Stories

A figure from Central Eurpoean folklore, Krampus is Santa Klaus' evil counterpart. Every Christmas, while Santa rewards all the well-behaved children, Krampus kidnaps the naughty children and hauls them to the underworld as punishment. His name is derived from the German word for claws.

In Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus Rex, the Sphinx was the monster who catalyzed Oedipus’ ascent and fall from glory. Her unique weapon was her famous riddle; what is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening? The answer, (a man), proved too much for all her challengers, until Oedipus, who bested her and became Thebes’ champion.

In the Chinese Folktale 'The Journey to the West', there is a spirit that can transform into any human shape living on the White Tiger Mountain, where her corpse rotted long ago. By the essence of the sun and the moon, her bones were transformed into a divine spirit. She is feared by villagers, and since her original form was a pile of bones, she was named “The White Bone Spirit”.

In a labyrinth deep beneath the Greek island of Crete there lived a savage beast—the Minotaur, the monstrous half-man, half-bull offspring of Pasiphaë, the Queen of Crete. Initially raised in a cage, he was moved into the labyrinth when he became too vicious and dangerous for the outside world. From then onwards, every year, fourteen Athenian youths and maidens were sent down into the maze as sacrifices for the beast to feast upon.

Ravana, a ten-headed demon, originates from the Ramayana—an ancient Indian epic composed around 10,000 years ago in Sanskrit by the sage Valmiki, about the exile and return of Prince Rama of Ayodha.

Deriving from Greek mythology, Anataus is a giant who's the son of Poseidon and Gaia. He has increadible strength because he is the spawn of the god of the sea and the Earth goddess. He finds joy in roaming the Earth, challenging humans, and collecting their skulls. His triumph ends when the famed Heracles brings the giant down.

"Hengbu and Nolbu" is a story from a classic Korean folktale. The tales goes that Nolbu is a greedy man who stole his brother's inherited rice fields. In a karmatic twist, Hengbu's generous act towards a helpless sparrow was rewarded with him receiving magical gourd seeds that grew to be filled with riches. Desperate to find those same riches, Nolbu reveals his true self in the search for wealth.

Ares is the Greek god of war. He once had an affair with Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual love and beauty, while she was married to Hephaistos, the god of metalworking, sculpture, and fire. Ares was also the least favorite son of Zeus, who had him with the Greek goddess Hera, the goddess of women, marriage, and family. This scandal takes place in Aphrodite's mansion on Mount Olympus.

Adapted from a known Chinese myth, the Nine-Headed Bird is a dark spirit which is drawn to light. It adopts a human form when it lands to suck the spirit out of children. There has been no concrete version of this myth up to date.

Typhon's character cannot be understood by mere mortals, explaining why his story is told differently in various accounts from Ancient Greece. What is known is that he was the son of Gaea, the goddess of Earth and nature, and later became the father of all evil monsters. If Typhon had won his battle against Zeus, society would have been plunged into a period of darkness and fear.

The Qalupalik, a monster from Inuit mythology, is an aquatic creature that drowns children for mysterious and unknown reasons. My villain is inspired by this idea: a woman who would do anything to find her baby sister, even drown a child.

The story of The Iliad begins with Agamemnon, the king of the Greek army, refusing to return a girl he stole from a village, named Chryseis. This takes place nine years into the Trojan War, which is currently at a standstill. Her father prays to the god Apollo, who sends the Greeks a plague that lasts nine days. On the ninth day, Achilles, a demi-god and a hero of the Greek army, calls a gathering of soldiers together to stop the plague and return Chryseis to her father, angering Agamemnon.

Based on Caribbean folklore and the song Jumbie Jamboree by Laurel Aitken, two spirits appear during Carnival season: the Mocko Jumbie and the Jumbie Jamboree. During this month, people celebrate the healing spirit of the Mocko Jumbie in an attempt to ward off the evil Jumbie Jamboree as it roams the island, searching for a soul to enslave to an eternity of dancing and rum.

The Wendigo is a deer-like spirit in Native American folklore who inhabits humans and drives them to cannibalism. The Wendigo is often a symbol of either famine or greed, and therefore tends to inhabit those humans that are especially needy or greedy—either to force them to extreme measures to survive, or to punish those who have taken too much.

In Greek Mythology, Medusa was once a priestess of Athena but was turned into a monstrous Gorgon because of a horrible act by Poseidon. Medusa was then given the power to turn any person who looked upon her into stone, causing many Greek heroes to try to kill her for glory.

The Snow Queen, from the story by Hans Christian Anderson, kidnaps a boy named Kai one winter day and brings him to the North. Kai is cursed by two magical mirror shards—one enters his eye, making everything he sees seem ugly, and the other his heart, making him act cruel. Written in 1844, the tale itself primarily follows Gerta—his playmate—and her quest to find him.

Hansel and Gretel is a fairytale recorded in 1812 by the Brother’s Grimm. Set in medieval Germany, the story described two children in the wild forest, who get kidnapped by a cannibalistic witch that lives in a gingerbread house.

In the Grimm Brother's tale "Rapunzel," the wicked sorceress Dame Gothel tends to her garden surrounded by a high protective wall. In her garden, she planted a bed of beautiful rapunzel flowers. The flowers had the ability to cure illnesses and relieve pain. Though the villagers lived around her, Dame Gothel would not let trespassers into her garden.

Might Just Shatter is a retelling of the German fairy tale Snow White from the perspective of the Evil Queen's magic mirror. In the original story, the queen attempts to become "the fairest of them all" by murdering her stepdaughter, the princess, Snow White.

In a classic German fairy tale written by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, Hansel and Gretel have to deal with their selfish and greedy stepmother. She does not think about others' well-being and only considers what is best for herself and her needs—the exact opposite of a mother figure.

"The Little Mermaid," first published in 1837 by Hans Cristian Anderson, follows the story of a young mermaid willing to give up everything to have a human soul. The mermaid, who is also the sea king’s youngest daughter, defies the rules set by her father and strikes a deal with the outcast sea witch: her voice for two feet.

In the famous fairytale and bedtime story, the Big Bad Wolf attempts to enter three separate pig-residences varying in structural quality: straw, wood, and brick. It isn't explicitly mentioned where the pigs' fear of the wolf stems from, but they shut the wolf out and watch in horror as he tries to enter their homes regardless.

The two children in the fairytale Hansel and Gretel live in medieval Germany. One day, they stumble upon a house, made entirely of desserts, that belongs to a witch. Luring them in with treats, the witch attempts to put the children inside her oven.

Made famous by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, the story of Rapunzel originated in Friedrich Schulz’s collection Kleine Romane, published in Leipzig, Germany in 1790. Dame Gothel is the adoptive mother of Rapunzel, and despite her reputation as an evil enchantress, she also is a mother who will go to any lengths to protect her daughter.

In a typical Korean neighborhood, a burn-victim tutor forges a student ID to kindle a relationship with a particular home-schooled student.

Elara Steelskale is an original villain and the archetypal tyrant. Tyrannical characters are everywhere, both in literature and real life. They’re typically portrayed as calculating, paranoid, and power hungry leaders who will have it 'my way or the highway.' In reality, these people are really just that—-people. As with Elara, their villainous nature is a product of their experiences, born of firm belief that their actions are in the name of a greater good.

Born on the Greek Island of Nisyros, Aristo sees the world like chess game. His ability to think in many complex moves ahead of humanity finds him rich and powerful. On the inside, however, he is thoroughly bored of chess. Seeking a renewed passion for life, Aristo begins the game of a lifetime. The Second World War has just ended, and Aristo chooses to represent the philosophical foundations of Democracy on one side, and Communism on the other. History should tell you he stirred up quite the storm!

An archetype of a torturer, my villain is an employee in Hell, who follows the devil's bidding.

The 1992 Bombay riots lasted for 3 months, leaving over 900 dead. While the igniting factor was the demolition of a mosque in another state, religious tension had been building up in India for decades. Gangs in the city capitalized on the riots by selling weapons and drugs, which fueled more violence, especially in the low-income areas of Mumbai. This story explores the unrepairable loss that religious conflict brings about in communities.

In this poem, a mother and her daughter experience a series of events that test their relationship. Influenced by drugs and addiction, their relationship goes through a range of tumultuous events that push both of them to their limits. While things continue to deteriorate, both the mother and daughter learn from each other and themselves, but perhaps it's too late to salvage their relationship.

A hunter from South Africa developed a hatred of lions at a young age, and generally has no clue what is going on. This helps him continue throughout his journey and complete his end mission: killing all lions. His life is spent completely in South Africa and surrounded amongst the animals and wildlife where he feels most at home.

This story follows a man through time as he ventures through the world to seek happiness. What he doesn’t know, however, is why he’s impacting the people around him so negatively. This story of a personification of sadness explains that there isn’t a set reason as to why, where or when sadness can happen. But people have put a dark–need I say evil– connotation on sadness. This story hopes to break the idea of it being evil.

Though the ocean has been around since the beginning of time, humans have yet to unravel all of its mysteries.

Having a father who is a well-respected district attorney, Michael grew up hearing about countless criminals and their stories. He was a kind-hearted child, always putting himself in others' shoes to try and justify their actions. In 1981, he passed the Police Entrance Exam and began working for the city's police force.

This story is a parody of the critically acclaimed novel and movie The Hunger Games.It follows the story of Cato, a man born and raised in a society that rewards the murdering of children. After years of training, he develops a taste for it.

Based on Caribbean folklore and the song Jumbie Jamboree by Laurel Aitken, two spirits appear during Carnival season: the Mocko Jumbie and the Jumbie Jamboree. During this month, people celebrate the healing spirit of the Mocko Jumbie in an attempt to ward off the evil Jumbie Jamboree as it roams the island, searching for a soul to enslave to an eternity of dancing and rum.

In the Book of Judges from the Bible, during a 40-year war between the Philistines and Isrealites, Samson receives otherworldly strength from God to remove the Philistines from power. Unable to defeat Samson, the Philistine soldiers offer Delilah—a fellow Philistine—1,100 shekels of silver to discover the source of his strength.

The Valley of Fear is one of the novels from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series. Unlike any other story, this story is filled with darkness and terror, with criminal mastermind James Moriarty behind it all. Who decides if there will be a murder or suicide? Him.

In 1888, a serial killer emerged in Whitechapel, London. His five identified victims were low-class sex workers, all mutilated in the same manner, earning him the name, Jack the Ripper. Many believe that the crimes only ended because the killer was too close to being caught. To this day, the identity of the serial killer and his motives remain a mystery.

Originating in European folklore, a vampire is a creature that sustains itself by drinking the blood of the living. Vampires impale and feed with their notrious two fangs, leaving holes in the neck of their victims. Pale in complexion, they hunt at night as sunlight weakens them. Vampires have super strength and a heightened sense of smell.

The Boogeyman dances around from culture to culture and bedroom to bedroom. He's universally regarded as an evil creature who punishes misbehaving children for their disruptful existence. He's known to lurk behind wardrobe doors and creep under the beds of kids everywhere.

In Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Final Problem" from the Sherlock Holmes series, Professor Moraiarty is introduced as the archrival to Sherlock Homes. A criminal mastermind with an intelligence that matches Sherlock's, he places obstacles that challenge our hero, revealing manipulation, coldness, and indifference to morality. What if there was a different side to the Napolean of Crime?

Countess Elizabeth Báthory was a Hungarian noblewoman who lived from the late 16th century. Throughout her reign of terror she tortured, mutilated, and murdered hundreds of young women. According to local folklore, she would bathe in (and sometimes drink) the blood of her victims to gain eternal youth. It is believed that she served as one of the key inspirations for Dracula.