Shoebill murder birds don’t even look real to me, but they are. They can only be found in various parts of Africa. Their favorite places to hang out are in dense tropical marshes, swamps, and wetlands. So the chances of you running across this real-life hippogriff in a dark alley are nonexistent. That is comforting.…
Have you ever seen a troupe of acrobats perform? Can you hear a pound of carpenters as they work on your house? What about the pint of Irishmen you met last night in the bar? Do you think you will see them again? How often do you think you would find a catalogue of librarians…
Will your character stumble upon an indulgence of leprechauns who have overindulged in drink? Perhaps your character will seek out a swell of naiads, a delectation of nymphs, a pleasure of pixies, or a resolution of sprites. Is your character so excited to see Santa that he will try to catch him coming down the chimney? How surprised will he be when he discovers that Santa is an elf?
Do you have a torment of ogres chasing after your character? Is he about to run into a devilry of gremlins? Has he been driven insane by a rally of hobgoblins who escaped capture by a malevolence of trolls? Does your story need a monster? Take a look through the monsters in this article and…
Will you have lunch with a lodge of fauns? Are you trying to find a senate of griffins to guard your treasure? Would you rather see a fulsome of hippogriffs or a dastardly of manticores? Would you be brave enough to walk through a snarl of minotaurs? When is a good time to travel to…
Phobias are constant, irrational fears that afflict some people. Their fears should be taken seriously. They should never be made fun of or belittled. But, as writers, we can bless (or curse) our characters with phobias and make the story so much more interesting. What happens if someone encounters the object of their fear? They…
From the brilliance of the phoenix to the brutality of the sphinx and the magic of the unicorn, these mythological creatures are amazing. Would a burning conservatory of phoenixes turn the sky red and gold? How crazy is a lunacy of werewolves? Do you think a flurry of yeti and a yearning of sasquatches could…
According to dictionary.com, a superstition is a belief or notion, not based reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like. It is an irrational fear of the unknown or mysterious. Many myths and legends, good and bad, exist about the owl. Some see them…
Did you attend an academy of apparitions? Would you be able to sleep if there was a racket of banshees hovering around your bed? Doesn’t it make sense that a congress of ghosts would roam the halls of the United States Capitol? Do you know of any graves that have been robbed by a shroud…
The Egyptians worshiped them. Noah prayed for them, but Pope Innocent VIII declared them to be evil. During the Middle Ages, they became associated with witches, and some were even burned. A group of them can be called a destruction, or you could call a group of them a cuddle. Egyptians and Their CatsAncient Egyptians…
