Classification: Legendary & Supernatural Humanoids

Temporal Range: 18th and 19th Century

Geographic Range: Eastern Europe

Diet: Children

While the Bogeyman is known across the world, in Slavic countries, his spot is taken by the Babay. This child-snatching menace is a crooked old man who walks with a cane and carries a large bag over his shoulder. We can only imagine that he’s become crooked over time from the weight of that ominous bag.

But what goes in the bag? Children. That was probably made clear with the term “child-snatching.” This devious old man once lived in forests and swamps but made his way to more populated areas to steal away children. He has been spotted roaming the streets at night and watching at children’s windows. Often, he will make scratching or rustling noises at the glass and pounce if the child gets up to see what it is.

In another horrifying case, he reportedly waited under the child’s bed and when they swung their legs out to get up, he grabbed them and pulled them under. A recipe for truly horrifying nightmares indeed.