Water often brings to mind peaceful images: sun sparkling on the sea, or mist gently rolling over a calm lake. Many people pay a lot to live near water and enjoy its beauty. But what if that serene view hid something sinister? Imagine a shadowy figure watching you from the depths, or hearing an eerie song on the shore before meeting a creature from your nightmares.
For centuries, stories about scary beings and mysterious objects in the water have captured our imaginations. These water myths come from all over the world. Let’s dive into ten tales that might make you think twice before your next waterside stroll.
10 Burning Ship of the Northumberland Strait
If you’re not up on Canadian geography, you might not know Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, or Nova Scotia. Yet, the Northumberland Strait, found between these places, is famous for something beyond beautiful scenery—a ghostly, burning ship.
The story gained wide attention in 1900. A group of sailors from Charlottetown saw a ship heading to shore. As it got closer, they noticed its masts were crowded with crew members desperately trying to escape a fire blazing on deck. The sailors quickly got into a rowboat to help. But just as they neared the flaming vessel, it vanished completely.
This wasn’t a one-time event. Sightings of this phantom ship have been reported since 1786. The legend has inspired books, songs, and even a Canadian postage stamp. Interestingly, there’s no known tragedy or sunken ship to explain these appearances. Locals simply watch for the burning ship, hoping its appearance doesn’t bring bad luck.
9 Flathead Lake Monster
Scotland isn’t the only place with a famous lake monster. Flathead Lake in Montana, the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi in the continental U.S., has its own legend: Flessie.
The tale began in 1889. The captain of the U.S. Grant steamboat and his passengers saw what they thought was a giant log in the lake. As they got closer, they realized it was a living creature moving quickly towards them. A passenger tried to shoot it but missed. Thus, the legend of the Flathead Lake Monster was born.
People who claim to have seen Flessie describe it as a huge, eel-like creature, possibly up to forty feet long. Some say it resembles a giant sturgeon with a head like a bowling ball. In a peculiar twist, in 2017, a three-year-old boy who couldn’t swim was found wet at the end of a dock. He said he’d fallen in, and a “monster” had lifted him to safety.
8 Miniwashitu
In 1921, a curator named Melvin Randolph Gilmore wrote about a creature called Miniwashitu. This mysterious being was reportedly seen in the Missouri River. It was said to glow like fire and make an otherworldly sound. A chilling belief spread: anyone who saw the Miniwashitu in daylight would suffer from madness and strange physical pain.
The monster is described as having red hair and a single eye in the middle of its forehead, with a horn just above it. Its backbone supposedly looks like a giant saw. Even today, people in Missouri share tales of the Miniwashitu. They believe it still lurks in the river, moving upstream in the spring. Some say it even moves about in winter, breaking the ice on the water’s surface.
7 Ashrays
Scotland’s folklore extends beyond Nessie and unicorns. You might encounter an Ashray, an underwater ghost-like creature. Ashrays are said to live only beneath the water. They look like translucent human ghosts and are nocturnal, so nighttime is the best chance to spot one.
English folklore tells of a similar creature, the Asrai, an aquatic fairy. According to legend, a fisherman once caught an Asrai. The fairy pleaded in an unknown language, but the fisherman tied it with wet weeds. When he touched its skin, his hands burned. Eventually, the Asrai melted into a puddle of water. It’s believed these beings die if exposed to sunlight for too long. They are sometimes described with green hair and a fishtail like a mermaid, surfacing only once a century to bathe in moonlight.
6 Spiteful Mermaid
You might have heard of “water babies,” spirits said to inhabit lakes and rivers in America. Legend says that ancient Paiute Tribe members would drown disabled infants, and their spirits would return to cry by the water at night.
Pyramid Lake in Nevada is one place where these cries are supposedly heard. It’s also home to a legend of a spiteful mermaid. The story goes that a mermaid fell in love with a Paiute man, but their union was rejected by the tribe. Banished from the land, she cursed the lake, vowing revenge on any tribe member who came near it. To this day, some Paiute members believe the tribe’s misfortunes are due to this mermaid’s curse.
Adding to the lake’s mystery, Pyramid Lake is the last remnant of the ancient Lake Lahontan. As its deepest part, no one truly knows what secrets lie hidden in its sediments far below.
5 Ship of Death
In 1862, Leon Webber witnessed a strange event by the Platte River in Wyoming. A thick mist covered the river. Curious, he tossed a small stone into it. Instantly, the mist transformed into a ship covered in frost. Webber stared as several frost-covered sailors on board gathered around an object on the deck. When they moved apart, he saw it was the body of a young woman. With a shock, he recognized his own fiancé.
Trying to forget the vision, Webber returned home a month later. He was horrified to learn that his fiancé had died on the very same day he saw her body on the ghostly ship. Since then, the “Ship of Death” has reportedly been sighted every 25 years. Strangely, all sightings are said to occur in the middle of the day, even during hot weather, making the thick mist and shadowy forms even more unsettling.
4 Hafgufa
Icelandic legend speaks of a colossal sea monster named Hafgufa, believed to have once roamed the Greenland Sea. This creature was described as a massive fish, so large that its upper body resembled an island. Sightings of Hafgufa were rare. One sailor claimed to have seen it belch out a huge amount of food, which attracted thousands of smaller fish. As the fish swarmed into Hafgufa’s mouth, it swallowed them all at once.
It’s believed that Hafgufa was the mother of all sea monsters. She supposedly ate anything she could catch, including ships, humans, and even whales. Because she looked like an island, many sailors would mistake her nose and head for rocks when she raised them above the water at low tide, leading them to their doom.
3 The Octavius
In 1761, the ship Octavius loaded cargo in London, bound for China. With a full crew and the captain’s family aboard, it sailed safely to China. After taking on new cargo for Britain, the captain ambitiously decided to try the Northwest Passage. The ship entered the passage and then vanished without a trace.
Fourteen years later, in 1775, the whaling ship Herald was sailing near Greenland. Its crew spotted another ship in the distance. As they got closer, they saw it was in terrible condition. Some of the Herald’s crew boarded the mysterious vessel, the Octavius, and made a chilling discovery. Below deck, all 28 crew members were frozen solid. The captain was found frozen at his desk. Behind him, his wife and son were also frozen.
The terrified Herald crew grabbed the Octavius’s logbook and fled. In their panic, the middle pages of the logbook were lost. The remaining entries revealed that the ship had become trapped in Arctic ice near Barrow, Alaska. Fearing the Octavius was cursed, the Herald’s crew let it drift away. It was never seen again and might still be floating in the ocean, its ghostly passengers forever on board.
2 Lorelei
On the Lurlei rock, a landmark on the southern bank of Germany’s River Rhine, you might encounter Lorelei. German folklore tells of a beautiful woman betrayed by her lover. Heartbroken, she drowned herself in the river and was reborn as a siren. The murmuring echo heard from Lurlei rock is said to be Lorelei’s enchanting song, luring sailors to the dangerous rocks and their deaths.
The famous poet Heinrich Heine wrote a poem titled “Die Lorelei” in 1824, which beautifully captures her tragic allure. Many composers have since set this poem to music.
The comb she holds is golden,
She sings a song as well
Whose melody binds an enthralling
And overpowering spell.
In his little boat, the boatman
Is seized with a savage woe,
He’d rather look up at the mountain
Than down at the rocks below…
1 The Celtic Merrow
Ireland is a land rich in folklore, filled with tales of banshees, leprechauns, and fairies. It’s also the legendary home of the Celtic Merrow, who were said to live in the Celtic seas. A Merrow is a type of mermaid who possesses a magical cap, allowing her to travel between the sea and the shore. When a Merrow combed her soft hair, her beauty and song entranced sailors and fishermen. Her magical comb was a symbol of feminine power.
Merrows could be male or female. The women were known for their exceptional beauty, while the men were described as hideously ugly. Bitter because the Merrow women often preferred human men as mates, the Merrow men reportedly captured sailors and held them prisoner underwater in revenge.
If a human man wanted to keep a Merrow woman on land, he had to steal her magical cap before she could enchant him with her singing. Possessing her cap meant he could eventually persuade her to marry him. However, this happiness was often fleeting. The Merrow woman would tirelessly search for her cap. If she found it, she would inevitably drag her human husband beneath the waves with her.
These tales, passed down through generations, remind us that large bodies of water can hold more than just natural wonders. They can also be places of mystery, enchantment, and sometimes, chilling danger. The allure of the unknown continues to fuel these fascinating legends.
Which of these water legends sends shivers down your spine? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
