Beasts of Celtic Myth

So, coming all the way back home, Celtic myths, and how they're really much darker than just this guy on the front of the Lucky Charms box:

Kelpies

Kelpies and Morgens are very similar, both disguised as beautiful women in the water, both waiting for men to pass by so as to drown them in the lakes of Scotland and Ireland. Neither is what they seem to be. There are some really big differences though, like how Morgens are basically Sirens, whereas Kelpies are actually horses.They can be differentiated from the lost ponies they pretend to be by their constantly dripping manes. It had an either black or white hide, and the skin of a seal- smooth, but as cold as death if you touched it. They would change into their womanly form and hide underneath the water all but their eyes, and look around for men to lure in. In its horse form it would lure people, and children in particular, to ride it, but once they touched it's skin they couldn't pull their hand away no matter how hard they tried, and the water-horse would jump into the lake, swimming down to the bottom to eat its victims, leaving nothing but the heart or the liver.

The Banshee

The Banshee is known as an omen of death, and is found in folklore from all over the world, just with different names. This fairy woman would always be seen washing the blood-stained clothes of a person that was about to die. The Banshee originally was just a woman from the Otherworld keening at the deaths of people, but then the story seemed to twist over time into her having the ability to predict deaths. They are able to appear any age that they would like, and either breathtakingly beautiful or as a hideously ugly old woman. She also has the ability to take the form of a hooded crow, a weasel, a stoat, and a hare. Although, sometimes in stories, a woman that seemed to be a banshee turned out to actually be the Irish battle goddess, the Morrígan. The Banshee's screech has been described in different ways all across Ireland, and even as a "low, pleasant singing" in Kerry. 

How not to greet a Griffin

So this seemed pretty relevant

Norse Mythology

Coming slightly closer to home, these are some mythological beings from Norse legend, just because the Vikings and their lore are ever so entertaining

The Bergkonge

The Bergkonge, also known as the Mountain King, is a creature of lore that can assume the shape of a man wearing nothing but a cape made of leaves. He appears in the forests, seduces women who he finds alone, and brings them into the mountains with him. The women are never seen again. In its non-human form, the Bergkonge was said to have been monstrously huge, and kind of arachnid- or lizard-like, roaming in the forests and mountain ranges.

The Huldra

The Huldra is almost the female version of the Bergkonge, attracting men with her beautiful human form, long blonde hair, and crown of flowers. However, she also had a cow's tail, which made most men run in the opposite direction once they saw what was behind her. If you weren't fast enough and she caught you, the Huldra would take you up to the mountains and keep you captive up there until you agreed to marry her in a church of God. Once marrying her, she lost her tail, BUT she also turns into an incredibly ugly woman, which I find funny because it doesn't exactly take a mythical creature for that to happen sometimes.. But carrying on, in return for her being ugly, she would gain the strength of 10 men, so, quite useful.

The Troll

Trolls are kind of similar to ogres, but less aggressive, and mainly from Norway as opposed to England. There are different kinds of trolls though, some that looked like the ogres, and some that were smaller, more devious, and more human-looking. Often it was the ones that looked like the humans that were the most dangerous, although they usually live in the wilderness, in mounds, hills, caves, and mountainsides. Or the other kinds of trolls, the forest ones that like to hibernate near deep springs or rivers. Trolls were said to be temperamental, explaining the situation in the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, in which a troll refused to let a small family of hungry goats cross his bridge to eat some grass.

juuuust kidding. here, for real: