VODYANOI

 VODYANOI

"All these monsters stared about seeking him, but they could not find him, since he was protected by his sacred circle."

Nikolai Gogol, The Viy

"In appearance, the vodyanoi resembled a repulsive old man with hirsute body and long, matter hair and beard. It was frequently suggested that, like the devils in Russian icons, he looked black or that is body-hair was black. Some physical details, on the other hand, suggested the influence of the watery milieu in which he lived. Thus, his hair might be green or he might have webbed feet, a fishy tail, scaly skin. "
Elizabeth Warner, Russian Myths 

"This is the name of a dangerous water being in the folklore and traditions of Russia. The Vodianoi, also called Vodyanoi, Vodyanoy or Vodnik, is variously described as an old man with a blue face, white beard and green hair; an old man covered in scales or fur with huge paws, glowing eyes, horns and a tail; or entirely as a grotesque fish."

Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters and Dragons

AEGIPAN

AEGIPAN

“And God! The shapes of nightmare that float around in that perpetual daemon twilight! The blasphemies that lurk and leer and hold a Witches’ Sabbat with that woman as a high-priestess! The black shaggy entities that are not quite goats—the crocodile-headed beast with three legs and a dorsal row of tentacles—and the flat-nosed aegipans dancing in a pattern that Egypt’s priests knew and called accursed."

H.P. Lovecraft & Zealia Bishop, Medusa's Coil

"In an instant every moving entity was electrified; and forming at once into a ceremonial procession, the nightmare horde slithered away in quest of the sound—goat, satyr, and aegipan, incubus, succuba, and lemur, twisted toad and shapeless elemental, dog-faced howler and silent strutter in darkness—all led by the abominable naked phosphorescent thing that had squatted on the carved golden throne, and that now strode insolently bearing in its arms the glassy-eyed corpse of the corpulent old man."
H.P. Lovecraft, The Horror At Red Hook

"Capricorn or Sea Goat. This sign resembles Aegipan, whom Jupiter (Zeus) wished to be put among the constellations because he was nourished with him, just as he put the goat nurse we have mentioned before. He, first, as Eratosthenes (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) says, when Jupiter attacked the Titanes, is said to have cast into the enemy the fear that is called 'panikos'. The lower part of his body has fish formation, because he hurled shellfish against the enemy, too, instead of stones."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 28

MANDRAKE

MANDRAKE

"It stood among osiers and alders on a low, mound-shaped elevation; and in front, toward the marshes, there was a loamy meadow-bottom where the short fat stems and tufted leaves of the mandrake grew in lush abundance, being more plentiful and of greater size than elsewhere through all that sorcery-ridden province. The fleshly, bifurcated roots of this plant, held by many to resemble the human body, were used by Gilles and Sabine in the brewing of love-philtres."

Clark Ashton Smith, The Mandrakes

"It looks as if the name 'mandrake' may have been applied to very strong plantroots shaped like little statuettes of the human figure. It was believed that small familiar demons took up their abode in these plants. Mandrakes revealed knowledge of the future by shaking their heads when questions were put to them."
Grillot de Givry, Witchcraft, Magic & Alchemy

"Mandrake. A poisonous perennial herb that grows in the Mediterranean region and that is reputed to have powerful magical properties. Mandrake, part of the nightshade family, has a strong and unpleasant odor. It is highly toxic, though it is used in theraputic remedies and as an aphrodisiac in love philtres. The magic attributed to mandrake is due to the shape of its thick root, which looks like a man or woman. According to lore, mandrake shrinks at the approach of a person. Touching it can be fatal. If uprooted, it shrieks and sweats blood, and whoever pulls it out dies in agony. 
Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia Of Witches and Witchcraft

VAMPIRE

VAMPIRE 

"105-Vampire visits man in ancestral abode-is his own father." 

H.P. Lovecraft, Commonplace Book

WRAITH

WRAITH

"Where wraiths, wind-wafted, kept their distant den;
Where sighing spirits move the listless leaves,
And owlets nest on ruin'd castles' eaves"

H.P. Lovecraft, To the Late John H. Fowler, Esq.

"The apparition or "double" of a living person, generally supoosed to be an omen of death. The wraith closely resembles its protoype in the flesh, even to the details of dress."
Lewis Spence, An Encyclopedia Of Occultism

WEREWOLF

WEREWOLF

"Here howl by night the werewolves, and the souls

 of those that knew me well in other days."

H.P. Lovecraft, Aletheia Phrikodes

"This is the name of a transformation of a human into a monstrous cannibal wolf."

 "The Werewolf is essentially a human form during the day but transforms, according to different versions, either at the height of the full moon, or by donning a special wolf skin, or permanently by some curse." 

Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters and Dragons

This was a redrawing in preparation for my first (of three!) book of monsters coming out through Lethe Press.