31 Days of Monsters - Day 1: Pesta

Pesta is a witch of Norwegian mythology. She either carries a broom or a rake as she roam town during times of illness or plague. If she is seen outside a house with a rake, only some of the inhabitants of that house will die of sickness, but if she carries a broom, everyone inside is doomed.

31 Days of Monsters: Spearfinger

Spearfinger is a Cherokee hag with a stone body, and an obsidian blade finger. Her mouth is permanently stained a bloody red because of her steady diet of her victim's livers. She clutches her hand tightly to protect her one soft spot in the palm of her hand. If that can be pierced by even the smallest blade, Spearfinger will perish. That hasn't happened yet.

31 Days of Monsters: Shtriga

Shtriga are Albania vampire witches that transform into moths at night to hunt for babies to drain of blood. A child sickened by a Shtriga's touch can be cured if you can somehow get the crone to spit in the infant's mouth. Shtriga can hide in the day as ordinary humans, but can be detected by their hatred of garlic. They can be captured and held in a building that has crucifixes made from pig bones on the doors. After draining a victim of blood, a Shtriga will uncontrollably vomit a little of the blood on the ground. If this blood is found and collected on a silver or gold coin and let dry, the coin can serve as a talisman agains Shtriga attacks.

31 Days of Monsters: Soucouyant

The soucouyant is a Caribbean witch that sheds her skin at night and roams the countryside in the form of a fireball. Like a vampire, drains victims of blood which she trades to the devil for spells and favors. She stores her skin in a mortar at night, and if you cover it with salt while she's away, it will shrivel up, preventing her from returning to her human form and causing her to perish at dawn.

31 Days of Monsters 2014: Black Annis

Black Annis is a bogeywoman from English folklore. A nasty, murderous crone, Black Annis lives in a cave in the Dane Hills of  Leicestershire. Black Annis has a taste for human flesh, and she particularly likes to devour babies whole. Her other victims she carefully butchers with her steel claws, tanning their skins to wear around her waist. 

31 Days of Monsters 2014: Strigoi

Early vampires were not the suave, sparkly anti-heroes you see in movies today. Vampires, like the Strigoi were much nastier creatures with convoluted stories. Strigoi arose from the graves of suicides, the unbaptised, or certain witches and warlocks. Cadaverous, and foul, a Strigoi, would prey on family and loved ones, leeching their health and vitality, eventually turning them into the undead as well. Strigoi were known to befoul crops, poison water, kill livestock and steal from farmers. The surest way to destroy a Strigoi was to find it in its grave, and cut its head off. Some accounts insist that the head should be reattached to the body upside down and backward so that the Strigoi would not know which way it was going when it next rose from the grave. This, to me seems like questionable advise, because if there's one thing worse than a vampire, it's one that can't figure out where it's going.

31 Days of Monsters: Day Thirty-one — The Wicked Witch of the West

The Wicked Witch of the West from the film version of "The Wizard of Oz," was one of the first monsters that sent me scurrying for a safe place to hide behind my Dad's recliner. I wanted to include her for that reason, and because the woman that played her, Margaret Hamilton, used to live in Napa on Brown Street. Had I known that fact as a kid, I'm sure I would have never come out from behind the La-Z-Boy.
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Well, that wraps up 31 Days of Monsters. I hope all of you who tuned in regularly, enjoyed the effort. Send me any of your thoughts and comments about the project, or individual monsters.
When I started this, I wasn't sure I'd pull it off. In fact, on Day Two, I was sure I'd never make it to the end. I'm glad I proved myself wrong.
Thanks for visiting, and have a happy Halloween.

31 Days of Monsters: Day Eighteen — Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga is a dangerous and wily witch in Russian mythology. She rides through the sky in an ancient wooden mortar, pushing herself along with a pestle, and brushing away all traces of her path with a broom. She is believed to steal and eat babies and lives in a strange hut that sits on top of an enormous chicken leg. Her house is guarded by the skulls of her victims, but despite her nasty ways, at times she can be very helpful to the right people. It's best to have a safe escape plan if you encounter her however, because Baba Yaga's moods can change quickly, and you never, ever want to find yourself on her bad side.
Thanks to Rich for mentioning Baba Yaga.