Mysterious Monsters Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vampire

At one time or another, people from almost everywhere in the world have believed in vampires of some kind. The most familiar vampire legends in the United States tend to come from Eastern Europe. However, nearly identical stories have been found among the Abenaki Indians (of the Northeast United States and Southeast Canada) and the Hmong of Laos.

Answer: Werewolf

In movies, one usually becomes a werewolf after having being bitten or otherwise assaulted by another werewolf. In European folklore and folklife, however, most werewolves weren't under a curse of any sort. Rather, they became werewolves by choice, performing magic rituals and making deals with supernatural beings for the power to transform.

Some historical werewolves, such as Peter Stubbe and Jean Grenier, were so convinced that they actually transformed that they committed murder. The teenaged Grenier was committed to a monastery, while Stubbe was executed.

Answer: Mummy

Now is when I usually would say that walking mummies are only creatures in movies and that curses supposedly placed on ancient Egyptian tombs are almost always sensationalist stories created by dishonest reporters. This is mostly true, but the resuscitated mummy is not 100% Hollywood. Anthropologist Henry Field of Chicago's Field Museum relates the story of a winter night when a plaintive scream echoed through the temple of knowledge's massive halls.

When the guards investigated, they found that one of their mummies had fallen in its case. Though skeptics will claim that someone was almost certainly in the museum to knock the mummy down, Field swears that this is not possible: the case was filled with poison gas to prevent insects from devouring the mummies, and the mummy was too securely mounted to have been knocked over without entering the case.

As Field said: "There is still no explanation of the scream or of the fallen mummy. It is just one more example of things we cannot explain." For more information, see Field's memoir, "The Track of Man".

Answer: Frankenstein

The Frankenstein Monster was created by novelist Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in 1816. Her classic novel, "Frankenstein", is one of the most-taught books in the United States. Though Frankenstein is a creature of fiction that no one has ever seriously believed in, the story is very similar to the Jewish folktales of the Golem, a creature created by a wise rabbi and given life through the power of G-d. For more information on the Golem, see David Wisniewski's Caldecott Award-winning book of the same name.

Answer: Zombie

The zombie is typically associated with Haitian Voudou, popularly known as Voodoo. Though this synthesis of traditional African beliefs and Roman Catholicism has sanctioned zombie magic in the past, modern believers emphasize that this practice has always been marginal, and that Voudou's true spiritual nature is much more in line with world religions like Christianity and Hinduism than it is with the exotic magic of popular imagination.

The term "zombie" has also been used in many recent movies as a name for armies of the walking dead-which, to paraphrase my hero Bullwinkle, is probably not a subject I can get away with in a kids' quiz.

Answer: Dragon

Dragons in European tradition are fearsome indeed. The most famous dragon stories in Europe, "Beowulf" and "Saint George", have the creature angrily guarding a treasure or a water spring-and seeking horrible vengeance when anyone takes what the dragon feels is his.

Indeed, in Christian art, the dragon is often used to represent the Devil. In China, however, the dragon is more commonly a friendly creature, dispensing great wisdom and aiding heroes on their quests.

Answer: Trolls

Trolls were very common villains in Scandinavian folklore. They hoarded treasure like a dragon would, and would sometimes steal human babies! In modern times, however, trolls, like vampires, have become domesticated, and it is not uncommon to see troll statues as touching mementos in Scandinavian areas. One such example is the largely Norwegian town of Mount Horeb, Wisconsin in the United States, the "Troll Capital of the World", where troll statues are plentiful and the main street is called the "Trollway".

Answer: Griffin

By the time Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote about the griffin, most scholars conceded that the creature was a myth from Central Asia transmitted by Roman contact with the Scythians. This didn't stop some writers in the middle ages from writing outlandish treatises on the legendary animal, however.

More seriously, many noble coats of arms in European tradition feature the griffin, which symbolizes strength, courage, and leadership.

Answer: Sphinx

The Egyptian sphinx was a guardian figure, often depicted with the head of an Egyptian monarch. Sphinxes symbolically guarded tombs and temples, much as European gargoyles guard European churches. In Greek myth, the sphinx was a guardian for the city of Thebes, posing a riddle to travelers and devouring any who answered incorrectly.

The sphinx also plays a role in some Greek-influenced religious practices in South Asia, serving as a temple guard. In a fascinating twist, South Asian sphinxes also serve to relieve adherents of their sins as they enter a place of worship.

Answer: Ghost

Ghosts may not be monsters at all. In fact, some people say they should not be feared, merely understood and helped on their journey. Whether or not ghosts really exist is a question on which many people disagree. Most scientists will tell you that there is no such thing as a ghost. On the other hand, there are many groups that say they have recorded pictures and sounds of ghosts-though most professional photographers and audio engineers say that these are usually examples of people misusing their equipment. Most likely, this will be an area where people will always have their differences.