Death of a Unicorn (R: 2025)

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I missed this one at the theaters. By the time I saw the previews, it had already left the big screen … at least in my area. I saw it available on Amazon Prime, but I have no idea when it would be discounted or have free streaming. I got impatient. Being a big fan of folklore, myths, and legends … I couldn’t wait. I went ahead and bought it, as it was only a few dollars more as a purchase than a 48-hour rental. Plus, I knew I’d need to watch it again with my son at a much later date. It was worth the investment. In my fascination with the story, the acting was good, cleverly crafted, and had great special effects. I give it 5 stars out of 5.

A deep and familiar sense of wonder arrives with Death of a Unicorn, a film that unites the hard edges of horror with the timeless shimmer of mythology and cryptids. Those weary of paint-by-numbers unicorn tales will find here an intoxicating reimagining, where folklore breathes with terror and beauty in equal measure. The story draws on the long tradition of unicorn symbolism; purity, danger, and the space between myth and reality; giving folklorists plenty to admire and horror fans much to savor.

This five-star experience is more than a suspenseful journey; it stands as a fresh lens on unicorn lore, blending unsettling creature design with folklore’s deep shadows. Students of mythology, collectors of cryptid legends, and lifelong movie buffs will recognize the artistry on display; an inventive, memorable tribute to stories that haunt the human imagination. As the boundaries blur between ancient fable and modern cinema, Death of a Unicorn claims its place among the most original myth-inspired films in recent memory.

Plot Overview and Mythological Foundations

Death of a Unicorn weaves an atmospheric story that bridges folklore, horror, and the subtle mysteries of natural history. The direction and writing treat mythology, cryptids, and unicorns with both reverence and invention, offering viewers a world that feels at once ancient and shockingly new. Instead of simply referencing unicorns as fantasy tropes, the film considers their deeper symbolic currents, purity tainted by violence, rarity on the edge of extinction, and the dangerous beauty at the heart of every myth. Layer by layer, this story wraps itself around the audience with a darkly enchanting grip, asking us to peer into the mythic shadows hidden in familiar woods.

Mythology and Cryptids in the Film’s World-Building

The film’s heart beats through its meticulous use of mythology and cryptids. Here, unicorns move beyond token creatures; they become both protagonists and portents, shaped by centuries of folklore and embellished by the film’s own rulebook. This isn’t the milky-white icon on childhood posters; this unicorn is unpredictable, wild, and laced with ambiguity, its roots borrowed from both medieval bestiaries and whispered folk tales.

World-building in Death of a Unicorn is rich, drawing from an international tapestry of legends. You will find echoes of Slavic Leshy myths, Celtic forest hauntings, and echoes of the Elasmotherium, often cited as the “Siberian Unicorn”, a creature entangling paleontological fact with cryptozoological hope. This subtle dance between documentary realism and gothic invention sets the scene apart from typical genre fare.

  • Hybrid Beasts and Hidden Truths: The film smartly folds known cryptids into its ecosystem. These influences allow for world-building that is dense yet accessible, rewarding attentive viewers and folklore enthusiasts alike.
  • Symbolism in Character and Setting: Each appearance by a mythical being connects to the larger themes of purity, self-sacrifice, and the price of wonder. Symbolic moments; antlers gleaming like silver under moonlight, hoofprints found near untamed rivers, reinforce how mythology, cryptids, and unicorns shape not just the film’s action, but also its spirit.

If the resonance of cryptid stories and ancient symbols catches your curiosity, consider browsing the Cryptids Lore Collection. There, you’ll find a deeper look at the creatures and stories that continue to haunt modern imagination, offering a context that transforms Death of a Unicorn from a simple film to a living folktale.

For those drawn to the interplay of myth and the monstrous, the film offers both a love letter and a bold revision. It rewards everyone who still believes that old stories have teeth; and that danger and beauty often walk hand in hand.

Cinematic Elements: Horror, Performance, and Atmosphere

Death of a Unicorn flourishes in the liminal space where horror breathes alongside legend. The film’s tone balances menace and awe, using visual and performance techniques that root mythology, cryptids, and unicorns firmly in the audience’s senses. Here, horror is not only found in fleeting shadows but in the profound unease of upturned folklore, where every whinny or forest shiver hints at powers older than language.

Creature Design: Bringing the Unicorn to Life

The heart of Death of a Unicorn lies in its striking reimagining of the unicorn, shifting the creature from a gentle fairy tale symbol to something altogether more primal. Instead of the classic white steed, this unicorn is closer to a cryptid; a wild and dangerous animal, closer in spirit to those legendary beasts chronicled in bestiaries and whispered about in folklore.

The design harnesses the uncanny. This unicorn is scarred by survival; its coat is marked, its horn not smooth and elegant, but jagged as if shaped by forest battles. Every movement, each snort and flick of the ear, awakens old fears, suggesting a creature as ancient as it is unpredictable. This isn’t just a monster, but a living myth: part relic, part warning.

  • Anatomical accuracy: The filmmakers draw from paleontological theories, imagining the unicorn with a heavy bone structure reminiscent of Ice Age megafauna.
  • Behavioral realism: The film gives the unicorn plausible animal instincts, blurring the line between fantasy and cryptozoology.
  • Atmospheric lighting: Shadows and moonlight are wielded to conceal and then reveal the unicorn, amplifying both beauty and terror.

To appreciate the historical roots that inspired these choices, explore Unicorn Mythology for a journey through traditional and modern interpretations. Those hungry for even further lore can see how the unicorn straddles myth and cryptid classification in the broader context of animal legends.

Actors and Storytelling: Review Standout Performances, Script Strength, and Emotional Impact

Death of a Unicorn is elevated by its cast, who bring depth and sincerity that cut through the genre’s potential for camp. Each lead actor embodies a complex relationship with the unicorn; fear, awe, and raw survival instinct mingle together in their eyes and voices.

  • Lead Performances: The central family dynamic anchors the film. The parent figure radiates both protectiveness and existential dread, while the child delivers hope and terror in unpredictable waves. These performances never tip into melodrama; instead, they maintain a studied restraint, letting silences and glances fill the screen.
  • Supporting Cast: Side characters populate the looming woods with urgency and unique voices, never feeling disposable or one-note.
  • Script Excellence: Dialogue is spare, but loaded with subtext. Every word counts; each exchange builds the film’s broader themes: the enormity of myth, the confusion of facing the unknown, and the line between folklore devotion and horror.

The emotional moments bite hard because they refuse easy comfort. The film leans into ambiguity: Is the unicorn a blessing, a warning, or something the human mind cannot parse? The script excels in sustaining this uncertainty, rewarding both mythology buffs and horror aficionados.

The atmosphere; woven from mist, flickering light, and trembling voices, carries the movie through quiet dread and sudden, kinetic fear. This is horror that respects the intelligence and emotional sensitivity of its audience, refusing to offer easy answers.

For an exploration of how cryptids exist in both legend and lived experience, visit the compendium on the List of cryptids. Curious minds will also find rich context in tales where monsters and myths spill into our world at Cryptid and Creature Movie Reviews.

Whether you come for the folklore, the cryptids, or the unicorn itself, it’s clear that Death of a Unicorn offers a five-star review for its commitment to mythic terror, nuanced performances, and an atmosphere thick with both reverence and fear.

Thematic Depth: Myth, Nature, and Morality

Death of a Unicorn commands attention not only for its chilling visuals and rich atmosphere but also for its deep engagement with old myths and urgent modern concerns. In this section, we explore how the film threads together environmental themes, moral questions, and symbolic echoes from centuries of folklore. For those fascinated by the texture of mythology, cryptids, and unicorns, these themes pulse just below the surface, framing every twist and revelation with greater meaning.

Moral Questions and Environmental Commentary

At the film’s core sits a quiet but persistent conversation about the relationship between humans and the natural world. By centering the unicorn as both a cryptid and a force of nature, Death of a Unicorn prompts the audience to confront tough questions:

  • What happens when a mythical creature is endangered not by magic but by human folly?
  • Can reverence for the rare ever balance our hunger for control?

The unicorn’s fragility and haunting presence tap into legends that long treated these animals as guardians of pure landscapes. Here, the unicorn’s suffering and resilience become metaphors for ecological destruction and the irreversible loss of wildness. The story frames the creature not as a passive victim, but as a symbol of nature’s limits, issuing a silent warning.

This theme resonates powerfully in our era of biodiversity collapse. The unicorn’s elusive beauty stands in for countless species teetering on the edge, calling the viewer to rethink the old narratives of conquest and ownership. Is it any surprise that unicorns, alongside other legendary creatures like the Loch Ness Monster and kelpies, have become cultural shorthand for environmental anxiety, as explored in discussions on the commodification of monstrous creatures?

Death of a Unicorn demands that the viewer witness not just a monster, but a living question about the cost of domination and the ethics of wonder.

Symbolism from Mythology and Folklore

Unicorns have always served as rich symbols; icons of purity, tests of character, and sentinels at the edge of the known world. Death of a Unicorn honors and upends these expectations, drawing on a deep well of references that folklorists and casual viewers alike will recognize.

Throughout the film, moments echo the oldest tales. When the unicorn is glimpsed by moonlight or rears in silent agony, these visuals recall those medieval bestiaries where unicorns could only be tamed by the pure of heart. Horns are more than weapons; they are tools of healing, agents of change, and guards of boundaries between worlds.

  • The unicorn’s horn, for instance, nods to legends where it could purify poisoned water; a role that links it directly to anxieties about environmental loss. Learn more about these traditions in the examination of the mythology of the unicorn.
  • The haunted forests and shadowed rivers evoke the boundary lands of folklore; places where humans encounter not only monsters but also their own moral limits.

The film smartly connects its unicorn not just with grace, but with danger; a duality at the heart of ancient tales. This mirrors the treatment of other legendary beings, such as the Giant Leech Monster, whose stories also live at the intersection of fear, awe, and a need to explain what lies in the dark.

For those interested in the broader cultural tapestry, stories of unicorns have shaped everything from spiritual allegory to ecological consciousness. They remain animals of contradiction; wild yet gentle, hunted yet untouchable. Death of a Unicorn breathes new life into these contradictions, offering moments when the creature’s symbolic weight feels almost unbearable.

By rooting its horror in the oldest myths and echoing the ongoing debates about how we live with the wild, Death of a Unicorn delivers a thoughtful, memorable, and deeply layered cinematic experience.

Why “Death of a Unicorn” Resonates with Folklorists and Horror Fans

Death of a Unicorn does something rare; it forges a direct link between ancient myth and skin-prickling fear, elegantly speaking to both folklorists and horror lovers. This movie does not merely nod to unicorns as decorations or metaphors. Instead, it digs into the deep roots of mythology, cryptids, and unicorns, demanding that viewers see these creatures not as playthings but as the living heart of legend. Folklore experts will detect the layers of traditional meaning, while horror fans will feel the pulse of dread that runs beneath every hoofbeat.

By stripping away the glitter and charm so common in pop culture, the film finds the darkness at the core of myth. It captures the uncanny; a feeling as old as the first stories told around a fire. This is why those who study and savor folklore, as well as those who crave sharp horror, find themselves drawn together in appreciation.

Unicorns in Contemporary Pop Culture: Briefly Compare the Film’s Unicorns with Modern Unicorn Representations, Noting Its Darker, More Haunting Approach

Unicorns today are bright, playful, and almost sanitized, appearing on everything from children’s pajamas to viral internet memes. The modern unicorn is all smiles and sparkles, usually designed to bring comfort or whimsy rather than fear. As noted in resources like the Origin of the Modern Unicorn, our contemporary image descends from centuries of softening and sweetening; centuries that have washed away the animal’s wilder traits.

But Death of a Unicorn stands in firm contrast to this trend. The film’s unicorn is wild and forbidding, its beauty hiding danger in every glance. While pop culture leans into pastels and innocence, the movie pulls from the oldest tapestries and stories, where a unicorn was a solitary, unpredictable force, often just as terrifying as it was alluring. Here, we see a return to the animal’s roots as both a symbol of purity and a harbinger of doom.

  • In Pop Culture: Unicorns often appear as companions to the innocent or as magical solutions to earthly problems. Their horns have lost their bite, serving as little more than fancy hats on friendly beasts.
  • In Death of a Unicorn: The unicorn reclaims its place as something uncanny and liminal, unsettling precisely because it is neither wholly good nor evil. Its horn drips with the suggestion of violence, its movements hint at intelligence both alien and ancient.

This stark difference creates a tension that folklorists recognize immediately: the struggle between myth and modernity. Horror fans, too, understand why this matters. The film’s unicorn is a cryptid, not a mascot; an animal that lives in the dangerous borderlands between fact and fantasy, as discussed in lists of Cryptid Horror Movies. By pulling the unicorn back into the shadows, Death of a Unicorn gives the audience a much-needed reminder. There are legends that we soften at our peril, and some symbols refuse easy domestication.

For a closer look at how unicorns are usually portrayed in today’s media, check out 13 Great Unicorns in Pop Culture. You’ll see unmistakably sweet versions there; bright, approachable, and harmless. The film stands as an antidote to this, restoring a sense of scale and power.

If you want to see more on how films use mythology and cryptids to unsettle and entertain, visit the Cryptid/Folklore horror movies thread. Death of a Unicorn has earned its five-star review for daring to challenge worn-out traditions, making its unicorn both a relic and a genuine threat.

In this bold reimagining, mythology, cryptids, and unicorns return to their roots, haunting, beautiful, and impossible to deny. Whether you study symbols for a living or simply crave horror with a folkloric bite, Death of a Unicorn offers a rare and compelling vision.

Reviewed

***** of 5 stars; Oisin Rhymour – Techno Tink Media: design.technotink.com. Death of a Unicorn earns its five-star review by turning the familiar symbol of the unicorn into something rare, at once beautiful and threatening, anchored in both mythology and the shadows of modern horror. Stunning visuals, dramatic special effects, the essence of Tim Burton – what an amazing creation. This film stands out for its deep respect for folklore, its sharp awareness of cryptid traditions, and the gravity it gives to old symbols often lightened by modern media. Its careful use of mythology, cryptids, and unicorns invites folklorists and horror buffs alike to see something fresh: a creature that demands attention, fear, and understanding.

For anyone who values the unpredictable edge of myth or the dark fascination of unexplained beasts, this movie is a gift. Let it guide you into richer tales on folklore, monsters, and the strange places where myth still breathes. Explore more haunting creatures and the legacy of monster stories in cryptid and creature movie reviews. Thank you for joining this journey through shadow and story; share your thoughts, and keep the discussion alive for those who love a world shaped by myth and the unknown.

 


Malificent (PG: 2014)

malificent

Malificent (Rated PG – Released May 2014)
Starring: Directed By: Robert Stromberg, Written by Linda Woolverton, Charles Perrault, and others. Starring: Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, Elle Fanning as Aurora, Sharlto Copley as Stefan, Lesley Manville as Flittle, Imelda Staunton as Knotgrass, Juno Temple as Thistlewit, and many others. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587310/.
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I’m really digging the fact that Walt Disney and other major film companies are starting to get on track with depicting fairy tales with “real faeries” as is becoming the artsy trend these days in media, film, and music. They were golden with how they manifested Snow White and the Huntsman I didn’t think the film wizards could do any better with the classics – wrong was I. “Malificent” is in that tradition, embedded deep into the faerie realms and the struggles between humans and the fae, following true folklore about faeries and iron, and much of historical folklore as accurate as they could go. It is the classic retelling (and most probable more authentic of the Sleeping Beauty myth if there was one in history). A young powerful faerie girl well respected in Faerieland as “Malificent” goes and befriends a young human mortal who stumbled into the protected realms. They begin a long childhood friendship which leads up to the guise of “true love” only to meet the ever-told fate between fae and humans that humans will always cross the fae. This throws Malificent into a darkness after she loses her wings and seeks revenge on the wrongdoer. She curses his child into a “sleeping beauty” enchantment that not even she could break, only to be broken by a kiss of true love – which she believed did not exist. As time passes she falls for the young cursed one only to despair that she couldn’t break the curse she cast. Battles between the humans and the magical folk build up high action and turmoil leaving you on the edge of your seat. Ents, Dryads, Pixies, Elves, Dragons, and other magical folk animate your imagination as malificent finds her way back to the fate of her beautiful wings. Just how I would have imagined “Sleeping Beauty”. Rating: 5 stars out of 5 [rating:5]

 


Chupacabra

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photo from public domain? Calgary Reviews, Canada

Chupacabra

Description: Chupacabra comes from the Spanish “t?upa?ka??a” from “chupar” meaning “to suck” and “cabra” as “goat”, translating to “goat sucker”. This crypt-id belongs primarily to modern Latin American folklore, even though there have been reports in China, Russia, and other parts of the world. It is found primarily in Latin American or Spanish communities and their associated folklore. It is rumored to attack its victims and drinkings its blood, especially goats, sheep, chickens, or other livestock. Often described to be a bi-pedal creature standing at three feet to a meter tall and covered with short gray hair spiking out of its back. (1995 Puerto Rico report) Descriptions changed by the late 1990’s to a Chupacabra being a four footed creature representing a dog or coyote with mange stalking livestock in rural communities. A modern day rancher’s boogeyman. It has also been described as a very heavy creatures sometimes upwards in size of that of a small bear with a row of spines reaching from the back of the neck to the base of its tail. The reports in Puerto Rico and Mexico show where goats or sheep were found with puncture wounds completely drained of blood. These Chupacabra were described as being bear-like, dog-like, rodent-like, or reptile-like with long snouts, large fangs, leathery or scaly greenish-gray skin and consumed with a nasty odor. Another depiction that is common is description as a reptile-like creature with leathery or scaly greenish gray skin, sharp spines, or quills running down its back, standing from 3-4 feet high, standing or hopping in like fashion of a kangaroo. Reports of it being able to hop upwards of 20 feet have been noted. Many of these characteristics seem to have dog, rat, or panther-like noses and faces, often with a forked tongue and large fangs. They apparently screech and hiss when scared and can be noted to have a sulfuric decaying flesh stench to them. When they screech, it has been reported that their eyes glow an unusual red that causes nausea to the onlooker. Other depictions are that of a manged coyote or strange breed of dog, hairless with a pronounced spinal ridge, eye sockets, fangs, and claws. When Chupacabras bite their prey, they apparently leave three holes in the shape of upside down triangles or through one to two holes, draining their victims of all their blood, not unlike that of the attacked prey of a vampire.

el-chupacabras-illust-by-michael-lee-2007
Illustration by Michael Lee 2007

History: In 1975 there were animal attacks found with puncture wounds in the town of Moca, Puerto Rico and was originally blamed on the El vampiro de Moca (The Vampire of Moca). Experts originally believed these horrid deaths were done by a local Satanic cult. However, after the 1995 reports of chupacabra, these incidents were backdated as potential Chupacabra attacks. The first documented report in Puerto Rico was in March 1995 stating eight sheep were found dead each with three puncture wounds in the chest area and completely drained of blood. A few months later, the eyewitness Madelyn Tolentino reported seeing the creatures in Canóvanas, Puerto Rico. It was in this area that over 150 farm and domesticated animals were reportedly killed in the same manner. Reports of the beast originate to approximately being reported since the mid 1990’s and were first reported in Puerto Rico. To date (2012), there have been over 200 original chupacabra reports filed in Puerto Rico alone. Early 2004 and 2005 there were numerous reports of Chupacabra from South America, as well as Puerto Rico, and most recently in Mexico. August of 2006, in Turner, Maine came up with a roadkill carcass that looked like an evil-looking rodent-like animal with fangs. This was photographed and witness reports documented. However, reporters claimed that the carcass was picked clean by vultures before experts could examine it. The 2006 report in Russia spoke of a beast that killed animals and sucked their blood. This was the case with 32 turkeys in a Russian village. Nearby in another village reported 30 sheep killed in the same manner. In Cuero, Texas on July 14, 2007 – a odd looking coyote corpse was found, and identified as a mangy coyote, though most of the people dealing with the corpse were convinced it was that of a chupacabra.

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Wikipedia commons: Public Domain image

Habitat: Reports of the mythical beast abound especially in Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Southwestern region of the United States as well as China, Russia, and the Philippines since the early 1990’s. They have also been reported in Dominican Republic, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Brazil.

Science: Some scientists claim what many believe are chupacabra are simply coyotes with severe mange. The majority of samples turned in for scientific study turned out to be coyotes suffering from very severe cases of mange. Mange is a severely painful potentially fatal skin disease that causes the victim’s hair to fall out and the skin to shrivel. This is believed to be caused by the the parasite known as Sarcoptes scabiei. This is the same cause of scabies in humans (an itchy rash). This mite burrows under the skin and secretes eggs and waste creating the inflammatory response from the host’s immune system. Further, scientists claim that the accusation of the chupacabra attacking livestock is understandable because animals with mange are often quite debilitated and if they have a hard time catching normal prey, they may go for something a bit easier like livestock. Others believe that this legend came out of horror movies or alien-horror tales that in 1995 premiered in Puerto Rico. Movies such as “Species” which opening dates corresponded to the date of the first sightings of these creatures. The spikes reportedly coming out of the back are quite similar to that depicted with the aliens in “Species”.

Evidence: July 2004, a rancher in San Antonio, Texas killed a hairless dog-like creature that attacked his livestock. He called it the “Elmendorf Beast” and after analyzed by the University of California at Davis was believed to be a coyote with sarcoptic mange. Two more carcasses found in the same area that October were defined as the same. Another creature caught in a trap in Coleman, Texas was analyzed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife to be another coyote with mange even though it looked like a cross between a hairless dog, rat, and kangaroo. According to the episode: Lost Tapes: Chupacabra was a tale of the Ramirez family in Sonora Mexico in July 2006 when they got two gifts from family in the States … a video camera from their daughter and a Coyote deal for their family to be smuggled across the border. They were driven down to the border by the Coyote, let out to hike across the desert (husband, wife, and young daughter) for a dangerous 4-day foot journey. In Nogales, Arizona, on 7/7/2006 at 8:29 pm, drone thermals from the US Border security reported 4 illegal immigrants crossing believed to be the Ramirez family, and one with an appearance of a dog chasing and attacking them as the fourth thermal surveillance cam figure. It disappears. Videotape files recorded the attack. Agents Tim Valentine and Martin Santino received the report and responded. 8:33 pm, Nogales – Arizona: Found the dead bodies of the husband and wife, both with 3 puncture marks/wounds and no blood. As they checked the wash, heard growling in the bushes, believed to be the Chupacabra. They found Ava, the young daughter, unhurt and terrified hiding in the brush. When they brought her to safety, she just kept saying “its out there”. The agents heard noises and found lots of dead animals in the ditch, all drained of blood, and smelling horrendously. The agents pursued the growling and noises, not able to find the culprit. The official cause of death for the Ramirez family was unknown. There are many unexplained death along the border. In 2007 there were reports of 300 sheep dead and drained of blood in Boyaca. Purportedly there was a specimen captured and analyzed by the National University of Columbia. That same year, three animals found dead in Cuero, Texas that resemble the fabled Chupacabra. Phyllis Canion of Cuero, Texas kept one of these corpses heads as evidence of the “chupacabra”. Experts originally cited it as a head of a gray fox with mange. It was run through DNA analysis in November of 2007 and deduced to be that of a mange infested coyote. She reported that nearly 30 chickens on her farm had been taken by these monsters over the years, and this is what made her connect the dots to the carcasses she found as being Chupacabra. The purported “coyote with mange” however had grayish-blue mostly hairless skin with large fanged teeth. In Capiz, Philippines, on January 11, 2008 residents reported eight chickens killed and spotted a chupacabra looking animal attacking the chickens. Back in Cuero, Texas on August 8, 2008 a Dewitt County Deputy by the name of Brandon Riedel took video footage of a Chupacabra-like animal running around the back roads with his dashboard camera, it was the size of a coyote, hairless, long snout, short front legs, long back legs. His supervisor claimed it to be a coyote species that was not unlike the one documented in 2007 by University researchers. This footage appeared on the SyFy channel’s 2011 episode of Fact or Faked: Paranormal files. They cross-checked the video to see if it was faked, and it was not. September 2009, CNN aired a report of video footage of another unidentified dead animal provided by a local taxidermist suggesting it was a Chupacabra or a genetically mutated coyote. This carcass was sold to the Lost World Museum placed on display and being researched by a unknown university. July 2010 had a report of animal control officers in Hood County, Texas killing chupacabras and spotting in several locations. Again, researchers found the coyote-dog hybrid to be a victim of mange and parasites. That same year in December, Nelson County Kentucky produced another corpse of a so-called Chupacabra, killed by Mark Cothren, well photographed and documented by local news. This creature was depicted as having a long tail, large ears, whiskers, and body mass of like that of a house cat. The body was handed over to Department of Fish and Wildlife. July 4, 2011 in Lake Jackson, Texas had another report of a chupacabra in a back yard by Jeff Crabtree. Once news media covered the story and ridiculed him for his claim, he backed down and stated it was a coyote with mange. It was filmed at a later date and experts deduced it was definitely a coyote with mange. Sightings: http://www.technogypsie.com/faerie/?p=22


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggMWBHivne0

Folklore Local legends tie the chupacabra in with gargoyles from medieval Europe brought to South America on Spanish Galleons. Others says it is a product of secret government genetic experiments in the Lauga mountains in Puerto Rico on a US army base in 1997 that escaped during an electrical storm. Others claim them to be aliens related to UFO sightings in the same area. Some believe that the Chupacabra was genetically created by mad scientists who turned coyotes into “goat suckers” by means of genetically altered parasites. Another theory is that an escaped troop of rhesus monkeys took over Puerto Rico, some standing up on their hind legs, and that those were the purported Chupacabras. Scientists do back up that there was a group of rhesus monkeys used in blood experiments in Puerto Rico during that time and they could have gotten loose. In New Orleans there is a so-called lover’s lane called “Grunch Road” that is well noted for sightings of “grunches” that seem to share description with chupacabras. In Chile they are called the “Peuchen” and have chupacabra-like characteristics, except also being described as winged snakes. Modern Urban Lore and popularity: Not to only focus on documentaries and news reports, Chupacabra sightings have unleashed numerous films and horror movies of the subject. The X-files episode “El Mundo Gira”; a Bones episode; an episode of Dexter (season 2: “Got your Goat”); Generator Rex episode “Outpost”; the Lost files; an episode of “The Walking Dead” as episode “Chupacabra”; TV series “Ugly Americans” depicting them living in New York; CNN Ed Lavandera “Bigfoot of Latino Culture”; Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico, Chupacabra: Dark Seas; Guns of El Chupacabra; El Chupacabras; Vuelve el Chupacabra; as well as being in mystery novels and scientific books; songs; video games such as “Red Dead Redemption” or “Undead Nightmare”; anime; comic “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Twilight Sparkle and Flutter shy” get pursued by a chupacabra and fights with its arch enemies vampiric jackalopes; and other media.

    References/recommended reading:

  • CNN: May 2, 2006 “Illegal Immigrants frightened by raid rumors, George Bush”; “The Decider”; “Happy Slapping”.
  • Discovery News “Chupacabra mystery solved. http://news.discovery.com/animals/pets/chupacabra-mystery-solved.htm. Web site referenced Mary 2013.
  • Fox News 2007 “Texas Woman Claims to Have Found Mythical Chupacabra”. Associated Press. November 2, 2007.
  • Lost Tapes: “Chupacabra”. Watched March 2013.
  • Monster Quest 2008 “Chupacabra”
  • National Geographic 2010 “Chupacabra Evolution Halloween Science Monsters” http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101028-chupacabra-evolution-halloween-science-monsters-chupacabras-picture/. Web site referenced April 2013.
  • Radford, Benjamin 2011 “Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore.” ISBN 978-0-8263-5015-2
  • Wagner, Stephen 2007 “On the Trail of the Chupacabras”. “Encounters with Chupacabras”.
  • Wikipedia: The Free Encylopedia “Chupacabra”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra. Web site referenced December 2012.

 


The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Based in the town of “Sleepy Hollow”, New York formerly known as “North Tarrytown” experiencing the name change to honor this story in 1996. The tale is not documented as an actual legend, but rather a tale by the American author Washington Irving while he was traveling abroad in Birmingham, England. He was a resident of North Tarrytown, New York and used the area as a setting for his short story. Irving included it in a collection of short stories and essays he wrote in 1820 called the “Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a classic example of American fiction, alongside his masterpiece “Rip Van Winkle” which made Washington Irving become a legend in the literary world. As of an “actual” headless horsemen, there exists no evidence of a prior legend or reporting in the means of how Washington Irving told the tale, though there does exist a headless corpse buried in a unmarked grave in the Old Dutch Burying Ground (Sleepy Hollow Cemetery) that matches the “Headless Horseman’s” lack of a head and being a Hessian soldier. (The Full legend and short story can be read here: http://www.sleepyhollowcemetery.org/sleepy-hollow-country/the-legend/. )

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The story details Sleepy Hollow and its inhabitants living there in 1790 around the historical Tarrytown as it existed in that day. The area was inhabited by all Dutch settler descendants who moved to this sleepy little glen called “Sleepy Hollow” by Irving’s story which was already basked in myths and legends making it a dreamy and drowsy place even before this tale came to be. Full of ghost stories and the paranormal, Sleepy Hollow was the perfect place for the existence of the spirit of a Headless Horseman. He was seen by some as the most popular curse upon the village, as he was apparently a ghost of a angry Hessian trooper who lost his head by a stray cannonball during the American Revolution and “rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head” eager to victimize those of ego and arrogance. The tale involves the local superstitious ego-centric school master named Ichabod Crane who was after the hand in marriage of 18 year old farmer’s daughter Katrina Van Tassel. He was in competition for the proposal with the town mischief maker named Abraham “Brom Bones” Van Brunt. Crane was after the farmer’s wealth, Van Tassel estate, and saw marriage to Katrina as a way to obtain that status. “Brom Bones” however, also interested in Katrina, was interested in her for love. In his fight for the bride, he tries to mishap and veer Ichabod away from Katrina by performing numerous pranks on Crane, based around Crane’s paranoia and superstitions. Tensions become high, and during the annual Van Tassel harvest party, Crane is told ghostly legends of the area by Brom Bones and the locals. Crane is made so jumpy and nervous on that night that his intended proposal to Katrina was interrupted. He rides home “heavy-hearten and crest fallen” through the ghostly woods that the locals and Brom Bones told the tales of … edgy and spooked traveling from the Van Tassel farm to the Sleepy Hollow settlement. He passes by the tulip tree that had been struck by lightning and was reputedly haunted by Major André, the British spy. Instead of seeing that specter, he sees a cloaked rider at an intersection to the menacing swamp. This cloaked rider approaches him and rides alongside Crane. The man, large stature and size, appears to Crane not to have a head on his shoulders, but rather a decapitated cranium sitting on his saddle. Crane becomes spooked and races off to the bridge next to the Old Dutch cemetery. Upon reaching the bridge, the Headless Horseman vanished “in a flash of fire and brimstone” upon crossing the bridge. Ichabod crosses the bridge, but not before the specter re-appears on the bridge and hurls his head into Crane’s face. The next day, Ichabod could not be found except for his wandering horse, trampled saddle, discarded hat, and a mysterious shattered pumpkin. With Ichabod Crane nowhere in sight, the match with “Brom Bones” for Katrina’s hand in marriage was forfeited. Brom and Katrina married. Suspicion amongst the villagers bounced between believing the legend and “Brom Bones” being the villain who had the stature and size of the Headless Horseman. Many believe it was Brom in disguise, playing on Ichabod’s fears, and as a prank used to scare off Crane. However the Old Wives tales prevailed, stating that Crane indeed was “spirited away by supernatural means” and thereby increasing stories (mainly fabricated) of numerous sightings of the Headless Horseman to this very day.

Folklorists compare the American short story to the German folktale of “the Wild Huntsman” when a phantom races through the woods atop a horse scaring trespassers out of the forest. This tale most probably was the one that inspired Irving during this travels through Germany to concoct the tale of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.

The German folklorist Karl Musäus states that the Headless horsemen was a staple of Northern European storytelling especially in Germany (“The Wild Huntsman”), Ireland (“Dullahan”), Scandinavia (“the Wild Hunt”), and English legends. These “headless” horsemen would race through the countryside with their decapitated heads tucked under their arms, often followed by hordes of coal-black hounds with fiery tongues (demon dogs). Folklore would talk of these as being omens of ill-fortune for those who chose to disregard their apparitions. These ghosts would mainly focus on individuals who had egos and arrogance, were overly proud, and/or scheming persons with misguided intentions such as the likes of Ichabod Crane. There are other folk tales and poems of a supernatural wild chase including Robert Burns’ 1790 “Tam o’ Shanter” and Bürger’s Der wilde Jäger, translated as the 1796 “The Wild Huntsman”.

The legend of Sleepy Hollow is classified as a fictional tale. It was set on a local bridge in Sleepy Hollow that crossed the Pocantico River into the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Irving most likely incorporated local residents as characters in the tale, whereas Katrina’s character has been matched by folklorists to local resident Elanor Van Tassel Brush. However, there is ample evidence to make it an actual legend based on place names, characters, and history leading to the fabricated tale by Washington Irving. There was a farm owned by Cornelius and Elizabeth Van Tassel that was raided by English and Hessian soldiers in November 1777. They tried to fight off the invaders which led to their farmhouse being burnt down and their family being held hostage. While they watched in horror as their farmhouse was burning, Elizabeth could not find their baby Leah anywhere, and upon trying to run into the flames to search for her baby, was interrupted by a Hessian soldier who led her to a shed where Leah was safely wrapped up in a blanket safe and sound. The family was so grateful to this soldier for the safety of their baby. After the event, when a Hessian soldier was found in Tarrytown (around the area now called Sleepy Hollow) dead missing his head, they gave him a proper Christian burial and buried him in the Old Dutch Burial Ground (now Sleepy Hollow Cemetery) in case he was the soldier who saved their baby.

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Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow was one of the historical sites where many battles and events of the American Revolutionary War took place, and was a great backdrop for this invented myth as many matching actual reports of hauntings and ghostly sightings that pervade the area. After these battles were done, a 30 mile stretch of scorched desolated lands were left to outlaws, raiders, and the corpses of the dead. One of those corpses was indeed a headless corpse of a Hessian soldier nicknamed Mr. Jäger found in Sleepy Hollow after a violent skirmish took place there. He corpse was buried by the Van Tassel family in a unmarked grave at the Old Dutch Burying Ground. While Washington Irving served New York Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, he had met an army captain named Ichabod Crane during an inspection tour of the fortifications in 1814. This meeting took place in Sackets Harbor, New York and not Sleepy Hollow. This meeting most likely inspired him to name the character as the schoolmaster for the name, and the schoolmaster image as Jesse Merwin, a local teacher in Kinderhook, New York he also inspired Irving.

This short story has been one the most well studied and examined of tales of its time and of Washington Irving’s works. Numerous re-tellings and re-writings have come about through the ages. Numerous plays, films, and television shows were done to memorialize the legend such as Edward Venturini’s silent 1922 silent film “The Headless Horseman” playing Will Rogers as Ichabod Crane; 1948 Broadway Musical “Sleepy Hollow”; Walt Disney’s “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad” in 1949; Disney’s 1958 “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”; the 1980 Henning Schellerup “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” television classic; 1988 PBS adaption; The one-act stage adaptation by Kathryn Schultz Miller in 1989 called “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”; Nickelodeon’s 1992 “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” episode “The Tale of the Midnight Ride”; Rocko’s Modern Life “Sugar-Frosted Frights” parodie; Canadian television’s 1999 “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”; The 1999 Speaker and Orchestra 15-minute composition by Robert Lichtenberger called “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”; and the most famous 1999 Tim Burton’s “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Casper Van Dien, and Christopher Walken. The Legend continued through film and audio tellings with the 1999 computer animated classic “The Night of the Headless Horseman” by Fox; Porchlight Entertainments 2002 “The Haunted Pumpkin of Sleepy Hollow”; Steven J. Smith, Jr.’s 2004 “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in Concert”; the television movie by ABC Family Channel in 2004 called “The Hollow”; 2004 “Charmed” episode of “The Legend of Sleepy Halliwell”; PBS “Wishbone” series “Halloween Hound: The Legend of Creepy Collars”; The 2009 Opera “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Robert Milne; William Withem and Melanie Helton’s 2009 Legend of Sleepy Hollow Opera; the Jim Christian and Tom Edward Clark 2009 Musical “Sleepy Hollow”; The 2011 Hunter Foster book and play called “The Hollow”; Darkstuff Productions 2012 adapted Legend of Sleepy Hollow; and in 2013 a Fox TV series pilot called “Sleepy Hollow” is in production as a modern tale.

North Tarrytown in 1996 changed their name to “Sleepy Hollow” as a memorial to Washington Irving, and its local high school team are called “The Horsemen”, by 2006 a large statue of the Headless Horseman chasing Ichabod Crane was erected, and since 1996 at the Philipsburg Manor holds a Legend Weekend where the story is retold and played out just before Halloween.

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Thale (R: 2012)

thaleposter

Thale
Rated NR: Released: February 2012
http://www.thalemovie.com/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2112287/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thalemovie

Director: Aleksander Nordaas. Writer: Aleksander Nordaas. Starring: Silje Reinåmo as Thale; Erlend Nervold as Elvis; Jon Sigve Skard as Leo; Morten Andresen as Hvittkledd; Roland Astrand as the voice; and Sunniva Lien as
Thale.

A fabulous mythical tale meets modern day when Elvis and Leo, two crime scene cleaners discover a hidden stairwell leading to a concealed cellar where a beautiful naked woman has been kept captive. A mystery unwinds through tapes, research notes, and images of horrors unleashed. Secret labs, experiments on the fae-folk, and genetic altering to try to transform a fae to a human. More specifically focusing around the faerie folk named the Huldra, a mythical bipedal anthropomorphic tailed creature with magical powers … based on Norwegian folklore of the hidden folk in the woods. As a faerie lore enthusiast and researcher, I was extremely intrigued when discovering this subtitled gem on the Blockbuster shelf, and to my disappoint found out the store only had one copy, and it was checked out. Not available yet for streaming on Netflix, but did find immediately accessible on Amazon Prime for $3.99 (7 day rental) which you can watch directly through the link below. For any folklore enthusiast, fantasy film buff, or faerie fan … this is a must see. Made in Norway, language is Norwegian/Swedish and released on February 17, 2012. Filmed in Bergen, Hordaland, Norway. Rating 5 stars out of 5. [Rating:5] by Leaf McGowan, viewed 4/21/2013 on Amazon Prime
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The Realm of Faerie

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The Realm of Faerie exists in myths and legends around the world. Who are the Faeries? Where did they come from? NOW ON DVD Full Version 168 mins. on 2-DVDs. Cat. #U695. Go to http://www.UFOTV.com.

 


Pan's Labyrinth (2006: R)

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Pan’s Labyrinth
(2006 – R) Laberinto del Fauno, El
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/

  Directed by Guillermo del Toro; Starring: Ariadna Gil …. Carmen Vidal, Ivana Baquero …. Ofelia, Sergi López …. Capitán Vidal, Maribel Verdú …. Mercedes, Doug Jones …. Pan/Pale Man, Álex Angulo …. Dr. Ferreiro, and many more.

An excellent International film in Spanish with English subtitles about a little girl who goes with her pregnant mom to live with her new “step father” who is a ruthless and sadistic Captain of the Spanish Civil War.  Set in an historic mill with a prehistoric Labyrinth in the backyard, Ofelia explores and meets a faun and some vicious fey, that put her to a test of 3 ordeals she must complete in order to achieve her place as Princess in the Otherworld. Balanced with the fight and the cruelty of war, Ofelia escapes into a dark and hideous underworld where she must battle her fears to achieve her tests. Its an amazing tale of the worlds within and the treachery of deceit … bloody, gory, and definitely not for children. Artistic, fabulous imagery, and good special effects. A must see! Rating: 5 stars out of 5.

 


Lost Girl: Season 1

 

Lost Girl: Season 1
(Television NR: Showcase, 2010)
Creator: M.A. Lovretta. Starring: Anna Silk, Kris Holden-Ried and Ksenia Solo; and many others.

Its an expose of the Faerie world hidden within the human world where the season follows on the sensual charismatic Bo who never really felt at home with the humans tortured by not being able to experience love with them as she drains them to death during sex. She soon discovers she is a Succubus and is not alone, but in a world of the Genus Fae and without a tribe. She’s pushed to choose a tribe with the Dark Fae or the Light Fae, and decides to stay neutral. She becomes a renegade and teams up with a gothy girl human sidekick who becomes an investigator for the abnormal while figuring out who Bo’s mom is and her faerie origins. Falling in love with a Lycanthrope, at ends with the Morrigan, fighting off various species of Fae while keeping things secret from the human world. Full of mythology and faerie lore blended into the modern human world … this is a treasure and an action packed series. A must see for any faerie enthusiast. Rating: 5 stars out of 5
 

Season 1:

  • Episode 1: It’s a Fae, Fae, Fae, Fae World (September 2010)
  • Episode 2: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Fae (19 September 2010)
  • Episode 3: Oh Kappa, My Kappa (26 September 2010)
  • Episode 4: Faetal Attraction (3 October 2010)
  • Episode 5: Dead Lucky (17 October 2010)
  • Episode 6: Food for Thought (24 October 2010)
  • Episode 7: ArachnoFaebia (31 October 2010)
  • Episode 8: Vexed (7 November 2010)
  • Episode 9: Fae Day (14 November 2010)
  • Episode 10: The Mourning After (21 November 2010)
  • Episode 11: Faetal Justice (28 November 2010)
  • Episode 12: (Dis)Members Only (5 December 2010)
  • Episode 14: Blood Lines (12 December 2010)

 


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