“Do you hear creaking, scratching sounds coming from the walls and floors, or the clatter of pots at night?” Aveela writes. Though they can be useful, they are largely troublemakers and occasionally dangerous. They can appear either young or old, but usually as deformed humans, thin and scraggly.

Throughout Eastern Europe, according to A Study of Household Spirits of Eastern Europe by Ronesa Aveela, kikimoras are believed to be female spirits that haunt houses. Kikimoras are a mainstay of Slavic mythology, though the one shown in The Witcher may not exactly line up with the traditional depiction. When we first meet Cavill’s Geralt in episode 1, he’s emerging from a blackened swamp, in the middle of a terrifying battle with a multi-limbed kikimora. Here is the history behind some of The Witcher’s scariest monsters. Delving into those stories sheds a light on the history of what has brought fear into human hearts for ages. The monsters in the series, which stars Henry Cavill as the gruff and stoic Witcher, come straight from European folklore.

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