Meme monster stories from history

Did people really believe in things like this?

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sauce?
also yes, look at the vampire "epidemic" in 18th century central/eastern europe

Picture for a moment you are a central European farmer in the 16th century. The land around you is rather rugged, with small farms and woods adjacent to you. You head to the local village only once a week, to trade goods and stories.

You hear how a neighbor's wife has died of some ailment, and no one knows the cause. Another lost a child, the fourth one to die. An elderly man disappeared in the woods. Misfortune tends to happen in groups. You hear from the clergy how spirits trouble the world, sinners and the pious alike. You know the woods to be full of boars and wolves, but wonder if there might be darker things there. The way wolves attack your livestock and damage your livelihood, you almost wonder if they arent some evil spirits sent to plague your family.

What said but add to that pre existing beliefs in various beings and entities.
Alot of monsters were clearly just meant to make children act prudently though. Skogsråt and Näcken are just thinly disguised messages to your kids to stay the fuck away from flirtatious strangers who want to take them into the woods.

It was a historical text I just read for my early modern asia class
It's one of Zheng He's expeditions, written by Ma Huan
It's Vietnamese

Genesis 6:1-4, divine beings come to earth and fuck human women, who give birth to giants. Fucking awesome story.
>And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

hmm interesting, it sounded really similar to the penanggalan and krasue of south east asia

The Yoruba of West Africa believed the Iroko tree was occupied by a hostile spirit. When you cut it down to make furniture from it, he’d make spooky noises in your house and move shit around.

The Turks were confused as fuck over the Slavic vampire panic

Sauce?

Skeptical muslims being weirded out by superstitious slavs sounds funny