It seems that the monster under the bed or in the closet is not a fairy tale after all.
“Vorsipellosus urbana” (Urban Hairy-shapeshifter) is known by many names: “Nightmare Catcher”, “The Bogeyman”, “Midnight Stalker”, or just “The monster under the bed”. It is a nocturnal creature that roams near the fringes of civilization. It is covered with thick hairs except for its head, hands, and feet; these dense clumps of hairs are controlled thanks to special muscles to move them around. It has an approximate size of 2.5 to 3 meters, including its long tail.
Its triangular head has two pairs of small eyes, with enough visibility to move and eat, retractable lips that cover the teeth similar to canines, made to tear and do great damage with the bite.
It has three pairs of limbs:
- Tearing arms: they are located on the upper back and possess three long fingers and two shorter but muscular ones.
- Locomotion arms: they have the same shape as the hands of the tearing arms, but visually lack thumbs, this allows them to climb surfaces like a primate, and walk with their fingers stretched or in fists, managing the noise they can make.
On their head, chest, and tail tip, they have greenish and pinkish colored spots, resembling misshapen eyes; these vibrant colors contrast with their dark gray body and hairs that make them indistinguishable in the dark.
The Nightmare Catcher’s method of hunting is to enter people’s houses at night, always keeping a low profile and being careful, for every corner, hallway, or area it crosses it changes its way of walking and the position of the hair, this makes it impossible to distinguish what shape it has due to its ever-shifting form.
If a person intercepts it, it will remain extremely immobile, pretending to be another creature with spots on its body. If the creature believes that its method to scare the person away does not work, it will change its pose instantly, starting to make truly disturbing sounds. With each pose, it gets a little closer, trying to scare its adversary away. But if the person does not go away, in its next advance, it will throw itself over him or her for the kill. The strike is made quickly and without commotion alerting the creature’s presence.
In another case in which the Nightmare Catcher does not cross paths with anyone and also gets into the house before nightfall, it will hide in a tight, secluded place away from the light. For this reason, its most common hiding place is under people’s beds. Already infiltrated without anyone knowing it, once the person in the bed is fast asleep, the creature will come out carefully as a shadow; the creature knows the person is asleep because it can detect the heart rate, breathing, and temperature drops.
At times, should it be unsure of its would-be prey, it will push up the mattress in a quick, short movement, similar to the sensation humans feel when they fall and suddenly wake up. With this, it seeks either to make the person wake up and go to another room so the creature can escape unnoticed, or to verify that the person is deeply asleep.
If the person remains asleep, the creature will carefully climb on top of the bed until it is directly above the person. It will make sure it is stable for its next move: its powerful front arms will hold the person by the torso, and then, using its tearing arms, it will place three long fingers behind the head, with one thumb from each hand going to the nostrils, and the other two fingers going to the eye sockets. Its incredible grip allows it to open the skull in an instant and begin devouring whatever is inside.
No one wants to approach the creature to neutralize it because when threatened it becomes too aggressive. It’s best to close doors and windows with strong locks or any method of entry to the house. Some, however, have confessed cases in which the creature had learned to open windows and doors.
This entry was made by CrisPing