Soucouyants
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| Soucouyant Picture from "What's the Idea?" |
You can protect yourself from soucouyants by sprinkling rice in your entry way, because soucouyants have an OCD like trait of having to pick up and count every single grain of rice.
If they are unable to return to their skin before sunrise, then they die. This means if there is enough rice in a doorway, a soucouyant will die if unable to pick up all the grains before sunrise.
While the fireball shape is the most intimidating and frighting form the soucouyant takes, it also is the state in which the creature is most vulnerable. One can kill the soucouyant by sprinkling salt on the soucouyant's empty skin when she is gone hunting for the evening. When she returns to put it on before dawn, she'll explode.
Anyways, this is the kind of thing that gives me tons of imagery to work with in writing a short story. Looking forward to finishing it.
Read more about soucouyants here and here.
This would make for a really interesting read!
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm hoping for! :D
ReplyDeletewhere do you get ideas/finds like that, I agree it would spark some interesting imagery. I'm stuck writing realist stuff but sometimes I think I should just jack it in and write something out of the ordinary. Sounds cool.
ReplyDeleteDave - I actually discovered the soucouyant by browsing the fabulous beasts and monsters on Monstropedia.
ReplyDeleteThere are also some mythology encyclopedias online. There is tons of great writer fodder in folklore and myths! Everyone is so familiar with Greek mythology but there are thousands upon thousands of cultures out there, each with their own mythologies. It's great to explore and see what else is out there!