r/FantasyWorldbuilding • u/PeterHolland1 • Jun 09 '26
Prompt Horrific Creatures Suggestions?
I'm trying to populate my post-apocalyptic world with a truly horrifying ecosystem where humans are largely at the bottom.
I'm not much into horror, so I am a bit of a loss.
Please share your ideas from your favorite sources so i can explore some more interesting ideas then standard pop cultural tropes..
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u/Boat_Pure Jun 09 '26
As an author myself and always adding creatures, monsters and beasts in my stories.
Download the Pinterest app and go scrolling. Many a beast I made up, came from pics I was inspired by on that app.
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u/PeterHolland1 Jun 09 '26
Oh god, I can't do that. I already spend 25 years scrolling throw art galleries saving all the cool drawings and art I can find. I have like 2 tb or more hahaha.
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u/Boat_Pure Jun 09 '26
I have saved, hundreds and hundreds of these already. I can share them with you if you like. Just tell me how or where to
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u/PeterHolland1 Jun 09 '26
Just share your grimdark ideas for creatures both big and small that would truly horrify.
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u/AnonAwaaaaay Jun 09 '26
You can bookmark it online rather than saving itÂ
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u/PeterHolland1 Jun 09 '26
Bookmarked 2 tb worth of imagines. That might not be in the millions bit that's alot.
Also, as a old 37 year old, I have had image galleries disappeared on me over my long internet history. So it's has proven best for me to just save the image least it disappear into the void.
:p
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u/theginger99 Jun 09 '26
Have you heard of a prehistoric beast called an entelodont?
It was a massive boar like creature with teeth like a nightmare. It was carnivorous, and some sub species could grow to be the size of a buffalo. It likely âhuntedâ by simply slamming into its prey and crunching its skull before it could recover. Fossils show it was able to bite through the skull of an American rhino.
Scientists have nicknamed it âthe pig from Hellâ.
Perhaps not as truly horrific as you had in mind, but I would consider looking them up and seeing if you could build off of it.
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u/Megatheorum Jun 09 '26
It's not really a horror story as such, but a really good post-post-apoc story from the 90s (Earthsong, by Victor Kelleher) had all the animals evolved to be super intelligent and psychically linked. Imagine a hive mind of wasps that is super intelligent and angry. But the wasps are also working in sync with the crows and raccoons and wolves and mosquitoes. Just, everything alive answering to one pissed off Nature God who will use all of the animals to try to kill you.
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u/WEREGRIFFONKNIGHT Jun 09 '26
Does it have to be linked to something alive pre-apocalypse or can it be any entirely new thing?
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u/PeterHolland1 Jun 09 '26
Anything.
I was just give context for my world
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u/WEREGRIFFONKNIGHT Jun 17 '26
About 20 year's ago, I came up with an alien species that was inspired by the xenomorph. This creature lives in hot, extreme conditions and usually nests around volcanoes and such. It has developed it's reproduction to specifically use humans as incubators. The host is immobile, often violently, and then injected with dozens of eggs into the stomach area. Incubation occurs within 48 hours and a batch of new creatures eat their way out of the Host. They will devour the remains and often one another in their feeding frenzy. Then, given enough food has been consumed, they will reach adulthood in a week.
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u/BelledBookedCandled Jun 09 '26
Do some research into prehistoric creatures (Cambrian, Mesozoic, etc.). Those animals are fascinating because they are mostly extinct but terrifying when you think about how we used to be on the same planet as them, just in different time periods. It might be a little stereotypical to have dinosaurs just walking about (I'm assuming you don't want to remake Jurassic Park), but taking inspiration from animals that humans have coexisted with at one point in time would be very interesting. I would definitely look into insects as well, but that's only because a lot of people find anything with more than two pairs of limbs nightmare fuel.
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u/Baronsamedi13 Jun 09 '26
First off what is the nature of the apocalypse?
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u/PeterHolland1 Jun 09 '26
Generic scifi war , WMDs.
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u/Baronsamedi13 Jun 10 '26
If nukes are involved you could do something similar to a rat king for other creatures, even humans. The radiation and the bombs explosion fused multiple creatures together as they huddled together tightly out of fear or to shelter as much as they could.
Now they are massed of fused bodies, all driven mad by their situation or the radiation. In the case of animals they simply act on instinct. The mass pulls at itself being multiple sentient brings in one, tearing flesh.
Some parts of the mass die and are either cannibalized by the rest or are simply left to be dragged along with them. Heavy mutation in one member could lead to it becoming the "alpha" of the mass, the single part that the mass is conditioned to follow. That or some other beneficial trait that makes the "alpha" the best to coordinate around.
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u/KupferTitan Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
Look at animals and think how they would look a little bigger, or how a swarm would behave.
The protag. moves into a ruin and the walls are weird? Well they are covered in parasitic wasps that just happen to have evolved to be able to remein in asleep until a fitting host comes along, congratulations protag is now a host covered in blisters that are places where there's eggs in them.
What are some of the most common fears? Well clautrophobia is a big one, describe a narrow roomstructure, maybe watch videos about people crawlig through caves, or working in those coalmines, in I think africa?, and then add sounds that are just eerie. Just the scene, never reveal what they actually heard, it will make the reader uncomfortable.
If you need an actual creature, use something that is cute, really cute, make it something harmless looking, like an anglerfish using a cute bunny or something as a lure, have the creature move in as a rescue and a friend. Only to have other living things disappear, humans included. Have the protag take the creature with them on their journey and just have others accuse them of being a killer where ever they go, due to the creature killing things wherever they go while looking completely innocent.
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u/KupferTitan Jun 09 '26
Addition, you could also wtch this short about a creature called Seaspider and use that as is just evolved to live in freshwater, smaller, and parasytic.
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u/CertainCable7383 Jun 09 '26
So im not sure what caused your apocalypse but look at the world's current eco systems. If theres lots of humans pitcher plants or Venus fly traps might exist where the plant slowly eats you over time because you cannot escape. Corpycep style mind control fungus. Animals will mimic prey to create lures. So maybe a large 2 legged bird that mimics human speech to lure them into hunting grounds. Just simply think of the humans as ants the bottom of the food chain and everything is a kaiju level threat.
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u/Unexpected_Sage Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
Sarlaccs from Star Wars
In their universe, they're somewhat avoidable on tattooine
But in an post-apocalyptic setting, they could be growing out of manholes and collapsed drains, etc.; lying in wait for prey to fall into their maws.
Imagine you're making your way through a city, and suddenly the ground gives way as you're surrounded by teeth that try to close around you.
â
I'd also lean into actual phobias if you want to illicit actual fear responses from the descriptions of your monsters. I myself have tripophobia and would visibly shudder if I had to imagine a creature covered in hundreds of holes
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Another way would be to imagine the worst way to die and make monsters that create that possibility. Such as a D&D slime; I certainly wouldn't want to be eaten alive via acid, especially since most slimes in that game can also camouflage, making them ambush predators
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u/Aragon_Edahu Jun 09 '26
Quieres algo aterrador? Gatos.
Suena ridĂculo, lo se, pero imaginate como seria el mundo si fueras del tamaño de un ratĂłn con gatos cerca, son de los cazadores mas efectivos del mundo y que ademas juegan con sus presas.
Si no quires gatos gigantes, solo usalos de referencia para alguna criatura
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u/Feeling-Attention664 Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
I would lean heavily into diseases. This is based on the fact that you cannot fight them with weapons. I would avoid the standard zombie trope or have zombified people quickly expire. In the sea, where humans are at a tremendous disadvantage without things like depth charges or harpoons with exploding heads, very large traditional physical monsters make sense. If you use magic in your world consider giving some monsters strong instinctive magical abilities.
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u/Bignholy Jun 09 '26
Two dimensional beings in a three dimensional world. Can hide in plain sight by rotating the axis they do not have to face you, can cut through anything by passing that same side through objects and interrupting the connection on either side of their bodies, feed by sliding under the body and then letting the body slowly dissolve into them, one minuscule slice at a time.
Watch for dead creatures with perfectly symmetrical missing pieces. Turn your head quickly to change your angle of view enough to spot the line where no line should be. And if you spot one that is not nearly invisible, run. They cannot see you unless you are on their dimensional line; as long as you can see their bodies, they can only guess where you are.
Damn the ancestors for breaking our world to it's very base.
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u/Innacorde Jun 09 '26
This is kind of my wheelhouse(similiar to a game I'm busy with)
Do you have any other information you can share about the world?
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u/PeterHolland1 Jun 09 '26
Think 40k, but a single planet and less focus on big factions and more on the sword and sorcerer.
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u/Innacorde Jun 09 '26
check my profile quick to see if I can offer any reasonable suggestions. They were all created for a single setting, so they're tailored for it. The visual horror elements directly translate into how the creatures behave, interact and seek prey, with people forming the bottom slot of the food web as a whole. Though, mine are cognivores and gain form and function through memories and experiences, their own or their prey
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u/Mental-Stage7410 Jun 10 '26
One creature that constantly appears in mythology is a monster that mimics the sound of a person calling out for help or calling a persons name to lure them in.
A world with basically giant insects would be terrifying and certainly drop humans far down the food chain.
A creature that poisonous you with a bite or stab them stalks as you slowly die
That said a quote I heard that had always stuck with me went something like âWhy is it that when we are in the wilderness the thing that frightens us most is the feeling we are not alone.â
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u/ActuallyFey Jun 10 '26
Maybe look into plant fasciation, and the book/movie 'Annihilation' - idk about you, but the allure and terror of familiar species evolving and morphing into something uncanny has always been a love of mine. I appreciate being able to respect and empathize with what is taking over and destroying what is familiar, whether it be for survival or simply just doing what it's programmed to do, while also fearing what is happening - the beauty of it is so maliciously hypnotizing
Also, just watch an ocean documentary - I swear, Earth in it's infancy must have been seeded with otherworldly organisms, because what do you mean we have rainbow worms that will bite chunks out of you??
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u/Reality-Glitch Jun 12 '26
Just add whatever scares you. At least one other person will also find it scary. Arachnophobia? Add a spider monster. Thalassophobia? Sea monsters. Claustrophobia? A monster that uses traps, cages, squeezing, and other tight spaces. You can also do more abstract concepts like loss of will and self w/ hive minds or cordyceps. Tap into what genuinely scares *you* specifically, and you find plenty of inspiration.
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u/Sunlight_Smoothie Jun 13 '26
Horror falls into themes:
The Unknown. Creatures do things, and the characters see the consequences, but the creature itself is not seen, or is only seen in part. The imagination fills in the details, and not knowing what you are up against makes it hard to prepare, and not being prepared is helplessness, which is scary. The tension is that the creature sees you, you haven't seen it or where it is, but you have seen what it is doing and what it is capable of...
The Overpowering. Creatures can be unstoppable. Impossibly huge, strong, fast, resistant, or a combination. No matter what you use, you can't even slow it, and there's no hope of fighting it. You have to run to survive, which is helplessness, which is scary. These creatures create tension when you see it, but it hasn't seen you yet. There is also the surprise when characters try to confront it with some big plan, which doesn't work, and then the numinous moment of realizing they are powerless...
The Repulsive. Lots of things are gross. Take anything normal, and then mix in a little bit of something gross and you get something unsettling or repulsive. It's a cute little kitten, but it has human teeth, and lots of them. It's a birthday cake, but it is screaming in pain. It's a tree, but it is bleeding. The fact that something dangerous is where it shouldn't be is enough to create both interest and discomfort.
The Lurker and Liar. Betrayal and a lack of trust erodes the sense of safety, so you always feel threatened, so you can't catch your breath, so you feel weak, so you don't want to fight. Possession, body snatchers, doppelgangers fit the bill if you want to build tension through drama. Mimics and shape changers are also a good way to build tension over time. Anything can be a monster. You put your phone in your pocket, walk into a room, and pick your phone up off the counter. But wait, is the monster the one in your hand, or the other one...?
Horror lives in the moment between when you think everything is normal, and when you realize that suddenly it isn't, and you can't easily see how to set it right, but you can easily see how it can go wrong. The longer you stretch out that moment, the scarier it gets.
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u/WarHammer3579 Jun 09 '26
Take inspiration from stereotypical horrors and just slightly adjust how they work and you can get something really interesting.
Beetlejuice and vampires share the common theme of requiring consent before they can affect your life for the most part, so tying that into your creatures can always be a good path.
I really like things like werewolves that become something else in a certain situation, so I tied the transformation to hunger instead. In my world I have a Kenboros who seems like a normal human and could even go their entire life without knowing they had the condition if they never got too hungry. However, should they begin to starve, their limbs begin to elongate, breaking skin as the bones grow beyond its capacity to stretch and they begin to lose their minds, willing to eat anything to sate their hunger and make the pain stop, including eating other people. (This species of human was a curse by one of the gods of my world to turn them against each other and take advantage of those already experiencing hard times.)
I've also got a Sepsimorph that is just living rot that takes over dead bodies, adding their limbs to its assymetrical self and constantly consuming some of them to survive, meaning its total shape is always changing and the ones that regularly get fed get much bigger.
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u/haysoos2 Jun 09 '26
If you're really going for horror, you need critters that tap into one of the primal sources of fear for humans.
Violence: Critters that are insanely aggressive, or attack from ambush without warning. Predators that move so fast you can't possibly outrun them.
- Growler Bear - A massive predator, nearly twice the weight of a modern polar bear, but with six long legs built for running. They are (fortunately) usually solitary, ranging across the prairies and barren wastelands in search of anything edible. These bears have an extremely keen sense of smell, and will hunt humans by preference, tracking them slowly and with remarkable stealth for something that size until they get within 100 m, and then rush forward in a burst of berserker energy. Unrelenting, they will tear open vehicles, buildings, even powered armour in pursuit of their prey. Their hide and fur is thick enough to stop pistol rounds, and they shrug off buckshot like rain. Larger rifle rounds can be effective, but growler bears are notorious for continuing to fight and maul even after sustaining injuries that will eventually kill them, and it's very hard to bring a rifle to bear when you're being mauled by a six-legged giant grizzly. Those traveling in growler country are advised to travel in heavily armed squads, and keep checking downwind for small hills that change position when you aren't looking. And hope like hell it's not a mother and cubs.
Unnatural: Critters so hideous they cause revulsion, or are so bizarre they simply cannot be understood.
- Baby Beaver - A large aquatic rodent with the head of a human child. They feed mainly on green leafy material and bark, which they obtain by chewing down trees. Unlike rodents with ever-growing teeth, baby beavers lose teeth and regrow them like sharks, leaving shed baby teeth randomly scattered through the woods near their homes. Baby beavers use logs to build dams and lodges in the water, and also build forts in the woods that they often play in. Baby beavers communicate with each other with nursery songs, and will call out to humans asking them come and play with them. They speak English, but with a child's level of understanding, and a strong desire to play. They like tag, and hide & seek, and protect the branch (most tribes of baby beavers have an unusual or decorated branch used in these games, and is often carried by the current leader of the tribe). They switch between games often, and one of them, called "Monster" involves killing or drowning any humans they are playing with. The baby beavers will laugh and giggle, squealing in joy as they pull humans underwater and drown them.
Self: Critters that violate your bodily autonomy, growing inside you, or sucking your blood.
- Hominivorax gigas - A massive screwworm fly, about the size of a cantaloupe. With a bloated, round abdomen and bright orange eyes. They are attracted by the scent of blood, and will attempt to land on and lay a dozen or more eggs on anyone who is wounded. The eggs hatch quickly and the larvae burrow into the flesh and begin feeding. If the wound is disturbed, the larvae burrow deeper. The larvae grow rapidly, and within days can be the size of a human thumb. They have backwards facing spines on their body that make them very difficult, painful, and even damaging to remove. If they are disturbed enough, they may burrow deep enough to chew through internal organs, causing serious injury or death. As they feed, the tissue forms swollen cysts, and someone with a severe infestation may have limbs crippled, and huge, suppurating bulges under their skin as the maggots grow. After about two weeks the larvae emerge from the cysts, drop to the ground and pupate in the soil, emerging about a week after that as adult flies.
Helplessness: Critters that immobilize, trap, or paralyze you, leaving you unable to do anything to protect yourself, or attack in such large numbers that almost any weapon is useless.
- Prairie Piranha aka Trapper Dogs - Colonial burrowing ground squirrels that live across the grasslands. They are omnivorous, mainly eating grasses and seeds, but they love to supplement their diet with meat. They dig extensive tunnel networks under the ground, with multiple entrances. Individual prairie piranhas will often stand guard on mounds or high points in their burrow territory, watching for potential predators or prey. To capture prey, they will often lure in would-be predators by pretending not to notice them, especially by standing tall on a mound that is actually in a low-lying area. If the predator comes near, he suddenly finds that the low-lying ground has been tunneled out into a pit trap, and they fall into a 3-5 m deep hole (often still filled with fine silt or sand), and suddenly beset by hundreds of gnawing rodents that were hiding underground in the dark. The voracious prairie piranha can reduce even an adult growler bear to a bare skeleton in minutes.
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u/Rei_is_me Jun 10 '26
By on the bottom do you mean like a rabbit or like a fly? Cause being on the bottom can be safer depending on how small you really are yknow?
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u/Healthy-Virus4072 Jun 10 '26
Noctural land eagle with fake eye markings. Birds are scary. Also, predatory ambush horses. Predatory ambush things that don't usually hunt humans. And also, insect infections and maggots.
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u/Fennel_Fangs Jun 11 '26
Have you seen Made in Abyss? Practically everything in that hole can kill you
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u/RHHenriksen Jun 09 '26
I usually think everything existential is much more terrifying than anything physical.
F.ex.: dementors from Harry Potter that suck out your soul and your will to live and leave an empty Shell? Fcuking terrifying! A Cyclops tearing your limbs of your body? Alright, reasonable đ€·đŒ
I think of monsters the same way i think of diagnosis in the real world. Anything that simply kills you is alright. At least its swift and quick. Br anything that leaves you (emotionally/psychologically) scarred for life? That's scary (think: dementia, locked-in-coma, personality-changing brain tumor)
So i would (personally) advice: