries. 

 

In Latin American countries, parents tell their children about El Cucuy, or Coco. In fact, it is said we got the name “coconut” because of how closely the fruit resembles the ghostly, hairy face of the Coco. El Cucuy is said to live in the mountains and would use his large, bat-like ears to listen for disobedient children. At night, he would travel to villages to capture these children and toss them in his sack, at which point he would then journey back to his lair and eat the children. Mothers sing a lullaby to their children, which translates to, “Sleep, child, sleep now. El Cucuy will come and will eat you up.” 

 

 

In Spain, children are warned about “El Hombre del Saco,” a tall, ugly, elderly man who collects disobedient children in his sack and takes them away to his lair to eat them. A similar story is spread in Canada, where parents tell their children to be home by seven o’clock, or else The Seven O’Clock Man will capture them in his sack. In Egypt, parents tell the tale of Abu Rigl Maslukha, a child who disobeyed his parents and was burnt to death as a result. Now, this creature looks for disobedient children to cook and eat. In Slavic folklore, a witch by the name of Baba Yaga is said to fly across the land in a mortar and pestle, looking for children to take back to her house that stands on chicken legs. It is said that the legs are alive and roam the land, rendering the children lost forever. In England, children were warned of Black Annis, a blue-skinned hag with sharp iron claws and jagged teeth. It is said she dug out a cave in sandstone cliffs with her long claws and a great oak tree stands near the entrance of the cave. It is also said that Annis will hide in the branches and pounce on unsuspecting victims. At night, she leaves her cave to search for her favorite prey, disobedient children. Using her long arms, she reaches through the windows of her victims’ homes and takes them back to her cave where she will then eat their flesh. Afterward, she tans the skins of her victims by hanging them on the branches of the oak tree and wears the tanned skin around her waist as a macabre skirt. 

 

 

 

Water Dangers

One of the most infamous boogeyman entities is La Llorona, known throughout the American Southwest and Mexico. There are many versions of the origin of La Llorna, but the main theme remains the same. A mother drowns her children in a river due to blind anger directed at her husband. Once the deed is done, she is immediately remorseful, and soon drowns herself in the river in her grief. She is denied entry to Heaven for her crimes, and her spirit is banished to wander near bodies of water, where she wails for her children. Children were told to stay away from nearby bodies of water and to come home before dark, or else the last thing they will hear are the mournful wails of La Llorona before they are taken away by her. 

 

La Llorona is not the only water creature children around the world need to beware of. In England, there are tales of a river hag named Jenny Greenteeth. She is described as having green skin, long, stringy hair, jagged, sharp teeth, and long, bony arms. She resides in murky, still waters where she waits to drag unsuspecting children to the depths below. 

The Kelpie, a creature from Scottish folklore, takes the form of a beautiful horse or pony in order to lure children. The Kelpie encourages children to jump on its back for a ride. But once an unsuspecting child climbs on the back of the kelpie, it immediately leaps into the water and drowns them. 

 

 

In Japan, children are warned about the Kappa, a mischievous humanoid turtle monster with a bowl-like indentation on their skull that is filled with water. Parents warn their children that if they are not careful, the Kappa will drag them into the water and eat them. Unlike the water creatures mentioned above, there are ways to protect oneself from the Kappa. The Kappa is said to love cucumbers more than anything, so parents usually carve the names of their children into cucumbers and throw them in deep water so that their children would be safe from the Kappa while they swim. When encountering a Kappa, it is also recommended that one must never run, but instead bow to it. The Kappa will be inclined to bow back, spilling the water from their indented skull, rendering it immovable, which buys time for their future victim to run away.

 

 

 

A Full Circle 

 

The monsters listed above are featured in just a few of the tales parents tell their children. There are thousands more monsters in search of naughty children to eat, all with different backstories and descriptions. Yet no matter the culture or country, children all over the world view these tales as truth and do their best to avoid the attention of these monsters, lest they be one of their many victims. While it’s likely creatures like the Boogeyman and La Llorona do not exist, there is one terrifying truth to remember: dangers can come to children whether by nature or other people. Approximately three children die from drowning every day, with the ages ranging from five to fourteen, while 8 million children worldwide are said to go missing. The idea of a child coming to harm is the true nightmare for many parents, which could be why the tales of boogeymen were created. Parents did not create these tales for their own amusement. It was done to keep the children they loved safe from danger, to give moral lessons to their children so that they could grow up to become decent adults. Today, tales of Baba Yaga or El Cucuy are not used nearly as often; parents do still warn their children about strangers who might take them away if they wander too far. In fact, while on shopping trips during my childhood, my mother, aunt, and grandmother would warn me not to go too far or else a man would kidnap me, and I would never be seen again. 

 

 

While the intention is good, there may be downsides to telling these tales. They could cause excessive anxiety to children with overactive imaginations who then only obey due to fear of punishment rather than understanding why certain behaviors are good or bad. They may not learn why it is important to behave for their own sake or others’, and instead rely on an external consequence of a monster coming. 

 

This is why it is important to use positive reinforcement and reasoning along with storytelling to nurture long-term good behavior in children, so that they can grow up and tell tales of what lies in the dark to their own children, thus creating a cultural cycle that will continue on until the end of time.