Mythological Creatures Halloween Costume Ideas
Mythical Animals and Cryptids List for Theme Parties
Oct 9, 2009
Mythological monsters and creatures of legend have always fired people's imaginations. Their stories have been told and retold at bedtime, at school, in movies and in books, in music and verse. Monsters are of course ideally suited to theme parties, especially at Halloween. Fairies and elves have no place here. For a seriously spooky party, guests should choose their monster or mythical characters wisely. And what about cryptids?
Cryptids Costume Ideas
Cryptids are animals whose existence is not backed up by scientific evidence. Cryptids theme parties should include:
- Bigfoot: the famous giant ape-like creature allegedly living in the forests of the U.S. and Canada, a creature 7-10ft tall that some believe it to be a descendant of the Gigantopithicus. Also known as Sasquatch.
- Loch Ness Monster: a marine reptile akin to a plesiosaurus has been long rumoured to live in the dark waters of Loch Ness of southeastern Scotland.
- Yeti: the Abominable Snowman is another famous animal of cryptozoology and is allegedly a giant ape-like creature that roams the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet.
There are also animals that used to be cryptids but whose existence was later verified by scientists. Examples include the giant squid, the mountain gorilla and the king cheetah.
Mythological Creatures Theme Parties Ideas
The list of mythical animals is very long and each country has its own. Carol Rose's Giants, Monsters and Dragons, an Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend and Myth is an excellent resource for Halloween or other mythological monster or legendary creature theme party. Themes can include
- Mythological Creatures Party where guests may choose a costume to represent a mythical animal or creature from a particular country, such as Ancient Greece, Egypt, Canada, India, England, China, and so on;
- Mythical Animals Party by species (birds, cats, horses, serpents)
- Mythical Monsters Party
Costumes can be either homemade or adjusted from ready-made ones. For example, two more heads can be made from fabric or cardboard and attached to a dog costume to create Kerberus, the three-headed dog of the ancient Greek underworld.
Mythical Animals Costume Ideas
The world's rich mythology traditions provide plenty of ideas for theme or Halloween parties. Party guests could dress up as a particular animal species:
- Mythical Birds Party. Costume ideas:Thunderbird (giant red-plumed eagle with a human face from Latin America); Firebird (golden bird from Russia), Griffin.
- Mythical Cats Party. Costume ideas: Cactus Cat (a porcupine-like cat from the U.S.); the Sea Lion (a European monster with head and body of a lion and a fishtail); Big Ears, the Scottish demonic cat with evil, yellow eyes.
- Mythical Horse Party. Costume ideas: Centaur (ancient Greek creature, part man, part horse); Unicorn (typically known as a white horned horse, its appearance varies from country to country); Pegasus, the ancient Greek winged horse.
Mythical Monsters Halloween Costume Ideas
The more gruesome the monster, the better! For a Halloween party, costume ideas include creatures that are cannibals or human hunters such as
- the Minotaur, part-man, part-bull, a humanoid monster that lived in the ancient Cretan maze
- the Werewolf (and variations such as Were-bear, Wear-crocodile, Were-dog)
- Dracula
- King Kong
- Cyclops
- more obscure monsters such the Kraken, Baba Yaga, Boroka from the Philippines, Boo-Bagger from England
Monsters that are part human or humanoid are also on the Halloween costume list. Party guests can go for the obvious Dracula, Werewolf or Frankenstein's monster but also for more unusual monsters like
- Bockan, German monster part man and part goat that lurks in forests
- Cichol, Irish monster with horse or goat head, human body and only one eye, arm and leg.
- Gorgon or Medusa, female winged monster with fangs and lolling tongue and snakes for hair.
- Siren, ancient monster part woman part bird living on rocks and singing melodiously to attract sailors to their deaths.
There are many books and online resources to consult about unusual mythological creatures, monsters and cryptids and to get Halloween costume ideas, or ideas for theme parties.
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