It’s Monday and what better way to start the workweek than to remind you how much worse things could be. If you lived in Mexico in the fifteenth century, you had about a 1 in 5 chance of winding up as a human sacrifice. Your horrible job may be killing you, but at least it will do it slowly over twenty or thirty years. So you’ve got that going for you. The Aztecs were a fun loving group who enjoyed […]
Sorchia’s Universe–The Blog
514 posts
Hanoko san is a Japanese toilet ghost—one of many such specters, it seems, who haunt bathrooms all around the world. Back in the day, the only creatures lurking in the school bathroom were people skipping class or smoking or both. We were a rowdy lot, but not supernatural in any way. If your elementary school has a girl’s room on the third floor, go to the third stall, and knock three times. If you ask, “are you there, Hanoko san?” […]
The word gargoyle comes from the French word gargouille which means gullet or to gargle. In architecture, gargoyles are grotesque ornaments, which serve as waterspouts. The term gargoyle in architecture refers to any such device—no matter what it depicts. Strictly speaking, the term grotesque in architecture refers to ornaments, which do not serve as water spouts. Gargoyles are supposed to protect the building from evil spirits. In a legend dating back to the 7th century, a nasty dragon named La Gargouille lived […]
A two-fer Day with stories from Celtic and Native America (Iroquois) cultures. Fairy Dogs The Scottish Cu’ Sith—Fairy Dogs– are harbingers of death. They usually remain silent but sometimes bay three times so loudly they can be heard for miles. They are the size of bull calves with paws as big as a man’s hand. They may steal nursing mothers away and take them to the fairy mound or they may transport souls of the dead to the afterlife—whether they […]
See that title and the clever play on words? That’s the kind of thing you can expect here in Sorchia’s Universe–and it will only get better (or worse, depending on how you look at it) as the April Challenge goes on. Greek mythology is rife with half this’s and half that’s. According to one Ancient Astronaut theory (you see how I spend time when I should be writing) all of the weird combinations were the result of alien DNA manipulation […]
A couple of D monsters to start off your day: the Irish Dearg Due and , what else, Dragons. The Dearg Due is an Irish vampire. Dearg-Due means “red-blood sucker” in Irish (pronounced DAH-ruhg DU-ah / DAH-ruh-guh DU-ah). In true Irish fashion, her story is one of betrayal and vengeance. The original Dearg Due was a beautiful lass who fell in love with a handsome peasant boy. Unfortunately, her father arranged for her to marry a rich, but evil nobleman. […]